New Gunite Build in SETX

[YankeeTexan]

This is my first post in a long time. My family and I left Maryland for Texas 7 years ago. The only regret we had is not finding a new house with a pool (housing market is crazy here).

We loved the times we had in our pool at our last house. Thankfully due to some circumstances at my work, we were able to finally build a pool! The picture is the rendition of what we're getting. The dimensions are 34'x21'(sundeck side) & 17' in the deep end.

We're all so excited! We break ground 6/11.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Oh boy howdy!!! That's exciting for you and the fam. You're gonna keep us appraised as the build goes on, right? Lots of pics, and details of the equipment chosen, blah blah blah.
What are your water depths for this new pool?
Try to get as much walkway around the pool so that when you mow the clippings don't blow in the water. No bueno.

Maddie

 

[YankeeTexan]

Oh boy howdy!!! That's exciting for you and the fam. You're gonna keep us appraised as the build goes on, right? Lots of pics, and details of the equipment chosen, blah blah blah.
What are your water depths for this new pool?
Try to get as much walkway around the pool so that when you mow the clippings don't blow in the water. No bueno.

Maddie

Thanks! Actually they called today and bumped us up. Now they're coming tomorrow morning!

Depth is going to be 3.5" in the shallow end and 6' in the deep end. Unfortunately living so close to the gulf, the water table is very high so 6' might be the deepest we can go.

 

[.ben]

What is your plan to chlorinate? Here in Texas, it is difficult to imagine not having a salt water chlorine generator (SWG).

+1 for trying to get a little extra concrete around the pool to lessen the amount of grass clippings (not necessarily behind the raised wall).

Consider umbrella sleeves in the deck and sunshelf. We only have 1 bubbler on the shelf and 1 seems fine. Have you considered sheer decent (waterfall) at the raised wall?

Maybe curve the corners of the deck around the fire pit? That would be my personal aesthetic choice but, you would lose a little concrete in the corner.

 

[YankeeTexan]

What is your plan to chlorinate? Here in Texas, it is difficult to imagine not having a salt water chlorine generator (SWG).

+1 for trying to get a little extra concrete around the pool to lessen the amount of grass clippings (not necessarily behind the raised wall).

Consider umbrella sleeves in the deck and sunshelf. We only have 1 bubbler on the shelf and 1 seems fine. Have you considered sheer decent (waterfall) at the raised wall?

Maybe curve the corners of the deck around the fire pit? That would be my personal aesthetic choice but, you would lose a little concrete in the corner.

The fire pit and chairs were added by the builder for artistic effect. We are not getting that yet. Actually the pad will be the future site of a pavilion.

For umbrellas we're going with purple leaf offset umbrellas that rotate. This way we're can cover more area and shift them during the day as the sun moves. Plus they have a more robust base that we can bury that'll make it resistant to wind since we're near the coast.

As for SWG use... I was thinking of going that route even with our last house and pool. It's strange that 4 builders we talked to down here have recommended we not do salt. However I talked with a coworker and he said he's got it and didn't overly adverse affects to having a SWG. We're going to move forward with chlorine right now and we'll look into it for a future modification.

The raised wall will have 3 water fall spots.

 

[Tcadwall0]

For umbrellas we're going with purple leaf offset umbrellas that rotate. This way we're can cover more area and shift them during the day as the sun moves. Plus they have a more robust base that we can bury that'll make it resistant to wind since we're near the coast.

I just installed one I got on Amazon. I didn't purchase the inground anchor for it, but I did put a 2' deep 1' wide concrete footer in, and then bolted it directly into that. So far it is working out awesome, as I covered the concrete with the existing artificial turf.

 

[Toxophilite]

Thanks! Actually they called today and bumped us up. Now they're coming tomorrow morning!

Depth is going to be 3.5" in the shallow end and 6' in the deep end. Unfortunately living so close to the gulf, the water table is very high so 6' might be the deepest we can go.

Congrats! I live right on the coast and table water would not be an issue for you, but 6' is more than plenty depth if no diving board. Water over your head (or up to nose for me), is about all you need, so any deeper is for naught in my opinion.

 

[YankeeTexan]

I just installed one I got on Amazon. I didn't purchase the inground anchor for it, but I did put a 2' deep 1' wide concrete footer in, and then bolted it directly into that. So far it is working out awesome, as I covered the concrete with the existing artificial turf.

Awesome! And overall the umbrella is sturdy and a good investment? Unfortunately Amazon shopping is hard for me because I like to see products in person first.

Artificial turf... I'd like to see pictures of that around your pool. Sounds interesting!

 

[YankeeTexan]

Congrats! I live right on the coast and table water would not be an issue for you, but 6' is more than plenty depth if no diving board. Water over your head (or up to nose for me), is about all you need, so any deeper is for naught in my opinion.

Thanks! 6' would leave a tuft of white hair dry in my case. .

I'm a big water person so I love deeper depths. The builder did ask if I wanted 6' still. I told him go as deep as you can go before hitting water.

 

[Toxophilite]

Awesome! And overall the umbrella is sturdy and a good investment? Unfortunately Amazon shopping is hard for me because I like to see products in person first.

Artificial turf... I'd like to see pictures of that around your pool. Sounds interesting!

Here's a mistake I noticed about my design on recent first IG pool. I only had 1 umbrella stand installed on the shelf. With this sun, I've been looking for ways to cool my pool and swim. Umbrellas are the greatest!!! Keeps the water much cooler and get longer swim times due to not wanting to swim when sun bearing straight down on you. 3 strategically placed umbrella stands in the deck to shade the noon to evening sun would have been such a nice addition over free-standing that risk tipping into pool.

 

[YankeeTexan]

Here's a mistake I noticed about my design on recent first IG pool. I only had 1 umbrella stand installed on the shelf. With this sun, I've been looking for ways to cool my pool and swim. Umbrellas are the greatest!!! Keeps the water much cooler and get longer swim times due to not wanting to swim when sun bearing straight down on you. 3 strategically placed umbrella stands in the deck to shade the noon to evening sun would have been such a nice addition over free-standing that risk tipping into pool.

Very good points! I'm doing 2, but I'll definitely look to see if we can do more. This Texas sun is brutal at times!

 

[Toxophilite]

The builder did ask if I wanted 6' still. I told him go as deep as you can go before hitting water.

The way it's going with this drought, you will definitely have a SW pool.......from the Indian Ocean

 

[YankeeTexan]

The way it's going with this drought, you will definitely have a SW pool.......from the Indian Ocean

Ain't that true!

 

[.ben]

The fire pit and chairs were added by the builder for artistic effect. We are not getting that yet. Actually the pad will be the future site of a pavilion.

For umbrellas we're going with purple leaf offset umbrellas that rotate. This way we're can cover more area and shift them during the day as the sun moves. Plus they have a more robust base that we can bury that'll make it resistant to wind since we're near the coast.

As for SWG use... I was thinking of going that route even with our last house and pool. It's strange that 4 builders we talked to down here have recommended we not do salt. However I talked with a coworker and he said he's got it and didn't overly adverse affects to having a SWG. We're going to move forward with chlorine right now and we'll look into it for a future modification.

The raised wall will have 3 water fall spots.

A pavilion is a great addition. I wish we had the space and budget.

Ask your PB to pre-plumb for a SWG so that they leave a space for you to easily install a cell later.

We decided to add a light to the sunshelf and it was a great decision.

Is your raised beam covered in split face travertine? Ask if they are going to add travertine to the back of the beam as well, because this option was not standard with some of the PB we talked to.

 

[Toxophilite]

A pavilion is a great addition. I wish we had the space and budget.

Ask your PB to pre-plumb for a SWG so that they leave a space for you to easily install a cell later.

We decided to add a light to the sunshelf and it was a great decision.

Is your raised beam covered in split face travertine? Ask if they are going to add travertine to the back of the beam as well, because this option was not standard with some of the PB we talked to.

Yes, gonna add here - in addition to light, which I did do, I find that the shelf is a dead spot and needs a return - I did not do and regret. The shallow water gets hotter than pool due to shelf radiating heat, and debris can't clear when wind shifts towards.

Definitely clarify what's on the back of those elevations, if anything.

 

[Tcadwall0]

Awesome! And overall the umbrella is sturdy and a good investment? Unfortunately Amazon shopping is hard for me because I like to see products in person first.

Artificial turf... I'd like to see pictures of that around your pool. Sounds interesting!

Pool is new last spring. My wife and I did all the landscaping, including river rock, plants and artificial turf. The umbrella was just done this spring - so far very impressed with the quality. It was somewhere in the $750 range on Amazon - but it is the biggest square they had.

https://a.co/d/jkGHH6a

We chose the artificial turf so that our swimming dogs would have some space, but would not be bringing grass, dirt, mud into the pool.

Don't mind the mess right now. Still haven't picked up from the weekend parties.

 

[YankeeTexan]

Pool is new last spring. My wife and I did all the landscaping, including river rock, plants and artificial turf. The umbrella was just done this spring - so far very impressed with the quality. It was somewhere in the $750 range on Amazon - but it is the biggest square they had.

https://a.co/d/jkGHH6a

We chose the artificial turf so that our swimming dogs would have some space, but would not be bringing grass, dirt, mud into the pool.View attachment 429926View attachment 429927

Don't mind the mess right now. Still haven't picked up from the weekend parties.

Ahhh... It looks good! I had thought that when you said that, you had it up to the coping tile. But that's smart so your dogs don't track anything in.

 

[Tcadwall0]

Ahhh... It looks good! I had thought that when you said that, you had it up to the coping tile. But that's smart so your dogs don't track anything in.

I have seen people do that, but I wouldn't want to walk on this in full sun. It gets HOT. Mine is mostly shade, but the dogs don't lay around on it until after sunset. Doesn't seem to bother their feet, but it does bother mine for the couple hours that it gets full sun there.

 

[YankeeTexan]

A pavilion is a great addition. I wish we had the space and budget.

Ask your PB to pre-plumb for a SWG so that they leave a space for you to easily install a cell later.

We decided to add a light to the sunshelf and it was a great decision.

Is your raised beam covered in split face travertine? Ask if they are going to add travertine to the back of the beam as well, because this option was not standard with some of the PB we talked to.

Yes, gonna add here - in addition to light, which I did do, I find that the shelf is a dead spot and needs a return - I did not do and regret. The shallow water gets hotter than pool due to shelf radiating heat, and debris can't clear when wind shifts towards.

Definitely clarify what's on the back of those elevations, if anything.

I believe there is going to be a light on the sun shelf. I'll have to dig out the contract. There's 4 lights going in and I'm sure one was in the shelf.
When my wife didn't want a planter behind the raised waterfall feature, my builder did adjust the design to add split face tile all the way around. I don't know if it's exactly travertine or not. We actually have not picked the tile yet but we did see all the samples he has.

 

[YankeeTexan]

Here's the before pictures taken this morning before they came.