- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,854
- Pool Size
- 28000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Yes, they over excavate all around the pool then install the vertical 2X4's that form the support for the steeltex paper-backed support. This is needed because of the soft sand proclivity to cave in. Here's a pretty neat Bob Villa video that shows the process by Blue Haven pools. In mine the wall against the house is critical so the sand doesn't fall out from load bearing beams and footers in the house slab. So I flashed a couple yard of gunite directly on the dirt to limit any kind of erosion during Florida storms that may occur. We also over layed with plastic to further protect this wall. The flashing process was pretty tricky since the force of the gunite gun blast can cause the sand to fall by itself. This is another example of why I required certified, experienced applicator. An inexperienced gun man could have caused BIG problems. They start at the bottom and build up in thin layers at first then after it sets a little they build thickness. The back fill operation is critical. Compacting is done in 12" max lifts with water spray and tamping at the bottom then vibrating compactors around the pool. Most pools I've seen fail at this in Florida and cost the home owner a lot of money because the paver surround starts to fall and get waves all around that make it pretty ugly. Very expensive to repair because all the block has to be removed then subsurface has to be compacted properly then re-install pavers. Well over $10K for a standard 10,000 gal pool. Back fill is not a super expensive cost and it's amazing to me that builders don't pay attention to this.Is there a gap between the outside wall of the pool structure and the earth? If so, will you be filling that with gravel? Around these parts, the steeltex isn’t needed simply because the soil is heavy clay and caliche. You build the rebar right up to the earth (offset with chairs and spacers to ensure the rebar is properly encased) and then blast away with the shotcrete.
I admit I like the framing and steeltex better but it’s just not something the forming companies do around here for pools. I suppose if you pay them enough, they make your pool walls out of platinum, but the standard forming process doesn’t use the waterproof backing like steeltex.
That pool shell of your will double as an Ark when the earth floods again … you’ll be like Kevin Costner in Water World …
Steeltex is actually a fibreglass infused waxed paper material with welded wire mesh attached. Pretty cool stuff. We over-sized all walls from standard 6" to 12" and will install double mat rebar to be super conservative on this design. So it probably could indeed perform like at least a dinghy for the Ark! Incremental cost of this conservative approach is about $15,000. Most quality builders seem to only do this on the unsupported infinity walls and every gunite company I short-listed told me that would not build a 6" infinity wall.
Chris
