Krusty's pool build

[Krusty]

Hey all. First I want to start out by saying thanks for a great site. I found the site while I was doing research on having a pool built. The info from this site was a big help as I interviewed pool builders and also in determining what equipment I wanted for the pool. I can only imagine what I would have ended up with had I not had this information!

The pool itself is now complete. I am pretty happy with my PB. There are a few things that didn't go quite right, but you almost always will have that. They started the pool on Sept 8th and were out of here in 3 weeks! We actually had a couple of nice weekends where we got to enjoy it. I now have the remaining landscaping to complete but that will have to wait until next spring when it warms up again.

Since the information from this site was so helpful, I thought I would share some photos of the build as some sort of a thank you. Hope you enjoy them.

This is how it lines up with the existing paver patio. The pavers go down to the boat dock. There is also an area to the left of the boat dock where I have a fire pit.

I built the outdoor kitchen last fall. The key switch for the automatic pool cover and the switch for the colored pool light will be installed in the kitchen area to help tie everything together.

 

[Krusty]

 

[Krusty]

 

[Krusty]

Back fill.

 

[Krusty]

Concrete decking getting poured. The concrete was pumped from the truck sitting in the street in front of the house.

 

[Krusty]

The "Buddy Seat". A lounge seat with a jet (return) in the back of each seat.

This is the pit for the automatic pool cover.

 

[Krusty]

Putting in the bottom of the pool....

 

[Krusty]

Liner set and pool fill.....

Going down to cut in the main drains...

 

[Krusty]

Changing the pavers to create an entrance to the pool area. Since I laid all of the other pavers, this was my chore. The newly laid block should weather to match the other pavers since they are actually leftovers that I saved from the original installation 4 years ago.

 

[Krusty]

Prepping for the retaining walls. I hired out the dig of the trenches, but I will be installing the walls.

Starting the wall behind the pool.

Starting the wall along side the pool. I got bored and decided to have both of the walls going at once!

 

[Krusty]

The retaining walls are now done. The finish grade is done and the yard is seeded. I probably won't get any grass to germinate until spring, but I put it down anyway just in case the weather decides to cooperate and warm up for a while.

In some of these pics you can also see the deck jets.

I sodded the area that the bobcat used as a travel path.

 

[Krusty]

That is all the pics for now. I have a lot of landscaping to do in the spring. I will be looking at the pics on this site and at others on the web to get some good ideas. I would like to work in some tropical plants somehow. I found one post on here that referred to Banana plants and how you could dig them up and over winter them in a cool dark area. May have to research that further while I am anxiously awaiting spring so that I can swim in my new pool again!

 

[Casey]

AMAZING!

 

[Henry Porter]

First I must admire the pool builders that you have contract. To my eye they seems to be very skilful. I'm specially impressed how they built the deepend with stonepowder(I guess it's stonepowder) so it fitted so perfectly with the liner. looks like a very tough job to get done properly.

Both me and my wife thinks your decking are so beatyful so I have to ask you a couple of questions, if you don't mind.
How did they made the lines that builds the pattern in the surface?
Did the concrete that you used contain a smaller fraction of stones than ususall? and do you know wich fraction?
And finally Did they use some sort of machine to get the surface that nice and smooth?

Beautyful pool and surroundings...

 

[Pisces]

Oh WOW!! Total slice of heaven, Krusty!! That's one beautiful place you have...and the outdoor kitchen is to die for. I really like the way you incorporated your BGE into the counterspace. Genius! Thanks for putting up your pics.

 

[Krusty]

Henry,

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. Been busy with the holidays coming up.

The bottom of the pool was done with a sand and brick mortar mixture. They mixed it on site and mixed it pretty dry. They did a good job with it, but unfortunately they walked on it a little bit before it set up hard. You can't see the footprints during the day, but at night when the light is on you can see a couple. We didn't notice it until after the pool was filled and there isn't much that can be done about it now. When we open the pool this spring, they are going to come back and try to knock the edges of the footprints down a little bit so that it doesn't show as bad.

The concrete guys didn't do anything special, it is basically a normal concrete job for here in the States. They use trowels and floats to get the surface really smooth and then after the concrete has pretty much set up they take a stiff brush broom and run across the surface. This gives the surface some texture so that it isn't slick when wet.

The lines on the surface of the concrete are for drainage and also to help control cracking. It doesn't prevent cracking, but it encourages the cracks to occur in the lines where they aren't as visible. They have a tool that they run on the surface of the concrete to create the lines. They use a 2x4 laid on the concrete as a straight edge when they use the tool. If you look at the set of pics that I posted at 11:52pm, the very last one in the post shows them setting the 2x4 that they used as a straight edge. They also have the same type of tool that they run along that outside perimeter to create a rounded bevel edge so that it isn't squared off. That is what the guy in the lower left hand corner of the same pic is using.

Here is a link that shows the tools. There are four trowels in the pic, the second one from the left is the edge tool and the one on the far right is the one for that creates the lines in the surface.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=35433

 

[Krusty]

Pisces,

Thanks for the compliments. I built the outdoor kitchen last fall. I thoroughly enjoyed it this summer. The extra counter top space is VERY handy, especially with the BGE. I really wish I lived someplace where I could enjoy the lake and pool year around instead of just for 6 moths. Winters are pretty depressing when you look out at a pool and lake that you can't use.

I have been following the pics of your pool build too. Very nice!

 

[Henry Porter]

Thanks Krusty for your detailed answer!
I never could have guess that they used that particular equipment to make the lines. I thought they made it with some sort of machine. It looks very good in any case.
We haven't decided wether we should build a wood deck or a concrete. If we go with the concrete I will definitely copy those lines that you have.
When I think about it, there are not many pools that I have seen on this site that have decking made of woods. I wonder why that is! Here is wood the most commmon by far, concrete is considerd more expensive and harder for people to do by themself.

Awesome pool by the way

 

[duraleigh]

When I think about it, there are not many pools that I have seen on this site that have decking made of woods. I wonder why that is! Here is wood the most commmon by far, concrete is considerd more expensive and harder for people to do by themself.

Interesting comment and I think I know the answer having just looked at your climactic conditions.

Wood does not last very long when subject to extreme changes in temperature and moisture. New pressure treated pine decking will barely last a couple of years here in the South if it is exposed completely to the weather. It will begin to warp and split and be pretty unsightly unless you take care to protect it.

My guess is that the eveness of your climate allows wood to last for years and years with much less care.

 

[Krusty]

In addition to Duraleigh's comments about longevity of wood, here are some reasons that I like concrete better than wood:

1) No splinters in bare feet
2) No stubbing of toes on nails/screws that work their way back up
3) Wood can get very slick when wet
4) I have a salt water pool so the nails/screws would corrode very quickly
5) Concrete decking goes right up against the pool coping providing extra rigidity/support to the pool walls with minimal expansion/contraction.

Of course these are just my thoughts and on the flip side wood does have some advantages over concrete.

Our price for the concrete decking was $5 per square foot. Installing a wood deck wouldn't have been much cheaper for me even if I would have done it myself. I would have had to use a synthetic decking board (Trex) to match my other deck which would add to the cost for me.