Concrete pool up north

Hey, Mats,

Your willingness to tackle tough jobs really shows. I have installed plenty of tile with traditional masonry grout but never epoxy......I just didn't think I was up to the task.

I'll bet your work will end up looking like the rest of your pool....spectacular.

Hang in there!
 
Thank you Dave my good friend! Before I forget it send my best to Meg :wave:
I think it will turn out pretty well in the end. It demands a few more steps than ordinary grout does.
If you overlook the applying itself! You have go over it with a coarse scotch brite pad first thing after the grout has settled, after that can you work the grouts so they will become smooth with the white scotch brite pad. Not until a bit after that is it time for the first sponge with circuit movements. Followed by two wiping off sponges with vinegar added to the water.
What I saw in the end of todays work was that the grout after the last sponge with the vinegar healed together by itself. Small cracks that the sponge left seemed to dissapear after a while. I have to wait and see tomorrow if it lays any truth in that.
This task gonna take some time that's for sure but I'm so used to that now, so I more or less expect it to take atleast two times as long as I initially think :hammer:

Downsides with DIY work on weekends Dave must be that the dinner suffers big time. I wasn't inside until 8:30 this evening and then it's a bit late to make a real dinner, something we really puts a lot of efforts into on weekends normally. So now I'm sitting here with a glas of wine that longing for some good food as a companion.
But I have been drinking wine to sandwiches before so I will survive :cool:

Enjoy your saturday night now and we will see each other here again tomorrow!

all the best
Mats
 
Was out there with the morning coffey and the camera for a first check!
If I were grading the result would decent lay good in my mouth, a bit better than I first thought! But I know already how I will work this grout to perfection on the next work session :cool: This will not happen until next weekend beacuse of the weather we expect here during the day and next work-week will be away from home :( hopefully the last one before the vacation :party:
It suits me pretty good though beacuse than I can collect a few items that I run out of yesterday. Scotch brite pads and sponges are items that you need a lot of. I bought the expensive cellulose sponges but i found them a little coarse in it's texture and will try regular tile sponges that are suppose to dissolve when exposed to the epoxy. But for the final wipe will they do the job and hopefully leave the grout a bit smoother.

EDIT: I see that the quality of my photos leaves a lot more to desire, I'm out for buying a new one just need some cash to flow in the household, so in 2012 or somewhere around there would be to expect :shock: I wonder if concrete pool up north still will be a active by then...... I really hope not :wink: Canon D7 is the one that I want

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That's some nice groutwork, Mats. Especially with epoxy. I'll do a lot of things, electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pipefitting, and even the computer stuff that I make my living with, but I don't think I could handle that grout work. Good job. As usual, your work is exemplary.
 
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

Lynn! I saw your post yesterday but I was to tired to work them arms out then, but today did I sneak down to the hotell gym and had a good workout on them, just beacuse you mentioning it! They are pretty good already if I may say it myself, you have to wait and see :cool: Nah Lynn I'm putting you on here! I'm just a small fellow, no more :cool:

Shane! I hope to get most of the grouting job done this weekend after that takes it three days for the grout to cure.
I have electricity down in the machineroom and will hook up pump, heat pump, and swg now at the start so i can get going as soon as possible. It will be very interesting to fill the pool beacuse I haven't put any mind into the pool chemistry yet, so that will be a real challenge. I had a TF testkit sent to me last year, a pretty stupid thing to do. If I'm correct informed does not those regents last forever :hammer: I hope they are still good.
One thing I will be careful about is to make sure that I keep track of how much water I fill in the pool so I know it's capacity. I hope to be able to solve much of my problem with the poolcalculater that way :goodjob: Together with poolschool of course.

I'm going home tomorrow and will finish pouring the last of the black concrete on the top of surrounding walls. DW have decided to take in a contractor for the stucco on the walls. I need to put on two layers of stucco to get a good result, first a hard blend and aftet that a softer one, that way will you have a watertight surface that stand against freezing on the winter time.
I have no problem to work with stucco, have done a few projects in the past, my own house for example! But the times passes fast right now and I really don't have the time if I shall get the time to start with the wood deck this summer. After all can even I enjoy a few days of labour free time, especially now when we will have a pool :whoot:
 

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From what I've read you should replace your droppers once a year. So you may have jumped the gun on the test kit purchase....but I know how it is, I would have done the same thing. I wouldnt even worry about the chemistry of the pool. With all the knowledge and helpfull people on this site it will be sparkly in no time. I'm pretty sure when it comes time to fill it up you could purchase a water meter to hook up to your hose bib or where ever you fill it from.
 
puffy said:
This project was amazing to follow. We are currently checking on prices for putting a pool in - ongoing costs seem to be very high - what are thought on an above ground pool?

High Puffy!
I have no clue how much price difference in general there is between a inground vs abg. Poolwise have I seen many projects where they build in above ground pools in pooldecks, often wood decks. Thoose projects are common here in sweden and they look terrific!

Shane bad news about the drops :evil: I have to talk to Dave about new drops then, another cost that I don't really need right now :twisted:
Thanks for the heads up anyway!!
 
Thanks Dlduvall I will start with original regents to see if they work. I haven't stored them cold I'm afraid but they haven't been exposed to UV atleast.

A lesson was learned today!
I can't remind me reading that epoxy grout should be protected from sun after it's started to settled in. Unfortunately in the end of todays work did we see how the grout started to bubble in some of tile lines. We didn't think much about it first. Had to go over them once more with the sponge and they turned out smooth and nice again. But gradually as the sun turned more to our side more of these bubbles appeared. Lucky me that I got a few tarps at home so I could cover the area from the sun.
I'm affraid that this side not gonna turn out as good as the first one did. I have go out there pretty soon as I expect the sun to dissapear any minute now and see if the bubbles has reversed or if I can press them flat again with my thumb.

Exactly the same pics as last time except for the shirtless appearance :shock: :oops: :?[attachment=2:38sk1nx5]Grouting day 2 IMG_7872.gif[/attachment:38sk1nx5][attachment=1:38sk1nx5]Grouting day 2 IMG_7877.gif[/attachment:38sk1nx5][attachment=0:38sk1nx5]Grouting day 2 IMG_7878.gif[/attachment:38sk1nx5]
 

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The bubbles was still there :( I was able to press some of them in again but a few a still there.
I don't think they will show once the water is in but it's just boring to know that they are there.
I will get up early tomorrow and get one bucket up and then another one in the evening, after that is the floor left :whoot:
 
It's so hard labour to apply this type of grout that we have decided that one bucket/day in enough.
It takes approx 4,5 hours from the mixing to the final wipe off with the sponges.
So instead of mixing another bucket will I get out and pour some concrete for the walls.
Overcast today, so no bubbles in the grout :goodjob:
 
Good Morning (for me, anyway), Mats,

I'm only posting to offer words of encouragement. You have tackled a truly difficult task working with that epoxy and I can imagine how discouraged you must be.

When I was doing my pool (far slower than you) Sometimes I had to tell myself, "Well, I'm further along than I was yesterday....not much, but making progress." It helped me from getting too depressed when I got into a situation that was a little too much for me.

The final finishing stages are always tough on any project (as you know) but you have laid a great foundation and your pool will be a marvelous tribute to your skills and determination.

If those words don't help, please consume a very large bottle of good wine and post back in a day or two!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

PS - I don't know if it's been asked, but when/where did you learn English? You have a great grasp of the language and I think you must use it quite often. Do others in your family know it as well?
 
I can't wait to see you and your wife floating in the pool! :mrgreen: You have certainly done an outstanding job on this pool build thus far and it's only going to get better!
 
I'm in after a marathon day out there and have accomplished a lot. Or I should say we. Beacuse there is no way I can deal with epoxy grout alone. Not if they come in 10kg buckets that ours does. I wish they have been half that size, that would be hard enough. Both my daughters helps me and DW with supplying us with fresh water. we have 7 buckets that constantly has to be refilled.
lukewarm water(looked up that word in the dictionary Dave :cool: ) is to prefer, so they use a water boiler that they fill and blend with cold water to get that.
They did a awesome job today, I was little slower getting it up today, I was just out of strength and wokred as fast as I could. For a second there did I thought that it would burn a away from us. So Sara our oldest went down and helped me with the final sponge, with the best looking grouts so far as a result :goodjob:

After that have I mixed and filled 58 feet of black concrete on the top of the wall. I have worked non stop for 12 hours with a little break for a snack. So I'm tired but happy that much has been achived.

Sara graduate from junior highschool on thursday and I really need to clean up our yard before that, so there will be no more pool building until next weekend. There is only the floor and the stairs left to grout now, there might be a possiblity that we can get that done next weekend.
Nevertheless! the grout takes three days to cure so there will be no filling until the weekend after that anyway. Little later than I stated on my time schedule but on that schedule didn't I calculate with dealing with the grout myself.

Hahah Dave!
To tell you the truth! When I re-read my post's do I often think that I should have used this or that word instead, or that I should have put the words in another order. That is my biggest grip I think besides from the poor spelling of course :oops: That I often put the words in the wrong order. What looks good when I writes often looks weird when I have submit my post. But I can't edit every post that I make so I usually let it be.
I actually thinks that my earlier post's in this thread were better written from my side, that stroke me when I looked through all the pages the other day. I post more often now so I were probably putting more efforts to my post's back then.
I think I speak pretty good if I get some practise, takes a while before it's starting to flow but a glass of wine or two usually helps in the beginning. I worked as an au-pair in LA back in 1989 it was there I picked up the language first and after that have I travelled with both family and job so I have been able to maintain it.
I participate in a few American forums aswell where I read and write pretty much.
Both my daughters master the english language very good. They are both very good in school just like my wife was when she was young, I mean younger(you never knows if she is in here reading sometimes :cool: ). Sara and I use to speak to each other in english almost on a daily basis. Elin are more shy of nature so she won't speak if your not threatened her :cool: but she is very good at it.

Casey my friend! you will get a flood of pictures when this pool is filled. You will see so much of us that you will beg us to stop eventually :cheers:
 

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