Waxahachie, TX Owner Build - A race to beat the baby!

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:shock:

Wow! You were NOT kidding about sitting on limestone!! Heck, who needs the gunite shell, just plaster that limestone tub and fill'er up as-is!!

Have fun with excavator, if the guys are willing to do it, let the kids climb in it. They'll have a blast!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk,16k gal SWG pool (All Pentair), QuadDE100 Filter, Taylor K-2006
 
Ok, here's a question....

Since this pool will be sitting in solid rock, the excavator told me that I really don't need to use 8" of gunite like the engineer had designed, but 6" would be sufficient. I asked my gunite guy what he thought and he said that most PBs do 6" when they hit rock, and he assured me when I asked that going to 6" would not compromise the shell. I told him I don't want to be foolish, but it would be nice to save on gunite if I don't need it with the rock. Again, the gunite guy said 6" would be fine, but stick with a 12" beam.

I'm leaning towards doing this but need to decks soon because it affects how the guys dig. Any thoughts?
 
Sounds reasonable to me but I am on no way an expert. As long as warranty from the gunite company is the same, I tend to think 6" would sufficient if buried in limestone.

Hopefully some others can chime in. We have quite a few PBs and GCs in this forum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk,16k gal SWG pool (All Pentair), QuadDE100 Filter, Taylor K-2006
 
WASP said:
Unless the Engineer who signs off on the design approves a reduction in the pool shell thickness, I would not change it.
Click to expand...

I was not required by permitting to have this pool engineered, I just chose to do so to have detailed plans to give my subs. So having the engineer sign off on any change isn't technically necessary, but I understand your concern and appreciate your post. I was just wondering about the overall effect on the pool shell to go to 6" thick, since I have rock under the whole pool. From what I understand, I think I'm ok doing that, but I was wondering if anyone had any other thoughts.

Actually, in talking with the excavator, since he is chiseling through rock, he may not be able to get it exactly at 6" or 8" anyway, but on the bigger side of what we aim for. So I think I'll have him aim for 6"+ and perhaps get closer to 8", instead of aiming for 8" and possibly needing 10" of gunite in spots to fill the gaps.
 
That's pretty cool!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk,16k gal SWG pool (All Pentair), QuadDE100 Filter, Taylor K-2006
 

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Yes, the fossils were quite a hit around here. The Dallas Zoo has a place where the kids can take their nature findings to learn more about them and earn points to trade for other nature stuff, so I'm sure we'll be bringing these in to see just what they are. I'm guessing some sort of shell, but we'll see.

Here are a couple of highlights from the day...

The audience the excavator didn't expect he'd have:


How the hole looked when they started using the rock hammer at 1 pm:


How the hole looked when they left around 4 pm:


Close up of fossil amidst the rubble (the brownish thing with concentric curves in the middle of the picture):


And last but not least, my "outdoorsman" mining for fossils (And where is the eye protection I told him to wear?!)
 
Oh, I'm sure the neighbor's just loooooove you :p

You might need to bake some brownies for a peace offering ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk,16k gal SWG pool (All Pentair), QuadDE100 Filter, Taylor K-2006
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Oh, I'm sure the neighbor's just loooooove you :p

You might need to bake some brownies for a peace offering ;)
Click to expand...

Haha! I'm sure that wouldn't hurt! I did call the neighbors on either side yesterday giving them a heads up that the noise would start today. I must admit, the rock hammering got a little tedious by the end, since you could feel it in your feet throughout the house which made it hard to get away from. Amazingly, the toddler slept through it all. Yeah!
 
Tell that young man who's rockhounding to wear some safety glasses next time he's hunting for fossils. Wouldn't want him getting hurt.

You should totally keep the rocks and use them as decorative jumping stones around the pool (somewhat serious about that....) then sell the rest to a quarry. Might as well make a little spending money off all that Texas limestone....
 
I'm so excited for you. That's great. You've done so much research. It's got to be exciting to finally be happening.

Random thoughts:
- after they leave for the day is the perfect time to sneak pics of your kids in the excavator and go mining for fossils. My kids did that so much
- even though I'm on rock, my guys were telling me to still go 8". However they said we did not need to do a septic (gravel bed) below the shell
- my plumber pointed out to me that it's easy to switch over a dedicated suction to a pressure line. Having one would be nice. Gives you the option for vaccuum, suction cleaner, or a pressure side like my 360 that doesn't require a booster pump
- being a little bit ahead of you, I'll say this: I have had very few issues come up (not even worth mentioning); however, I did fall prey to spending more money than I anticipated on things (looking at you, Kim), and some things were more than I thought (patio). Looks like you have a ton going on in your build with a lot of upgrades (even slide and diving board) so maybe it won't happen to you as much, but just add a couple thousand right now.

Excited for you. Hope it goes as well for you as it has for me so far.
 
So sorry and555 LOL NOT! I did not make you spend your money. I just planted the idea! :slidehalo:

Jamie fun times! LOVE the kid line up!

At least they left before dark!

The toddle slept through it???????? WOW!

I agree about keeping some of the rock...........a fire ring, seating, accents around the yard, etc.

Kim
 
Keeping the rock sounds like a neat idea, but I don't know where too have the guys put it in the mean time as I wait to put it to use. Plus, I have no idea how we'd move the rocks once I did decide to use them, so it just sounds like too much to figure out to me!

Here's another question... The lien release forms for Texas that I printed out say they need to be notarized. Can someone tell me, practically, how I do that? I assume I need to sign it in front of a notary, but does that mean the sub has do his signing there too? And then I pay him? Or is there a simpler way that I am not getting?
 
JamieP said:
Keeping the rock sounds like a neat idea, but I don't know where too have the guys put it in the mean time as I wait to put it to use. Plus, I have no idea how we'd move the rocks once I did decide to use them, so it just sounds like too much to figure out to me!

Here's another question... The lien release forms for Texas that I printed out say they need to be notarized. Can someone tell me, practically, how I do that? I assume I need to sign it in front of a notary, but does that mean the sub has do his signing there too? And then I pay him? Or is there a simpler way that I am not getting?
Click to expand...

I was freaking out when my wife noticed that tiny little note. Here are some thoughts:
- you can go to the bank. They usually have a notary there though sometimes (most the time?) require that you bank there
- you might also get an invoice from them to show the total charges (ie to prove that you paid everything in full)
- when I was paying cash, I was more weary and wanted to make sure it was by the book
- if I paid with a check and got the form signed, I didn't feel as worried about it
- when talking with one of the guys, the builders usually just make them sign the paper (ie they don't worry about the whole notary thing)
- at the end of the day, it really comes down to how much you trust these guys that you're working with. They are usually the ones getting screwed (builders not paying them)

All that hat being said, I'm not a lawyer (my 3 brothers are lawyers, but I chose something which contributes to society :) ).
 
And5555 said:
I'm so excited for you. That's great. You've done so much research. It's got to be exciting to finally be happening.

Random thoughts:
- after they leave for the day is the perfect time to sneak pics of your kids in the excavator and go mining for fossils. My kids did that so much
- even though I'm on rock, my guys were telling me to still go 8". However they said we did not need to do a septic (gravel bed) below the shell
- my plumber pointed out to me that it's easy to switch over a dedicated suction to a pressure line. Having one would be nice. Gives you the option for vaccuum, suction cleaner, or a pressure side like my 360 that doesn't require a booster pump
- being a little bit ahead of you, I'll say this: I have had very few issues come up (not even worth mentioning); however, I did fall prey to spending more money than I anticipated on things (looking at you, Kim), and some things were more than I thought (patio). Looks like you have a ton going on in your build with a lot of upgrades (even slide and diving board) so maybe it won't happen to you as much, but just add a couple thousand right now.

Excited for you. Hope it goes as well for you as it has for me so far.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all of this. After reading your note before bed last night, checking on the difference in cost with my gunite guy, and sleeping on it, I think I'm going to play it safe and go with the 8" of gunite after all. I'm pretty risk averse, and in the end, I don't want to compromise the pool just to save a little money, especially when the pool was engineered with 8" walls to begin with.

- - - Updated - - -

And5555 said:
I was freaking out when my wife noticed that tiny little note. Here are some thoughts:
- you can go to the bank. They usually have a notary there though sometimes (most the time?) require that you bank there
- you might also get an invoice from them to show the total charges (ie to prove that you paid everything in full)
- when I was paying cash, I was more weary and wanted to make sure it was by the book
- if I paid with a check and got the form signed, I didn't feel as worried about it
- when talking with one of the guys, the builders usually just make them sign the paper (ie they don't worry about the whole notary thing)
- at the end of the day, it really comes down to how much you trust these guys that you're working with. They are usually the ones getting screwed (builders not paying them)

All that hat being said, I'm not a lawyer (my 3 brothers are lawyers, but I chose something which contributes to society :) ).
Click to expand...

This is all good stuff too! I'll call our bank and see how they handle notarized forms. In the end, though, I doubt it will be a problem since we are paying these guys promptly and they should have no reason to idle liens against us.
 
One interesting thing I have found is that these subs (at least the excavators so far) want to do things how they are "typically" done, and I've had to be firm in pointing out "but this is how we want it done." The excavator's assistant told me that a pool my size only needs 2 lights so the third one I was pointing out in the plan was unnecessary. Then when I said I had already bought it and wanted to use it, he told me I needed it right under the diving board because that's how it's always placed. When I told him I wanted it offset as shown in the plan to avoid the glare when swimming directly towards the diving board he tried to restate his case, but I remained firm and reiterated where I wanted it. Supposedly they need to dig out a little bit to accommodate the large light niche. I'll go out later to ensure that it's done in the right place.

Then we had a similar discussion about how the depths of the pool were supposed to go. It was really great being able to pull out the plans and explain what I wanted and why, while having something concrete in front of me for reference. All of this matters even more when the gunite goes in, but by having the excavator aim to dig to the depths I'm wanting, the rebar and gunite guys can do their jobs more easily.

I guess I'll just keep staying on top of things and not get complacent. It has been really great, though, to be the one they come to with questions, instead of having a PB or his foreman as an intermediary. Hopefully I'll keep being able out say that!
 

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