New contract / New build - SE Pennsylvania, Gunite free form pool and spa

[Gorilla83]

I am loving everything about that! The colors and the placement of the stones! THANKS!

Kim

Thanks Kim! We are happy with the work so far. The crew got a couple hours in today before it started pouring but had to break/cover up around noon. More boulders getting delivered tomorrow (another 40K pounds!) and 2 loads of topsoil scheduled for Monday when they get back to work. Let's pray for some sunshine now so we can move on

While the crew as here (along with designer) got to spray out some rough idea of boulder placement -



Machines sitting lonely

 

[kimkats]

Better lonely than STUCK!!!

That spray out looks like it will really work well! I can't wait to see that done up!

Kim

 

[Gorilla83]

3rd load of boulders delivered today, felt the earth move when they were dropped hah. Plan is to place and set them on Monday around the pool/deck area.

 

[kimkats]

SWEET! Will you "fill" in with smaller rocks like that pretty river rock sold at the big box store?

Kim

 

[Gorilla83]

SWEET! Will you "fill" in with smaller rocks like that pretty river rock sold at the big box store?

Kim

Yep! 20 ton of 1-3" river rock coming later next week

 

[kimkats]

20 tons??????? how big of a mountain will that make??? Will you "glue" them down?

 

[Gorilla83]

20 tons??????? how big of a mountain will that make??? Will you "glue" them down?

Haha, they will be spread across ~2000 sq ft of surface including the WF, planting beds, by the stairs, by the pool equipment, and under the deck. Lots of area to cover!

 

[jimim]

looks good man!

i'm up to my knees in pavers here still. and up to my knees in mud with all this rain! we can't get a clear dry day to tie in drains and gutters.

 

[kimkats]

Yeah but when they dump them out it will be a mountain to have fun on!

 

[Gorilla83]

looks good man!

i'm up to my knees in pavers here still. and up to my knees in mud with all this rain! we can't get a clear dry day to tie in drains and gutters.

Thanks man! I can surely relate as you can see in the picture with the equipment. I went back there to clean up some leaves the other day and nearly lost a boot getting stuck in the mud, haha.

Yeah but when they dump them out it will be a mountain to have fun on!

Absolutely! Although they work quickly so the kids will have to act fast to get in some play time before they spread it out

 

[Gorilla83]

A few updates here:

-Waterfall is complete! They finished up with pointing today but unfortunately didn't get a pic before they covered up for upcoming rain (of course)
-Final grade/seed complete
-Boulder placement complete
-75% of the plantings went in, although most are dormant but still looks much much better than before
-Plumber came back out for a few punch list items but wound up putting the salt cell bypass and T for Intelliph injection in the wrong place, ugh. Will have to have him come back

Next up: river rock in all areas and fencing next week

Pics coming soon - for some reason my upload isn't working at the moment...

 

[kimkats]

All good updates! I see how you heading me off at the pass for pics LOL Good job!

Ugggg on the plumber being such a poop head!

Kim

 

[Gorilla83]

A few pics during the process this morning - wish I could have taken more before they put the cover on, more to come when they lay down the river rock

 

[kimkats]

OH! That is SOOO pretty and it is not even done!!!! LOVE the boulder placement! That adds the right touch to it all.

Will you be putting landscape material down over the dirt for the river rock to sit on?

The upstairs patio.......the covering up there. What goes on it? Do you take it off for the burrr months?

Kim

 

[Gorilla83]

OH! That is SOOO pretty and it is not even done!!!! LOVE the boulder placement! That adds the right touch to it all.

Will you be putting landscape material down over the dirt for the river rock to sit on?

The upstairs patio.......the covering up there. What goes on it? Do you take it off for the burrr months?

Kim

Thanks Kim! The yard is finally starting to shape up. Yes, they will be laying down fabric prior to the river rock...hoping to start that very soon. We're calling for a little snow/rain here today which may muddy up things yet again ugh.

As for the deck we have a fixed frame removable fabric awning that we usually leave up April through October/November. It's really nice to hang under there during the heat or even sitting out during a good rain storm. In the end we should have plenty of seating/dining/lounging area between the deck and the new pool/patio area.

 

[jimim]

Looks awesome man! What did you end up doing with the hydrangea?

 

[Gorilla83]

Looks awesome man! What did you end up doing with the hydrangea?

Thanks! You can actually see it off to the right in the 5th picture. We'll be using that along the steps and to block the "utility" section under that part of the deck.

Amazing what the change in weather brought today - didnt expect this much snow!




- - - Updated - - -

 

[jimim]

I hear ya about the snow. We are getting 8-11 here and I got to fly out tomorrow to Disney. I'm a nervous wreck here!

 

[Gorilla83]

I hear ya about the snow. We are getting 8-11 here and I got to fly out tomorrow to Disney. I'm a nervous wreck here!

Wow! We maybe got 3 or so but already melting and temps going back toward 40 and rain. You should be fine for the trip tomorrow - have a great time!

 

[Gorilla83]

A few updates here:

-Fencing completed yesterday, took them about 2 days. Due to the slope of the side yard, will have to re-grade a few areas to keep the bottom of the fence code compliant but other than that went smoothly
-After all the snow melted, it became obvious we will have to add some additional drains since we got some water/mud collecting in the decking area. Our landscaper already came out to look at it and will implement some changes (erosion blanket, fill rock behind retaining wall, add drains) when they do the river rock in the next few days (hopefully)
-Finally got to pull the cover off the waterfall and have a look at it mostly complete - they still have to come back to install the lights and trim the coping, etc but nice to check it out
-Electrician came back for a few small punch list items, seems to work well

Also had a chance to clean up the pool area and took some pictures - hope you enjoy