NO WAY! DUH! Oh who needs a phone line any way??????? WOW! Got to love a PB that knows what has to be done.
Kim
Kim
Houston, TX Pool Build Diary - From Design to Dive-In
- Thread starter platipus
- Start date
Do you have to call each individual utility to get marking done?
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One call does it all (phone, cable, electric, gas, sewer & water) and they do it within 72 hours.
plat.
Start here: call811.com
We did this once on our own several years ago when we were first thinking about building the patio. That let us know what to expect ahead of time for any additional costs needed for utility moves. After that, it was always called either by our patio builder or now our pool builder.
plat.
Well the dig is set. 7am-ish tomorrow morning the crew is supposed to show up. Iron and plumbing after that through Friday. Gunite either Saturday or Monday.
The builder brought by the sample of the NPT "bling" tile we wanted to see and we really liked it. It is a nice contrast to the cool blue glass tile for everything else. We're going to use that on the spa only. We also decided we are going to Beadcrete the inside of the spa in "Black Sea". The add was about $900, but it's cheaper than tiling the whole interior so it's all "dark" and we get that smoother "glass" feel in the spa.
We are still behind the ball on the spa though. We need to pick out the jets and finalize placement and quantity. We're looking at a selection of Waterways PolyStorms. We have a good "idea" of the placement, but we just have too many still in our sketch. We're doing dual spa pumps and the builder is recommending 12 jets total with that. We need to lose about 6 from where we are right now....
It's going to be busy for the next few days. Will try to get some pictures and post updates as much as possible.
plat.
The builder brought by the sample of the NPT "bling" tile we wanted to see and we really liked it. It is a nice contrast to the cool blue glass tile for everything else. We're going to use that on the spa only. We also decided we are going to Beadcrete the inside of the spa in "Black Sea". The add was about $900, but it's cheaper than tiling the whole interior so it's all "dark" and we get that smoother "glass" feel in the spa.
We are still behind the ball on the spa though. We need to pick out the jets and finalize placement and quantity. We're looking at a selection of Waterways PolyStorms. We have a good "idea" of the placement, but we just have too many still in our sketch. We're doing dual spa pumps and the builder is recommending 12 jets total with that. We need to lose about 6 from where we are right now....
It's going to be busy for the next few days. Will try to get some pictures and post updates as much as possible.
plat.
shoulders and lower back placement for me please in your spa! LOL
Okay here is an idea..................draw the spa out with a water hose and put chairs or something that will give you an idea of how the seating will be in the spa. THEN figure out where the best placement will be for the jets.
Kim
Okay here is an idea..................draw the spa out with a water hose and put chairs or something that will give you an idea of how the seating will be in the spa. THEN figure out where the best placement will be for the jets.
Kim
We are still behind the ball on the spa though. We need to pick out the jets and finalize placement and quantity. We're looking at a selection of Waterways PolyStorms. We have a good "idea" of the placement, but we just have too many still in our sketch. We're doing dual spa pumps and the builder is recommending 12 jets total with that. We need to lose about 6 from where we are right now....
What size pumps are you going with? We have a single 3hp and a 2 hp blower motor pushing 12 polystorms (I think they are the 10-15 gpm models) and we are happy with the flow. If the motors are the issue, they could probably bump that up at little cost. They might have to beef up the plumbing to go along with that as well. Two 3" suction lines and two 2.5" returns.
If I were to build again ... I'd go with more jets!
The alarm went off early on Thursday. Its staccato shrill piercing the warm embrace of slumber as the gray fingers of twilight peaked through the gaps of the dark silk curtains. My flailing arm searching desperately for the plastic sliver that would grant me just 5 more minutes of sweet rest. Then quiet blurry contemplation. "Why was I getting up so early again?" I thought to myself...
Somewhere in the distance, a subtle rumble could be heard. Droning softly. Lingering. It began to come back to me. 7am was supposed to be the start. We were getting a pool. We needed to move cars out of the garage and furniture off the patio. There were things to do and prepare. And still the droning. Like some great machine with purpose and yet restrained. Waiting.
It was 6:15am. Plenty of time. Coffee. A shower. OK we can do this. With a mountain of effort the blankets flew off like a scared flock of crows. And still the droning. As I made my way out of the bedroom to find the source, it became louder as I approached the front door. It revealed itself in all its glory and lo, a dumptruck was here!
And on the first day, a hole in the ground was duggeth in which to pour money and water...
platipus 1:1
Somewhere in the distance, a subtle rumble could be heard. Droning softly. Lingering. It began to come back to me. 7am was supposed to be the start. We were getting a pool. We needed to move cars out of the garage and furniture off the patio. There were things to do and prepare. And still the droning. Like some great machine with purpose and yet restrained. Waiting.
It was 6:15am. Plenty of time. Coffee. A shower. OK we can do this. With a mountain of effort the blankets flew off like a scared flock of crows. And still the droning. As I made my way out of the bedroom to find the source, it became louder as I approached the front door. It revealed itself in all its glory and lo, a dumptruck was here!
And on the first day, a hole in the ground was duggeth in which to pour money and water...
platipus 1:1
Ask and ye shall receive. I had to uploadeth them from my phoneth...
So here is the full story of how that day went. The builder said 7am they'd start the dig. I figured this would roll like every other contractor we've ever done business with. That meant they'd go get what they needed at 7am and show up here around 9:45am finally. Nope. They were here in the cul de sac staging and waiting to come onto the property at least by 6:20am because that is when I first heard the dumptruck idling. They were here even earlier I am sure. 7am hit and we had people in the backyard getting started.
We got our cars out of the garage as forewarned and if we had needed them (which we didn't) it was a good thing we did. There was at least a foot of dirt across the driveway that would have trapped us in. I half wonder if they did this to not scuff up the cement with the tractor treads because they were cutting across the driveway. They could have come in on the lawn, but this saved us having to repair yards of sod.
The tractor work was amazing to watch. I couldn't parallel park even close to as well as this guy got into the corners. There was one section where he literally just fit sideways into with 6" to spare in front and the side of the tractor touching the wall, but it let him shave a straight wall perfectly in front of him.
What's even more nuts is that they were done before 1pm. Rebar started immediately after that and was done by 6pm.
The bummer is I had a crazy work day and basically missed all of it. I was able to pop my head out a few times and grab those photos, but that is pretty much it.
The mud in the driveway I wish I got a photo of or even saw. All I know is what my wife told me. They were power washing the whole front area starting at about 4:30pm for 2 hours. When I finally walked out there at 6pm, they were almost done. There is not a clue other than the lawn that anything even happened. The driveway might even be cleaner than when they started...
Plumbing started today and it's not quite as hectic in the yard. We spent some time at lunch pinning down exact placement of the spa jets and bubblers and talked about lighting placement and that we need to choose our two scuppers.
The RiverFlow parts are onsite. This stuff looks like it's civil engineering grade. Here is our builder holding up one of the pieces of it. The 10HP pump sits on top of this. That is 12" PVC right there....
Plumbing is supposed to continue on through tomorrow and then gunite on Monday. We're watching the weather close because it is supposed to rain a bit on Monday. The weather forecasts have been close to useless lately though. They change hourly and almost every time they have predicted rain (which ended up pushing our start date out) they were wrong and it was dry.
I'll get some more photos tomorrow as I want to have a good record of the plumbing lines, but really while this is exciting overall that we started, there are only so may pictures of a steel filled hole I can post and consider interesting.
plat.
Congrats on your money pit! It's amazing to see the bobcat work! You really are getting a pool!
WOW! Now that is a big pipe!
Yeah, crazy how fast those guys can get that stuff done. Looks like the drawing! Good stuff.
Yeah, crazy how fast those guys can get that stuff done. Looks like the drawing! Good stuff.
Congratulations on your dig! I hope all goes smoothly and your pool turns out as wonderfully as the drawings.
Wow that was fast! I love to watch someone that knows how to operate a machine at work. It is almost like they are dancing.
Kim
Kim
Yea! Congratulations! You're officially on your way to having a pool!
And loved the poetic storytelling!!
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And loved the poetic storytelling!!
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