Sunshelf water depth question

[Coolj990]

First time posting here. Building a pool in Florida and the gunnite was shot yesterday. My sunshelf water depth should be 9" of water, per the engineering plan, however the total depth shot was 9". Pool builder is telling me they will set the tile 2" higher than the top edge of the concrete (the beam?) and the height will come up when they add the mud bed/coping.. In the end I should be around 8" of water. I'd be OK with this but want to make sure I don't end up with a shallow sunshelf after the plaster.

Does this sound accurate? Attaching a couple photos

 

[kimkats]

Say what??? ummmmmmmmmmmm do this for me............run out and measure from the bottom of the pool to the middle of the skimmer face THEN see where the middle of the skimmer face is in relation to to where the tile will be on the shelf.

 

[Coolj990]

Say what??? ummmmmmmmmmmm do this for me....

Not sure if these help? The skimmer isn't there yet I think this will be set when the tile goes in? (this my 1st pool I have little relavant experience)

 

[kimkats]

opps can't see your findings...........try again please.

 

[Coolj990]

opps can't see your findings...........try again please.

Sorry I was trying to get the photos to upload they should show above now

 

[kimkats]

See where the middle of the skimmer opening is? That is where the water height will be all the way around the pool. Do you have a laser level? If not find a way to measure from the middle of the skimmer opening to the shelf and see where it will hit. If you have a sting level you can use that. THAT is how deep your shelf will be in the end.

 

[zea3]

Can you include some photos of the whole pool?

 

[Coolj990]

Can you include some photos of the whole pool?

 

[zea3]

In order for the skimmer to work properly its going to need at least 2" of space between the water line and the top of the skimmer opening. Ideally the water line should be between 1/2 and 3/4 up the skimmer opening. I'm trying to visualize where the water line will be by looking at your pool. If I'm estimating correctly, looking at where the skimmer will be the finished skimmer opening should be about 7" high which would put the water line around 5-6" deep. I think your sun shelf is going to end up around 6" deep once it has been tiled and plastered.

Right now without plaster the sun shelf is 9" deep. You will loose about an inch once the plaster is applied, then you figure in where the water line should be for the skimmer to work correctly you will lose another 1.5-2" of depth. Raising the height of the water line tile is not going to magically make the pool deeper. He would have to adjust where the bottom of the skimmer sits in relation to the pool, raise it up essensially to increase the potential depth of the pool by a couple of inches. If all that happens is the waterline tile is raised so you have to fill the pool higher to make everything look right without increasing the height of the skimmer opening (which might make it stick up a couple of inches higher than the pool) then your skimmer will not skim very well. Also, if overflow openings have been installed you have to take those into account when figuring where the waterline will be.

I'm hoping I'm wrong. Hopefully a couple of our construction experts can give their oppinion. @jimmythegreek @JamesW

 

[Coolj990]

There are no overflow openings...I can post the plan

 

[kimkats]

@zea3 is saying what I was going to say

 

[Coolj990]

Can this be fixed at this stage of construction?

 

[kimkats]

If your shelf rebar was set at the correct depth the top of the shelf can be chipped off. It will be a mess and if the person doing the work is not careful there could be problems. The problems can be fixed with more cement though.

 

[Casey]

Personally, I'd leave it as is. See if he'll throw in a robot for missing the mark in the actual depth you contracted for.

 

[Oona]

Because it’s a functional part of the swimming pool as opposed to just an aesthetic, I honestly would insist they fix it - if you contracted it for a 9” water depth then that is what you should have

 

[Coolj990]

i've thought about leaving it vs fixing, i am going to escalate to the owner (The project manager is who has been out here so far)

 

[Casey]

Because it’s a functional part of the swimming pool as opposed to just an aesthetic, I honestly would insist they fix it - if you contracted it for a 9” water depth then that is what you should have

If I contracted for a 9" tanning ledge, I'd be out there on rebar day making sure it was set to the right height to allow for a 9" tanning ledge and not a 6" one but hey... that's just me. Some pool builders can't be trusted with a $12 tape measure, a blue print and a $120k budget but what do I know?! Ehhhh

 

[Newdude]

If they missed the pool depth by 1/3 they would owe you BANK to live with it. If they offer you the bank, then fine. Be all



*FWIW, I am usually one telling OP that once everything is finished they will never notice the small detail missing or flawed. This is a honking detail.

 

[Casey]

All I can hear is @kimkats saying on rebar day...

Now go check the depth of your rebar and make sure the pool is as deep as its suppose to be.

 

[Coolj990]

Am I able to check the rebar depth after concrete? I didn't measure the rebar depth, all I have is a photo