Discovery Bay Pool Build

[joeprunc]

Pool builder is on a fast track to wrap everything up. If all goes well, we have concrete decking scheduled for being poured on Sept 8, and pebble Sept 11. I'm excited to be done, but some of the final details on concrete deck and pool color are keeping me up at night.

Selecting concrete coloring is harder than the pool design, and every application of color hardener and release are different.
We like this concrete coloring...we would od something similar with a Roman slate stamp
Solomon 1/2 Dose Trail Dust with Brickform Cappucino release.

Then the Pool color.....
My wife does not like Midnight blue (see saw green )
So we will probably go with Aqua blue or Tropics Blue. From the various online galleries, Pool finish Gallery TFP it looks like the ones with additional glass really help richen the blue color which we are looking for.
We like this finish color

 

[joeprunc]

Concrete deck was poured, 26 yards!! The guys that did it were phenomenal. We chose Davis Sandstone base, with Brickform Cappuccino release. 8" boarders with middles stamped with roman slate. There seems to be a slight pink hue in the release (I'm red/green color blind so I can't see it, but my wife sure does). We are not 100% pleased with the release and now trying to remove it with additional pressure washing and if needed acid wash. These photos are fresh, so coloring will change as the concrete cures.

Coping and waterline tiles are all installed and grouted, fire pit going in. Now we just need to put equipment in, fix fence, and plaster/pebble.


Concrete hours after crew poured and stamped.


Concrete after excessive pressure washing to remove release


Concrete after first pressure wash to remove release.

 

[BigPapaSmurf]

Very nice.

 

[spatrickp]

@joeprunc - Your pool looks fantastic - wonderful choices - I hope you were able to sort out the patio color issues you were facing.
If I can go back a while in this post. You shared a picture of your friends pool (the one you liked the color blue of) - can you tell me what kind of coping they used, pre-cast concrete, limestone, travertine??

thank you!!

 

[joeprunc]

@spatrickp thank you. Patio issues are still being worked.

Friend used precast coping on his pool. Not sure what color, but it looks more gray in person that in that photo.

 

[spatrickp]

@spatrickp thank you. Patio issues are still being worked.

Friend used precast coping on his pool. Not sure what color, but it looks more gray in person that in that photo.

much appreciated - thank you!! Good luck with the patio!!

 

[joeprunc]

Well we had some more progress this weekend....not on the deck.
Pool equipment went in, I wish the wiring sleeves were ran a bit cleaner. I do like how the piping and electrical do not come directly through the concrete although I do wish I had a drain spout in that area, for washing

• Pentair IntelliCenter i8P
• Pentair IntelliFlowXF VSF
• Pentair 400K BTU/HR Heater
• IntelliChlor IC60
• Pentair Clean and Clear Cartridge Filter CCP520
• Actuator valves
• Jandy Air Blower 1.5 HP
• (2) Intellibrite 5G Pool Lights
• (2) MicroBrite
• (1) Intellibrite 5G Spa Light
• Dolphin Active 20 (still in box)

I was able to restain most of the fence before equipment and concrete went in....not bad for a 35 year old fence. They also started the fire pit build...going with a 4'x6' fire pit, and double 2'x2' burners

 

[joeprunc]

So with the deck I DO NOT want to seal it with an acrylic sealer, however we do like the look of the concrete when its darker (wetted). I prefer not to have a glossy finish (wetted surface look), and do not want to make the deck slicker with an acrylic. Most importantly I do not want to re surface the concrete deck every 3 years.

After hours of research and talking to various companies, the Deco-crete Color Boost seems to be the sealer to fit my needs. Its a penetrating sealer that enhances color, but doesn't provide a glossy finish. However I cannot find anywhere what "enhance color" means???
Deco-Crete Color Boost

Does anyone have any great experience with a penetrating sealer that darkens the concrete, but not provide a wetted surface?

 

[joeprunc]

Progress has really slowed with summer passing us by. Our PB was out with COVID for 2 weeks and little to no progression .

We did however get a deal to have synthetic turf installed. So while the fence was down they decided to work this with a bobcat vs wheel barrels. It was also really nice to see how well all the newly placed yard/deck drains worked when we had 3+ inches of rain last weekend. Fence is going up this week, and hopefully pre-plaster inspection shortly.

For pebble, we decided to go with a custom blend from Liquid Diamond to provide us with a comparable finish to a micro tropics blue, we saw a pool with the application and we really really liked it. We also did really prefer the feel of the micro over mini.

 

[Cena_sea]

Hi. With the rain, the concrete looks like it’s been sealed wet. Actually the rain is enhancing the concrete I think— the color looks like stone.

Can’t wait to see your custom color!

 

[joeprunc]

We've had a few challenges over the past few weeks, but finally got plaster and water. I've been working reckless hours and have not been able to see my pool in the daylight. My pool guy sent some videos to make me jealous.

 

[joeprunc]

And the fill process calculated 642 gallon fill per hour with two hoses. Took approx. 26 hours to fill.

 

[joeprunc]

Pump flow is around 1800rpm and clearing ledger

 

[joeprunc]

Finally got to see it I day light.

 

[joeprunc]

Its been a long haul. Finished the firepit using a 50/50 mix of gray (non reflective) and reflective pacific blue fire glass for the fire pit. AND TURF finally went in!!

Any advice for landscaping ideas would be 100% appreciated.

 

[Cena_sea]

You have a trouble free pool and a trouble free lawn. Love the glass bling to the fire pit.

 

[joeprunc]

Spent the weekend getting our pergola ready. Its going to be 8'-6" tall x 8' wide x 18' long, 6X6 redwood. And using the Linx system so I don't have to bolt it to the new concrete.
I cleaned up several beams that I previously had in our backyard to repurpose for the pergola, also learned that rough cut is larger than finish 6x6, so I had a lot of plaining to do over the last few weekends to fit the brackets.

Hopefully it will be assembled next weekend.

 

[joeprunc]

Pergola has been risen. Holy F was it heavy to lift.

 

[joeprunc]

Well we got the first glimpse of summer. We had 80 F days this past weekend and had the in-laws over. We heated to the pool to 84F and had a wonderful day swimming all weekend. Its going to be a wonderful summer.

Having intellicenter was nice! From my bed the night before I set a "one time schedule" for the heater to kick on a 5AM, pool was at temperature by 10AM. Looked at our gas usage, for the day (also heating the hot tub for quite a while at 96F) we used 23 therms

 

[joeprunc]

Getting more furniture for the yard.


Finished building a table...I have a whole new appreciation for finish woodworkers



And now enjoying