New Northeastern Pa Build

ok we r on to the next phase. i said buy-buy to my pool builder today for a few weeks and now is one of my closest friend's time to shine. he will be doing all grade for both the upper decking and the lower decking and poolhouse. we need to get everything exactly at the right elevations so we can also pull all utilities to the future poolhouse and the pad. plan is to use the easy touch unit as the sub panel for the house and anything else outside. it will get mounted on the poolhouse, but for now it will be rigged by the pad. but that is getting ahead of ourselves.

first thing this week is to get all the grades, then we can hit the upper decking and sidewalk coming in from the driveway. drains for upper decks. then we need to build the bulkhead for the steps to get to the lower level. my original post or a few in shows all that. (i don't have the pretty pictures like so many have. we are kinda old school here. have a vision. scratch it down. make it happen with 300 conversations about it. lol) then we need to get the final topsoil in around t he side and rear of pool. upper area will be done then minus finish pavers.

then we need to pull all utilities and i need to make my mind up on the poolhouse so we can drop the sewer line.

by then pool builder can come back in and do coping and tile.

so in 2.5 weeks all the above needs to be done to stay on track minus coping and tile.

finally i need some opinions. got to pick grout. i want a safe color to deal with but also want the tile to pop. i also have mickey on the burner again. i have a drawing out to custom mosaics in florida for a quote on some custom cut pieces.

what color you all think i should go with?

Untitled by Jim, on Flickr

Untitled by Jim, on Flickr

Untitled by Jim, on Flickr
 
Oh, I love your tile! And I'm so glad you have Mickeys back on the table! I'm crossing my fingers that the Florida company can make it happen! I don't think you can go wrong with the grout either way, but I'm slightly partial to the first one.
 
Great selection of materials. About the grout, I think either will look good, but of course the white will define each individual tile, while the gray will tend to make the tiles all blend in as one monolithic piece. It is really up to the look you are going for. But you can't go wrong either way.
 
Is that Diamond Brite Super Blue? If so, that's a light pool water color. I would go with the lighter grout so it doesn't look like your grout is dirty. But Tony is right, do you want blended tiles or individual tile look?
 
thanks guys for the input. my tile guy likes the lighter one. said it matches better with the plaster. it's actually a very light grey that didn't show in the picture really, but it is the same greys you see in the super blue plaster.

i want the tiles to pop, but i want ease of cleaning.

it is super blue. it's what my wife wanted. i wanted the deep dark blue water but it was a no go.
 
I have calls into 3 places in my area for getting these Mickey heads made. This is going to end up being more trouble than reward. Lol. I do have custom mosaic that can do it but I really want someone local so I can play with colors. My tile guy thinks they should be a diff color than the marker strip tile. Said u won't see them as much. He wants me to use dark blue. That's why I want someone local so I can play with the colors.

What do u guys think for color. Same or diff. If I do them the same color as markers I think they will get lost?

also like I asked before grout color for ease of cleaning not pop. Dark or light with salt system?

on a lighter note got a ton of pan fish last night! Got a lot to clean today for dinner tonight!
 
I agree that the Mickeys should be a different color to make them stand out. I'm so anxious for this to work out for you!!!

I'll be there around 6 for dinner. I'll bring pasta salad and wine. 

i thought someone was going to say that. lol my OCD can't bring myself to doing a diff color. lol i'll have to go up to our local tile distributor this week to see if i can find something in dark blue to match. i will deff need someone local to do these if i go with a diff color. no way i'm taking the chance sending them out and then not like t hem and have to go through it again. also the cost cause i'm assuming it isn't going to be cheap.

jim
 
Today we got all kinda stuff going on. Prep for scratch coats for pavers. Bulkhead for steps to lower elevation prep. Pool house footers prep. Biggest thing is getting ready for ulitity. We may get bring the waste line into the house vs taking it all the way out front. I'm not too thrilled about drilling 4 inch hole in the foundation but he said it will be much cheaper and easier to hit elevation. I have 1 stack that is still accessible being the basement is totally done now. We also have a game plan for the 4 2 inch conduits out of the utility room in the basement for water, electrical and low volt. So by end of the week I'm saying we will have full forms for pouring and maybe conduits for utilities
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
It looks like I have similar, if not the same, tile.

8a3b9a7cb386a971b89bd15427946f85.jpg


My pool is white plaster, so I think yours will be a similar color.
 
still haven't decided on the grout. i think i am going to go dark though. i have totally to my tile guy about it too.

so what is going on. ripping up the side of the house more and more each day. it's really bad right now cause of the rains. trucks are getting hung up. we keep putting down gravel. it is going to be even worse next week when we do the utilities.

IMG_8420 by Jim, on Flickr

gravel went down today. tomorrow are forms with rebar and mesh. we also need to build buried piers for the stakes to hold the cover in the winter on the back side of the pool where there will be no decking. pool builder doesn't want to use the dirt ones. he wants concrete attachments so we are building some big, deep pours of concrete every 3 feet for him to attach to. i love spending money! :( i know it will be better this way vs dirt. we are shooting for a saturday monday the latest pour.

IMG_8416 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8417 by Jim, on Flickr
IMG_8418 by Jim, on Flickr
you can finally see the elevation change. i'm standing n the future poolhouse and looking at future decking and steps. 17 inches only.
IMG_8419 by Jim, on Flickr
you can see the roll off to the empty lot here. we r adding 6 inches of topsoil for planting. 1 load is there. 1 more to come to spread tomorrow. it better be enough! i don't think it is going to be though.

IMG_8404 by Jim, on Flickr
figured i would share some flower pics. here are my wine and roses in full bloom. it's all about a hard cut back after they bloom. people think you can just prune everything the same time of the year. thats because landscapers do all that stuff when they aren't busy to make more money. every tree, shrub, bush, flower has a certain pruning time. if you learn them you will be rewarded! my grandfather and father taught me that.
IMG_8409 by Jim, on Flickr
 
That is some drop off they had to over come for sure! WOW! What will you put there?

From the looks of it you can grow some pretty plants! I grow big puppies and kitties LOL oh and rocks :roll:

What will you do when this is all over to help recover that poor side yard?

Kim:kim:
 
3 steps to lead down to the lower area with decking down there same as above. the slope off on the rear side of the pool will be all perennials. once the dirt is in you will barely notice it.

side of the yard is easy. redo it. pack it down add 14 inches of topsoil for plants and new grass and call it a day like last time. there is barely any slope there too. there was just so much topsoil it made it really soft for big machines. that's why it compacted so quickly.

it is pretty bad though. lol
 
ok worked my magic since 11 AM. I'm spent. I got all the extra grass cut off and scraped off. I got my new border in. I also did a quick layout for my wife of the pavers. my coping came today. I decided to wait till after we pour to finish the final grade for topsoil so i'm not eyeballing heights. i'm using the scratch coat as topsoil height. using the coping and pavers as the height for the rock for landscaping.

we pour monday. most of the framing is done also today.

oh on a lighter note. the Mickey Mouse markers are going to happen! they are ordered. 11 pieced. i opted for same color as the markers. not different.

2 weeks to get them. it was brutal trying to get this setup with the tile company from their custom shop. custom shop is awesome. tile distributor is kinda hard but they are ordered. at least i can deal with custom shop only now.

jim
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.