From a Basic Lawn to Private Resort - We Have A Pool! Controlling Pollen...

[elleb]

Update for today: everybody is in our backyard currently . We have 3 bobcats, a concrete crew, a paver crew, and the build supervisor. They are getting the basketball court poured and the paver base laid and tamped down and will begin laying pavers sometime this afternoon. Our driveway has mounds of rocks, ash grayish black sand, and a huge concrete truck in it right now. There are about 5 trucks in front of our house. I had to park in a neighbor's driveway today because our garage is a temporary holding area for my hubby's gym stuff until we pick back up on the basement in a few weeks or months. Pool Equipment will arrive today and will be hooked up on Monday. It's moving faster!

Pictures of the organized chaos:

 

[nwardoh]

This has likely been asked but gonna do it again... We are starting to discuss moving away from winter wonderland. Finding a place with a good pool already is a little rough from the looks of it. What is your budget for this project?

 

[ngsm13]

This build is looking great so far!

 

[elleb]

This has likely been asked but gonna do it again... We are starting to discuss moving away from winter wonderland. Finding a place with a good pool already is a little rough from the looks of it. What is your budget for this project?

Hasn't been asked, surprisingly. Ballpark > $100k < $180k.

 

[elleb]

This build is looking great so far!

Thank you.

 

[elleb]

The court has been poured and is curing. The paver crew is screeding sand and tamping away. Equipment hasn't arrived yet. A few late afternoon window views:

 

[elleb]

EOD Views:

 

[nwardoh]

Wow prices sure have increased lol. Thank you though. That helps put things in perspective.

 

[elleb]

Wow prices sure have increased lol. Thank you though. That helps put things in perspective.

Yes,3 years ago it would've been around $60k. Our biggest regret is not having the pool installed in 2015 when our home was being built. But YOLO right

 

[kimkats]

HUGE progress!!!! SWEET!!!

Have you set the new cement down yet? If not you need to. Watering New Gunite and Concrete - Further Reading

 

[Newdude]

But YOLO right

I got through the costs skyrocketing by frequently reminding myself that I couldn't take it with me. Of course, that assumed I had it in the first place, and we ALL know what happens when you assume.

 

[elleb]

I got through the costs skyrocketing by frequently reminding myself that I couldn't take it with me. Of course, that assumed I had it in the first place, and we ALL know what happens when you assume.

Listen, I've talked us out of this pool in this climate a million and one times, but my hubby won this one. I get a little sick with every check that I have to write , but we cannot take it with us, if we don't spend it our kids will be living it up when we are gone, and the list goes on. I am grateful that we are able to do it, but I'd rather look at it in the bank multiplying than watching it tell me bye bye, in this case we are making an exception

 

[elleb]

HUGE progress!!!! SWEET!!!

Have you set the new cement down yet? If not you need to. Watering New Gunite and Concrete - Further Reading

Yeah they poured it yesterday. We'll start watering it tomorrow. The temps have been cool here in the early part of the day and the court is in a shaded area. It still looked really wet this morning when we looked at it, but watering is on the list.

 

[elleb]

The paver crew came in this morning and worked until 3:30pm. I didn't like how they were laying the pavers yesterday as it wasn't what we asked for and the build super spoke with them to get it corrected. It was running length wise of the pool and I wanted it to run left to right with the house. I don't know how the wires were crossed with that detail, but it's resolved and quickly. It's cool seeing them put it together, it looks like they are playing tetris in real time. The equipment arrived late this afternoon also. I'm checking the delivery slip and items against the contract to make sure we have everything we asked for and I will take pictures of every box and part number. I need to make sure that they set our bypass when they setup the heater and they have our neverlube diverters on setup day next week. My hubby is really hung up on adding more pavers but I'm against spending more money, so hoping he'll see the light. We can do it after they are done and cheaper.

I'm contemplating changing out our interior finish to Aqua Blue. The version of Aqua White Mini that I've seen on video from one their installs is much whiter in color than I was expecting. I go back and forth, hopefully I can pin it down this weekend.

Anyway, here are a few night pics of the pavers and the new direction of the layout. I love the color of the pavers.

 

[kimkats]

Love how it is coming out!

SO glad the equipment is there and ready to be set up. I HATE when a pool is done before the equipment is even set up............really?? How are they going to get the plaster dust up and out as well as mix in the chemicals??? sigh...............BUT that is NOT the case with your pool!!!

 

[elleb]

Pool equipment and daytime pics of decking. It rained off and on today so we didn't have to turn on the water hose on the concrete pad. I'm agonozing over the pool finish again . I really want Aqua White, and the build supervisor showed me a video of a client that has it and it looks like a minty blue green and the base looks white. Looking at it, I think it may be actually Stonescapes White or Aqua Cool, but I can't really tell and they can't get any of the few customers they have with the Aqua White to agree to a site visit. Now, I'm rethinking the color and am considering Aqua Blue and Caribbean Blue, but my heart says do Aqua White. I'm going to ask for the installer's name so that I can view the finishes on their website and hopefully I can rest easy on a decision.



Finish video that made me rethink the finish. It seems very light and we want a little color. What do you think @kimkats @Newdude and others please chime in? I know the finishing company and how well they work at their craft will be the ultimate detail of how it comes out as well as the surroundings and time of day, etcetera will have an impact on how it appears. The color below is far from the medium blue that we are expecting though. I don't want it to look like we're getting in a giant outdoor bathtub, that's not the vibe we want.

 

[elleb]

I could be overthinking it, and the video that was shared from the pics in my post above may not be true to life, what concerns me is how white the spa looks and the base is a blue base, but this video is what made us choose Aqua White. I'm hoping it will look more like this. We aren't adding abalone shells or springing for the touch of glass or puerto rico blend though I've considered the upgrade for the puerto rico blend for sparkle. It will just be mini pebble.

 

[kimkats]

Remind me of the color of the waterline tile. That will have a big doing on the water color as well.

 

[elleb]

@kimkats here are the colors for everything again:

Pebble Finish: NPT Stonescapes Aqua White Mini
Waterline: Npt Tile Vera Cruz Creama in Cream
Spa Face/Trim Benches/Steps: Npt Tile Equinox Midnight Blue 1x2
Spa Stacked Stone: Tundra 3D Splitface in Silver
Coping: Travertine Shell beige
Decking: Belgard Pavers Dimensions 18 Linen

 

[elleb]