New Build, Orange County, California

[rnakawat]

You'll never see that worker again. You'll see your backyard and any of its flaws until you move.

Amen to that. The PB has been very understanding and said the same thing to me. I do have to walk a fine line - given these guys are doing my tile and coping. I plan on having a private talk with my pool builder to let him know that I expect him to watch over this sub to make sure things run smoothly here on out. My PB has been really good overall, and given he's a 3 generation pool builder company, he know he values his impression he leaves on others .... so I don't expect any issues.

Did they ever figure out what was plugging up the original drainage?

Yes, so here's the full story. The original contract stated that the they were demoing the back of the yard but leaving the side yards and front as-is, and they would tie into the existing two lines (one on each side of the house.) I knew one of those lines was bad, but didn't know the full extent until everything was demoed and I saw terrible roots in one of the two pipes. So on the "bad" side of the house I opted to pay them extra to do the entire line to the street, cutting out a channel in the sidewalk on the side of the house. It was on this side where I noticed the water wasn't draining out of the pipes. When I provided that feedback the PB made them re-dig it out and redo it to get the pitch correct. On the other side unfortunately they have to deal where they were tying into the pre-existing line, which honestly is too high. Our backyard was naturally sloping into our house (that is the farther you go in the backyard the higher it was.) So the drain pipes used to be easy to pitch because it just needed to follow the relative path of the ground. But since they leveled the backyard for the pool, it gets a little tricky. We added a RBB in the back to help hide the pitch per say, but the very back end corner of the pipe may be an issue. I'd say they have some room for adjustment, but not much. In that area we aren't putting pavers, it'll be a planter garden so if the pipe is along the surface it isn't the end of the world.


Here's hoping the "worst" is over. The StepStone coping and pavers have arrived, so hopefully they go in next week, followed by NPT StoneScape Mini Pebbles. We haven't picked the color - the PB mentioned that Tropic Blue w/either glass or abalone was the most popular choice.

 

[Rich D]

Ahh, OK. I did not realize it was 2 separate drain lines. Did they discover how the roots got into the abs?

I can see where lowering the back would be problematic to the drainage, However as I stated before it should have been a very simple thing thing to figure out and just get it set correct the first time. If you do not have enough pitch I only see 2 options. You would need to dig up all the way to the street "usually" the street drainage will be significantly lower then any tie ins. The second option is to put the minimum pitch on the pipe for as long as you can then run the last part flat. It will work with the pipe flat it just could lead to sediment build up. This would only be a issue if you get a lot of debris in your gutters. With all those drains as access, monitoring and cleaning would be very easy if you ever did get a blockage.

 

[Rich D]

We added a RBB in the back to help hide the pitch per say,

What is a RBB?

 

[rnakawat]

Coping is getting dry-fitted.

 

[kimkats]

That is looking great!

Kim

 

[rnakawat]

Coping is basically complete and they are starting to level for tile. The grout/thinset around the water feature seems to have large gaps, I don't know how that gets filled in but I was going to ask the PB tomorrow.

 

[rnakawat]

I was curious if the water proofing (Super Blockade) was suppose to cover the entire dam wall between the spa and pool , or just the waterline?

 

[kimkats]

I am not sure. I will ask @bdavis466 what his thoughts are.

Kim

 

[bdavis466]

The waterproofing should be applied everywhere that tile will be exposed to water

 

[rnakawat]

We noticed on our waterline where they applied the some material to level the border (after the waterproofing) there are hairline cracks. Should I be concerned about this?

I was going to talk to my PB tomorrow.

 

[bdavis466]

We noticed on our waterline where they applied the some material to level the border (after the waterproofing) there are hairline cracks. Should I be concerned about this?

I was going to talk to my PB tomorrow.

View attachment 121265

That's no problem but I would have liked to see them waterproof after the mortar was applied instead of before it

 

[rnakawat]

The masonry guys are almost done. They have to finish up a small walkway path for pavers, add some stairs to our back retaining wall, and pour the pads for the equipment. Basically 3 people working 4 weeks 5 days each week. Our PB warned us this step would seem slow compared to the other steps, but I didn't anticipate it being this long!

 

[kimkats]

BUT SO WORTH It!!!! WOW!

 

[Rich D]

Very nice.. ?

Were they able to get some pitch on the drainage?

 

[rnakawat]

Were they able to get some pitch on the drainage?

Thanks. We're excited to move on to the next phase.

They did fix the pitch on the main pipes. They added channel drains which are unfortunately of a flat pitch - but I understood the reasoning of it given how they laid the pavers.

 

[Rich D]

Thanks. We're excited to move on to the next phase.

They did fix the pitch on the main pipes. They added channel drains which are unfortunately of a flat pitch - but I understood the reasoning of it given how they laid the pavers.

I am not a big fan of channel drains however with the size of your pavers and the given fixed elevations they definitely made the correct choice. It looks like they did a great job laying the pavers.

 

[rnakawat]

The equipment went in today and the inspection is tomorrow. At first I thought for some odd reason they replaced the PVC pipes with ABS pipes, but upon closer inspection it seems like they spray painted them. I think I read somewhere that was for UV protection. ?‍

They wired the lights but left the lights outside of the enclosure. Is that a common thing?

Inspection is tomorrow and assuming we pass we get the Mini-Stonescape installed on Wed/Thurs.

 

[kimkats]

Yeah the painting of the pipes are for UV protection. Looks like they did a good job with it.

I am not sure of what you mean when you talk about the lights. Do you you mean at the equipment? You DO need a light there for those dark and stormy nights.

Kim

 

[rnakawat]

I am not sure of what you mean when you talk about the lights. Do you you mean at the equipment? You DO need a light there for those dark and stormy nights.

They installed 3 lights (they wired them to the box) but haven't actually put the lights into the junction box in the pool and seal them up. The lights are just sitting on the top of the pool with the wire running through the junction box in the pool all the way to the panel. I'm assuming they'll plaster and then put the lights in at the end, but I just don't recall seeing anything like prior videos I watched.

 

[kimkats]

Got ya! Yes it is common if they go ahead and run the lights. I would put them in the box they came in or in some other way protect them from being damaged by accident by someone stepping on them or them being kicked.

Kim