Austin, TX - Above Ground Salt Water Pool in Canyon - Construction Started 09/30/19

[Pool_Medic]

?. That’s ok, I know roughly the costs, just curious to see if you were brave enough to let everyone know lol. I’m always amazed when people really get into it and design masterpieces. Looking forward to the final pics, I hope you’re doing a collage in an album of start to finish. Good on you!

 

[kimkats]

No price can really be put on the memories you will be building with your family. To have a place where your child wants to be and where they bring their friends to hang out is priceless!!!

 

[DB-Cooper]

10/26 - Not much work done, but all plumbing is now going up go where the equipment will be:

 

[DB-Cooper]

It was a quiet week, we had a few days of storms and that delayed the Gunite. The plumbers came back a couple of times to do some small work. Here's a shot of the main plumbing all coming together:

10/28:

 

[kimkats]

Make sure to take a pick, print it out, and label all of those pipes. I hope you will never need this pic but you will thank me if you ever need to find just one pipe!

Kim

 

[HeyEng]

Don't feel bad on the price. Our neighbor just finished their "Epic" pool and just from the guestimates on the pulled permits, they are spending just about as much (if not more) as the house by itself is worth. If they were to sell, they would take a huge hit on the pool, but they say they are in for the long haul and not concerned about resell cost.

 

[DB-Cooper]

Gunite was done yesterday, 11/6. Regrettably, I'm traveling for work, but my surveillance camera got some of the action:

 

[kimkats]

NICE! Is there anyone home that can water the shell? This helps it cure slower. You can set up some spinklers to help with the job.

It is time for YOUR set of links!

Plaster links:
Ten Guidelines for Quality Pool Plaster Best one of all
All Plaster Finishes Should Last 20 Years
Not All Color Pigments are Good for Pools How to pick a good color for plaster.
A Plastering 'Watch List' | Professional Watershaping | Watershapes
Trouble Free Pool
Trouble Free Pool

Pool care links:
Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule
Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
Trouble Free Pool
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Now is also a good time to ask what test kit your PB will be providing so we can fill in any holes.

Kim

 

[DB-Cooper]

The pool builder is daily watering the shell. He said they do that everyday except weekends. Meeting them on Friday to go over the weekend duties.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Its to your benefit to do it more often than the once daily they'll do it. If you can, do once or twice more especially if its hot.

Maddie

 

[DB-Cooper]

Been watering 2x daily, we also had some rain. Here are some pictures from yesterday morning before/while watering it:

11/09:

 

[kimkats]

That last pic really show how BIG that it!!!!!

 

[DB-Cooper]

That last pic really show how BIG that it!!!!!

I went ahead to my top floor and shot some photos from a different vantage point:

 

[l1ltaral1l]

This is an amazing project!

 

[DB-Cooper]

11/16 - Beginning of the deck area:

 

[DB-Cooper]

11/22 - Getting read for deck, staircase framed, etc. Should be deck pouring next Tuesday, but need visual permit on my cabana paint off.

 

[bdavis466]

They backfilled against sandbags instead of pouring the retaining wall first?

I would question how well it's compacted

 

[DB-Cooper]

They backfilled against sandbags instead of pouring the retaining wall first?

I would question how well it's compacted

They said they're pouring the walls first on Tuesday. For the pool I know they poured the cradle first then did the gravel bags compacting, then poured the walls, so it's similar just sand for this part. The engineering specs called for less rebar of course and 95% minimum compacting, of course I'm sure that's somewhat hard to test for. They've been out there for multiple days hitting it with that flat compacting tool and a Honda Plate compactor. They've been taking their time with it for sure. It's a different sand underneath as well, a finer sand.

 

[bdavis466]

That looks like 6' of fill which would be hard to compact even under ideal circumstances - yours was far from ideal. I wouldn't expect those sandbags to have held up against proper compaction. The voids in between the sandbags will be enough for the sand to eventually settle into.

It would be worth paying for a soils engineer to do a compaction test. You should also flood that area with as much water as it can handle to see how much it settles. I bet the results will be alarming.

Sand was a poor choice for that application

 

[livinwell]

They said they're pouring the walls first on Tuesday. For the pool I know they poured the cradle first then did the gravel bags compacting, then poured the walls, so it's similar just sand for this part. The engineering specs called for less rebar of course and 95% minimum compacting, of course I'm sure that's somewhat hard to test for. They've been out there for multiple days hitting it with that flat compacting tool and a Honda Plate compactor. They've been taking their time with it for sure. It's a different sand underneath as well, a finer sand.

We had to fill and grade before they could dig the pool and also had to meet the minimum 95% compaction. Here in AZ it was $255 for the test and report. With having to spend so much on the prep, it is well worth getting the engineers out. Definitely worth the peace of mind. .02 from the peanut gallery. Your pool and entertainment area is going to be awesome.