Owner/builder SoCal

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joanniern said:
I would say it is a very easy project. I bought an 1 1/2" foam sheet from the insulation section and took off the skins (the plastic and metal sheets stuck to it) to expose the raw eps. Then I cut it using my electric carving knife. I glued it together with pl premium construction adhesive and used 2 1/2" screws to hold it together while the glue cured. You can kinda see in the pic that I have blocking - I threw those in to keep the foam from bowing. I'd probably add them in every 16" like framing. I placed mine lower than the top edge so that dirt will hide them. While that dried I applied self adhesive fiber mesh tape to the outside. Wrapping it from one side to the other slightly overlapping the seams as I went. It doesn't stick that well so I used spray adhesive to fix that. Once that was done I coated it with some surface bonding concrete mixed with an acrylic fortifier. If you're near a building supply foam coat or polybond is made to cover foam but I didn't feel like driving the extra five minutes to the supply house so I made my own foam coat. That's it. You can paint it or add another decorative layer but it's really straight forward and dries stout.
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Thanks for the info! I think I see another weekend project coming up soon.
 
Joannie and Mike, your progress looks amazing! I just love all the elements of your design and the materials you are using. The sunk-in bar is something I would have loved to incorporate but we had no room.

Maybe I missed it, but what are you using for the barstool seats?

I'm as jealous as Matt over the AB finish and having it personally done by Brian!

I really like the rope light idea, that will be a beautiful accent as well as wonderfully functional.

+1 on rocks by the pool! We have zero trees, as small area of grass and a long but narrow strip of plants pretty distant from the pool, and the amount of grass, leaves from the neighbor's, and dirt that blows into the pool is insane!!

Thank you for posting so many pictures!! I'm a DIYer at heart and have done a lot of projects. Nothing beats the satisfaction of a job you did yourself!!
 
kimkats said:
Ya know I have a place on the front of the pool house that needs to be redone......I bet this would work!

Kim:kim:
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Kim, be sure to do your research first. How many homes in Florida are stuccoed? I don't know if you remember the Dryvit debacle from ten or fifteen years ago, but this type of construction needs very careful detailing due to the amount of rain and high humidity. You don't want to start a black mold nursery by mistake . . .
 
joanniern said:
Yeah I doubt they use eifs in Florida
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That's it Joannie! I didn't even think about it. This is why I didn't know about using styrofoam - Dryvit and EIFS are bad bad words here in GA. The state now even requires that hardcoat stucco be installed like EIFS - which is crazy. I only have experience with hardcoat.

Crazy question though - what happens if someone accidentally kicks the planter? Is it strong enough to withstand it? I am very intrigued! Sadly I couldn't even think of attempting to build something with it due to our insane humidity here, which is a real shame. This would be perfect for one of our offices.
 
AmyJo said:
That's it Joannie! I didn't even think about it. This is why I didn't know about using styrofoam - Dryvit and EIFS are bad bad words here in GA. The state now even requires that hardcoat stucco be installed like EIFS - which is crazy. I only have experience with hardcoat.

Crazy question though - what happens if someone accidentally kicks the planter? Is it strong enough to withstand it? I am very intrigued! Sadly I couldn't even think of attempting to build something with it due to our insane humidity here, which is a real shame. This would be perfect for one of our offices.
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It's fine for an outside planter it's not that great in eifs because the moisture gets trapped between all the layers.

If someone kicks it it'll be fine. Of course it depends on how hard because you could kick a hole in a door if you try hard enough
 
Finally nice and cool out! Time to grout some coping. We ended up using epoxy grout and it's coming out great.

And by "we" I mean Joannie. I was working on the deck/mesh fence and stopped when the street lights came on.

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Hahaha....I can she's removed her regulation foot protection gear - flip-flops. Decided bare-foot is the best way to mortar coping joints [emoji188][emoji188]

It's looking good. Would love to see how it holds up long term.
 

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Get it when the getting is good aka cool!!! Good job on using the tape to keep it clean! She does good work! LOL on the shoes......get her some knee pads to help with that as well. (My guess is they have some somewhere but it is easier to do it without)

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
Get it when the getting is good aka cool!!! Good job on using the tape to keep it clean! She does good work! LOL on the shoes......get her some knee pads to help with that as well. (My guess is they have some somewhere but it is easier to do it without)

Kim:kim:
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Yeah, +1 on the knee guards. I don't do any work outside without them on....
 
So it isn't an epoxy grout. It's a single component grout. I told Mike I was going to get epoxy went to the store saw this and changed my mind. The first grout joint was a quick learning curve - especially in the heat. I really like working with it though so we'll see how it holds up. I might take back the grout I bought for the countertop and buy more of this.
 
joanniern said:
So it isn't an epoxy grout. It's a single component grout. I told Mike I was going to get epoxy went to the store saw this and changed my mind. The first grout joint was a quick learning curve - especially in the heat. I really like working with it though so we'll see how it holds up. I might take back the grout I bought for the countertop and buy more of this.
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I was going to ask how you did it so clean. My understanding is that the epoxy grouts are a royal PITA to work with because they are two components, you have to mix them up quick and work then in fast or else they dry too quickly. I was wondering how you were able to do it all by yourself like that. Normally it's a two-"man" job....
 
JoyfulNoise said:
I was going to ask how you did it so clean. My understanding is that the epoxy grouts are a royal PITA to work with because they are two components, you have to mix them up quick and work then in fast or else they dry too quickly. I was wondering how you were able to do it all by yourself like that. Normally it's a two-"man" job....
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Yeah those are both the reasons I switched it up. This one seems too good to be true...but I'm crossing my fingers it's all it says it is
 
joanniern said:
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] we are an anti-lawn household too.
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I have 800+ sq ft of synthetic turf in my backyard. I love it .... no water, no fertilizer, no mowing....all I need is a leaf blower and a turf rake and it stays green and beautiful all year round.

My neighbor put in 1000 sq ft of grass last year. Water bill went through the roof. Constantly has to fight to keep it green. Water, fertilizer, seeding 4 times per year, mowing it every 10 days.....um, no thanks.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
I have 800+ sq ft of synthetic turf in my backyard. I love it .... no water, no fertilizer, no mowing....all I need is a leaf blower and a turf rake and it stays green and beautiful all year round.

My neighbor put in 1000 sq ft of grass last year. Water bill went through the roof. Constantly has to fight to keep it green. Water, fertilizer, seeding 4 times per year, mowing it every 10 days.....um, no thanks.
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What would be a good brand of synthetic turf?


Spring 2017 new build in PA ! //// Pool on a big hill //// IG SWG 800 sqft +100 sqft sun shelf + 50 sqft spa. //// All Jandy Pro series equipment (help me choose which models !) //// SGM River Rok or Diamond Brite (help me choose!) //// Stamped Concrete, Pavers, or Stone (help me choose ! )
 

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