Getting ready for a new build in Utah

[broschb]

Got the most of the walls up over the weekend and leveled, need to get them anchored and do final leveling and squaring of them this week. I left one side open in the shallow end to give room for my excavator to come and re-dig the deep end. My plan is to get my plumbing done around the pool and roughed in around the pad area, then have the collar poured around the 3 sides of the pool, I am then going to use the excavated base to backfill compacting every 4-6". Once the deep end is re-dug I will put up the last wall panel and mix and pour the collar on the last wall.

I am going to do a final diagram showing my exact equipment layout, but these questions just came up.

1. Auto vacuums, admittedly I don't know much about them, I was just going to use my skimmer and attach vacuum hose to that. Should I plumb a line for an auto vacuum, and if so what does that look like?
2. My spillover spa has the following recommended plumbing diagram. I only plan on using my VSP, but am wondering if I should run plumbing lines for the Blower and therapy pump? Is this something I could add later if I had the lines run? Any problem with having these lines capped off at my plumbing pad? Is it even worth doing?

 

[mknauss]

Personally I think the suction side vacuums are not worth it. Today's robots are so good that is what most people eventually get. Of course they are not good if you have lots of steps, benches, and it will not clean your spa. But the suction side vac won't either.

If you like lots of bubbles in your spa, you will need the blower. I have six jets in our spa and it is bubbly enough for us, but if you have more you probably want a blower.

Take care.

 

[broschb]

Well this should be a busy week. The walls up are and plumb and level, I have the plumbing done from the pool to the pad area. I pressure tested the lines(good thing I forgot to glue two of them).

This week I will be doing the following.

1. pouring concrete collar/equipment pad
2. redigging the deep end and backfilling/compacting
3. finish last end of wall panels and pour that portion of the collar.

Once that is finished, I would like to finish my pool floor and get that done and ready to go, is there any risk if I have the pool floor done and exposed for a week or two before dropping the liner? I want to have the cantilever edge poured before putting the liner and water in the pool to make it easier to do the concrete work.

 

[kimkats]

rain........if it rains it could mess up your hard work on the floor. You could always put a tarp or two on it to help protect it.

Kim

 

[broschb]

Well time to post some more progress, it's been a busy week.

I had my excavator come and redig after filling the pool in with roadbase and compacting. The wall held much better, in fact so well that I had to pick axe pretty hard to shape the walls(where my excavator didn't overdig ).

The dig after a couple days of manual shaping and hauling dirt out



Got the poolcrete on as well. This was interesting and actually kinda fun. Not perfect, i'll be swimming on the moon, but it's a moon that I build so i'm ok with that.





Next up, I need to:
finish assembling auto cover
plumb my pad
finish running conduit for electrical
drop the liner(I got an incorrect radius corner for my auto cover track, so waiting on the correct piece to be sent)
probably a few more odds and ends i'm not thinking of right now

 

[kimkats]

The moon is a neat place to be when you do it yourself! I will also tell you that even the "pros" make the moon as well so.......you did GOOD!

Kim

 

[broschb]

A lot has gone on in the last few weeks.

Got the concrete done, I think it turned out pretty good, had some issues with the concrete coping forms and some blowouts, but overall I'm happy with the result.

Got the liner in today, still working on getting the wrinkles out. The shallow end I have most of them out, the two deep end corners I'm struggling to get out all the way. One question I have is how long should it take for the shopvac to suck the air out behind the liner? I let it run for a while tonight, and it seemed to be pulling the liner tighter, I didn't want to just let it run all night, so I'll take it up again in the morning. Any tips or thoughts on the best way to work the wrinkles?

Getting so excited it's finally starting to feel real.

Here are some photos of the liner

https://photos.app.goo.gl/l7YvamdRODvYIHfg2

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6LNpeGbSVymIeb672

 

[broschb]

Also forgot to add, when it's time to start filling this thing, what should I do other than add water. I have my test kit from TFP, anything I should add as I'm filling or just wait for it to be full first? I will be filling from my city culinary water supply. Should I test my water and run it through pool math to start?

I do have a SWG, but I believe I don't need to add salt and turn that on until I have balanced my water.

 

[kimkats]

A soft push broom will be helpful but your feet and hands will be your best helpers on the wrinkles. You will find as you get water in the pool the wrinkles should start going away. Go slow with adding the water and work on the liner as you go.

Please do test your fill water (except CYA as you will have to add that). Show us your number and we can make a shopping list for you. I do know you will have to buy the CYA and will want some chlorine/bleach to get the FC started. The SWG will keep your levels up but you will want to keep some liquid chlorine/bleach on hand to help boost it at times.

Please go ahead and fill in your signature.....go to settings at the top of the page, edit signature (middle of that page). Put in your pool kind (vinyl) size in gals., pump size/speed, filter size/kind (sand, DE, cartridge), test kit, swg, anything extra for your pool. This will help us see your info at a glance.

Kim

 

[broschb]

Ok ran my first test using my TF-100 on my fill water, my results are below. Any recommendations on next steps to get the water ready are appreciated. I'll start playing around with Pool Math as well and start figuring that out.

FC-1
CC-0
TC-1
CH-175-225 (I wasn't sure how much color I should see before recording)
TA-130
CYA-didn't measure

 

[mknauss]

Have CYA powder, muriatic acid, and bleach on hand at fill. Add bleach to 3 ppm. Measure pH and drop to 7.2. Add 30 ppm CYA powder to sock and start dissolving while you are filling.

Looks good. You will take CYA to 70 and add salt once everything else is settled. Keep FC in the water with bleach.

Take care.

 

[broschb]

1 week in and I think things are going good so far chemical wise.

here are the results from my latest testing tonight. Salt level is just about at recommended levels, looking to hook up the SWG later this week. I think my TA is a little high, any other recommendations?

FC-5
CC-0
PH-7.5
TA-110
CH-225
CYA-80
SALT-3000

 

[mknauss]

Looks good. As long as the FC you show is at your minimum for the day. When you get your SWCG fired up plan to run at 10% of CYA. That way no surprises from birds, animals, or people.

Your TA will work down over time. If you find your pH rises pretty fast, then look in Pool School. There is an article on lowering your TA.

Take care.

 

[broschb]

It's been a great end to the summer enjoying the pool. Odds and ends to finish, but it's been tough when I just want to enjoy the pool with the kids, so things can wait until spring.

My water seems really clear, but the other day the kids had the camera in the water and looking at the footage it's not as clear as I would expect, and now i'm thinking it's a little cloudy looking. My test numbers have been fairly consistent for weeks, tonights test is below, any thoughts? I have really done much other than add stabilizer. It does seem like my CYA drops, is this normal?

FC-7.5
CC - .5 (I seem to notice this goes up to about .5 after a weekend of swimming then drops back down to 0)
PH-7.8
TA-130
CH-225
CYA-60

 

[kimkats]

Very normal to see the CC after people swim. It is cleaning up anything they left behind.

Is your PH staying stable?

I lose CYA during the summer due to our almost daily rain storms. As the rain water fills the pool I have to drain some water out so it is a cycle.

 

[Etfonhome]

I also live in Utah and am considering a similar project for Spring of 2018! 18x36 steel frame sports pool. Out of curiosity did you end up contracting any work out? Were local contractors willing to bid on smaller jobs? Thought about hiring a PC but prices in Utah seem outrageous (65-80k for vinyl pool, 70-85+ gunite)

 

[broschb]

I also live in Utah and am considering a similar project for Spring of 2018! 18x36 steel frame sports pool. Out of curiosity did you end up contracting any work out? Were local contractors willing to bid on smaller jobs? Thought about hiring a PC but prices in Utah seem outrageous (65-80k for vinyl pool, 70-85+ gunite)

I contracted out the dig and concrete that is it. Honestly those are the two things in most disappointed in with the whole build. I didn't contact any pool companies to see if they would do work. I know the few contacted for bids before deciding diy were booked months out, so not sure they would want to do a small diy job. I contacted some excavation companies, and getting them to respond was pretty difficult, and those that did didn't want a small job.

Feel free to pm happy to discuss further and answer any questions.

 

[broschb]

Got some more work done over the weekend. I got rock around spa and a planter that will have a 3' sheer descent.

 

[kimkats]

You do such good work! Love the stones you are using. So pretty! Has it been hard to do?

Kim

 

[broschb]

You do such good work! Love the stones you are using. So pretty! Has it been hard to do?

Kim

Thanks Kim, not really difficult but a learning curve. Like all things I get better the more I do, but I would be happy to not have to do this kind of work again. [emoji16]