Vogue AGP install in progress! (with pics)

[cheddar85]

We'll be installing our 24' Vogue AGP at the end of this week. The liner should be here Friday, so we'll be assembling part of the pool on Thursday, then the rest and liner install Fri. afternoon. After talking to a few different people about coming over and scraping the ground close to level, and ALL of them backing out at the last minute, we've been doing all the leveling by hand. With temps in the mid 90s and heat index from 105-110, it's been a long couple weeks!

The only person we asked to help that actually showed was a guy down the road who does landscaping for a living, and he brought his bobcat over to do it. Well, before I could even get outside to talk to him, he takes the bobcat through the wrong side of the yard and almost destroyed our septic tanks (which are not fiberglass but concrete)! Well, that's one job he lost out on. But the whole story is something suited to the coffee bar, so I digress.

No advice needed for now, but after all this backbreaking labor the past couple weeks and almost having heatstroke, just one question.

Is all this REALLY worth it? I've been tempted to fill a wheelbarrow with water, climb in, and call it a summer! :lol: My wife would kill me, but at least I wouldn't have nightmares about shovels!

BTW, yes there will be pics.



Yes, I know it will be worth it!

 

[NWMNMom]

Re: AGP install coming soon..

YES it is worth it, but it just doesn't seem like it now. It will later when you are saying for the umteenth time, "I love my pool."

 

[GCS]

Re: AGP install coming soon..

Well coming from someone who just got theirs done last week I can tell you that during the process the answer is heck NO!

I did not "install" the pool I paid someone to do it but what I did do was the work for the 50 foot long 18" deep trench for plumbing, the 110 foot long 12" deep trench for the electrical, the 15 foot long 4 foot wide 8" deep dug out paver pathway, and all the plumbing and electrical work for the pool. I am in VA and the 3 weekends I worked on this stuff were horribly hot (98s or so) and man it really, really sucked! I haven't worked that hard in a long time and it showed.

Was that all worth it no.

But was worth it was when the pool was installed finally last week and was filled and up to spec chemical wise on Friday and my kids got to get in ... that was DEFINITELY worth it.

Over time I know it will be worth it but the sore muscles and the pain in back still say otherwise. Only downside is I am still not done. I need finish up my pathway (ran out of sand so not all pavers are level), mount some hangers on the shed for poles, screens, etc mount the solar saddles on the pool for the cover (and unpack the new cover), run bonding wire from pool to pump, fill in the 2 trenches, and vac the pool (several big storms lately that have dumped a lot of junk in the pool). I had planned for it this w/e but had server crashes in the office so I spent all w/e dealing with that (yippeee).

Anyway to answer your question -- right now, NO -- when you are done and in the pool, YES.

Greg

 

[cheddar85]

Re: AGP install coming soon..

Well, so far we've moved about 3 yards of dirt, probably about a yard to go. Hopefully we'll get all that out tomorrow. It's already pretty close to level, we just have to remove so much because the majority of the pool will sit where my dad built a shed about 25 years ago (which was FULL of stuff) that got taken out by Hurricane Ike. So many little things had worked their way into the first few inches of dirt in the past couple years, we want to make sure there's nothing that will puncture the liner.

After we get the last of the top layer out, we'll begin the leveling (hopefully tomorrow evening)! I'll be using a combo of my laser level and a 2x4 with a level attached, hopefully it will be good enough. Can't find a transit level, everyone around says they've all been rented out, or "duh, what's a transit level?" That's what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere, I guess.

Everything's going according to plan though, site should be leveled by Wednesday, sand goes in Thurs./Fri., liner goes in Fri./Sat. Hopefully everything will stay on track.

Lots of hopefully's in there, huh? :lol:

Anyways, I'll keep you all updated, and will post pics soon!

 

[NWMNMom]

Re: AGP install coming soon..

There is light at the end of the tunnel and it will be shining on you and your family enjoying a dip in that pool! Time to polish up your POP (Pool Owner's Patience) ha

 

[cheddar85]

Re: AGP install coming soon..

That reminds me...need to tell the wife to pick up some more POP when she goes shopping! :lol:

Also, I wanted to say thank you. You've helped me out so much in my short time here! to you and everyone else here at TFP!

Will post updates as they come...

 

[cheddar85]

Re: AGP install coming soon.. *UPDATE* Liner going in tomorrow!

Okay, I'm back from the dead! At least if feels like I died after all that manual labor! :lol:

Well, we ran into some snags, but leveling is complete, and the bottom rail and sand are in! Unfortunately, no pics yet, our camera battery died and we're waiting on the new one. It should be here tomorrow, but the only pics I'll probably have will be from the liner install onward. FedEx never gets here early, and we'll be out there first thing in the morning putting up the wall and uprights. Also, guess what you get out here when you order screened sand? Plain old sand with a higher price tag!


Once the sun clears the trees we'll start hanging the liner and filling her up! To make up for the lack of pics I'll post some of the transformation from coffee brown to sparkly blue!

I've been going back and forth for days on whether or not to install the main drain. I decided against it, because it's our first time doing this, and with the way my luck goes, it will leak. Not to mention I'm worried about getting the height of the drain body just right, I don't want it too low or too high. I'll keep all the parts, and when this liner gives out (hopefully 10 years from now!), I'll put the drain in then. Of course, I'll probably just put in a second return instead, but with the new liner still in the box, I don't wanna even think about what I'll be doing when it's time to replace.

Now that we're getting close to being done, I'm sure it will be worth it (anyone see the small print above?), and I'm ready to just enjoy the pool! I haven't posted in the last few days (been browsing through a LOT of old posts, soaking up as much as I can!), so I thought I'd give some insight into what's been going on over here.

Will FINALLY start posting pics tomorrow!

BTW, am I the only one here with recurring nightmares about shovels? I've had some strange dreams the past few nights... :?

 

[cheddar85]

Re: AGP install coming soon.. *UPDATE* Pics added!

Here's the pics I was able to get today...

Pic of the wall and uprights

Another of the same

Closeup of the wall pattern

The liner was supposed to go in today, but the wall gave us a lot of trouble! For the most part, there were only 2 of us doing it. Who would've guessed the wall would be that hard to bolt together? After a while of us trying to figure out what was wrong, I finally saw writing on the inside from Vogue saying the wall may have to be pulled together to get the bolts in. It sure would've saved us a couple hours if I'd seen that sooner!

Tomorrow we'll smooth out the sand and get that liner in! After we got the wall up earlier, we took my 2 year old daughter out there to see. Her eyes got real big and she said, "Wow, big swimming pool..."

More pics to come! And anyone who wants to me for having so much trouble with the wall, go ahead!

 

[cheddar85]

Liner is unrolled, waiting for it to warm up. As hot as it is already, it shouldn't take long!

 

[257WbyMag]

Excellent!

I have a feeling that this is going to be a summer of record heat down here in Texas. That pool will be nice when all is said and done. You are gonna love it!

 

[cheddar85]

Got the liner installed, about 3 inches of water in. Boy, it's gonna be a while before this thing is full!

Liner unrolled and hung

Lots of wrinkles to work out!

She wanted to help smooth out the wrinkles

Water going in, and still working on wrinkles! And yes, those are coping strips floating around.

Alright daddy, I got the wrinkles out, time to fill the pool!

I do have a question though. Is it necessary for the liner to have direct sunlight for it to stretch or is it okay if the temperature is high enough? We only have direct sunlight from around 12:30 to 5, but earlier and later in the day, the temp is at least 85-90.

Also, in a couple posts above, I mentioned how much trouble we had with the wall. Well, as we were hanging the liner, we got a good gust of wind and the wall buckled and pulled out of the track. It was a section about 5 feet long, and all I could say was 'Crud, I don't wanna do this all over again! Luckily it popped right back in!

 

[DBfan187]

no shopvac to suck the liner to the wall?

 

[cheddar85]

Not for today, what the pics show is as far as we got today. To be honest, my shopvac is kinda old, and I'm hoping we don't need it. I already have to replace 2 tape measures as a result of the install, I'd rather not sacrifice a shopvac too!

 

[cheddar85]

Nope, no need for the vac. I went out there this morning to continue filling, and the liner is doing quite well sucking to the walls all on it's own.

On another note, we lost power while I had the water running. I was nowhere near the pool when it happened, so I consider myself lucky to have gotten to the pump quickly enough to keep it from losing prime. For those of you on well water with a jet pump, you should know what I mean.

Anyways, there's about a foot and a half in the pool now! It's taking FOREVER!! :lol: Can you tell I'm ready to swim?

 

[cheddar85]

Well, we've got about a foot left to go. I've got 2 hoses from our well, and also one from my neighbor's in there anytime there's sun on the pool. Adding hers really helped pick up the pace!

Once it's filled and I get the water balanced and sparkly, I'll post more pics.

Until then...and a big thank you to TFP!

 

[cheddar85]

*UPDATE*

I've been away for awhile, lots of stuff going on around here. Anyways, I wanted to conclude the thread with the current pics. So, here ya'll go!

These are obviously just of the water, once the deck is completed this fall (hopefully!) I'll post complete pics.

Thanks to all those here who helped me get through the install!

 

[crek31]

Congrats on having a beautiful, sparkly pool to cool off in -- you earned it!!