New FG build underway! Northern Kentucky

[BrittanyV]

Hi All,

We are well underway now with our backyard project including a 40' Illusion FG pool from Imagine Pools (15.5' wide). The dig started 2 weeks ago, and the shell was placed yesterday (delayed primarily due to rain).

I will post pics and more details later, but for the moment I have a quick question for the group regarding skimmers. The Imagine Illusion 40 is a rectangular pool with an ~8' tanning ledge in the shallow end and a ~7.5' deep end. Our PB is open to installing either (1) or (2) skimmers and is waiting for direction from us regarding the quantity and location. This is something we probably should have nailed down previously, but here we are. PB suggest installing one skimmer on the north, long side of the pool towards the deep end. He noted that since we have an autocover included in the project, installing them on the east / deep end short side means that the cover box has to be moved back from the edge of the pool and will require more concrete in order to maintain our desired 4' patio width in that area. What he says makes sense.

Where I am a little stuck and would like some input is:
#1 will there be any significant difference in putting the skimmer(s) on the short side with the autocover? This would most likely require additional concrete which means $$$ - and frankly we are feeling poor at the moment.
#2 If we go with 2 skimmers, should they both be on the same (north) side of the pool? or would it make more sense to have them opposite one another (one on north and one on south) both towards the deep (east) end. (wind is somewhat prevalent from west to east)

Does the benefit of having 2 skimmers for catching debris outweigh the small amount of additional system complexity and maintenance?

I have attached a screenshot of our layout. The small blue box indicates the approximate suggestion location for the (1) skimmer option from the PB.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Marc & Brittany

 

[cowboycasey]

if wind is going west to east put the second skimmer on the south side same place as north side... That would work because the wind will most likely be from the northwest or southwest and go to 1 skimmer or the other... hopefully the current from the returns will bring the remaining debris into one of the skimmers

 

[ajw22]

Definitely go with 2 skimmers regardless of the placement. If one skimmer line breaks or has a problem and you have only one skimmer then your pool is shutdown. If you have two skimmers then it is not a big deal and your pool is fine to operate with one skimmer until you get it fixed.

Fiberglass Pools - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Texas Splash]

Well Marc, I'll just add to your confusion. Our pools are almost identical in size, but I don't have a tanning area. I have one skimmer on the deep end which does fine mainly because I was lucky enough to have it on the downward wind. So if you are able, place a skimmer where your predominant wind blows or close to that area. Good luck!

 

[AveMaria472]

Howdy, neighbor! I’m in Walton, KY
Good luck with your build! We’d love to see pics of the progress.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I have one skimmer and its actually in the middle of the deep end (short side) and yeah, my autocover does cover it when its closed. Of course, when the cover is closed the pool isn't getting airborne debris dropped in, so it is of little matter. The only bother is that to empty the skimmer we have to open the cover. Not a huge problem.

My skimmer is on its own run than the main drains. Don't let the PB go cheap and run everything together. You want to be able to turn valves on each item to open-close individually.

We want to see pictures!!

Maddie

 

[Casey]

This is the same exact pool that I'm getting. I'd love to see pictures!

 

[BrittanyV]

Thank you all for the feedback and suggestions based on your experiences! The 2 skimmers solution definitely seems to be the way to go. I think the best layout for us is going to be something like cowboycasey mentioned: both skimmers toward the east end of the pool on opposite sides (one north and one south). The PB has already commented that each will be plumbed separately back to the pad with valves, so that should give us ability to turn them on / off individually.

We will work on posting pictures too! Yesterday was definitely exciting around here with the 100 ton crane in front of our house for the afternoon. We were definitely the talk of the neighborhood! (probably some good talk and some bad talk due to blocked traffic!)

Casey - Cool that you are getting the same pool! Ours is storm gray, what color are you going with?
AveMaria - You're in Walton!? we are in Union. Small world!

Thanks again!

 

[Casey]

Casey - Cool that you are getting the same pool! Ours is storm gray, what color are you going with?

We are going with Storm Grey too. Now I really cant wait to see your pool!!! Please post pics today. I'm dying to see it but I wont be out of work til after 2pm n I have to go pay for my pool. I'm getting this exact slide too. I'm not doing any fancy concrete. Just a brushed concrete. About 8ft on the one long side and 8-10 on the other long side for furniture n 4ft on the short sides. I have a build here in the forum.

 

[BrittanyV]

So here are some progress pics of our build. The dig started on March 15, but we signed the contract back in early September.
Before the chaos, our untouched basic backyard. If you look closely you can see the orange flags where we laid out the area.

Dig day made for quick progress. The weather was great and they finished pretty quickly digging to grade. In addition to the pool, we are adding some retaining walls and extending the patio to support a separate spa. Due to contractor schedules, progress on the pool itself stopped for several days and the retaining wall crew came in to get started. Rain (go figure it is spring in the Midwest) then slowed us down a bit, the shell was scheduled (actually rescheduled for about the 3rd or 4th time) for March 30. Based on that date, the pool guys were back onsite on the 29th to finish prepping the hole to receive the shell.

 

[BrittanyV]

So, I think I hit the picture limit. So I will add a few more here showing the placement of the shell into the hole.
Work is continuing since the shell was placed, it was leveled within +/- 1/4". They have installed the main drains, and are working on the returns, lights, and skimmers now.

I will continue to update as progress continues!

 

[Casey]

Oh my... I love it! I can not wait to see it finished! It's like I get to see my pool before I get to see my pool! Please, keep us updated! It looks huge. Are you as excited as I am?

 

[BrittanyV]

Just a quick update - progress has slowed on our build a little, mostly because it just seems slow compared to the days the dig occurred and the shell was placed.
I’ll probably post more pics tomorrow, but here is where we stand:
Backfill and pool filling is complete up to the level of plumbing the returns, skimmers, and installing the lights.

QUESTION: We hit our first OOOPS moment with the builder - they only installed 3 niches for microbrite lights instead of the 4 in our contract. There isn’t much we can do about it now except get a credit I presume. Any other suggested actions in this situation? If we forced the 4th light installation, the spacing would be off.

Plumbing for the returns and skimmers is started and they have dug the trench to the area of the equipment pad. The pad was laid out incorrectly, and that needs to be fixed still - probably tomorrow.

Additionally the landscape crew has been working on the retaining wall.

For some reason this project is stressing me out more than building either of 2 houses - I can’t explain why but I feel like I have to watch over and check everything along the way. Hopefully it doesn’t do me in! Overall the PB seems to be doing good work and is very responsive, so that is a good thing.

M&B

 

[BrittanyV]

More progress in the last week, and I thought it made sense to post an update. Our retaining wall is now mostly complete, plumbing is mostly done, lights installed, backfill and water fill is nearly done, equipment pad is poured, and equipment has been delivered! Today the rest of the old patio was removed as well.

We welcome any questions or comments, especially if you see something we should direct the PB to change now.

Tomorrow we have to decide on our seat wall and coping colors. Our thought is to make them match.

Does anyone have an idea how pricing for poured, stamped coping might compare to precast paver coping?

 

[ajw22]

Does anyone have an idea how pricing for poured, stamped coping might compare to precast paver coping?

@jimmythegreek may have some ideas.

Regardless of price you will get a cleaner look and edges with precast.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Here it's around 12 sqft for stamped basic and 15 for average pavers, 20ish for techoblok and high ends. Personally not a fam of stamped anywhere that gets frost. If amd when the slab cracks outside of a control joint it's impossible to repair a section and match it. Comcrete likes to crack where you dont want it to. I'm a big fan of pavers, can always pull them up and reset them for a repair, and done right they dont move. It's all in the prep amd compaction of base either way you go

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Regarding that 4th light- I don't think I'd sweat it too much. You have that long baha shelf, so it takes away much of the footage I'd expect lit up. Take some cash back and enjoy the pool.

Maddie

 

[BrittanyV]

Hello! Quick progress - or lack of progress update and a couple of questions.

First, the last 7 days have been very low key regarding our backyard project. Aside from some further work on the retaining wall, and the delivery of some components, nothing happened to our pool. This made us a little grumpy considering the weather was beautiful for at least 3 working days during which no work was done. I chalk it up to busy contractors with many different ongoing projects at various states of completion.

We did take delivery of the Intellicenter which I hemmed and hawed about. I ended up ordering it from Polytec on my own for the PB to install since he “couldn’t get it from his supplier.” We also received the Coverstar auto cover.

Current status of the pool is that it is about 80% full and 80% backfilled. They stopped at this point to allow access for the wall building guys.

Now the questions:
1) The pool has been sitting for 3 weeks now in various stages of full as the PB did plumbing, light installs, and backfilling. The equipment is not yet setup and of course no chems were added, so it is just a stagnant bog of green water. Not exactly exciting to look at. Of course the project manager says it will clean right up, but we have concerns. Is this a big problem? It’s nearing the point of not being able to see the bottom! I imagine it will take a good slug of CL and lots of brushing and filtering to get it straightened out, but as of yet I don’t know anything about what the PB has in mind for treatment. I’ve tried to stay positive and trust in the process, but it is a little unsettling. When they are done we will be going the TFP method with an SWCG.

2) Our PB seems clearly set against doing any kind of paver coping. In our spec we have poured, stamped, died concrete coping built into the project. Because of the Semma block retaining wall near the pool, we wanted to check on the possibility to coordinate the coping with the wall. Upon our request the PB reply was that the pavers are much more time consuming to install and more expensive material. He estimated the coping cost to increase 5X more than wahat we already have planned, plus it would likely delay completion by at least a week. Now, I would have been shocked if there was no price increase, but 5X seems pretty steep. We feel like this is a “go away“ answer from the PB, and frankly I can live and be happy with what we have planned, but I’m curious if anyone thinks the same as us on his reply.

3) On Tuesday we meet with the concrete contractor. Any questions we should specifically ask him? I seem to remember that it is best to use a high strength mix (4000 psi?) including fiber reinforcement for the coping. Is that correct? Anything else?

At my request, we now have a schedule from the project manager that indicates they should be done by Memorial Day, which is considerably later than planned, but in reality still OK as there won’t be any real swimming weather before then anyway. Just trying to be patient!

 

[Apsuhead]

The equipment is not yet setup and of course no chems were added, so it is just a stagnant bog of green water. Not exactly exciting to look at.

My fiberglass pool was installed last Dec and I didn’t hook up the equipment for 3 months and kept the pool water sparkling by adding liquid chlorine, cya, etc on my own. I used my TF-100 to test the water and then added the chemicals and mixed it up using a kayak paddle. If you don’t want to look at green water, start doing it yourself now

 

[jimmythegreek]

Throw a cheap garden hose sump pump in there and let it circle water around. You can safely add CL this way and clear it up. I keep pools clear this way everyday during builds. There will be bugs amd junk in the water obviously but no green swamp. You can clean a swamp too this way

5x the cost of what? If hes planning on cantilevered deck amd coping it cant be 5x that total price. Yes hes giving you a go away price, his sub is doing deck hes busy elsewhere