New gunite & water

[newpull]

We have a new pool under construction. Last week it was excavated and rebar laid.

Then over the weekend we had a LOT of rain. At one point, I would guess there was close to 2 feet of water in the deep end of the hole.

They pumped out the water and sprayed the gunite this week.

So the gunite is in, but there is now probably 8 - 10 inches of water laying in the deep end - not from rain. My guess is that it is coming from the high water table. It was there within a hour or so after the gunite guys finished.

Is this something I should be concerned about?

The gunite is now curing - is the water in there going to have any negative effect on that? Should I pump it out?

(I haven't heard from the PB yet to answer these questions, so I thought I'd check here...)

 

[duraleigh]

Is this something I should be concerned about?

Nope...common occurence. :lol:

 

[Guest]

Is it gunite or shotcrete? How dry was the hole before they started shooting? Did they carve a hole in the bottom (deep end/area) to relieve ground water and maybe that is where the water is coming in?

Since the pool company/builder will have to warranty the pool, I would think they were pretty comfortable shooting it with the conditions present. Not a bad idea to ask questions though!

Bruce

 

[newpull]

Is it gunite or shotcrete? How dry was the hole before they started shooting? Did they carve a hole in the bottom (deep end/area) to relieve ground water and maybe that is where the water is coming in?

Since the pool company/builder will have to warranty the pool, I would think they were pretty comfortable shooting it with the conditions present. Not a bad idea to ask questions though!

It's gunite (I assume - that's what the PB says it is and that's what the trucks said on the side). The hole was wet when they started. They started pumping the water out the night before and there was a little left in the morning when they started. They pumped that out and then did the gunite.

They did put some pipes in at the deep end near the drains, and I assume the water is coming up through there. I just didn't know how the standing water affected the curing process, or if I am looking at any chronic problems with heavy rains in the future.

 

[Guest]

Like duraleigh said, you should be fine. If they did shoot gunite they probably purged the hose line water into the bottom of the pool anyway, so you would have had some water if it had rained or not. Sitting water is also not a problem (are you "misting" the shell to retard the cure anyway?) and is very common.

Here's a picture of a pool I built last year; do you think we might have had a little water in the hole while we built it??!

Bruce

 

[Titanium]

Bruce,

Beautiful work that you do! I think it would be interesting to see some other pools that you have done.

And maybe you can help TFP with some pool, equipment, and deck specifications that could help people about to sign a contract for a new pool.

 

[Guest]

Bruce,

Beautiful work that you do! I think it would be interesting to see some other pools that you have done.

And maybe you can help TFP with some pool, equipment, and deck specifications that could help people about to sign a contract for a new pool.

Thank you for the compliment! That one was a fun one to build (and the view wasn't too bad either!).

I don't take too many pictures, but this pool was a little unusual (88' vanishing edge, 3'6" to 10'0" deep, 3 individually controllable spas, and right on the water! In fact, when the tide is up it actually slams in to the vanishing edge trough!) so I did take a few. Most pools are pretty similar, so I don't burn the film (memory card!) taking pictures. I'll see if I can attach one more that I recently completed, if the file isn't too big.

I lurked around on the site for quite a while before signing up. I feel like I was taught how to build pools "properly" a long time ago, and have worked hard to always do better since then. I would be happy to help where I can (as time allows), but I am sure my opinion may or may not be the same as that of anybody else's, so it would have to be done carefully so as not to cause any problems. I'm sure most of us think we do things the right way, and builders are no different! Definitely don't want to cause any problems!

Thank you again for the compliment. I'm happy to be on the 'page and hopefully able to help with an opinion now and then!

Bruce

 

[newpull]

Thank you for the compliment! That one was a fun one to build (and the view wasn't too bad either!).

Really! I would have taken my good old time building that pool...

 

[newpull]

Sitting water is also not a problem (are you "misting" the shell to retard the cure anyway?) and is very common.

OK, thanks - and yes, we are hosing it down at least 2 or 3 times a day. It's been pretty cool and cloudy.

 

[Casey]

simicrintz~
The pools are gorgeous!

/hijack

 

[Guest]

simicrintz~
The pools are gorgeous!

/hijack

Thank you. I'm lucky to build for some pretty interesting people!

Bruce

 

[cobra46]

You build some nice stuff Bruce.

That pool with the long vanishing edge must have a huge acid demand with all the aeration. Is that a private residence?

 

[Guest]

You build some nice stuff Bruce.

That pool with the long vanishing edge must have a huge acid demand with all the aeration. Is that a private residence?

Thanks!! The nicer ones are fun to build :-D

Acid demand is huge (it is a PebbleTec pool as well, so acid demand increases anyway!), but they keep it pretty well balanced. It is actually the residence of the builder that I build for down there, but there are other units available in the compound. There may be one or two for sale now if you are interested (http://www.laresidenciacostaazul.com/)! I also get to stay there when I go down, which is nice!

Thanks again for the compliment!

Bruce

 

[Lana537]

You build some nice stuff Bruce.

That pool with the long vanishing edge must have a huge acid demand with all the aeration. Is that a private residence?

Thanks!! The nicer ones are fun to build :-D

Acid demand is huge (it is a PebbleTec pool as well, so acid demand increases anyway!), but they keep it pretty well balanced. It is actually the residence of the builder that I build for down there, but there are other units available in the compound. There may be one or two for sale now if you are interested (http://www.laresidenciacostaazul.com/)! I also get to stay there when I go down, which is nice!

Thanks again for the compliment!

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

Indeed you have done some beautiful work--bravo!

Would you elaborate on the PebbleTec reference please? In your experience, does PebbleTec incur a higher acid demand than new plaster or other aggregate surfaces? Or does the rough surface of the PebbleTec increase the aeration as the water slips over the edge?

Thank you~

Lana

 

[Guest]

Lana-

I don't really know why PebbleTec (or any other exposed aggregate finish) increases the acid demand, but I do know that they do. Add a SWCG and it increases even more. It may be that the aggregate has less porosity than plaster and creates some kind of "need" for increased acid demand. I could probably call PebbleTec and ask if they know the answer, or maybe a smarter person on here (chemgeek, for example!) may know the answer.

In the hot months (which we are still in here) I throw 6 to 10 cups of dry acid a week into my pool, and sometimes even more (not all at once!) depending on bather load and use. PebbleTec will handle the dry acid as long as you don't have big clumps that sit at the bottom and dissolve. It seems more stable than the liquid to me, and I don't have to worry about anybody drinkingit either!

Hope that helps! Let me know if you would like me to call PebbleTec and get their take on it!

Bruce

 

[Lana537]

I have a whacky theory

I have a whacky theory that will never be proved:

I think that PebbleTec, Pebble Sheen, PebbleFina, and such products tend to get installed in higher end or fancier pools that also have water features. Combine this with SWCGs and you have what I have: a pool that needs to be closely taken care of. Not that there's anything wrong with that!..... I bet though that plain old plaster would incur the same acid demand if combined with the water features and SWCG. But that's just me saying "supposing that...."

I would love for our learned wizards to weigh in on this....Chem Geek, Waterbear, et al......

Lana

 

[PaulR]

I'm not a chemical expert but after hanging out here for a while I can tell you what people say... Any new plaster or plaster-like surface will cause pH to rise as the plaster "cures" and this process can last up to a year or so. This happens even without SWG or water features contributing to pH rise.

I prefer muriatic acid for controlling pH on the principle of only adding exactly what you need. Muriatic is hydrochloric acid (HCl) so it doesn't add anything to the pool that isn't already in there. Dry acid is bisulfate so it's adding sulfates as well as lowering pH. I will use dry acid in my spa because small amounts are easier to handle with dry acid, and the spa water gets changed out every few months so there's no long-term sulfate buildup.
--paulr