New SoCal IG shotcrete pool build - equipment set, Final Inspection Passed, Pebble Done! Salt added. Back deck in process

[Ahultin]

@richthank you, that is very helpful

 

[Ahultin]

Passed our first inspection today but they are requiring the pb to "remove" the planter to the left of the stairs/right of the grotto. Bummer as I didnt expect the planter but the idea had grown on me after it was added lol. Pb said he is just going to make it another boulder.
Pool shell is scheduled to be shot on Saturday but I have some concern on the returns. Pool has three 1" returns (coming off a 2" line) , 1 over the baja shelf and two at the spa pushing north towards the skimmer. My concern is not having one in the grotto area. The majority of the time wind is blowing from the south to north which in my mind is going to leave a pocket of Crud in the corner of the grotto. I asked the pb about it today and he said the way they have it setup it shouldnt be an issue. Any consensus on the reality of that? Given the grottos location it will be less than fun to be scrubbing that area with a long brush and hand skimmer. Any reason to add/ not to add another return in the seating area

 

[Ahultin]

@AQUA~HOLICS they added more dobies but nowhere near what your photos shows, worthwhile to request more?

 

[Rich D]

My concern is not having one in the grotto area.

I would not be the best one to respond to this for reasons..
1. I have a IFCS. So no side returns at all.
2. My prevailing winds blow debris away from the grotto.
3. My grotto is not very deep. It is just a seat behind the falls aprox 2.5' deep.

The way I skim all day is to leave only one particular zone of the IFCS on to achieve a good swirl affect. This swirl does do a good job at keeping the grotto clear with nothing in the grotto pushing out. For proper skimming creating a good swirl affect is crucial.

On a separate note. One thing I wish I had in my grotto was a way to blast pool water on the interior walls. I am not the only one who enjoys the grotto. The spiders and other assorted creatures like it as well. It would be ideal to have a hose that attached to the return system to blast the walls down every once in a while when swimming. On occasion a bit of algae does start to grow on the boulders mid summer. So a quick spray with a bleach mix and a good rinse after works well for that. So if I were to have a do over I would definitely have a dedicated return line going into the grotto. I would have it set up so I could adjust the Valves to give full pressure to this one return and be able to pop a small hose into the return. The way I do it now I need to drag my garden hose out and hook that to the pool pump. This is a extra chore so it does not get done as often as I would like. That Disney world park you have going there almost demands a few cool custom features....

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

The reason for requesting so many Dobies on my jobs is that the Shotcrete crew members will be walking all over and standing on the steel cage during the application process and bending the cage towards the floor and loose the 3” clearance that is required to maintain proper Shotcrete thickness.
To answer your question regarding a return line in the Grotto I need to see a picture of the current locations of the 3 return lines already in place to see if they are capable of moving water efficiently in the Grotto area, Ray.

 

[jetski559]

Looks like a fun build! No chance you have a 3D rendering of what you guys are expecting?
Keep the build thread going, can't wait to see progress!

 

[jetski559]

One more question for now. When talking to my PB, anything that had water slide/ rock / grotto was an instant 10-25k adder.
Was this the case for your PB? Do you care to share how much on top of the base pool price was the slide/grotto, etc? I'm just curious, because it started to seem the extras could become as much as the 'base' pool itself...

 

[Ahultin]

The reason for requesting so many Dobies on my jobs is that the Shotcrete crew members will be walking all over and standing on the steel cage during the application process and bending the cage towards the floor and loose the 3” clearance that is required to maintain proper Shotcrete thickness.
To answer your question regarding a return line in the Grotto I need to see a picture of the current locations of the 3 return lines already in place to see if they are capable of moving water efficiently in the Grotto area, Ray.

 

[Ahultin]

Looks like a fun build! No chance you have a 3D rendering of what you guys are expecting?
Keep the build thread going, can't wait to see progress!

Unfortunately no, our design is from 2007 and was hand drawn. We liked it so when we started trying to get bids they went off of this.
With the pb we went with the rock feature waterfall and slide added @20k to the build. Another PB quoted 50-75 additional for the same thing

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

I wrote a few notes on your picture to help explain my suggestion. Yes you need 1 more return line and I would suggest moving one of the two that are in the spa wall. Without adding a fourth return you will have a large dead spot of circulation on the opposite side of the pool. Hope this helps, Ray.

 

[Ahultin]

I wrote a few notes on your picture to help explain my suggestion. Yes you need 1 more return line and I would suggest moving one of the two that are in the spa wall. Without adding a fourth return you will have a large dead spot of circulation on the opposite side of the pool. Hope this helps, Ray.

Got a call late last night from the pb stating that shotcrete was scheduled for this am. Expressed my concern about the returns and to avoid delay the plan is to reallocate the vac line as a return since we are planning on getting a robot. This adds the 4th return in roughly the right location and flow will be controlled with a three way valve. Hopefully that works.
They finished the shotcrete late afternoon, 7 truckloads . So far so good but I the top step on the baja shelf looks off to me, it is in the right spot per the original drawing but? Also the coupler on the light pvc is fully exposed, I think it was plumbed with the intent of being in the stair

 

[Ahultin]

Not neccesarily "pool" updates but pool related. The first half of our required fence got done today. Our lot is sloped and we opted to travel down the slow some to get the fence out of view-line of site from the spa. Having this portion in now also gives the illusion of more space in the back yard so the pool doesnt look so huge lol. I called for a underground dig alert and everything was marked friday which resulted in having to add a gate in the back corner that was not planned as there is a water company easement that they said we had to provide access for.

 

[Ahultin]

I have been watering the shotcrete 3x daily as I was told to and made an interesting revelation, the pool is larger than contracted lol. Contract calls for 16*30 freeform, 3.5-6.5 water depth. We discussed while going over the contract narrowing the pool some and lengthening it some to increase the "swim lane" which the indicated was no issue. End result appears to be 35ft 7in long by 16ft 2in wide with a depth of 3ft 7in to 7ft 3in measured to center of the skimmer. Using the pentair calculator that puts is at 19600 gallons in the pool and @4600 in the spa. With this, the ic40 will be less than double capacity, do I need to ask about going to the ic60?

 

[DorsalSpine]

That is quite a slope on the hillside leading down into the pool. How do you intend to divert any water runoff? It's raining here as I type this and that just occurred to me.

 

[Ahultin]

That is quite a slope on the hillside leading down into the pool. How do you intend to divert any water runoff? It's raining here as I type this and that just occurred to me.

A couple of thoughts on this
1. There is a large brow ditch at the top of the slope that diverts runoff around the graded pad so the only runoff that comes down is that which directly hits the slope
2. Where the raised wall hits the slope, the wall is taller by almost a foot. As I understand the pb will be trenching a French drain here
3. This is in southern California, it rarely rains here (hence the current drought and fire danger and brown landscape) , my daughter having done her undergrad in ohio I understand the concern . Even when it does rain it is nothing like a typical ohio rain

 

[Ahultin]

Faux rock work has started and made me much more confident as the shotcrete was real rough lol

 

[Ahultin]

Work continues on the faux rock and the area between the slide steps and the waterfall where the large planter that the inspector kaboshed seems to be screaming outdoor shower to me, am I wrong? The water heater is in the garage less than 15 ft away and I could easily get hot and cold water to the location (which could ultimately also serve the future outdoor kitchen on the spa end of the pool). The drain could theoretically just be attached to the deck drains


Went and looked at stone for coping today and am leaning towards this quartzite

 

[Rich D]

Went and looked at stone for coping today and am leaning towards this quartzite

We made several sacrifices for function over fashion. Our patio and coping were one of them. We where going for the rustic natural pond look so a natural paver was the obvious choice. However we really did not want a rough surface to walk on and hold sand and debris (we both hate walking on grit) and especially wanted a smooth surface on the coping edge for sitting around the pool. So we went with a smooth paver and every time I walk out there I am so glad we did.... You can see the end result in the link in my signature..

 

[Rich D]

where the large planter that the inspector kaboshed seems to be screaming outdoor shower to me, am I wrong?

I am curious why the inspector would not allow the planter? I think a spot of vegetation there would look great. We put a small planter on the edge of the pool just for the skimmer basket but I really think it adds a lot having it there. Could you just get some faux plants to go with your faux rocks? Or maybe something in just a nice deck pot. If the planter is definitely out then it certainly does look like a great shower spot to me..

 

[Rich D]

Here are some updated pics of things a bit more grown in...