The remodel begins!

[Blowout]

Thanks for the encouragement!

Moving a drain collector and some sprinklers to make room for the pavers today.

The PB finally sent a quote yesterday for the work already completed. He lowered the cost for the 2 1/4" beam raise by $500. The second line for the skimmer was $400, so it comes to $5.71/ft for the 70' run to the pad. Gas line at 25' was $675. He said that was his cost. Doing some reasearch I found the 1 1/2" flex MDPE gas line at $1.70/ ft in a 100' roll and but the risers are $120ea x 2. I had no idea how expensive those risers are. These 3 scope changes added $3,075 to the project.

 

[Blowout]

Excavation is about done and the baserock is getting hauled in. We should have 6" steps everywhere when it is all done. Previously it there was a 3", 3.5", 9" and 6".

I had to convince him to start the pavers at the corner of the pool where it is closest to the patio in order to have full pavers where it is most visible and have the cuts at the far end of the pool. Not sure why he thought starting at the far end of the pool would make sense.

The way this guy lays pavers is to dig, rebar and pour the concrete edge after the main course of the travertine is laid. Since we are not having a border put in, this has the paver dude him scratching his head. :?

The coping that was replaced turns out to be of a different travertine. They need to replace it again...no problem I was told. You can kind of tell that the coping left of the spillway is lighter than the others in the first and second pic. Much more noticable in person.

 

[Blowout]

Have some progress photos... slow, but progressing....

The color of the coping is a lot more homogeneous than the deck travertine. We were told this is common.

 

[Glock]

Nice! Do the stones just sit on that loose gravel?

 

[Blowout]

Base rock is laid down first and then a 1" layer of sand that the pavers are set on. Concrete is put under the perimeter and the outside pavers are adhered to it with thinset. That keep sthe inside pavers from moving. Sand is poured over teh top and then a vibrator is used to settle the sand between the pavers locking them in place.

Here are some more pics after today's work. They had laid pavers the wrong direction and had to change it to run parallel to the house earlier this week. They would have used up a lot of material with a diagonal pattern that was first laid down.

Almost looks too good for an equipment pad

Rebar reinforced footing for the step poured.

 

[Blowout]

Getting there...

This is where the old meets the new. The flagstone patio was installed 14 years ago and still looks great. Our challenge deciding what to do with the deck was because of the off angles the pool deck would have with the patio. The pool is not parallel to the house. Our solution was to go with a French pattern.

Figured out a way to hide the sprinkler valves at least...

 

[Bluegrassman]

that looks really nice!

 

[Blowout]

Thanks.... can't wait until we get to the point where the pool can get filled. They ran out of one size travertine (16x8) and so we have a delay before the last area of pavers can get laid...

 

[Blowout]

At last a large hose showed up early today....

With a bunch of dudes and trowls...

Pavers are all done... just some minor fixes to be completed...

We like how the pathway turned out...

The lower elevation patio ended up larger than previously planned.

Back to the pool party... I was impressed how fast these guys knocked this job out. They were done, cleaned up and out by 1:00pm.

Caribbean Blue Color Quartz started out looking too light, then darkened up as it set.

Can't remember when I've had so many guys in my pool at one time....These guys must think their rock stars with all the pictures people must take of them doing their job...

And then there was one...with sponges on his feet as he fills in the holes others left with the spiked shoes.

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And then there was none... and the water began to run...

I can't stop going outside to look at it fill up. It's been exactly 3 months since the project started and now it's done just in time for Labor Day weekend.

Installing the pool equipment tomorrow. They had the pipes too close together to put the valves between them and almost halted the plaster job this morning to wait for a plumber to come out first. The guys brainstormed a bit and came up with a workable solution. I'll shoot pics when it's done.

 

[Bluegrassman]

That looks awesome. Those guys did a great job. Can't wait to see it full of water

 

[Blowout]

Thanks...the water is almost up to the light now. Got up early today. (Feel like a little kid on Xmas morning )

I'm looking forward to the changes made in the plumbing. Separate lines for the skimmer and pool drain and the flexibility of pulling water from the too spa all at the same time. Now its possible to mix between the pool and spa returns as well. I couldn't do that before. This should help in the start up process I think and for maintaining the pool better.

Now I need to order a heater... thinking 350k Sta-rite or 333k Raypak...decisions decisions

 

[Glock]

Wow! That looks amazing! I can't wait to see it lit up and running and it is not even mine!

 

[Bluegrassman]

I love that plaster color! Never seen it before

 

[Blowout]

Thanks...we looked at numerous pools before making a decision on the color.

 

[Blowout]

Took longer than expected to plumb the equipment...and I had to buy more beer
Went with the Pentair 520 cartridge filter. Turning the valves sideways ended up a good solution to reduce the number of elbows. There is alot more flexability it adjusting water flow compared to the past.

There is a 1 1/2" pipe for a sweep (capped off) and the booster pump was placed to insure there is enough room. Also put in a fitting on the return line to plumb the booster pump if the time comes.

Also added a hose bib for draining water after a rain...wishful thinking in CA

The elongation of pipe on the right side is for the heater that in in transit...a Raypak 333k w/cupro nickle heat exchanger. Hopefully the online Raypak manual has the correct dimensions of plumbing heights. Just cut the pipes and add elbows....I hope.

Used a 15" wide plant container as a model to check for clearances for the Hasa LQ when positioning the pumps.

And then there was water!!
The amount of flow is really increased compared to the original plumbing layout.

 

[Glock]

Wow! Amazing! Love the new look!

 

[Blowout]

Thanks....right now its like caring for a newborn child. Sweeping 2x daily... checking chemistry...adding chemicals...more money...worrying... spending sleepless nights on this forum

It's our 3rd kid :lol:

 

[Blowout]

More pics of the almost finished product...

Narrowed down the options for the firebowl. Going with a 48" x 16" concrete bowl that will sit over the gas line shown here.

Pools level is down because of a leak at the light recess. They just figured it out today and should be out tomorrow to fix it. We are leaking about 3/4"/day.

Pool heater is now installed. Fired it up yesterday. Glad to get the gas line finally rerouted. Reduced about 25' off the previous routing. I really don't like crawling under the house any more.
I should be getting the valving by express mail to put a bypass on the heater tomorrow. I noticed the back pressure increased when I plumbed the heater in so I want to see if a bypass will reduce it when the heater is not used.

 

[nikolaypavlov]

Blowout,

What did the final cost end up being? I am in a similar situation, even though with a larger pool and in New Jersey.

Regards!

 

[Blowout]

Pool is so much easier to maintain after the remodel. Increased water circulation and a lower electric bill. Sparkles like it never did before. The Liquidator makes chlorination a simple task.

Grass hasn't been replanted yet. Still need to figure out the perimeter edging and take down some old fruitless pear trees that look like something out of a bad Halloween movie.


Working on the fire bowl now. The bowl came in June and it was a real PITA to get it into the back yard since it is 46" wide and would not fit through the gate unless it was tipped sideways. At 300+lbs it took 3 of us on a 100 degree day to get it to the back yard. Tipped the delivery driver since he helped us. Had to roll it and chipped the edge. I was able to make it look like new with a patch kit they sent us for the repair.

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Final resting place over the gas and electrical. Began the grate structure to hold the gas manifold and eventually the fire glass.

1/2" rebar and used a conduit bender to round it in a circle. Welded cross sections to the circle. The expectation was that it needed to hold 150lbs of fire glass.

Added legs and primed