New IG build League City, TX

[Jbrillo]

tldude,

That looks look good to me! Thanks for the pics!
I think it’ll be ok.

 

[tldude876]

No prob man. It can go either way. I think it depends on how busy the other components of the pool are. Post pics of your selected options when you get a chance.

 

[Jbrillo]

No prob man. It can go either way. I think it depends on how busy the other components of the pool are. Post pics of your selected options when you get a chance.

I agree!

Now I just have to worry how it all looks together on a larger scale than the samples we saw. We spent a good two hours plus at the PB’s looking at samples and pictures and mixing and matching stuff. Now that the tile is about to go up, my wife is worrying it won’t look good. I’m confident it will be fine.
Here’s what we picked:

Coping and spray deck

(We aren’t getting the bullnose....it was an upgrade)

Ledgerstone for raised walls


Ledgerstone and coping


Coping with back up water line tile choices

(Forgot to take a picture of the tile we actually chose with coping.....we were there way too long)

Tile we actually chose

(We actually forgot to take a pic of the tile we chose so the PB sent us a pic.....like I said, we were there way too long)

Feel free to comment/critique choices.

I know the actual product will vary some but I hope it’ll be fine. I’ll be home home that day so I’ll definitely be checking up on it. I’ll post some pics once it’s up.

 

[tldude876]

Those options look great! I didn't get the bullnose either as it would take away from my geometric shape (house and pool). Love the ledgerstone/coping combo. I personally prefer the first back up tile but they all work. l remember stressing over my tile after it was installed but truth is once the water is in the pool and halfway up the tile it will come together. Like I said before, great choices.

 

[kimkats]

All of those picks will look great together! like tldude says the water will bring it all together and looking great!

Now lets talk about those pretty tiles. Are they on site yet? If not see if they will bring them on over. THEN go through the boxes. There will be some extra pretty ones. You will want to pull those to be used in the "sight line" places. The places your eye falls when you walk out to the pool. Then pull out the ugly ones LOL There will be some there is no way you want them any where near you pretty pool. Put those in a hiding place.

We had one build where they put all of the lighter colored ones together then all of the darker ones together. It looked awful It needs to be mixed up. The PB agreed it looked bad and had it redone. The PO placed the tiles out how he wanted them done and it came out much better. Better YOU pick which ones to use and where than someone that is just doing a job.

Kim

 

[Jbrillo]

Those options look great! I didn't get the bullnose either as it would take away from my geometric shape (house and pool). Love the ledgerstone/coping combo. I personally prefer the first back up tile but they all work. l remember stressing over my tile after it was installed but truth is once the water is in the pool and halfway up the tile it will come together. Like I said before, great choices.

Thanks man! It was so difficult making choices. The number of tile choices seemed almost endless. I love our backup choices too. I would’ve been good with any of them. Picking the finish took forever too. They had so many pics of different finishes and under different lighting conditions. My wife liked Caribbean blue and I really liked blue surf(or blue smurf as it is fondly referred to here). Ultimately, we chose blue smurf. We even forgot to take a picture of that! We have a hard enough time deciding where to go eat let alone having to make decision on something we’ll have to live with for a long time.

 

[Jbrillo]

All of those picks will look great together! like tldude says the water will bring it all together and looking great!

Now lets talk about those pretty tiles. Are they on site yet? If not see if they will bring them on over. THEN go through the boxes. There will be some extra pretty ones. You will want to pull those to be used in the "sight line" places. The places your eye falls when you walk out to the pool. Then pull out the ugly ones LOL There will be some there is no way you want them any where near you pretty pool. Put those in a hiding place.

We had one build where they put all of the lighter colored ones together then all of the darker ones together. It looked awful It needs to be mixed up. The PB agreed it looked bad and had it redone. The PO placed the tiles out how he wanted them done and it came out much better. Better YOU pick which ones to use and where than someone that is just doing a job.

Kim

They aren’t on site yet. I hope they get here before the tilers do so I can go through them. I will be home that day so I’ll be sure to be watching over things. I hope don’t have the best eye for design but I’ll try. I really wish my wife was off that day. She would be a better judge than I.

 

[Dirk]

Ask of the PB if the tile can be delivered well in advance of the install. (More like "demand.") You'll be doing yourself and he a favor. Tell him you want to hand sort them, and you don't want to have to do that while a crew is waiting around for you and your wife to do so. Take your time going through them. Your wife and you should lay them all out around the pool (if that's possible). Have samples of the other materials on hand, too. Picking from showroom samples and expecting what gets delivered (1) to actually match the samples and (2) looks right in your yard, are not necessarily reliable assumptions. Colors change based on surroundings, light, shadows, time of day, etc. Samples could be manufactured years apart from what shows up. And I can guarantee that manufacturers' notions about "acceptable variances" will not match your notions about that subject. Have you been asked to sign something that mentions variances? It might be in your contract. That clause is there for a reason (hint: it's not there to protect you!).

I'd want at least 5-10% surplus ordered, so I could reject up to that many (depending on the design/pattern/make-up of the tile and its allowable color variance). If they only order what they'll need, you'll be stuck using "rejects" somewhere. If you have to reject more than the surplus (depending your or your wife's "fussiness threshold"), sorting them in advance might give you the leeway to order more.

Otherwise, if you wait until the day of, you'll get what you get and they'll get placed where they get placed. It'll be some amount of hassle for all involved to pull off these suggestions, but, as you point out, you'll be living with the results for years and years.

For what it's worth, I like the Oxford tile. At least in the pictures, its black veins match those of the Ivory Rustic. The Masisosar looks less dramatic by comparison. Other than that, the teal and tan contrast you've got going on is really attractive, and similar to my pool's palette, which is the favorite part about the material choices in my yard (made by the previous owners). I think you guys did real well with your selections.

 

[Jbrillo]

Ask of the PB if the tile can be delivered well in advance of the install. (More like "demand.") You'll be doing yourself and he a favor. Tell him you want to hand sort them, and you don't want to have to do that while a crew is waiting around for you and your wife to do so. Take your time going through them. Your wife and you should lay them all out around the pool (if that's possible). Have samples of the other materials on hand, too. Picking from showroom samples and expecting what gets delivered (1) to actually match the samples and (2) looks right in your yard, are not necessarily reliable assumptions. Colors change based on surroundings, light, shadows, time of day, etc. Samples could be manufactured years apart from what shows up. And I can guarantee that manufacturers' notions about "acceptable variances" will not match your notions about that subject. Have you been asked to sign something that mentions variances? It might be in your contract. That clause is there for a reason (hint: it's not there to protect you!).

I'd want at least 5-10% surplus ordered, so I could reject up to that many (depending on the design/pattern/make-up of the tile and its allowable color variance). If they only order what they'll need, you'll be stuck using "rejects" somewhere. If you have to reject more than the surplus (depending your or your wife's "fussiness threshold"), sorting them in advance might give you the leeway to order more.

Otherwise, if you wait until the day of, you'll get what you get and they'll get placed where they get placed. It'll be some amount of hassle for all involved to pull off these suggestions, but, as you point out, you'll be living with the results for years and years.

For what it's worth, I like the Oxford tile. At least in the pictures, its black veins match those of the Ivory Rustic. The Masisosar looks less dramatic by comparison. Other than that, the teal and tan contrast you've got going on is really attractive, and similar to my pool's palette, which is the favorite part about the material choices in my yard (made by the previous owners). I think you guys did real well with your selections.

It may be too late to have anything delivered early. They come on Wednesday. Plus, I really don’t have an eye for design or anything artistic for that matter. As long the stuff resembles what we ordered, I’ll probably be okay. Something would have to look obviously poor for me to notice. I’m not good at matching things at all. My wife still looks at me sometimes and says,”you think that goes together”. That’s why I wish she could be home Wednesday too. She would have the better eye for these things. I’ll ask her if she could take off, but she usually can’t. Thanks for the ideas though! They are good ideas and if I could tell which ones should go where I’d probably push hard for me to personally pick the tiles.

 

[Dirk]

Since it is very likely no one but you and your wife would ever notice anything about your tiles, it really doesn't matter what your design sense is. You only need to please yourselves! So what looks right to you two is right! You've certainly made a good case to have her there, though. Not only for her satisfaction, but for your own protection!!

Thanks for taking the suggestions as they are intended. I don't have any skin in this game. Just throwin' darts at the dart board, maybe some of them will stick, it's certainly OK if they don't...

 

[Jbrillo]

Thanks for taking the suggestions as they are intended. I don't have any skin in this game. Just throwin' darts at the dart board, maybe some of them will stick, it's certainly OK if they don't...

I always appreciate the input! I’m sure I’ll have plenty of questions for quite awhile. Once the pool is done, I’m sure I’ll have even more questions. So feel free to keep throwing darts!

 

[Jbrillo]

Tile guys came out today. They had to drain the pool and spa to work. Hopefully they’ll finish tomorrow. The plumbers came out to run the backwash line. This is what we’ve got so far:


(My oldest lending a hand!)
They got a lot of the spa done too but my pics are too dark. I’ll take more tomorrow.

The gunite guys came out to fix a few spots and to add a step in the spa. I meant to add that a long time ago but forgot with all the other stuff I was trying to remember. My wife got in the spa the other day and realized it was kinda hard for her to get out(she’s short and was born with a hip defect). That’s when it dawned on me that I forgot all about it. The PB added the step at no cost. I really appreciated it. I assume it didn’t cost him anything but I’m sure he could have charged something if he really wanted.



The electrician is scheduled for tomorrow.
I wonder if he’ll have help digging 185ft to run the electricity. At least, I assume he does that. Or maybe the plumbers will since the gas has to run the same path. I have no idea.

 

[Dirk]

Tile looks good.

 

[Jbrillo]

Thanks Dirk!
Can’t wait to see it all done.

 

[kimkats]

That tile is so pretty with that stacked stone! That is going to come out great!

Good job adding the step PB! SCORE! I bet that will make it much easier for your wife to get in and out!

Kim

 

[ctrav]

Those colors should work well!

 

[Jbrillo]

That tile is so pretty with that stacked stone! That is going to come out great!

Good job adding the step PB! SCORE! I bet that will make it much easier for your wife to get in and out!

Kim

Thank you Kim! I think the combo is turning out really well. The step will definitely make a difference for her.

The tile guys came back but didn’t get to finish b/c the electricians came and were doing a bunch of digging on the one side they needed to finish. No biggie but here’s what we’ve got so far.


The electricians stayed pretty late. They were here till about 5:30. It was dark when they left. I’ve got a panel and my outlet. Electrical inspection is tomorrow. Hopefully the tile guys can finish too.

- - - Updated - - -

Those colors should work well!

Thanks ctrav! I’m happy the way it is working out so far. It’s probably better than I imagined.

 

[kimkats]

Are you having a light put by your equipment? If not see if they can/will do it now. You will thank me the first time you have to go out there in the dark!

Kim

 

[Jbrillo]

Are you having a light put by your equipment? If not see if they can/will do it now. You will thank me the first time you have to go out there in the dark!

Kim

Yes ma’am! They mounted one in the eaves above the equipment pad. It should help light up that side of the yard too.

 

[tldude876]

Good progress so far. Once again, I love that stone!