New Northeastern Pa Build

[jimim]

i saw that on dis. no picks though. i'm thinking 3" for the head would be good with 1" for ears maybe. I was having them custom made so they were 1 piece so i can do whatever i want. 3 inch will be a good place to start.

thats for the info.

i have start pulling all my plants in a week or 2. sucks cause i spent so much time and energy getting them to where they are at but oh well. i have to find all the underground gutter drops for my buddy too so it saves him some time when he comes in and scrapes the topsoil off. my dad will flip if we don't save it cause the place this came from is out of business now. it was bog mud. amazing stuff. so expensive but it never dries out and you literally have grass seed grow in like 3 days with it. it's just so rich. so we want o save as much as we can and i know that is going to be a pain. good thing is my back yard is all between 12-14 inches thick so should make it easier than if it was 2-4 like most people do. my dad was nuts with the dirt, but it deff gave me a perfect base for my grass.
jim

 

[jimim]

I have a question for those of u who did boulders for coping on a side of the pool.

1. Do hey just sit on the beam and then u use a base of gravel to hold what hangs off or do u pour a scratch coat off the beam for the other portion that sticks off?

2. You just sit them on the beam right? They don't get cut to go down into the water without tile under them? I saw a pic like that online and just saw water issues in my head. Lol

3. What kinda percent up charge were some of u looking at? Was it crazy?

It's all adding up already with adding The extra square footage!

One and done though. That's what I keep saying.

 

[jimim]

All good with the permits!
Pool builder treating me good I feel with making the pool 3 feet longer and 3 foot wide her also. 1 grand more onto the total estimate which also is the pool cover in it.

 

[kimkats]

That is going to be a great size!

Kim

 

[jimim]

that's all my wife. i didn't think we needed it, but it fits so. . .

i still dont' know what to do about the boulders for coping on the one side. i don't want to mention it to the builder before i get some cost ideas from people here, which is non existent as of yet. i'm going to do to a local rock quarey this friday to get some cost ides on material and then see if it is something my guys any myself can handle even cause then it would just be material costs. seems like all you do is line them up and mortar them down with filling gaps with smaller rocks and more mortar. tile would already be on so it's a matter of us making it look all complete.

but i don't know.

 

[bmoreswim]

Rocks at the waterline do tend to show skum/scale differently (and more obviously) than the waterline tile areas. It can also me more difficult to remove from rocks. That is one of the big disadvantages I see of it - and it's not so noticeable until years down the road. I do also think its hard to make rocks at the waterline look "natural" (as if pools are natural). To my eye it takes a large scale approach to work them in to a proper setting. Don't let my personal opinions on appearance deter you. Just a few thoughts.

 

[jimim]

i did think about the whole natural look of it and such but al the pics i look at look so good. i would sit them on the beam like others with the tile right below. i have seen some pics of the boulders cut to go into the water. that would be awesome, but i'm not going there. i know it comes down to the installer, but i'm thinking about tackling this with my guys when we do the decking and start the pool house footers.

jim

 

[yankeelawyer]

What about just adding a large jump rock at the deep end? Then you would only need one really cool boulder for dramatic effect but could still have a nice clean look around the perimeter.

 

[jimim]

we r doing 6 foot deep only so no jump rocks so i don't have neighbors kids smashing off the bottom. cause that's the kinda luck i would have.

i really want to get the whole natural look going with that side of the pool being towards the woods behind us. my original plan was bullnose paver coping right into rock and mulch landscaping. then i starting thinking maybe it will be boring.

so then i go the boulder itch. my wife thinks its nuts but i know if the boulders go in right i can deff make the landscaping rock. i have 14 feet of depth to work with off the pool waterline to end of property if i want.

i'm pretty much sloping off into the woods. i'm not going to be doing a higher setup. it will be one layer of boulders. i know a lot of people use this look if the space beyond the pool is above grade to get that look. mine would be pretty much flat.

jim

 

[kimkats]

Go rock hunting at your local place and see what calls your name!!! Take us along with pics and we will help you spend your money!

Kim

 

[jimim]

Update:

Signing contract on wednesday and giving deposit. still on for an april 1st dig if weather is ok.

Re: the boulder situation. it got squashed. we don't think it is going to go with our overall look of the house and yard. i'm a bit bummed but oh well.

I have all lanscaping ripped out except the property line stuff. all the big stuff. i really want to get out tonight cause it is going to be in the 50's today. it was just too too cold this weekend.

****** question***** so lets say we are still having nights with 32 degree below nights. can we still safely shoot the shell? i know if we were doing a driveway or sidewalks there is no way my guys would pour. do the same rules apply for shooting a pool? do the nights have to be in the higher 30's to be safe?

jim

 

[bmoreswim]

Our shell was shot on a day with a high of 27 degrees (February 21, 2013 to be exact). The pool hasn't failed yet (but it's still young). And yes, I realize that's anecdotal evidence. Is it ideal, no. I don't know the technical aspects of concrete and dealing with cold weather, but it shouldn't be a big deal. Plaster finishing is much more temperature sensitive from the discussions I've seen.

 

[jimim]

Thanks man. I appreciate the insite. I know my buddy doesn't like the sound of shooting if it's still cold when I talked to him today. Wednesday when the pb comes up we have to talk about this.

i got all my landscaping ripped out tonight. Everything is piled in the middle of the yard for when they scrape. I just have to spray paint the grass to show gutter runs and mark an estimated area for the pad and we r good to go. My guys and the pb just need to finalize heights. I'm leaving that up to them.

Im pretty exited but pretty nervous.

Jm

 

[bmoreswim]

My guys and the pb just need to finalize heights. I'm leaving that up to them.

Trust but verify (or at least understand how it will work). That could be the single most important issue during the pool build - elevation of the shell.

 

[jimim]

My trust is totally in my buddy who is doing all the decking and pool house. He runs an excavation company. I totally have my trust in him. He set my house before we dug and it's perfect. He will obviously go over everything with me but he never has led me astray.

 

[bmoreswim]

That's great to have him.

 

[jimim]

Couldn't hook up to sign contract last night. I'm sick and so is the PB. Horrible winter.

Did finish up ripping everything out and while i was out there decided to make the garden bigger. I cleaned out the left side of it to extend it. We just need to get more block.

I can't wait for them to see my pile. They said rip it out and pile it up so that's what I did. lol

Untitled by Jim, on Flickr

Untitled by Jim, on Flickr

got to trim that sage plant when it comes back this spring. it got out of control last year. it's 7 years old now.

 

[jimim]

ok this winter is turning out to be a real drag. the one year i decide to do an outside project we get a blizzard. past 3 years while finishing my basement we are in the 60's everyday in the winter with no rain. i decide to move the party outside and we get 24 inches of snow and now a warm up (good) but with rain forcasted for the next 2 weeks.

things are melting quickly which is good , but i am already behind schedule. my now we should have had the yard scraped and elevations shot to start digging end of next week. right now i can barely see my huge pile of shrubs piled in the yard cause they r buried in snow.

we r finally signing out contract tonight. we just haven't been able to hook up with not feeling well and then the blizzard.

i hope it turns out to be a dry spring and summer.

jim

 

[kimkats]

That is what happens when you make PLANS! HAHA not going to happen says something or some one! :joker:

Kim

 

[jimim]

oh it's getting real now! all signed and a deposit given!

we made a few minor changes. talked about running each light on it's own relay so we can do that light dancing thing wit the globrites. we talked about the returns. he said if he needs to add 1 or 2 more we will do it on site when we dig and see the layout in person. i asked about the cost and he said we won't worry about it. he can include any extra ones we need and they too will be home runs with their own valves. i thought that was pretty good. i mean ya i know there is a big profit in this. i get that but he could easily charge us for the pieces. grant it not a lot of money but it's still money. he also wants us to bring in the water for the pool so we can fill it quicker and get that plaster covered. i asked what it would cost cause AS&S was saying it was going to be at least 1600. he said like 600 tops with who he uses! that's a huge diff. i'm so glad i seemed out others this extra year and found other builders. i can say now if I went with AS&S with their way cheaper price once i added in things that are now in my new final estimate it would have been more with them and i would be getting less. it's all the uncharges they don't tell u about. cover, water, you being responsible for trenches, extra if the electrician or plumber needs to come a second day.

got a start date to look forward to if the weather does what it says it will do. . .

now it's just a waiting game.

i'm excited.


on a side note. i printed out the levels for SWG and I printed out the chlorine cya chart. what else do i need. is there a calculator i need to be using also?

for my test kit. . .

this is the kit right?

TFTestkits.net

i also need which add ons:

1. speed stirrer
2. 1766 salt test
3. and the strips for the salt right

i don't need the borate test right? and the xl is just extra of certain needed chemicals right?

do i need anything else for testing the water? anything at all so i can do it once and done?

thanks!
jim