Ok. Time to post some updates! (I've written a few, but always delayed posting them and they timed out or something - which may have been a good thing. We were stressing away and pretty frustrated with some contractors, but all is good now - so I'm glad some of those things didn't get posted.)
I'll start running through some photos in posts after this if I don't have problems posting them. (I tried yesterday, but they weren't taking.)
A quick update on the construction process/timeline:
4/30: Thursday morning - Dig crew showed up and knocked out the dig. All looked good.
5/1: Friday around noon - Woke up to water in the deep end of the pool and some washing out on the walls due to a high water table and sandy under soil. Rebar crew showed up and said it was too sloppy and left. Panic set in.
5/2: Saturday morning - Gunite president showed up and said he would send a crew out and flash it later in the day and that it was too wet for a bobcat to go in and lay gravel. A little after noon, the excavation team showed back up and went in with a bobcat and cleaned out a bunch of slush and made our pool a little deeper. They said the gunite team should come later or on Sunday to flash. I called the president and he said he didn't have a crew to come and panic set in. (Rain forecasts were 80-90% Tuesday -Saturday and we still needed rebar, stubbing, and inspector approval on Monday.)
5/3: Sunday - A little more washout and a lot of fear for my wife and I. Since this is a DIY job, we are on the hook for all extras and fears of having good ground and all kinds of things set in. We literally had the conversation of possibly bringing in some fill dirt and waiting until the next house.
5/4: Monday morning - Rebar showed up first thing (6:30am) and got to work. They nailed in some backer boards to the washing out areas which seemed to help. Around 10, my plumbing crew showed up. All was done by 3pm and my inspector showed up at 7pm and gave us the green light to proceed. (Note: late afternoon, I called the gunite company in a panic due to 80% rain forecast at noon and they assured me gunite we arrive first thing in the morning.)
5/5: Tuesday morning - No gunite! I called the president and he told me we were second! I was livid!!! He then told me they had other jobs to do if I didn't want them to come!?!?!? I walked the pool and was stunned as I approached the back of my house (near the back door) to find a ~3' snake! It was about 6' from my lined up against my house. I moved closer to my back door a step and see a second one about 2.5' long in front of the other also against the house. ***!!! I've lived in The Woodlands for 8+ years and never seen a snake. I've heard stories and know my wife has had fears, but I've always dismissed the fears. Anyway, I grabbed a shovel and did what I needed to do. (I have young kids and I don't need repeat visits.) Now a concern was in my head... Was this an omen? Am I dealing with snakes? I did look up that omen and someone suggested snakes aren't bad and the omen is snakes can only move forward and not backwards. Any way... My gunite crew showed up at 12:45 and shot 3 12 yard trucks before calling it a day at about 7pm. They flashed the whole pool, so cave ins weren't as much a concern at this point, but we somehow averted all rain on Tuesday. **** weather guessers!
5/6: Wednesday morning - The gunite crew returned at 6:30am, but didn't start shooting until after 8 because they were waiting on the compressor. We had a few small showers, but that didn't cause many delays. The crew stuck around until about 4pm, shooting another 3 full 12 yd trucks! They blew off their second job of the day. What a relief to be shot!!! And, I found a baby turtle in my closed garage (seriously, what is going on???). It was cute. Kids wanted to keep it, but we talked them into releasing it into a huge pond with tons of turtles. It was so great to get into the pool Wednesday night and get a feel for the pool we designed.
More to come! I'd love feedback (but not on the snake bit... that's done. And, I confirmed that they were both poisonous copperheads. And... I still haven't told the wife because she'll want to move.) Ok. Let me see if I can get pics posted.
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Thanks Amy! And Suz, I appreciate your support. Can't wait to scope your stuff. I've been up to my ears in work and pool stuff. Sun, glad to see yours coming along too!
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And one last thing... I have TONS of pictures. On here, I'm going to typically post a panoramic view from my back door. Obviously, it get slightly skewed, but will be consistent. I'll occasionally add a few other straight shots to even out the perspective.
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Here is a a picture of just before we got digging.