Someone screwed up but who?

[kimkats]

Oh I LOVE the tile! That is going to look so awesome on them!

I would talk to the sub that did them about HIM paying for the extra sq. feet money.

Kim

 

[SuzfromTexas]

PERSPECTIVE (cross posted)

So this has been totally stressing me out, didn't sleep last night, I've been ******, ranted, contacted my attorney etc. As I walked to my Capresso coffee maker this morning (unbelievably over priced coffee maker that does make great coffee, relevant based on what I'm about to write) as it's making my coffee with it's perfect grinding of fresh beans, perfect temp of reverse osmosis system treated water, perfect creama I go to my fully stocked fridge to get some creamer all the while fuming, angry, upset, frustrated etc.; I go to open my fridge door and I see a picture of a little girl who lives in Bolivia that lets say we're involved with. She's looking back at me smiling in front of the dirt floor shack she lives in, lives in extreme poverty, basically has nothing and I'm *****ing because my pool planters are too large. How disgusting am I huh?

Time to make lemonade out of these lemons, no more complaining.

You're ok now. More than ok! When you're ready, we all can't wait to see the lemonade you make! Hugs. Suz. (cross posted)

 

[Corleone]

A few weeks ago I got a pm from someone with questions about going the owner build route. I remember telling them that I thought the most important aspect was having the ability to be a problem solver. I had several instances in my build where I had to find solutions to problems I didn't exactly know the answer to. This forum and google are your best tools to figure out the answers to almost anything you can encouter.

Personally, I think they look good that size. Throw a tree in there (I'm sure a couple palms would look great and provide the pool some shade that you can enjoy as well) with some river rock or something and don't worry about maintenance for a planter if that's not something you and your wife are into.

 

[QingGuy]

I would talk to the sub that did them about HIM paying for the extra sq. feet money.

Yea, I think I'm going to give the sub an opportunity to share in the additional costs.

A few weeks ago I got a pm from someone with questions about going the owner build route. I remember telling them that I thought the most important aspect was having the ability to be a problem solver. I had several instances in my build where I had to find solutions to problems I didn't exactly know the answer to. This forum and google are your best tools to figure out the answers to almost anything you can encouter.

Personally, I think they look good that size. Throw a tree in there (I'm sure a couple palms would look great and provide the pool some shade that you can enjoy as well) with some river rock or something and don't worry about maintenance for a planter if that's not something you and your wife are into.

Going to go hit a nursery with the wife today. Thinking of throwing a tall 14' queen palm in them, maybe some canna tropicana for some color and then something low to the ground, different than what we had planned but we can make them pop. It will work out, much worse things to deal with than my pool planters being too big . . . perspective.

Regarding owner/builder; I think the other advice I'd give is being very detail oriented with EVERY detail. We were so detailed in measuring the inside and outside of the pool that we didn't think to measure these. That said, I don't feel too badly about missing it as several other subs didn't catch it either and they were basing their quotes on these.

 

[cbrach411]

Make one a spa? Lol although it might be too late for that.

 

[sgtolv]

Going to go hit a nursery with the wife today. Thinking of throwing a tall 14' queen palm in them

Avoid the queen palms if you can. They look great when you initially buy them in the summer but our winters combined with the winds make it very difficult for them to survive. They'll also drink more water than your pool. I guess if you're buying a mature one already it may tolerate the climate a little better. Last week I was at Star Nursery and one of the employees told me that the Queens should stay in San Diego where they belong and have no place in Las Vegas. Just something to think about

 

[QingGuy]

I think we spoke to the same guy last year, said the same thing about the Mexican fan palms we bought that are thriving. I think the deal with the queen palms are you need to wrap them during the winter months. My next door neighbor has several and he told me this and fertilizer are the keys.

 

[jojoman]

Don't know how cold winters can get in Vegas but around here in SE La. if it's a mild winter(say never gets below 25 or so)the Queen palms do well. It's the winters that it get into the teens or stay in the low 20's for hours that takes them out. All the big box stores sell them in this area in which they are not hardy. People like them because they grow fast and look great in no time until the cold gets them. Mexican fan palms have their own set of problems; can grow very tall, makes lots of seeds, hard the cut dead folds when it's tall but they take the cold much better than Queens do. Canary Island palms are just as cold tolerant as Mexican palms but grow much slower.

I think that you can make this mistake work out for you. I really like your pool and that's some nice looking tile your going to use.

 

[QingGuy]

So what is the net of my excavators mistake?

Some of you may have seen my post regarding the excavator making giant gun turrets out of my planters. OD should have been 5'6" and 5' (there are two). Instead, he missed the note on the excavation plans and made them 8'6 and 8'. I've included pictures of the Death Star and excavation plans prepared.

So while I've moved on I'm still curious what the net was of my excavators mistake. I'm thinking I lost about 1' of width in my shallow and deep ends but I don't understand pool geometry so I could be wrong. What was interesting was I had two subs tell us the dimensions were spot on which doesn't make any sense to me as it seems to me that the larger diameter would have pushed the planters into pool space. But again, what do I know, I'm a dumb sales guy

Anyway, anyone understand how this might work?



Man your battle stations!

 

[bmoreswim]

Re: So what is the net of my excavators mistake?

I don't know about the plans and the effects, of the "change" but from an outsiders perspective it looks completely normal as I'm envisioning landscaping in them to match their scale. Most people are afraid to go too big with hardscape and landscaping in general so to me this just kind of looks right. A 5' planter next to a 30 whatever foot pool is small. The bigger the better for scale around pools generally.
The landscaped area on the backside of my pool is a 75' diameter semi-circle.
I know it's very important to you to understand the implications of what happened, but really, it is what it is, and it looks great!

 

[QingGuy]

Re: So what is the net of my excavators mistake?

I know it's very important to you to understand the implications of what happened, but really, it is what it is, and it looks great!

It's my anal retentive nature I suppose. For instance, I'm currently tracking daily water usage over a week to get a solid average so when I fill the pool I can get as accurate gallon measurement as possible.

 

[S1ngram]

Re: So what is the net of my excavators mistake?

I think it will maybe look better, and here's why. The diameter of the two planters now appear to be closer to the diameter of your beach entry or sun deck or whatever those things are called. I realize the deck is not a complete circle, but from an aesthetics/design stand point I see some continuity. I think it looks great.

You can do a lot with landscaping to draw attention to or take attention away from the planters. You can do a low profile planting, just foliage plants, bright florals or taller plants. You could even do tropicals. I love that sort of stuff! My gears are spinning already!

 

[ummgood]

I understand I am the same personality. It might not have effected the pool. The question is did the center of the planter get pushed back from the pool? On your plan there is 11' from the center of the pool radius to the center of the right planter. I would measure that dimension again. If the measurement is still 11 feet then the planter is reducing the pool size. If the measurement is bigger by 1.5 feet then the planter shouldn't effect the pool at all.

- - - Updated - - -

Disregard that previous post. I was looking at your plan again and I see how your plan can be confusing. The right planter measurements do not go to the middle of the plantar. Maybe that is why it is bigger? The radius would have to be bigger to account for the offset of the measurements.

 

[SuzfromTexas]

Just ship that Death Star down to me here in Texas!! I'd love it!. Oh, wait! It's too BIG for my puny yard!

Quote from QingGuy: "But again, what do I know, I'm a dumb sales guy."

I don't think so! Anyone who can do what you've done building your own pool, ain't no dumb sales guy! You can come down and finish mine for me - in a heart beat.

You just wait, you're going to love your pool. But I do understand that need to know how it happened. I'm the same way and not sure why. I'm the youngest of three, and I always watched and learned from my sisters how to avoid mistakes (getting into trouble, or at least not getting caught!!). Maybe that has something to do with it. I've learned to embrace that part of me and try to reign it in when it's driving me batty. I also think there are a lot of reasons it's good to be that way. You're pool might have caved in by now if you weren't so detailed! (that's a sobering thought, huh?).

I wish I could help you figure it out. It does look like to me the planter on the right has an arrow pointing to it saying 4' R, which I assume means 4' Radius, giving it an 8' diameter. I see the same for your sunshelf. But I really don't know how to read those kinds of architectural drawings. You'll figure it out! Take care. Suz.

 

[ummgood]

I wish I could help you figure it out. It does look like to me the planter on the right has an arrow pointing to it saying 4' R, which I assume means 4' Radius, giving you an 8' diameter. I see the same for your spa. But I really don't know how to read those kind of architectural drawings. You'll figure it out! Take care. Suz.

Exactly! If they did the radius of the planter from the same pin as the pool radius then you didn't loose any pool area at all. You just gained planter area and a bit more required coping and finish materials.

 

[QingGuy]

Exactly! If they did the radius of the planter from the same pin as the pool radius then you didn't loose any pool area at all. You just gained planter area and a bit more required coping and finish materials.

Just confirmed I lost pool width due to this error. I should be between 10.5' and 11' and I'm just over 9'. It's difficult to tell from pictures how narrow this section feels. I understand once we get water in it may feel bigger but still we lost around 14% width in that area (I'm not as worried about the deep end). The gigantic planters are the gigantic planters, but for me this is significant. I've contacted the excavator a second time and told him I need to hear back from him regarding how he can rectify this situation otherwise I'm going to to have to seek outside advice.

 

[outdoorsgal]

QingGuy, that's a big deal. i'd try to get it fixed if i were u. u'd hate to regret not having gotten it fixed later. i posted on here a question before building my pool if i should go bigger than 10 feet wide and EVERYONE said to go bigger. i look at the pool and sometimes think i might regret the yard space we gave up but overall i'm sure i'll be glad we did it. we spent a lot of time thinking about it, measuring... i guess it depends on what u want to use the space for but most people on this forum seem to think bigger is better, at least from my post that time. u planned it the way u wanted it and it's such a major change i'd hate to see u be disappointed always. what a huge stressor! u won't be the first person, though, and hopefully all will work out. keep us posted!

 

[QingGuy]

QingGuy, that's a big deal. i'd try to get it fixed if i were u. u'd hate to regret not having gotten it fixed later. i posted on here a question before building my pool if i should go bigger than 10 feet wide and EVERYONE said to go bigger. i look at the pool and sometimes think i might regret the yard space we gave up but overall i'm sure i'll be glad we did it. we spent a lot of time thinking about it, measuring... i guess it depends on what u want to use the space for but most people on this forum seem to think bigger is better, at least from my post that time. u planned it the way u wanted it and it's such a major change i'd hate to see u be disappointed always. what a huge stressor! u won't be the first person, though, and hopefully all will work out. keep us posted!

He's on his way over this afternoon and we're going to try and figure something out. For the life of me I cannot imagine how he didn't think I'd be concerned about pushing the planter into the shallow-end width, we removed a step because I was concerned about how narrow the shallow end was, and then just to take away what I'd just gained with the step, un-real! I removed my tanning ledge to get more shallow end space, how could he not think, hmm, this guy had me remove a step and an entire tanning ledge because he's concerned about width, let's push this planter into the shallow end and make it narrower . . . I kept telling him (and everyone) it seemed narrow to me, can't tell you how many times I've been told, "wait until you get water in it." Turns out I was right, it's narrower than it was supposed to be!

 

[ummgood]

He's on his way over this afternoon and we're going to try and figure something out. For the life of me I cannot imagine how he didn't think I'd be concerned about pushing the planter into the shallow-end width, we removed a step because I was concerned about how narrow the shallow end was, and then just to take away what I'd just gained with the step, un-real! I removed my tanning ledge to get more shallow end space, how could he not think, hmm, this guy had me remove a step and an entire tanning ledge because he's concerned about width, let's push this planter into the shallow end and make it narrower . . . I kept telling him (and everyone) it seemed narrow to me, can't tell you how many times I've been told, "wait until you get water in it." Turns out I was right, it's narrower than it was supposed to be!

Yes I would be upset if I lost pool width. My shallow and deep ends come down to 10' radiuses. My original plan had an 8' radius and that was way too small when we saw the paint and pin in our yard. Those ends are still petite but they are better at least. I would see what you can do and am interested in how it gets resolved. I am guessing once you get rebar and gunite making the pool wider will be quite the large ordeal.

 

[kimkats]

Better now than after the finish coat is on!

You do what feels right for YOU. You have to live with it and pay for it so............

Kim