Hi everyone.
I have a project underway that some of you may be interested in.
We had this pool built shortly after buying our house. That was over 25 years ago.
A concrete in ground pool with hot tub, aprox 18,000 gal.
Since then the pool has worked as needed to a point. It still held water and looked OK at a glance, but was getting worn.
The pump motor had failed multiple times over the years. I always pulled it off & installed a remaned motor. Quick and easy fix.
Well after installing our solar system, we monitored our electric usage more closely using an online app. That pump motor was sucking as much power as the dryer.
This prompted me to look into a more efficient pool pump. Incoming was a Pentair variable speed pump and new cartridge filter to replace the old Hayward single speed pump and leaking filter.
All was well till the skimmer started to suck air. Then it sucked dirt, and a mixture of mud and all kinds of earthy delights.
We tried to live without it for a while, but the pool vacuum was thru the skimmer port also.
We sacrificed our Polaris cleaner thing to convert it's port to a suction port so that we could at least vacuum the pool. This worked for a while. We skimmed the top manually with a pool skimmer to remove the floaters.
Finally it came time to shoot the old horse. The 25 year old marcite was worn down to the concrete shell in a couple of spots. The pool/spa heater hadn't worked in several years. The skimmer was non working and disconnected. Tile had fallen off the pool & spa. The deck was cracked.
I needed help.
Called several pool builders and got a few estimates and referrals. This alone was a couple month process.
Finally settled on one company based on previous jobs they did that we had seen.
I knew going into this that it wouldn't be cheap. The deck materials offered to us were less that ideal. Pavers and something called knock down.
I hated every paver job we viewed. They all looked like a bad walkway. Weeds growing between the pavers, unevenness and lots of collecting dirt.
Then we saw it... Not exactly perfect, but it gave us an idea of what we wanted.
I loved the old Kool Deck, but it didn't seem like an available option anymore. The paver decks left me cold. Then we saw a couple of travertine decks. Hmmmm...
One was floating, the other one was set. Bingo! We decided on a travertine deck with set stones.
I looked online for ideas and found one that I really liked. Not really close to my pool shape, but the deck was a great example of what we were looking for.
The travertine went right up to the pools edge. No border around the pool and it was set, not floating. I downloaded this pic and gave it to the pool guy and we were up and running.
The pool was drained and the fun began.
The glass block was removed from the hot tub and the area was filled in with concrete.
The old tile was removed and then they started the deck.
I'm sure glad I was home because the first thing they did was start a border around the pool. Exactly what I didn't want. I called the builder & stopped the work.
The stone guy was trying to explain how what he was doing was so much better than what I wanted. Wasn't interested.
That wasted a day... One of many.
Once I finally got the stone guys on track the demolition & reconstruction resumed.
To be continued...
I have a project underway that some of you may be interested in.
We had this pool built shortly after buying our house. That was over 25 years ago.
A concrete in ground pool with hot tub, aprox 18,000 gal.
Since then the pool has worked as needed to a point. It still held water and looked OK at a glance, but was getting worn.
The pump motor had failed multiple times over the years. I always pulled it off & installed a remaned motor. Quick and easy fix.
Well after installing our solar system, we monitored our electric usage more closely using an online app. That pump motor was sucking as much power as the dryer.
This prompted me to look into a more efficient pool pump. Incoming was a Pentair variable speed pump and new cartridge filter to replace the old Hayward single speed pump and leaking filter.
All was well till the skimmer started to suck air. Then it sucked dirt, and a mixture of mud and all kinds of earthy delights.
We tried to live without it for a while, but the pool vacuum was thru the skimmer port also.
We sacrificed our Polaris cleaner thing to convert it's port to a suction port so that we could at least vacuum the pool. This worked for a while. We skimmed the top manually with a pool skimmer to remove the floaters.
Finally it came time to shoot the old horse. The 25 year old marcite was worn down to the concrete shell in a couple of spots. The pool/spa heater hadn't worked in several years. The skimmer was non working and disconnected. Tile had fallen off the pool & spa. The deck was cracked.
I needed help.
Called several pool builders and got a few estimates and referrals. This alone was a couple month process.
Finally settled on one company based on previous jobs they did that we had seen.
I knew going into this that it wouldn't be cheap. The deck materials offered to us were less that ideal. Pavers and something called knock down.
I hated every paver job we viewed. They all looked like a bad walkway. Weeds growing between the pavers, unevenness and lots of collecting dirt.
Then we saw it... Not exactly perfect, but it gave us an idea of what we wanted.
I loved the old Kool Deck, but it didn't seem like an available option anymore. The paver decks left me cold. Then we saw a couple of travertine decks. Hmmmm...
One was floating, the other one was set. Bingo! We decided on a travertine deck with set stones.
I looked online for ideas and found one that I really liked. Not really close to my pool shape, but the deck was a great example of what we were looking for.
The travertine went right up to the pools edge. No border around the pool and it was set, not floating. I downloaded this pic and gave it to the pool guy and we were up and running.
The pool was drained and the fun began.
The glass block was removed from the hot tub and the area was filled in with concrete.
The old tile was removed and then they started the deck.
I'm sure glad I was home because the first thing they did was start a border around the pool. Exactly what I didn't want. I called the builder & stopped the work.
The stone guy was trying to explain how what he was doing was so much better than what I wanted. Wasn't interested.
That wasted a day... One of many.
Once I finally got the stone guys on track the demolition & reconstruction resumed.
To be continued...