Finally Broke Ground On It!! The Saga Continues.

it was interesting to watch the plastering process. no pumps used. they went old school and used two 55 gallon drums. everything mixed inside of the pool and then 5 gallon bucket used to spread the plaster. from there four other guys were using their trowels and working it in from bottom to top. it was their first time using Diamond Brilliance and they really liked it. they have installed a lot of Dimond Brite but this was so much smoother according to them.

I asked why no pump? foreman's reply was he grew up doing it this way and just preferred it that way. the entire crew was very picky on the mix. used a sponge to clean their trowel and that was it. no water added to their troweling process. these guys were out of south Florida and live here for three weeks out of the month and then go home for a few days.

since Hurricane Michael it's nearly impossible to find people to work. a lot of them moved out of the area after the storm and the current wait to get started should you sign a contract today, you're looking at least 6 months at a minimum.

several of the installers came by today just to see how it turned out. they were in love with it and took tons of pics.
 
I think I may end up in jail by tonight.

So the crew shows up today tying up a few last ends on the equipment. I see bags of salt laying on the deck and I ask what they intended to do with that? They said add it to the pool. I thought you were supposed to wait at least 30 days? Nope that's the way we do it. I disagreed and was pretty admit about not adding salt now. They just finished the new plaster 4 days ago. 4 whole days!!!!!!!!!!!!

I come in and call PB. Told him the story and he says that's the way they do it. I recited the Mater Plaster Associations guidelines and he says that's just a bunch of BS. He's been building pools for 40+ years blah, blah, blah. His reasoning was they did a water wash on the acid and that sped things along. Again, I disagreed but in the end he is holding the warranty card on the pool not me. I asked him to error on the side of caution.

PB's son showed up and said don't add salt for a few days so I am guessing he and dad talked about it and saw the light. Ten minutes later I see one of the helpers out there tossing in bags of salt. I made a bee line out to the deck and asked WTH are you doing? He said adding salt. I thought we were going to hold off? He said PB called him back and said go ahead and add it.

I am sooooooooooo hot right now it isn't funny. :mad: :mad:
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I think I may end up in jail by tonight.

So the crew shows up today tying up a few last ends on the equipment. I see bags of salt laying on the deck and I ask what they intended to do with that? They said add it to the pool. I thought you were supposed to wait at least 30 days? Nope that's the way we do it. I disagreed and was pretty admit about not adding salt now. They just finished the new plaster 4 days ago. 4 whole days!!!!!!!!!!!!

I come in and call PB. Told him the story and he says that's the way they do it. I recited the Mater Plaster Associations guidelines and he says that's just a bunch of BS. He's been building pools for 40+ years blah, blah, blah. His reasoning was they did a water wash on the acid and that sped things along. Again, I disagreed but in the end he is holding the warranty card on the pool not me. I asked him to error on the side of caution.

PB's son showed up and said don't add salt for a few days so I am guessing he and dad talked about it and saw the light. Ten minutes later I see one of the helpers out there tossing in bags of salt. I made a bee line out to the deck and asked WTH are you doing? He said adding salt. I thought we were going to hold off? He said PB called him back and said go ahead and add it.

I am sooooooooooo hot right now it isn't funny. :mad: :mad:

Similar thing almost happened to us. Pool guy hired by the pool builder who did the start up wanted to add salt at 10 days. There are only 2 things in BOLD on the Pebbletec plaster 'guide' that was left with us when they plastered....1) don't stop filling once you start and 2) don't add salt for 28 days. This was a 2 sided list of things to do/don't do and those are the only 2 in bold...so you figure it's important. And, when they did add salt...dumped it all in the deep end and pushed it right into the drain without turning off the salt cell...hopefully it's not damaged (of course we got a 'high salt' error). Sometimes trying to keep ahead of these guys who 'should' know what they're doing is exasperating. Having never had a pool before, we often aren't even sure what we should have been questioning.
 
Speaking of lights. Make sure there is a light by your equipment pad. You will thank me the first time you have to go out there at night time for some reason.

Kim:kim:
See this is why I read all the other construction threads.....

Yeah. Good idea. I will add one as soon as they are done and out of here. Didn't even think of it, actually. It's dark on that side of the house at night....

Thanks
 
See this is why I read all the other construction threads.....

Yeah. Good idea. I will add one as soon as they are done and out of here. Didn't even think of it, actually. It's dark on that side of the house at night....

Thanks

I don't know how I missed giving you that piece of advice :( I am glad you saw it here and can do it!

Kim:kim:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rattus Suffocatus
my arms are too tired from hauling all that rock. tequila shots is about all can manage ... lol
We moved 12 tons of rock in two weekends here..... :) I still have about the amount of "rip rap" to put in the drainage wash that you have there.. Hopefully after that I will never have to do that again.. Even with a couple of teenagers helping, it's a little like work.

Looks good. I sorta miss river rock.. You don't see it here like you do in the Midwest. Everything here is blown out of the side of a mountain...

It looks nice though..
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJFaninTN
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.