Newb OB with BYOP in Buckeye AZ - Completion and wrap up

[Schwimmbad]

Called the inspector. He confirmed 4' horizontal.

 

[Schwimmbad]

Dig day has finally arrived! And it's not a hard dig.

 

[kimkats]

Let the dirt/mud begin!!!

 

[Schwimmbad]

Dig done.

Overall decent experience. Glad I was here to catch that they forgot to dig one of the skimmers and had that rectified immediately.

I went out and measured a bunch of the key items and hope I got it right. So to confirm, to measure water depth - go from the top of the boards and subtract 9" (3" for water line and 6" for shotcrete)? Am I correct?

I have a few excavation related variances that I'll be talking to the excavator before I pay him.

• The shallow end measured 5' to top of board. If I'm measuring correctly that would give my shallow end 4'3" instead of 4'. I am going to ask the excavator to double check and ask what he will be doing to correct that. Is the answer I'm looking for is to bring in a load of crushed stone (what spec?) and compacted to 95% (per the engineering plans). The engineering plans only say compacted fill.
• They curved the benches towards the feature wall. I wanted them straight. Guess I'm paying for more concrete if I stick with my original design. I can ask the excavator if he has any ideas about how to avoid paying for more concrete. I expect him to say the earth wouldn't hold. Any other ideas?
• They put a notch on the right side of the ledge. No idea if that was because of a boulder or for some reason they took creative license and felt I needed a step there to go from the baja ledge to the bench.

​

As if this wasn't enough to keep me busy, I did a timelapse for the day. It's actually a fairly quick exercise once you figure out how to do it.

What do you think?

The plumber comes tomorrow and rebar either Friday or Monday. Another fun filled day to look forward to!

 

[kimkats]

Water depth-middle of the skimmer opening to the bottom of the pool. Add in about 8" for the steel, shell, and plaster.

The rebar will set how your benches and such are shaped. I would talk to the rebar people big time with pics of what you are wanting your pool to look like when it is done. Have a big cooler of drinks set out and maybe some breakfast/snack items to make them feel the love.

GOOD job being there to keep an eye on the work!

 

[ajw22]

It is the gunite that locks the shape of benches and edges into place.

The dig are just suggestions. The rebar are the lines for the gunite to color within.

Discuss with the gunite crew chief and be there to supervise when the gunite is shot where you want things straight or curved or builtup.

The plaster will follow the sculpture the gunite crew does.

 

[Schwimmbad]

@kimkats and @ajw22. You guys rock! Everyone on this site has provided a tremendous amount of help and I can't thank everyone enough.

Just to confirm for measuring. The top of the boards will be the top of the shotcrete. That is the same as the top of the waterline tile. The actual waterline is 3" below the top of the tile (which is the same as the center of the skimmer mouth). Do I have that correct?

 

[ajw22]

.The actual waterline is 3" below the top of the tile (which is the same as the center of the skimmer mouth).

Have the skimmers been placed yet?

 

[Schwimmbad]

Have the skimmers been placed yet?

Yes the skimmers were placed, today was plumbing day.

Overall they were on the ball and plumbing went in without a hiccup. They got here a little after 8 am and finished a little before 1pm. They couldn't set the equipment yet, I don't have my poured pad. They pressurized to a little over 40psi and said inspector wants to see 35psi. They said it will fluctuate a little with the changing temperature, but should hold pretty close. Now I have something to check on each day.

Some pictures for those curious. Anything look off? (I hit the limit of 10 pics, I have a few more to post that will go in the next one). @ajw22 the skimmer on the right will be in the next post.
Rebar tomorrow!

 

[Schwimmbad]

Remaining plumbing pictures. Already got an easter egg from a hacker.

 

[Schwimmbad]

And the timelapse for layout, excavation, and plumbing.

 

[proavia]

Are the skimmers and main drains plumbed together or is each skimmer and the main drain run separately to the equipment pad (homerun)? The later is preferred and provides better control - especially with an IFCS.

Is there going to be a leafvac or leaf canister at the pad?

 

[ajw22]

Make sure the skimmers are encapsulated by the rebar and then gunite.

 

[kimkats]

The middle of the skimmer opening is where you measure the water depth. From middle of skimmer opening to the bottom of the pool. Add about take away about 8" for the steel, shell, and plaster.

 

[Schwimmbad]

Are the skimmers and main drains plumbed together or is each skimmer and the main drain run separately to the equipment pad (homerun)? The later is preferred and provides better control - especially with an IFCS.

Is there going to be a leafvac or leaf canister at the pad?

No main drain. That pipe in the center of the deep end of the floor is for a future chiller return. ALL lines are homerun, and all will have diverter vales. No IFCS, just robot. I decided to include a vacuum line, not for me but for future owners. No leafvac or canister at this point. We'll see how it goes. No mature trees anywhere near us. Although I will have plenty of room for one. The old guy plumber said in all his years (back to 1994) he never saw a pool plumbed this way with everything being a home run.

 

[Schwimmbad]

Make sure the skimmers are encapsulated by the rebar and then gunite.

Yea, when the time comes I intend to pay a lot of attention to that. I will also be out with my own level making sure it's level in all directions.

 

[ajw22]

Your plumber did nice work with the layout of all those pipe runs.

 

[proavia]

No main drain. That pipe in the center of the deep end of the floor is for a future chiller return. ALL lines are homerun, and all will have diverter vales. No IFCS, just robot. I decided to include a vacuum line, not for me but for future owners. No leafvac or canister at this point. We'll see how it goes. No mature trees anywhere near us. Although I will have plenty of room for one. The old guy plumber said in all his years (back to 1994) he never saw a pool plumbed this way with everything being a home run.

Great that everything is homerun. I saw a gaggle of pipe around the skimmer area in your pics.

I don't know why I thought you had mentioned an IFCS.
If you ever did use a suction side cleaner or manual vacuum, a LeafVac at the pad would alleviate leaves and other debris from getting into the pump basket. And the LeafVac basket is 2x larger then the pump basket. Not necessary, but might be nice to have. Could be added later if needed.

"Old plumber guy" - yeah, in the "old" days they didn't necessarily homerun stuff much.
Maybe he learned something new today.

 

[derekbishop]

Yes the skimmers were placed, today was plumbing day.

Overall they were on the ball and plumbing went in without a hiccup. They got here a little after 8 am and finished a little before 1pm. They couldn't set the equipment yet, I don't have my poured pad. They pressurized to a little over 40psi and said inspector wants to see 35psi. They said it will fluctuate a little with the changing temperature, but should hold pretty close. Now I have something to check on each day.

Some pictures for those curious. Anything look off? (I hit the limit of 10 pics, I have a few more to post that will go in the next one). @ajw22 the skimmer on the right will be in the next post.
Rebar tomorrow!

View attachment 528315View attachment 528316

Question for my own curiosity. I know R is likely return and SK for skimmer but what are the pipes for the ones labeled INF, the two between both SK, and the two to the right of the second SK (looks maybe like a V and F)?

Thank you!

 

[proavia]

Question for my own curiosity. I know R is likely return and SK for skimmer but what are the pipes for the ones labeled INF, the two between both SK, and the two to the right of the second SK (looks maybe like a V and F)?

Thank you!

Ah-ha - that's why I thought the OP was getting an infloor cleaning system - "INF"
But he isn't......

INF - probably the IN Floor return for the future chiller
V - Vacuum line
F - water Feature
2 between skimmers - rerurn lines for venturi skimmers

Of course, just a guess on my part.