Hello! I am a new forum member . My pool is actually almost complete, but I have a few last details I would like some advice on from the wise collective here. I am sure I will have plenty of water chemistry questions once we get water.
Some background - my husband and I are in the last stages of our home and pool construction in basically a large hay field in Washington, TX. It has been agonizingly slow, but we think the end is finally in sight. The pool construction is a little on the uncommon side. When the geotechnical engineers tell you the site is not suitable for construction (it is 99.999999% solid, heavy, sticky clay) but you do it anyway, and you have your architect and structural engineers design the pool, it gets interesting.
Piers were dug, a mud slab with drainage was poured, and then the walls were poured in place. It was backfilled to the top on the west side, but the board-formed concrete is exposed for a couple of feet on the east side. Landscaping and a fire pit will be on that side. The house is on the north end. If we get tired of the pool, we could probably use it as the foundation for an extension of the house.
The Wet Edge satin matrix plaster should be done in the next couple of weeks. There are very few decisions left at this point, but I do have a few questions.
1. The spa is planned for the same finish as the pool. I have never sat on a Wet Edge satin finish. Would a better choice be to have a smoother finish in the spa?
2. There are no step markers planned. My pool contractor says he usually doesn't do them anymore, but he will if I want it. Are the edges of steps hard to see when there is water in the pool? I have never had a pool.
3. I have finally decided I would like a SWG. Since the rest of the equipment is Jandy, should we go with that brand? I have learned from this forum that we should get an "over sized" one, and I am fine with that.
The original pool plan had a sun shelf with bubbler where the spa is. My husband and I eventually decided to replace the shelf with the spa, figuring we would probably use that more. (I grew up on the SC coast at a time when using Coppertone SPF 4, aka "suntan lotion", was considered a healthy choice. If I never go out in the sun again, it will never make up for the damage I already inflicted on myself). So - no sun shelf, but the top step is about 3x4 so I could put a small chair there with my feet in the water. Doing away with the sun shelf did away with the bubbler, so no water features.
Waterline tile is a large format mottled gray tile, so no bling (sorry Kim!)
I look at all the beautiful pools on this forum and do get envious of the water features and bling and the this and the that. But, we think this pool fits the architecture of the house and the setting.
Although...glass step markers....
If you read all that, thank you!
Some background - my husband and I are in the last stages of our home and pool construction in basically a large hay field in Washington, TX. It has been agonizingly slow, but we think the end is finally in sight. The pool construction is a little on the uncommon side. When the geotechnical engineers tell you the site is not suitable for construction (it is 99.999999% solid, heavy, sticky clay) but you do it anyway, and you have your architect and structural engineers design the pool, it gets interesting.
Piers were dug, a mud slab with drainage was poured, and then the walls were poured in place. It was backfilled to the top on the west side, but the board-formed concrete is exposed for a couple of feet on the east side. Landscaping and a fire pit will be on that side. The house is on the north end. If we get tired of the pool, we could probably use it as the foundation for an extension of the house.
The Wet Edge satin matrix plaster should be done in the next couple of weeks. There are very few decisions left at this point, but I do have a few questions.
1. The spa is planned for the same finish as the pool. I have never sat on a Wet Edge satin finish. Would a better choice be to have a smoother finish in the spa?
2. There are no step markers planned. My pool contractor says he usually doesn't do them anymore, but he will if I want it. Are the edges of steps hard to see when there is water in the pool? I have never had a pool.
3. I have finally decided I would like a SWG. Since the rest of the equipment is Jandy, should we go with that brand? I have learned from this forum that we should get an "over sized" one, and I am fine with that.
The original pool plan had a sun shelf with bubbler where the spa is. My husband and I eventually decided to replace the shelf with the spa, figuring we would probably use that more. (I grew up on the SC coast at a time when using Coppertone SPF 4, aka "suntan lotion", was considered a healthy choice. If I never go out in the sun again, it will never make up for the damage I already inflicted on myself). So - no sun shelf, but the top step is about 3x4 so I could put a small chair there with my feet in the water. Doing away with the sun shelf did away with the bubbler, so no water features.
Waterline tile is a large format mottled gray tile, so no bling (sorry Kim!)
I look at all the beautiful pools on this forum and do get envious of the water features and bling and the this and the that. But, we think this pool fits the architecture of the house and the setting.
Although...glass step markers....
If you read all that, thank you!
Thankfully I got easily bored "laying out" (as we called it then), so didn't bake in the sun as much as some. Yikes - the things we did! Anyone remember mixing iodine with baby oil?? [emoji33]