18x36 IG vinyl near Enterprise AL

[FSI_C-12IP]

PB came by to stake out and paint the perimeter of the pool today. He plans to start the dig next Monday, June 22.

View from the screened porch toward the west.

Clearer view just outside the porch showing the shallow end and area for steps.

View from outside the west fence diagonally toward the pool, showing the porch and neighbor's house.

The pad for the filter, pump, etc will be behind the crepe myrtle on the south side of the porch.


We're a couple miles outside the city limits, on about 3.5 acres. Neighbors are fairly close on both sides (lots are long and relatively narrow).

 

[Casey]

Can't wait to watch! Please post pics of every stage, every step of the way if you can. 8)

 

[reallytiredteacher]

That's the exact same size IGP we ae finishing up right now. It's our DIY project. We got the floor started today with the sand/portland dry mix and covered with a tarp to keep clean til we can finish troweling tomorrow. Then it's liner and water time!!! YIPPEE!!! Tons of work, but we've done it all ourselves (except we paid for rough excavation and the concrete truck has been out to deliver a couple of times!) I'm beat from working all day in hot sun (I'm a REALLY REALLY TIRED TEACHER today!!!), but I will try to post pics of our project thus far by Saturday.

Are you doing the work yourselves? Or contracting the work out? Keep us posted with more great pics as your project progresses!

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

reallytiredteacher,

We're contracting it out. No time or desire to do it myself since I'm working full time (and at odd hours sometimes) to pay for the pool!

I have saved a little cash by purchasing my own pool pump which the PB graciously agreed to install, buying and (in the future) installing the SWG (Ebay), plus a couple small 'sweeteners' on the deal from the builder.

 

[reallytiredteacher]

In your last picture I am curious as to what the two odd pieces of rebar represent. By odd I mean they are not in any of the orange sprayed area representing the pool or steps and they look to be in the wrong places to be part of your overdig and in the pic they apear to be unevenly spaced. :?: Maybe I'm just looking at it wrong.

Also what it the projected time to complete your pool install? I understand nothing is definite with the weather as an important factor.

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

Good eye, rtt(is it ok if I shorten your screen name?)!

Those two odd pieces of rebar were supposed to be marking the edge of the pool deck on the shallow end (even with the edge of the house). Then we had to move the outline of the pool slightly when I wanted a little more drainage space between the pool and the porch. We just didn't move them because the main focus was the pool outline. If you notice, there's a distinct low area in the lawn where the water really flows when we get our southern downpours. So much so that the grass clippings make little 'drifts'!

If the weather cooperates, the PB estimated two weeks, start to finish, beginning Monday the 22nd.

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

Pool Kit is here!

Unloading and Inventory (no liner or coping in the shipment)

Wall sections

Nice wide steps and support structure (one of the 2' radius corners, too)

2" pvc, corner coping, and diving board (1" pvc for polaris not visible in pic)

Polaris 280 and booster pump with bags of filter sand in the background

Pallet of pool-krete

2' radius corners and wall support structure

2" elbow fittings and sand filter

Pentair Intelliflo VS 3050

 

[reallytiredteacher]

Wow!!! Isn't it exciting when all the "stuff" with the kit arrives! I remember that feeling...makes it more real and lets you see exactly where your money is going! Keep the great pictures coming and you'll be swimming in no time.

Are you adding a diving board and/or water slide to the pool? If so what did you choose?

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

We chose a diving board. My son loves to jump off the diving boards (not actually diving yet, but that will come). He's seven.

Edited the post to add captions above each picture...

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

Get Ready...

Get Set...(remove more of the fence)

GO!!!

Checking for correct depth

Of course my son is the first family member in the "pool"

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

Two more days of progress. Poured concrete around the bracing of the walls and the pad today. Monday they start plumbing and finishing the rough-in of the hopper. They may get to the vermiculite floor...

He can't wait!

Trench to equipment pad

Corner of equipment pad

Here's the liner we chose, Solona/Blue Marble, 27 mil

 

[Casey]

Looks good! Keep the pics coming! 8)

I can't wait to get the dirt moving in my back yard!

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

Well, progress slowed a bit last week due to them needing to finish another job. Seems the company they buy liners and kits from was having some problems with orders (lightning and computers don't mix well .) Anyway, they weren't here as much as I'd like, but by Friday they thought they would have water in the pool. It wasn't to be. First the bottom level of the pallet of pool-krete had gotten wet and was cured solid. Then one of the guys laying it down wasn't doing a very good job :grrrr: . By the time I brought my dissatisfaction to the head guy, it was too late in the day to redo it and get the liner in. I told them to enjoy their 4th and I'd see them this morning. Well, we had BIG storms overnight and today (5" in the rain gage so far) . Needless to say, nothing was accomplished today and there will be substantial repairs to be done to the bottom and sides (actually probably a blessing, I can have them redo a substatial portion and not be a 'bad guy' )

Here's some pics:

Lots of hand-work to this job!

First load of poolkrete

Troweling it on (more hand-work)

Getting close to done in the hopper

Backwards and head-down to finish the slope into the hopper

Patching and smoothing the poolkrete the next day. The wall in the shadows is the one that's lousy. Also did some coping work and a little plumbing (main drain and skimmer plus polaris inlet and plumbing)

Today, after 5" of rain between 9 pm last night and noon

Yes, that's a shopvac and poolkrete floating in several feet of water!

The trenches aren't real full because they drained into the pool!

I think the holes in the walls might be pretty big

The job just got a lot longer...

 

[Casey]

Oh my goodness, what a mess! I hope it goes smoother for you and the family! I hope when I do mine, we won't have any rain but I'm probly dreamin huh?

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

Well, after more rain the first couple days this week, they came out a threw a pump into the 'pond' yesterday. Today they began the repairs and finished the coping and most of the plumbing to the pad.

It was a pretty big mess in there! They had to remove even more of the poolkrete because it had been badly undermined on the wall shown here and the opposite (where the drain pipe trenching was)

Here's the opposite wall. Had to repair a large spot below the light niche as well.

Repairs well underway

It looked great right after they wrapped up for the day, but it started raining AGAIN!! More flooding and there was even some hail in this storm. Hope there wasn't much damage this time. Fortunately, they had backfilled most of the west and south sides, so not much water will come in from there!

An open trench is a full trench...

...and draining into the pool.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Wow. That stinks.

Hoping things get better real soon....

 

[reallytiredteacher]

What a BUMMER!!!

Things can't get too much worse! Good times are sure to come...hang in there!

I would double check the drainage situation...If rain drains toward your pool now, what's to stop it from always heading that way? Hopefully your people can deal with this issue effectively. We are installing perferated pipe to carry a lot of extra drainage away before it reaches the pool/concrete. (We have the same size/type of vinyl IG you are installing.) We have a friend who had a similar IG vinyl and she had so much water draining during the spring that it pooled up under the liner, somehow, and made a huge water-filled bubble between the liner and the concrete mix bottom. She had to pay someone to come in and install a sump-pump to fix the problem, of course by then they had to go in and bust up the concrete deck, etc... It was a mess. Just a story I wanted to pass on so it doesn't happen to anyone else.

What are you using for backfill around the walls?

 

[FSI_C-12IP]

The liner finally went in this afternoon after more repairs to the poolkrete. A nice hot day for it, so the liner stretched out nicely. DW's first words were, "It's beautiful!!" I have to agree, wholeheartedly. Filling overnight to cover the first step.

Here are a few pics:

Need to cut the liner for the stairs

The drain covers are on, next is the ring around the light niche

Pulling out the air from behind the liner

No wrinkles

Closeup of the liner in full sun

I appreciate the concern about drainage RTT. It won't be a concern in the long run. The only reason it didn't go around the pool this time was all the trenching! The water table is VERY low here and once the soil compacts again, it runs off very quickly (hard Alabama clay). The backfill will be the soil they removed from the hole, settled and compacted. The pool will end up a minimum of 4 inches above previous grade at it's lowest point and it's hard to see for all the dirt, but there's plenty of slope around the pool. I'm just glad they finally got the liner in! 8)

 

[Casey]

NICE! Hopefully, it'll stay hot and quit raining!

Keep us updated!

 

[reallytiredteacher]

Oh Happy Day!!!

Pool looks great! I almost got that same liner and ended up switching last minute. I love mine but now know I would have loved yours as well...It's So Pretty!

Do you have a projected date for the deck? What are your plans for that?

Keep the pics coming!