From a Basic Lawn to Private Resort - We Have A Pool! Controlling Pollen...

elleb · May 24, 2023

Retaining wall construction is expected to begin this week. Today is the first sunny day we've had since early last week. Yesterday it was 63 degrees in GA nearing the end of May which just baffles me. Anywho, the retaining wall blocks and caps were delivered this morning and I just ran out to take a quick peek. Hopefully it all blends well together. We only had the choice of gray or tan so we went with grey. I love the colonial gray so far, but I'm nervous to see it all out while being built. I will be glad when I can report lots more progress but the weather keeps us stagnant as we continue to inch towards a finished pool

. More rain is forecasted over the weekend...

tommelton · May 24, 2023

We had to have two retaining walls as well in parallel (did not want a railing so had to stay under 4 foot). Here are pics:

The two grey parallel walls were done by the pool builder subs, the one straight ahead is my work - the strip rubble was there and shows the original slope the yard had from left to right. I removed the strip rubble, built the wall that is under it now with hollow cement 4x8x16 blocks. The bottom block is laid flat on the compacted gravel, then they are mortared/stacked/cut to make the slope match what was there originally and backfilled with gravel to allow water to down/under. Then finished with a mosaic tile with exterior grout with polymer added. That was my first ever tile job - think I did pretty well. The strip rubble was mortared on top to complete the wall. Closer view of my wall:

-Tom

elleb · May 24, 2023

tommelton said:
We had to have two retaining walls as well in parallel (did not want a railing so had to stay under 4 foot). Here are pics:

View attachment 495651

The two grey parallel walls were done by the pool builder subs, the one straight ahead is my work - the strip rubble was there and shows the original slope the yard had from left to right. I removed the strip rubble, built the wall that is under it now with hollow cement 4x8x16 blocks. The bottom block is laid flat on the compacted gravel, then they are mortared/stacked/cut to make the slope match what was there originally and backfilled with gravel to allow water to down/under. Then finished with a mosaic tile with exterior grout with polymer added. That was my first ever tile job - think I did pretty well. The strip rubble was mortared on top to complete the wall. Closer view of my wall:

View attachment 495652

-Tom

You did really well. It looks awesome!

darkrider · May 25, 2023

I agree. Hardscapes really add to the feel. I can't wait to see it finished!

elleb · May 30, 2023

Happy Tuesday! Retaining wall is about to be under construction. Then on to the paver decking install. We've been having some unseasonably cool weather for late May, but today is a beautiful spring like day for any outdoor activity! I'll be watching our wall get built while working

. I'll post more pics later today. We're in the homestretch. Feels like the bottom of the 7th in a baseball game around here with this build

....

elleb · May 31, 2023

Here we are on an overcast Wednesday morning making progress. The guys are hard at work this morning trying to gett'er done! :whoot:

Our stairs on the retaining wall will be where I placed the blue lines. I also really love the gray blocks so far

elleb · May 31, 2023

End of Day 2 Progress. It's looking really good so far. We really love how it's coming together! A vast improvement on what once was.

elleb · Jun 1, 2023

Day 3 of Retaining Wall Construction and it's looking magnificent so far. Lights are going in on the wall, the children's basketball goal was safely delivered this afternoon, and the cement crew showed up and dug the hole for the basketball goal's post anchor kit. We are moving and shaking today. Pic of current wall progress:

elleb · Jun 1, 2023

Finished wall End of Day 3, next up ac condensation pipe and another foundation drain pipe was unearthed so they need be tied into existing drain pipe so that any water goes away from house and pool, and install a drain pipe cap with something that allows water out and no critters in. Then we need the pouring of the concrete pad for the bball court, goal install, paver decking, electrical, equipment, run another fill water test with our new TF-pro salt with Smart Stir test kit that we've had for a few months now, get necessary chemicals and salt to have on hand in case/when we need it, waterproof membrane, pool finish and fill, fence, clean up, final grade, lawn beautification, basketball court fence/netting, pool safety fence, and my favorite part-outdoor furniture and accessory shopping. List is long but also short at this point!

kimkats · Jun 2, 2023

That is one nice looking wall! LOVE the steps. Good job on thinking of that very important part of that!

Julianl50 · Jun 2, 2023

The stonework looks beautiful. Very inspiring.

I also noticed the condenser/HVAC equipment. I might not see it correctly from my view but they seem very tightly spaced. Beforehand the units looked to have free clear air on two sides. Adding the wall closes them in by a lot. Did your HVAC company give their blessing?

elleb · Jun 2, 2023

Julianl50 said:
The stonework looks beautiful. Very inspiring.

I also noticed the condenser/HVAC equipment. I might not see it correctly from my view but they seem very tightly spaced. Beforehand the units looked to have free clear air on two sides. Adding the wall closes them in by a lot. Did your HVAC company give their blessing?

They still are not blocked. The wall only goes to the foundation of the units. They were careful not to block the air flow of all 3 units. I'll have to go down there to get a picture. I took these from our upper deck

.

Julianl50 · Jun 4, 2023

elleb said:
They still are not blocked. The wall only goes to the foundation of the units. They were careful not to block the air flow of all 3 units. I'll have to go down there to get a picture. I took these from our upper deck .

Sorry. I understand. I thought the wall wasn’t finished and it would be higher.

elleb · Jun 5, 2023

Good morning! Happy Monday! We are getting a little closer to finish, we're about 3 weeks out from a completed pool. This week we're scheduled to have paver decking installed and the basketball court's concrete pad poured. The equipment will likely arrive the end of this week early next week and then electrical, pool lights, and final plumbing will be completed. The week after the pool will be cleaned and prepped for the final finish! We are hoping it can be finished before the 4th of July so that we can enjoy the holiday around our pool, but we shall see. Things are looking pretty close to finish and the excitement is definitely brewing. We've been really impressed with our builder, the sales team, our project supervisor, and all of their sub-contractors so far. We were so nervous to go through with this project after trying to complete our basement project and it getting stalled due to a bad contractor and we didn't see it coming. This entire experience has been night and day! We are most nervous about the pool finish because that is the one piece that will make or break this design. Hopefully we get the best of the best to do this work and I've voiced that we'd like their Best Team on the finish, so hopefully we get the "A++" Team and not the "C Team"

. I'm thinking of posting our build link to their google reviews, so more traffic to this site may be coming soon also. I'll update with pictures as soon as work starts. Looking forward to the end result because this has been a long time coming...

elleb · Jun 6, 2023

Grabbed a picture of the retaining wall near the ac units @kimkats and @Julianl50

elleb · Jun 6, 2023

Looking at these pics with everything red orange is reminding me that we need some serious pressure washing on and around the entire outside of our house after this project is done.

kimkats · Jun 6, 2023

Looks good to me! Good space and air flow. Good luck cleaning up that red gunk! That stuff is a MESS to deal with as you well know!

elleb · Jun 8, 2023

Phase 1 of decking started late yesterday afternoon. They sprayed out the deck outline then started ground prep, and began laying the first layer with crushed rock. We are expecting concrete slab and anchor pour for the basketball goal and more work on the pool deck today.

kimkats · Jun 8, 2023

It is getting done and doner!!! SWEET!

darkrider · Jun 9, 2023

elleb said:
Looking at these pics with everything red orange is reminding me that we need some serious pressure washing on and around the entire outside of our house after this project is done.

I think we spent a good month pressure washing the Georgia clay residue off of everything after our build was completed last year.

The good news is that you're nearing completion, and it will be SO worth it when it's all done!

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