New Build in north DFW - Deck slop question

[bmoreswim]

An inexpensive submersible pump from Harbor Freight or L/HD.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Yup a harbor freight is good. The kind a garden hose connects to is fine. I like a very clean shell. Some plaster crews do very little prep

 

[Green25]

@bmoreswim and @jimmythegreek - Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. I grew up around pools, but my dad always took care of the maintenance and MH knows less than I do.

I see a ton of choices listed at HF/HD/L, with varying horsepower and brands. Is there anything that would be undersized or basically any size, any brand pump will get the job done?

 

[bmoreswim]

Something like this is good. Even lower HP would do but I’d get this as it will work well in other situations with a full pool should you need it.

 

[Green25]

The masons were finally able to fit us into their schedule today and I am assuming the grey around the top of the pool is some sort of waterproofing base material for the tile. The two columns are supposed to be identical though so I’m not sure why it looks like only one was done? Does it look like it may have been missed?

 

[Jimmie48]

At least on mine sometimes they needed to build up a little on the wall with some of the poly thinset so the tiles sit level. Most likely what it is

 

[Green25]

I edited the title since I now have other non-water related questions. Thank you all for answering my questions so far; any family with PB experience lives hours away and even after reading a ton of the TFP articles I still feel like I know next to nothing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

• Water feature wall: Is this within normal variation for a stone veneer or will it cause issues? It looks...porous.
• Does the equipment pad look okay? I love the labels on the pipes.
• Forecast calls for rain all next week. Should all the open trenches in the yard be covered?
• I am excited to see it finally taking shape after seeing grey walls for so long!

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Pool is looking good! I'm not going to be much help on the pool questions, but I did want to throw out a guess as to what the short poles were, for the fence. They appear to be a 'guide' of sorts to prevent the bottom of the gate from swinging out when it is opened. That is assuming that the gate moves towards the direction of the poles, when opening.

--Jeff

 

[Green25]

Pool is looking good! I'm not going to be much help on the pool questions, but I did want to throw out a guess as to what the short poles were, for the fence. They appear to be a 'guide' of sorts to prevent the bottom of the gate from swinging out when it is opened. That is assuming that the gate moves towards the direction of the poles, when opening.

--Jeff

The gate slides open and shut and the poles are near to the slider track. We’d have a major catastrophe if the gate was opening towards them.

My best guess is they’re some sort of barrier or failsafe, but luckily it appears to be mostly hidden by the back wall.

 

[Jimmie48]

Ledger stones look normal. its a natural silver travertine and has pits and holes all over.
Pad looks good to me....dont see any issues compared to mine. Lots of room still
Rain shouldnt hurt any of that...

 

[Green25]

Yay, it feels like we have finally started making a little bit of progress again after weeks of waiting...everyone else in the area seems to be building too! I’m hoping decking will be finished this week and the pergola was finished Thursday.

Our PM wasn’t here yesterday to ask when the guys were filling in the trenches and adding the deck base, but what kind of base does this look like? Gravel? I’m assuming it will be leveled and compacted before the next step.

There’s also a layer of scum (algae?) at the bottom of the shell after draining the stagnant water at the bottom. Should we try to scrape it out?

 

[jimmythegreek]

That looks like road base it's fine for this it just needs mechanical compaction. Just be sure the shell is clean when plaster gets done any stagnant rains til then will leave the same stuff behind

 

[Jimmie48]

Paver base crushed rock. Same as what they used on mine. They will compact it with the loud "bouncy tool" as my kids called it, then lay down a layer of sand if they dont need more of the crushed paver base. I see some deck drains so looks like you are getting very close to setting pavers! That part goes fairly quick so enjoy walking on your new deck soon! Final drainage then shell clean...then you get to talk plaster! Good luck!

 

[Green25]

@Jimmie48 I hope so! We just had a load of sand dumped on the driveway and I’m guessing they’ll come back with the pavers. Of course it’s supposed to rain this week after weeks of sunshine. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel though!

 

[Jimmie48]

@Jimmie48 I hope so! We just had a load of sand dumped on the driveway and I’m guessing they’ll come back with the pavers. Of course it’s supposed to rain this week after weeks of sunshine. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel though!

Yep the pavers will come next the sand is basically the lock layer...they will use polymeric/polymer sand on the edges and coping most likely as they want the pavers to settle in the sand. It will be gritty out there for a while but we have finally gotten to the point where our feet are clean after a couple weeks. Get you a good shop broom...it will help you clean your deck of the grit while not brushing out all the sand between the pavers. Also when you wash it with a hose use the shower setting and not a hard stream. You want that sand to stay between the pavers. Post some pics so we can see it!

 

[jimmythegreek]

The 1" bedding sand for pavers is concrete sand only nothing else is ok. The poly sand is at the end its sand with glue thats water activated it's great stuff when applied right

 

[Green25]

@jimmythegreek - is this concrete sand? The deck crew was out again this morning to spread the material that was dropped off yesterday. To my non-expert eye it looked like sand, but I really have no idea and being at work is really interfering with my ability to ask questions of the crew. Lol.

I’m also having a slight case of buyers remorse with our ivory paver color, but hopefully it will grow on me.

 

[Jimmie48]

That looks like regular paver sand. It will form the base over the crushed rock/sand mixture and end up locking in the pavers. They will use the polymer sand on the edges near the coping as well as on your skimmer surrounds. Some of mine washed away so I may get some more and put it in myself. It kind of turns into a sort of concrete once its wet and dries. They wont use that everywhere, you want the pavers to settle some and it also makes it easier for a repair when you crack one. Save a few once they are done if there are any leftovers. I have a stack of them in my garage after they were done. I personally like the ivory and it will be varied in color and clean up a lot after its on and washed off.

 

[darinclifton]

View attachment 147665

Do you know where the waterline tile came from or manufacture/color?

 

[Green25]

@darinclifton - It’s NPT Meridian Sea Green 1x2. It’s a little more muted than I expected, but I can’t wait to see what it looks like against the plaster we chose.