Austin Owner Build (Raised Pool with Infinity Edge)

[riley00dog]

Wowsers [emoji44] It just keeps getting better. I love your attention to detail. It looks amazing.

 

[jatkinson]

There he is. The tile job looks excellent! Thanks for the update!

 

[kchinger]

That tile job is incredibly ambitious and somehow even better executed.

 

[GregSS]

Thanks for all of the kind words!

I was able to find LED stainless steel step light that I hope will last. I got a pretty good price on the fixtures, but with 16 lights it still cost over a grand. The lights are hooked up to an extra landscape lighting transformer I had around the house. The lights are turned on and off by a timer (the timer fits inside of the transformer box) that has virtually unlimited options—I am using a dusk to dawn setting. The lights make the steps a lot brighter than I thought they would.

 

[GregSS]

I also dug the trench for my plumbing at my equipment pad. The trench is 30’ long and about 3’ wide—I had to jackhammer the entire trench. The advantage of all the rain was that it softened up the rock.

I will purchase my equipment for the pool in the next week, or so.

I have started the plumbing. The 3” pipe is difficult to work with.

 

[kimkats]

"soften up the rock" I guess every bit helps. I bet you don't want to see another jack hammer for a long time with that one!

Those lights are bright! For them to show up in the daylight gives an idea how bright they are at night! That look wonderful, straight, and centered!

Kim

 

[PoolGate]

My low voltage stair lights are similar to yours in that they shine straight out. After installing them I realized that I should have installed the ones with the downward cup on them so only the stairs were lit up. I plan on replacing them next year. Problem with mine is the stairs face the pool deck where people sit and at night that are kind of annoying in your eyes.

I got these:

But should have got these:

 

[Amazed]

I love your attention to detail. Lovely.

 

[GregSS]

My pool equipment was finally delivered. The Pentair UltraTemp Eti (hybrid) heater is huge. Pool equipment is crazy expensive.

 

[kimkats]

BUT oh so needed! That IS one HUGE heater!!! But again that is one big pool so.....

Kim

 

[ctrav]

Greg Im fairly certain the heater is large enough to just go ahead and run an extra line to my pool for heating as well

 

[bdavis466]

I envy the areas with reasonable electrical rates to allow a heat pump.

Yours is the best of both worlds... Curious to see how you like it.

 

[GregSS]

Greg Im fairly certain the heater is large enough to just go ahead and run an extra line to my pool for heating as well

LOL! The heater only puts out 220 BTU when running in gas and heat pump mode. But the shear size of the heater is crazy--it weighs 450 pounds.

I envy the areas with reasonable electrical rates to allow a heat pump.

Yours is the best of both worlds... Curious to see how you like it.

I hope the heater works well. I have reasonable electric rates and lots of solar panels on my house.

The biggest issue I have with the hybrid heater is that Pentair does not have the propane conversion kit out yet (I have propane at my house which is insanely expensive.). So I will have to rely on the heat pump until some time next year when the conversion kit comes out (supposedly early 2019).

I am using a lot of new technology on this pool (hybrid heater and Intellicenter i10ps)--I hope it does not come back to bite me in the rear end.

 

[jimim]

hybrid heater. that is really cool. i did not know they existed. kinda makes good for when 1 rate is higher than the other. right now our electric is insane but gas is wicked cheap. a few years ago gas was nuts andelectric was good.

build is looking really good man!

 

[Foosman]

Great progress. The Austin weather has definitely not helped you out this winter. That heater makes my Raypak look small I'm sure you thought of this, but another options for controlling the outdoor lights is to wire the transformer into the Intellicenter. Good move on catching the plumbing issue now, although I'm sure the dig must have sucked. I had to dig up my pipes during the build, they were also buried in screened roadbase, but not very deep. I had to use a pick ax because once it settles...it settles.

Have you looked into cable railing yet? I'm planning to put some up when it warms up. It's more expensive than I thought as I'd like to use aluminum posts to avoid rust. It also requires a post every 3-4'.

 

[GregSS]

Great progress. The Austin weather has definitely not helped you out this winter. That heater makes my Raypak look small I'm sure you thought of this, but another options for controlling the outdoor lights is to wire the transformer into the Intellicenter. Good move on catching the plumbing issue now, although I'm sure the dig must have sucked. I had to dig up my pipes during the build, they were also buried in screened roadbase, but not very deep. I had to use a pick ax because once it settles...it settles.

Have you looked into cable railing yet? I'm planning to put some up when it warms up. It's more expensive than I thought as I'd like to use aluminum posts to avoid rust. It also requires a post every 3-4'.

The weather has been a real problem! However, I have been slowly working on the pool--just not posting as much. I will try to post some updates soon.

I might put the light transformer on the Intellicenter--it would be easier to turn the step lights on and off remotely.

I have not priced the cable railing. I will measure in the next week, or so, and get quotes. I will install the railing myself to save money. But, I plan on using 316 stainless, which is crazy expensive.

Are you getting quotes installed or do you plan to install the railing yourself?

 

[Foosman]

I have not priced the cable railing. I will measure in the next week, or so, and get quotes. I will install the railing myself to save money. But, I plan on using 316 stainless, which is crazy expensive.

Are you getting quotes installed or do you plan to install the railing yourself?

I’m planning to install the cable railing myself. I’ve installed wrought iron before and am comfortable drilling/anchoring posts into concrete...I rent a Hilti and it goes thru it like butter. If you find any local suppliers for posts, etc. I’d be interested in what you find.

 

[acard1990]

WOW that's pretty much all that needs to be said.
I am a fairly confident DIYer, but just about everything you've done is on my "yea... better get a pro for this" list.
Great job on the tile work. I renoed a bathroom a few months ago and realized how many little tricks you need to know.

Cant wait to see this completed.

 

[GregSS]

I continue to work on the project on the weekends. The travertine has been an issue. With 6' to 9' of fill, settling continues to be a thorn in my side. I have relaid part of the travertine 4 times. I installed deck drain to help push water off of the deck. I am not done with the travertine, but I have the majority of it installed. You can see in the pictures that my water bowls are set.

I hired a plumber to hook up my gas (a licensed plumber is required to perform this work in my area). Unfortunately, I had to dig up my gas line for the inspection, but it was not too bad since the dirt was still loose from the initial dig. The gas work passed on the first inspection. I was lucky and found a retired plumber on Nextdoor that does an occasional job for extra spending money. The retired plumber ended up saving me almost $1,000 over another plumber that gave me a quote (other plumbers would not even bother to give me a quote).

 

[kimkats]

Sad to hear the fill keeps giving your problems. I know how hard you worked to try to keep that from happening! GURRRRR for having to dig up the gas line but at least it was kind of easy.

Sweet on finding the retired guy for the work!! SCORE! win-win for both of you!

That looks so pretty! What is next?

Kim