New contract / New build - SE Pennsylvania, Gunite free form pool and spa

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Gorilla83 said:
i hope to get some time to play with the screenlogic later today. I could do wired or wireless since I have a router in the shed next to the equipment.

Panel is looking good. It’s about 18” off the ground if I recall. A little lower than I was expecting but I guess ok?
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go wired if you can. you understand why since you know this stuff. less chance of drops and such. we all know how wonky wireless can be at times.

i personally would have wanted it higher so when u need to work in there for any reason. but that is just me. mine is actually too high cause my buddy is tall and i am short so he put it at what was comfortable for me and told me to get a short ladder. lol

i'm just thinking snow in our area too in winter if we get a storm and you got some drifting action going on. just my opinion. i am prob over thinking like i do everything. i'm just throwing out thoughts.

jim
 
You're right, wired is the way to go I'll have to do that. I probably would have liked the panel a foot or two higher or so but I may have missed that opportunity. I was thinking the same thing re: snow since there is the GFI outlet on the bottom right of the panel. I may run it by our electrical inspector to see what he thinks as well.

In other news our backfill was FINALLY done on Saturday. The site is looking much better now - especially with the huge voids behind the pool filled in. :) Waiting on a tile/coping date now.
 
Ours is also mounted a little low. The bottom of the panel is probably about 24" or so off the ground. In some ways I do wish it were higher but where ours is mounted, the lower mount will make it easier to hide with landscaping. I'm assuming that could one reason for the lower mount. Also, that panel weighs a ton...a higher mount would probably require something much beefier in the ground unless you can mount it to a wall.
 
Pool/spa Coping and spa tiling completed today - minus grouting. Pool Tile and grouting on deck for tomorrow. Meeting with the landscaping company on Friday to talk final wall and patio layout. :)

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Yosh said:
Looking really nice. Great feeling when things move forward. I like the choice of tiles and coping.
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Thanks! We are definitely happy we upgraded the coping to the travertine.

kimkats said:
Oh I like how they did the spill way! Does it look at good in person?

Kim:kim:
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Kim - the wife and I are really happy with the choices. It actually looks way better in person vs. the pics. :) Everything is super dirty but they're doing good work.
 
Looks good man. Coming together. Fall push is on!

u filling the shell with water half way for winter if u don't plaster? I remember a builder telling me make sure I did that when I was tossing the idea of not plastering last year and waiting till this year. Just to get weight in it for the winter cause of our frost and thaw cycles so it didn't pop out. He told me fill up the deep end just till it reached shallow end.
 
jimim said:
Looks good man. Coming together. Fall push is on!

u filling the shell with water half way for winter if u don't plaster? I remember a builder telling me make sure I did that when I was tossing the idea of not plastering last year and waiting till this year. Just to get weight in it for the winter cause of our frost and thaw cycles so it didn't pop out. He told me fill up the deep end just till it reached shallow end.
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I was planning to ask the PB about that. I know all of the hydrostatic plugs are out at this point as well meaning that any ground water will come right into the shell. I'm sure A&S is going to push to plaster in a few weeks/month but I'd really prefer to wait until the spring unless they have a plan for some serious compensation and guarantee against scaling next spring. I know many of the big name builders around here still plaster well into october here- Arista, Armond, etc. Not sure what their magic is.
 

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Gorilla83 said:
I know many of the big name builders around here still plaster well into october here- Arista, Armond, etc. Not sure what their magic is.
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Hi,

I was curious how you like the A/S service? I am about to sign a contract with another vendor - AS built my pool in the 80's so I thought they would be good for the reno. I feel like I read a lot of stories about the sales people promising the world and the project takes much longer. Is that your impression also?

The sales person who came to me twice to discuss my pool was nice, said it would take 3 weeks but the reviews online arent great (work is quality but timing isnt great).

Just a FYI - my pool needs new plaster & I am waiting until the spring -the scaling could become a major issue over the winter. I would push them to hold off on the plaster until the spring.

Thanks,
Rich
 
RichTJ99 said:
Hi,

I was curious how you like the A/S service? I am about to sign a contract with another vendor - AS built my pool in the 80's so I thought they would be good for the reno. I feel like I read a lot of stories about the sales people promising the world and the project takes much longer. Is that your impression also?

The sales person who came to me twice to discuss my pool was nice, said it would take 3 weeks but the reviews online arent great (work is quality but timing isnt great).

Just a FYI - my pool needs new plaster & I am waiting until the spring -the scaling could become a major issue over the winter. I would push them to hold off on the plaster until the spring.

Thanks,
Rich
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Rich - Here's my summary so far (you can see my first post for milestones/dates):

Pros - Knowledgeable designer and sales team, good pricing, overall good product quality so far
Cons - Extremely poor planning, very poor communication, the homeowner effectively becomes the project manager, any "customization" has thrown them for a loop

I would likely not be using them again due to all the frustration to date.

I'm also 99% sure we're waiting until next Spring to plaster.
 
RichTJ99 said:
Hi,

I was curious how you like the A/S service? I am about to sign a contract with another vendor - AS built my pool in the 80's so I thought they would be good for the reno. I feel like I read a lot of stories about the sales people promising the world and the project takes much longer. Is that your impression also?

The sales person who came to me twice to discuss my pool was nice, said it would take 3 weeks but the reviews online arent great (work is quality but timing isnt great).

Just a FYI - my pool needs new plaster & I am waiting until the spring -the scaling could become a major issue over the winter. I would push them to hold off on the plaster until the spring.

Thanks,
Rich
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i would look into finding a plaster company to do the reno vs using a full pool company. lets use for example the company that did my plaster for my pool. they also do coping and tile if my builder was not doing it. they can be hired by a home owner. you don't need to be a builder to use them.

Coronado plaster actually. They did a great job i feel.

so that might be an avenue for you. not them per say but someone like them. you might be able to save that way.

jim
 
jimim said:
i would look into finding a plaster company to do the reno vs using a full pool company. lets use for example the company that did my plaster for my pool. they also do coping and tile if my builder was not doing it. they can be hired by a home owner. you don't need to be a builder to use them.

Coronado plaster actually. They did a great job i feel.

so that might be an avenue for you. not them per say but someone like them. you might be able to save that way.

jim
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I agree here as well - go straight to the source. I talked with our tile/coping guys for a while and they gave me a few contacts along with their own. Building a nice list of subs now in case I ever get nutty and decide to do an OB sometime haha. Pretty much everyone around here speaks highly of Coranado as well.
 
Glad to hear u have heard positive about them also. I didn't choose them. It's who my builder uses. What I think I liked best about them was the start up. Very very gentle. No acid wash or bath. The diluted acid with water and brushed Down the pool. My builder said it was very very diluted. Know that I know what I do I'm glad they did it that way. Just more gentle. Also they spent 2 hours fixing a hydrostatic plug that wasn't straight so that it could be threaded and lay flat. All in all good guys.

jimi
 
Forgot to mention earlier - all tile and grouting is done and looks great. A few pics attached

Also met with the landscaping/hardscaping crew to plan out the steps, patio, and waterfall placement. Also picked out our paver color which will be grey/granite color. Mockup pics attached - this includes the "phase 2" pavillion and kitchen. The designer is very talented! Might be a couple weeks to get on the schedule, can't wait to see this come to life...

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that coping looks really really good! i really really like that step layout from the driveway. only thing i would change and maybe it's just like that for the drawing but the grass area by ur porch. under it actually. i would do all landscaping. hostas where it is in the shade and then other stuff where sunny.

that would be a pain to mow. i'm assuming it isn't and the drawing is just like that.

jim

the coping is so nice though. especially those transitional areas from the spa to pool angles.
 

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