New Northeastern Pa Build

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TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE GUNITE. . . AND ALL THROUGH THE YARD. . .

i sure hope my neighbors didn't have a long night of drinking and planned on sleeping in cause . . . they r going to have some hopper trucks parked in-between our 2 houses in the morning!

i don't think i'm going to be able to sleep tonight!

jimi
 
kimkats said:
Jim!!!!! Are they there yet?????????????????



Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

Holy cow what a day! Started at 7 sharp and got done at 3. I'm at a confirmation party and just exhausted cause I was helping with random stuff all day. It was organized chaos. I learned so much today from the shoot crew all my with my pool builder. They were there and working with the crew every second of the day. It was just an awesome shoot. I'll have all the details tomorrow. I took like 100 pics. What was best was my pool builder had 3 generations there today. Senior, junior, and juniors young kids came for the day. My kids and them played together all day. Running all over playing in the dirt. The shoot crew was laughing. I don't think they ever had kids running all over around them while working. It was nice family day. I'm so glad I ended up with who I did for a builder. It's crazy how I never knew he did concrete pools and especially since my dad went to school with senior and my grandmother lived above the shop in her later years when the homestead was sold so she could be closer to my parents. It's like having family do the work. Just really nice. The gunite company he uses is just first class. They were really nice. But more tomorrow along with all I learned. I would never have got the job I got without senior and junior there always along with thier main guy translating and getting info back and forth between them.

I just made sure everyone was fed and had drink all day long. What was nice was the guy who was controlling the hopper all day stopped me at the end of the day, shook my hand and said no one on a job has ever taken care of them how we did all day. I'm so glad they were happy especially working on a Saturday. They came from 3 hrs for this shoot too so they had a long day.

I have to water tomorrow. Senior said don't bother tonight since it's 60 only. Said hit it in the morning.

Ok that was longer than I thought. Pics with gunite pool school tomorrow!
 
I can see your smile all the way over here! :sun:

LOVE that the kids got to play and provide fun for the hard working crew! I bet THEY are exhausted also!

See TFP is good for everyone! You got a great pool and the workers felt the love!

I can't wait to hear all of the details and see it!!!

Kim:kim:
 
thanks you two! i'm still working my way through the pics. i was trying to clean up all day. there is gunite dust everywhere. those tarps they put up keep the big stuff from ruining ur home, but the dust is everywhere. it's like when u drywall. it worked its way into the kitchen even cause of my wife going in and out all day for stuff. so it took me all day to do the back porch and some other odds and ends.

i'll get it all up with my thoughts cause i got a lot rolling around in my head.

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IMG_8203 by Jim, on Flickr

this just shows the 2 skimmer placements and my cleaning line. we didn't want it on the other side of the pool where the decking in cause we r trying to keep lines under concrete to a min so i'll have to walk over my landscaping rocks to plug in. hopefully it won't be often when i get a robot. i know it isn't the best spot but it takes a worry out of my head. i'll just deal with walking on the coping to the line and over some rock.

IMG_8204 by Jim, on Flickr

shows the 3 returns and 3 lights. i was worried about 2 of the returns cause they r on steps but seniors right hand man his the height dead center on both. good guy!

IMG_8205 by Jim, on Flickr

pad and the pile of dirt that will next year be a pool house. next year at this time you won't see anything in the background except sky. lol my neighbor is a great guy though. only place i was able to locate the pool house for ease of sewer and all utilities.
 
No no. It's gone by the week. We kept it forcthe back fill up to the level of my good topsoil. We don't know how much we need so we kept it all here to decrease the trips hauling back and forth with the trucks. Whatever my builder doesn't use will go down toy buddies shop. Lol. Ya it's bothering me at this point. Plus it has to go cause utilities run right through there also.

Forms are down. Trenches all dug and they r putting pipe down now. I'm hoping by Wednesday plumbing is wrapped up. By Friday all backfill should be done I would think. ThSt means next week we r onto decking prep and ulilities!
 

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so they crushed it today with plumbing and some electrical, but then i was watering some flowers and said to myself go look at the one trench by the future steps. walked over. looked. ya the full trench wit the 3 returns run right through the upper deck the steps and lower deck. so if something ever went wrong we would be digging up not only the upper deck but also steps and the lower deck. holy poop! i got on the phone got louis (my buddy who is doing all the hardscaping), and senior. ya lou said they have to move at least 3 feet back so they only run under the upper decking, which totally makes sense to me. senior isn't happy. he just took the small excavator off the job cause we were done with it and now we need another trench about 12 feet long. myself and lou just don't want pipes to be running under especially the steps. i said i would dig it tonight. he said it would be a pain and he will rough up the ground wit the bobcat teeth and dig it out, but he will have to cover up the other trenches to get he bobcat in the area. it sounded fine until i went to take a shower and thought, ok he will cover up the trenches wit the skimmers, but then what if there is an issue with the pressure test. then we are digging them back up by hand. i figure be careful and i'll take the time to do them by hand while they do other stuff tomorrow. he didn't text me back yet. so i'm just staying home tomorrow and going to see when they get here.

what do you all think?

cover trenches with skimmer cause they will be done and dig new trench for the returns with bobcat or keep everything open till after pressure test and dig the new one for the returns by hand?

pretty much all the skimmers and my cleaning line are in one trench and the returns in another.

jim
 
I would worry about the bobcat (VERY heavy machine) rolling over the covered up pipe......is that even a valid worry? BUT I also HATE digging by hand..........machine work if at all possible.

I DO say it is a good thing you thought of future problems and having the least amount of damage/work down the road. Of course this moving of pipe and trenches will mean you will NEVER have a problem down the road :roll: LOL

Kim:kim:

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jimim said:
Ya I left the sprinkler on al night. 9 hours of really slow water back and forth in the air on the shell. Did I just mess it up? I'm so mad at myself right now. So mad.
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nope! You are fine! The plaster will cover it up! This is like if it was raining so no big deal!
 
ok today. . .

i know i still get the pics up.

today i decided to go out and start digging the new trench. in the mud cause of all the darn water from leaving the sprinkler on all night! thank god for all the sand. drained really quick. i had it 60% done and seniors main guy showed up. laughed and me and finished it up with me. then we moved the 3 lines into the trench. he heated while i held and helped with the bending and placing in the new trench. then he got started on the 2 skimmers and the vacuum line along with the drain and bottom return. i helped get he trench cleaned up and help him with the about and then i headed to work on my garden. i got to get it ready to plant this weekend. we have been working on making it bigger. i glued the caps on today (its a raised garden made out of blocks for retaining walls). then i was able to till it up so all that's left is for my dad to add a small truckload of dirt to the new section. he is on that tomorrow. cause i had to move my attention to the little 2 course retaining wall i have across the whole rear of my property. i used it to hold back my topsoil since no-one is behind me. they ripped the heck out of it when running the machines so i spent the next 5 hours digging everything out. getting the cap unglued from the base pieces and then stacking them till we need them again. the plan it to have senior give me a final grade to the end of the property and then i'll redo the wall on that. the 6 inches of height it has will act as the guide for the topsoil. i was going to layout it out before i came in but someone lifted my 2 string lines i have. i have no idea where they went. so that was my day. i started at 8 AM and came in at 7 PM.

what a day!

i did get to be a pool builder today! lol senior just rolled his head when he saw what we did, but we literally had it all done before he even got there for the day. no way i was letting him run the machine over the soaked yard.

what's left till i can start decking is

1. lay the 2 inch conduit to get power to the transformers at the pad.
2. bonding.
3. pressure test.
4. backfill grades behind pool.

jim
 
DUDE! Your poor hands, back,shoulders, everything! Well done! I can just see the head guy laughing at you WHILE he was grabbing the shovel to help you finish THEN SIR shows up and you are DONE??? Funny stuff there!!!! You are a machine!

Sounds like you have a good plan and it is all coming together now!

Kim:kim: (waiting on pics! LOL)
 
so wacky how the trucks were sinking. there was no rain in a week and these hoppers have to be lighter than a full tri-ax that we have been running in and out when the ground was way more wet. it sprinkled for the first 3 hours of the day.

IMG_8284 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8314 by Jim, on Flickr

kids had a ball. all day they played in the dirt. god love the gunite crew dealing with everyone! we had 3 generations of pool builders there. was really nice. my kids and them wanted to know when the next play date was. lol junior lived down by phili but senior lives up here so the kids come in often so we will have to get them together again.

IMG_8331 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8282 by Jim, on Flickr

those are my 2 young-ins with our neighbor's daughter.

ok this was the coolest part of the day! water level. i have never seen one. seniors guy who is from naples said what kinda italian and i that i never used a water level. lol the crew used this all day for getting the beam level. i guess it is more accurate than a laser level when used properly.

IMG_8271 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8297 by Jim, on Flickr

the word of the day was rebound. i never knew exactly what it was. i thought it was only when they start or stop the gun, but it's actually anything that hits the shell that is not immedialty covered by gunite. all gunite needs to be applied under pressure so if they spray and move and the income back to that areas after a certain amount of time it should be pulled and shovels out of the hole. junior was all over this but these guys didn't have to be told once to get it out. the only time he needed to say something was when they hit some new section and the rebar was barely covered. they shut the gun off to switch trucks. junior went over to the rebar and cleaned off all the rebar and had them do the same. he didn't want any rebar coated unless it was fully covered with a build up on it so the adherence to the rebar was again under pressure.

IMG_8327 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8320 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8309 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8288 by Jim, on Flickr
scrape that rebar!
IMG_0588 by Jim, on Flickr

the other thing that was good the crew went over all the lines to make sure everything was level and also checked all the rebar. there was a rim around the shell they didn't like so for the first hour they and my builder added more rebar pieces and blocks and ties to make it proper.

IMG_8267 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8277 by Jim, on Flickr

this is one of the things the crew had to be told about. the pressure relief. they just stuck em in on top of the gravel. junior wanted them dug inputs the gravel.
IMG_8305 by Jim, on Flickr

step build out with benches
IMG_8308 by Jim, on Flickr

so after they made marks wit the water level the foreman of the crew would come and cut the top of the beam. i so wanted to play with that thing!
IMG_8302 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8295 by Jim, on Flickr

swim out build out:
IMG_8316 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8326 by Jim, on Flickr

end of the day junior went over all the penetrations to make sure they were deep enough so they get a good seal with the hydraulic cement before plaster.
IMG_8329 by Jim, on Flickr

that's it people. i know a lot of you know all this, but figured it would be nice for someone like me who didn't have a clue.

so what i took away from the day:
1. i would have been dead in the water without my pool builder there all day. they r the first line of defense to make sure no short cuts happen. i wouldn't know what to look for. we had a great crew so it was minimal, but again they knew the builder was on site also.
2. rebound. holy cow, rebound! a lot of it a lot! like so much make sure you have an extra hopper of sand! lol it can't sit on a surface unless it is applied with more ontop quickly due to it needed to be all under pressure. if the rebound sits and then gets covered that's how you get those hallow knocks on the shell which will cause issues down the road. also keep it off the rebar if more was not applied right after.
3. the water level is for true pros! lol the water level was compared to not only old school italian craftsmen, but present day latino craftsmen. oh and back in egyptian time! lol it was so awesome! i'm easy to please. lol
4. nice deep pockets for penetrations to allow for a good tight seal before plaster.
5. feed the crew. just cause it's the right thing to do cause these guys work like animals. it's so physical. so demanding. it's a long day very long. they appreciate it. and i know that cause they told me, which was nice to hear. my wife worked her butt off keeping them happy and full for when they were able to switch in and out of the hole.
6. i personally think it was really nice to only have the plumbing stubs. they were able to move them if need be without cutting anything and making a mess of a plumbing run or move the stub forward or backward on the fly to make sure they are proper, especially in areas where steps are.


that's all i got. i'm going to bed!

jim

ps i really lucked out i think so far. things might get pushed back here and there, but i think the job is going well.

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kimkats said:
DUDE! Your poor hands, back,shoulders, everything! Well done! I can just see the head guy laughing at you WHILE he was grabbing the shovel to help you finish THEN SIR shows up and you are DONE??? Funny stuff there!!!! You are a machine!

Sounds like you have a good plan and it is all coming together now!

Kim:kim: (waiting on pics! LOL)
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i think senior was kinda mad at first, but it was done before the day actually started. and best part. no wasted pipe! it was all moved and reheated and used. His main guy is just good. I really like him. it was nice spending the day with him. We would stop what we were each doing and talk. he is actually moving to my town. has a kid my son's age so we said we have to get them together. I like him. you should see the outdoor pizza ovens he build by hand! no kit. his own design and then he finished them however u want. crazy!
 
I been waiting on the pics! Lol
It's always nice to have a smooth and positive experience like you had with your crew.
Very detailed write up and I appreciate you doing that cause I learned a few things and I know it will be helpful to so many others
 
Jim! What an awesome write up! So many details and with pictures to back them up! Well done!

I, too, have heard about rebound but never really knew what it was. I love to learn new things THANKS!

You scored big time with your builder! All you have to do is read some of the older builds (most this year seem to be good) to know just how good yours is.

Yeah Sr. might have been upset with you because you do not do what he said but.............it is all good in the end :slidehalo:

Water level- do a search and you can find how to make your own! They are easy and cheap to make! The kids (and you) will have a blast learning how to use it.

Kim:kim:
 

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