First Pool - Jumped in feet first

[ruleandrews]

Slowly getting the gravel in and tamped..

 

[kimkats]

Bet you will be glad to see that machine going bye-bye when you are done with it!!!

 

[ruleandrews]

Bet you will be glad to see that machine going bye-bye when you are done with it!!!

The tamper? Absolutely!!!
Although, I've been shoveling the gravel by hand.

 

[ruleandrews]

I'm having a real issue with cutting the corners of these coping stones.
I'm laying them out around the corner with the appropriate over hang. What ever the space is on the back, I'm dividing that by 2 and taking that off the front. Because of the radius being pretty tight, in ending up with the bull nose 3 inch wide and the back is 12" wide. It's not working out to well.
Should I be cutting the stones in half first?

 

[kimkats]

Cardboard! Get some big cardboard and use that to make a template. It might take a couple/few tries to get it just like you want. THEN use paper in the size & shape of the coping pieces and play with cutting them and overlapping them until you find just how you want them to be. It will take some effort and time to come up with just the right way to make it happen.

I am going to do some looking to see how other pools with the curved edges and straight coping did theirs.

 

[kimkats]

I will keep looking but this is what i have found as far as kind of being what I am thinking will work.

 

[ruleandrews]

Awesome! Thanks for the info!
I think the other issue I'm having is trying to keep the stones as wide as possible, which basically impossible with the tight radius in each corner.

 

[kimkats]

I could tell that from the lay out you were trying. Might want to give up on that idea and go from there.

 

[ruleandrews]

Thanks for the advice! Cardboard definitely helped!!!

 

[kimkats]

DUDE!!! YOU did THAT?? WOWZER!!! Like a pro who has pride in his job and has skills!!!

Glad my cardboard worked! What a great team we make!

Kim

 

[ruleandrews]

DUDE!!! YOU did THAT?? WOWZER!!! Like a pro who has pride in his job and has skills!!!

Glad my cardboard worked! What a great team we make!

Kim

Haha, I agree!!! Thanks!!! One corner down, 3 more to go!

 

[ruleandrews]

Slowly picking away at it.
Got a question regarding mortar.
I was going to be using an S type mortar to secure then in place and I noticed some people put thin set on the back of the paver first. Is there any benefit to doing this?

 

[kimkats]

Not me.................... @ajw22 input please.

 

[ajw22]

Who are these “some people “ buttering their pavers with thinset?

You sure it is thinset and not a thin layer of mortar?

 

[ruleandrews]

Who are these “some people “ buttering their pavers with thinset?

You sure it is thinset and not a thin layer of mortar?

I've seen a couple of videos where guys have done both...thin set and mortar.
The reasoning someone said for the thin set was that it would create a better bind between the paver and the mortar. I dunno, didn't make much sense to me

 

[ajw22]

Buttering the paver with mortar I understand.

There is all kinds of information and misinformation on YouTube.

 

[ruleandrews]

Buttering the paver with mortar I understand.

There is all kinds of information and misinformation on YouTube.

I hear that!

I've also heard some some doing a 4:1 ratio of S type mortar and stone veneer mortar. Any benefit to mixing the two?

 

[ajw22]

I've also heard some some doing a 4:1 ratio of S type mortar and stone veneer mortar. Any benefit to mixing the two?

Never heard of that either.

 

[ruleandrews]

Never heard of that either.

S type mortar is it!

 

[ruleandrews]

Another question, I have a price of aluminum plate over the skimmer to support the coping stones. Is there some type of adhesive to bond the mortar to the aluminum?