Finished: Build North East Atlanta

[orthopod]

Here is a pic graded out. Plumbing to come soon. They will finishe grading tomorrow. This is a panoramic from the upstairs bedroom. We altered a few things once they started digging. Pool Wall closest to house to side of hot tub has a long bench to sit on, where the original sun shelf was going. We got rid of that because the large zero entry sun shelf . We got rid of the grotto. We didn't like the fake look the large flat rock going over the grotto was going to have. Also thought about the humidity here, the grotto was going to be a source of mildew...dark, dank. Im trying to make this an easy to take care of pool.

The form wall will be half that size, about 24-30 inches high on the back wall. Its nice standing in the pool, walking around and tweaking the design. Our pool builder is great. We have made changes on the fly and he hasn't missed a beat.
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We were concerned about the deep end. The kids will be able to jump off the waterfall into the deep end. I was worried it wasn't big enough, but after seeing the slope and size of it, its a standard dive pool slope. We wont allow diving.

More to follow.

We are thinking about Wet Edge Signature Matrix, Tahoe. We want a deeper blue without a black bottom. We want to be able to see snakes/critters. Neighbors have had cottonmouths Anyone have any favorite wet edge colors.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Well, a plus with that zero degree entry is any livestock that get in (and they will!) can also easily get out again. We hope.

I think you made a smart decision on the grotto. IMO too much fake rock goin' down these days.. looks out of place in neighborhoods with Queen Anne houses or such styles that are obviously not out in nature.

Maddie

 

[orthopod]

Well, a plus with that zero degree entry is any livestock that get in (and they will!) can also easily get out again. We hope.

I think you made a smart decision on the grotto. IMO too much fake rock goin' down these days.. looks out of place in neighborhoods with Queen Anne houses or such styles that are obviously not out in nature.

Maddie

We have TONS of deer. Im hoping one the fence goes up they will stay out. On a side, our fence builder recommended against sharp top decorative fencing. Says the deer jump and he's had many many calls about deer getting gutted on the fence tops.
I had a patient 3 weeks ago at his daughters birthday party fall off a step ladder getting a balloon, and impale his arm on a decorative aluminum fence. Wasn't pretty!

Our rock is all natural boulders, locally sourced.

 

[jimim]

very cool build. since i assume u got a pretty big budget and are going full tilt make sure they pool wire for speakers and cat6 for the pool house and pad so u can hardwire vs wireless.

 

[kimkats]

LOVE to hear about a PB with the PO in mind! FUN to tweak as it evolves!

Kim

 

[orthopod]

very cool build. since i assume u got a pretty big budget and are going full tilt make sure they pool wire for speakers and cat6 for the pool house and pad so u can hardwire vs wireless.

Thanks for the remonder....Ive already got it covered. Running redundant cat5 and I'll add cat6 to pavilion, along with cable, HDMI, Speaker wire....

 

[orthopod]

Drone Picture

This is pretty cool. My son flew his drone yesterday and took this picture. If you look at the middle of the pool, thats my 10 year old (90 pounds) standing in the deep end (center of the back wall). When looking at the hole its hard to envision the size of the pool, but looking at this picture puts it in perspective.

 

[kimkats]

Oh That IS cool!

 

[Rich D]

We got rid of the grotto. We didn't like the fake look the large flat rock going over the grotto was going to have. Also thought about the humidity here, the grotto was going to be a source of mildew...dark, dank. Im trying to make this an easy to take care of pool.

Interesting view of the grotto. We are just putting the finishing touches on our Boulder waterfall with a cave that has a seat for 2 behind the falls that Myself and the wife built. It still needs a few more rocks behind the falls but it is almost there. We love the cave and could not imagine the falls without it. I am starting to see why you would be concerned the maintenance aspect. If I had it to do over again I think I would have a sprayer in the cave that soaked the walls with pool water that came on with Infloor cleaner zone, with a easy way to turn it off when using the pool. Thinking the chlorine will keep the nastiest at bay. At the very least I would have hand sprayer I could use when in the cave.

As for the in floor system we love that as well and would definitely do it again. It will increase the electric bill because the pump needs to run at high rpm. My needs to be at 2950 to get the required required minimum 14 psi on the system.

 

[orthopod]

Hey rich - I like your grotto....Our was going to be huge, and to get it to look right we were going to have to make the entrance smaller, almost like a cave. We will have a spillover waterfall with a bench, so when the water is on, it will seem like seclusion///


I really like your pavers. Very clean look-- do they get very hot? (like fry an egg hot)

 

[Rich D]

I really like your pavers. Very clean look-- do they get very hot? (like fry an egg hot)

They are Champlain grey, smooth. With a 25 percent blend of the large grande pieces. We wanted the tube finish for a more rustic look However We went with the smooth because we did not want the tumble finish holding sand or grit and wanted a easy to clean(sweep) surface.
We are in New england so the Temps do not go above 90 deg all that often but we did have a few 90-95 deg days this summer and I would not be able to stand on them and hold a conversation but you could walk across them (quickly ) without too much discomfort. You would not be able to fry an egg on the 95 deg days.

I really like you design. Can't wait to see finished product. I wish I had more of a grade difference like you have. I had to struggle to get mine as high as I did..

 

[orthopod]

New drone pic, after steel and plumbing....

Shotcrete coming soon

 

[kimkats]

make sure the measure it. Add about 6" for the gunite and plaster. NOW is the time of no return. If it is not wide, long, deep enough you still have time to fix it.

Kim

 

[orthopod]

Inspector

OMG, we had a hiccup and the country pool inspector (who is new, his last job was a butcher), is confused about our pool.

He saw the 3 inch suctions and 2.5 inch suctions, and oversized EVERYTHING and did not pass us for gunite. Said we are building a commercial pool.

HE said he needs to research this. Asked the pool builder if he permitted the pool as a commercial pool (I'm not kidding), because that size pipe is only used in commercial pools.

HE said he worried that the large pipes will suck too hard and may be dangerous, and thinks we may need more suction drains (there are quantity 4- 3 inch in the main floor), Skimmers , quantity 2 - 2.5 inch suctions in the spa).

Doesnt understand pool plumbing....I insisted on oversizing with my pool builder, and the plumber agreed based on the size of my pool. Pool builder is cool, but we are now DELAYED.


Thanks KIM- Im going to measure now

 

[kimkats]

WHAT?????????????? oh my..................any way you can have YOUR inspector talk to an experienced inspector?

How did the measuring go?

Kim (NO cheering on this one right now!)

 

[Gorilla83]

First I’ve heard of failing an inspection for too late of plumbing! We also went with 3” suction and return for our water features considering they will need quite a bit of water. It was a little bit of hassle for the PB but not too bad an no issues with inspection here. One last thing to consider is make sure your drains can support the enhanced flow of the 3” lines - we had to change to an A&A channel drain that would flow 200 plus gpm.

 

[orthopod]

WHAT?????????????? oh my..................any way you can have YOUR inspector talk to an experienced inspector?

How did the measuring go?

Kim (NO cheering on this one right now!)

Measuring was perfect. Depths were spot on. While measuring I Noticed an area of the pool where I thought would benefit from a return down low to sweep an area that may be a "dead spot" in the pool.


The inspector apparently is goiing to check with another one of the inspectors.....




Thanks Gorilla: Im sure my PB has accounted for this but I just texted him. I'm sure he loves this forum!

 

[orthopod]

Finnaly got Concrete poured today. Things I learned:

Be HOME when they shoot the concrete. Have a patient pool builder.

We have 2 sets of steps going into the pool and I got to see how wide and deep, we altered one of the sets of steps.

The bar stools looked a little uneven, so I had them measure and they adjusted perfectly prior to filling the steel lined tubes with concrete.

An 8 foot spa is very very large. Hard to envision until the walls are shot with concrete.


We are deciding on a pool unbrella hole. Currently if you look to the left of the panoramic picture, there are 3 holes. I think I like the 2 holes right in front of the bubblers. Would anyone just put 1 hole in the center? My wife thinks it would be nice to have an umbrella offset so you could choose to lounge in the sun or shade?. Any opinions?

Our pool shape is definately unique.

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Here is a PANO Shot:

 

[kimkats]

Good call on being home for this part. There always seems to be an idea or problem that needs owner input. You had both! SCORE!

Kim

 

[orthopod]

Here is an update on the pool build:

Stone work is going in: Texas Limestone retaining walls, Oklahoma flagstone coping. Its amazing the amount of work, these guys chipping each block and cutting the limestone block to the correct thickness.

Tile: National Pool Tile: Iridium Green (really a blue color with tan and natural tile showing through the Color)