West Texas Pool Build

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Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

Wow, it's coming along nicely. I'm with you on symmetry of the skimmer tile, that looks very good.
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

Thanks Bo and Dave, much appreciated! I'll tell the wife.

Henry, that goes for you too...come on down. BYOB! :mrgreen:

Wait:

Bo and Dave........Bo and Dave's.....sounds like the name of a good Cajun place! :lol:
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

Let me know when it opens Bo! :mrgreen:

Progress this week isn't much, but they did come and re-pressure test since everything went through a few hard freezes full of water. We passed again...whew.

PB says they will be out today to start pouring the base for the flagstone deck, so maybe I'll have some pics to post this weekend. Slowly but surely...
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

Awesome to be talking about imminent progress, Patrick! What did your PB do for pressure test (can you describe a little - I think it's plugging all points - but how? - and using an air compressor to fill the lines with air and putting a gauge on it for some amount of time to see if it's fairly constant?) We are supposed to have ours tomorrow, but currently all the returns in the pool are broken off so I'm thinking they will have to actually glue new fittings in order to plug them for the test. And I have no idea how they plug the skimmers.
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

We had a leak in our pool. The skimmer was threaded inside. They used a pvc tube that was capped on one end and threaded on the other to plug the skimmer.
 

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Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

I suppose they will have to add fittings, or use expansion plugs on your Mia. That's what they did on the skimmers, but the rest is stubbed out, so its easier on mine. I actually haven't been there when they filled and pressured, but they have left about 25 PSI on the system and it has held.
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

Well, they came out and worked for a day and maybe a half this week. I'm actually starting to worry how long the rest is going to take. If they keep this pace we'll be into late April! :shock: In all fairness, they do have three weeks of bad weather credit, but sheesh! They came to start on the rock layout yesterday and we had our first major SNAFU. My wife yells at me from the other room and says, COME LOOK AT THIS ROCK, IT'S WRONG!!! Sure enough, some they brought in was so far off from what we set aside, it wasn't even funny. They had one whole pallet of something we never asked for along with one correct. The job will take about three. I immediately called the PB and he came right over. Apparently, there was a mixup somewhere. We picked nearly three full pallets back in the fall and we were assured we didn't need to have it delivered then. I knew better, but they assured us...NO problem, "we'll put it in the back of the yard and hang on to it". Seems someone else got the missing pallet I guess...:rolleyes:

Fortunately, we found a couple more pallets after rushing back to the stone yard before they closed yesterday. We barely made it, but there were two left nearly identical to what we chose in the fall. Just slightly different, but so close I don't think it will matter. So, crisis averted. Funny thing is, I followed a build on TFP last summer where a PB came to a build and took their stone to another job! He said "no worries, they have more of the same", and I thought "Oh no...that ain't gonna happen to me!" But...it pretty much did. :oops:

In any event, we have forms poured and we are ready for stone laying now. Guess we will see how that goes this week. PB said Monday or Tuesday....

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For contrast, here are a couple more shots. Last August, the yard looked pretty good. Right now, it's tough to imagine getting back here.

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Ending on a happier note, we received our Mosaics. We got a much better price online than our builder could get us on the exact same ones, so if you are thinking of getting some, you can save some money. On larger ones, it can be a substantial amount. For reference, these are 20", 10", and the smaller ones are 5". I think I found the best place/price online, and the service from this supplier was fantastic. Problem is, once you start looking, there is a temptation to go overboard with wanting more. We both wanted some, but my wife really wanted the Turtles. There are lots of choices, but we thought these were the nicest looking. All Porcelain, and very pretty. We'll lay them out in the shallow end in some similar fashion as we did on the patio.

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Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

Glad you got hold of an acceptable substitute for the stone! And the mosaics are adorable - I love the funny little blue fish with one baby turtle investigating it. Whimsical!

With grim determination, I am clutching tight to the fact that when the workers are actually on site, progress seems to fly - I hope it will be the same for you. I think with four or five days good work my pool will be finished, but my guess is end of April for us, too. We're on week 20 of 12. Our weather isn't as warm as yours so we wouldn't be swimming until May most years anyway, but if these delays were eating into my swim time I'd be extra-cranky. Here's hoping we both land in the sweet spot where we are not brushing our arms off in frigid temps but the water isn't warm enough to want to swim until exactly when we finish our start-up. :cheers:
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

Butterfly said:
Looks like Sarge is keeping a close eye on the build :smile:
The mosaics are gorgeous. Where did you find them?
Click to expand...
:lol:

Thank you Ms. Butterfly! Glad you like em. :D

He is, but I think he's tired of it too.

We looked everywhere, but found the best price and selection from Frank Little. He rivals Meg and Dave on service and Follow-up, along any help you may need. That's saying a lot I know, but it's true. He also installs it all for a living.

Really nice guy. >> http://www.littletileinc.net/pool-mosaics/

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martinkennedy said:
Delays are frustrating for sure. You sure you don't want some sharks chasing those turtles? :p
Click to expand...

Actually, I wanted a Stingray, but that got nixed. :-( My Buddy asked what about a Mermaid?? With all that, my wife just said something to the effect of "your redneck will be showing...forget about it." :lol: :lol:



:cheers: Mia...(we all posted nearly the same time)

We are hoping so too, but we will see. I did tell him too, long before the build that I might wait till it's warm for startup. Seems like he is making my wish come true. :D Hope yours works out like you think, and it's over that soon. We are so ready for the mess to go away!
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

The mess really makes my OCD twitch. I remember speaking to a reference for my PB and the guy telling me "the workers cleared the site every night! No cigarette butts or water bottles or cans - it was so great!" And like a sucker, I believed him! Maybe that was a different crew than the three or four we've had out here, but we didn't get the neat-and-clean bunch. Why have one trash pile when you can have five, scattered in every direction, for over four months? We've got pulled up trees in one pile, a couple of red dirt piles with rocks and bamboo and trash, a pile of sand covered mixed with remnant flagstone in the driveway, one pile of rebar, concrete, conduit, old electrical and plumbing lines and even the remnant of our diving board stand in another. And that's after DH and I went out and cleaned up the yard for two days to get the blowing bottles, cardboard and small loose trash into the bins. They took several dump truck loads of concrete to the recycler on demo day, but the misc. trash lingers. PB says he wants to collect it all at the conclusion of the project to minimize trips. They leave our hoses strung out everywhere (which means I'm running out in the middle of the night to disconnect and put the insulators back on when the temps drop), help themselves to our wheelbarrow, and use the pool shell as a dumpster. I did get him to send a guy out one day who took a pick-up load from within the pool shell away, but there is so much more. Ugh.

*it will be gorgeous when it's done*it will be gorgeous when it's done*it will be gorgeous when it's done*happy place*happy place*happy place*
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

MiaOKC said:
Ugh.

*it will be gorgeous when it's done*it will be gorgeous when it's done*it will be gorgeous when it's done*happy place*happy place*happy place*
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:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I am with you 100%! Of the builds I went too, yours, mine, they all seem to LOVE leaving a mess. They love it even more if they can fill the pool with some too. :D

I haven't, and won't take the pics from behind the fence where the rest of it is. Everything you have, save the old plumbing and electrical. My wife and I are arguing how much cleanup they will do, especially on rock and extra dirt debris in the yard. All I know is my contract says the final draw (25%) is due when "Job is complete and customer is satisfied." It ain't done till its cleaned up in my book. :lol:
 
Re: Our West Texas Pool Build

It's looking nice. I find the similarities in our builds humorous. Good luck, keep patient.
 

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