Yes: Pools are worth it....

[Landomatic 3813]

Just wanted to contribute my pool building delays during Covid misery.

Began first conversations with builder for the new pool in late February.  Third pool I've had built, second with this company.  We were pretty close to finalizing everything, then around March 15 when everything shut down, I didn't hear anything from my salesman so I figured they shut down too.  About a month later, Mrs Landomatic and I were out walking in the neighborhood and saw trucks from our pool company.  Reached out to my rep and he apologized and said they were absolutely slammed and I just slipped through the cracks.  And on top of that, the town I live in actually did stop issuing permits for a quite a while so the trucks I saw were for existing jobs.  Given the circumstances, I don't really blame him and he was pretty cool about it.

Anyway, fast forward a little and we're back on and he claims he was able to get us our place back in line where we left off.  Every time we talked to him, he's telling us "be thankful you were ahead of this thing, I'm a month and half out from even being able to take a first meeting."  Next time it's, "I'm 2 months out from a first meeting."  Next time it's, "I'm like 3 months out from a first meeting and we now require a pretty big payment to have that first meeting."  And on and on.

Fast forward again, we get everything finalized, deposit made, selections made, plans signed off on May 14.  They only have 5% of our money, so I'm sure they're going to get moving pretty quick on this thing (that's how it was with the last pool we did with them).  Pool was dug August 3...two and a half months from plans final to breaking ground.

Clearly, this is going to take some time.  Sat with a hole in our back yard and they got another 25% of our money from August 3 to August 28 (damn near a month) until plumbing started.  Steel work was done September 2 and gunite supposed to happen September 8 (not holding my breath).

At this rate, we'll be lucky to be swimming in it by the end of the year.  Although I'm really wanting to get it done because I want to use it, the worst part for me is the thing just looking like a torn up warzone for months on end.  Backyard completely unusable, and with some recent rain...fucking mud everywhere.

It'll be worth it when it's done, but I'm pretty over it.  So, all you guys going through this, it's not just you.  Now would be a great time to be in the pool biz.

[BradInATX 9208]

On 9/5/2020 at 3:12 PM, Landomatic said:

Just wanted to contribute my pool building delays during Covid misery.

Began first conversations with builder for the new pool in late February.  Third pool I've had built, second with this company.  We were pretty close to finalizing everything, then around March 15 when everything shut down, I didn't hear anything from my salesman so I figured they shut down too.  About a month later, Mrs Landomatic and I were out walking in the neighborhood and saw trucks from our pool company.  Reached out to my rep and he apologized and said they were absolutely slammed and I just slipped through the cracks.  And on top of that, the town I live in actually did stop issuing permits for a quite a while so the trucks I saw were for existing jobs.  Given the circumstances, I don't really blame him and he was pretty cool about it.

Anyway, fast forward a little and we're back on and he claims he was able to get us our place back in line where we left off.  Every time we talked to him, he's telling us "be thankful you were ahead of this thing, I'm a month and half out from even being able to take a first meeting."  Next time it's, "I'm 2 months out from a first meeting."  Next time it's, "I'm like 3 months out from a first meeting and we now require a pretty big payment to have that first meeting."  And on and on.

Fast forward again, we get everything finalized, deposit made, selections made, plans signed off on May 14.  They only have 5% of our money, so I'm sure they're going to get moving pretty quick on this thing (that's how it was with the last pool we did with them).  Pool was dug August 3...two and a half months from plans final to breaking ground.

Clearly, this is going to take some time.  Sat with a hole in our back yard and they got another 25% of our money from August 3 to August 28 (damn near a month) until plumbing started.  Steel work was done September 2 and gunite supposed to happen September 8 (not holding my breath).

At this rate, we'll be lucky to be swimming in it by the end of the year.  Although I'm really wanting to get it done because I want to use it, the worst part for me is the thing just looking like a torn up warzone for months on end.  Backyard completely unusable, and with some recent rain...fucking mud everywhere.

It'll be worth it when it's done, but I'm pretty over it.  So, all you guys going through this, it's not just you.  Now would be a great time to be in the pool biz.

I've heard a bunch of stories like this, which has weighed heavily on my decision making process. I've got it down to two builders, and I'm strongly leaning towards the smaller one where I've dealt with the owner throughout the process instead of a sales guy. The smaller company is also the only one who was willing to negotiate payment terms (I asked all of them that I wanted at least 10% of the deal contingent on final final signoff). 

Appreciate the thoughts in your other post as well.

Edited September 8, 2020 by BradInATX

[utee94 15808]

Totally forgot about this thread.

Our pool has definitely been worth it, even more than usual, during the coronas.  We probably used it more from March 13th thru June 1st than we did the previous two summers combined.  It's nice to have somewhere to go, when there's no place to go.

 

[PorscheGuy 127]

On 9/8/2020 at 12:37 PM, BradInATX said:

I've heard a bunch of stories like this, which has weighed heavily on my decision making process. I've got it down to two builders, and I'm strongly leaning towards the smaller one where I've dealt with the owner throughout the process instead of a sales guy. The smaller company is also the only one who was willing to negotiate payment terms (I asked all of them that I wanted at least 10% of the deal contingent on final final signoff). 

Appreciate the thoughts in your other post as well.

Smart move to get them to agree to 10% if you can.  I think mine was only $1500, Less then 2%.  They were so busy, final punch out, which was very minor, and our argument with city final inspector, not minor, drug out for over a month.  If it would have been 10%, they probably would have moved faster.  

[PorscheGuy 127]

Before: pool built in the late 70’s. Major structural issues and ancient equipment that cost a fortune to repair over the years and maintain. Also had dated landscaping and flagstone



After: wanted a modern look and an outdoor covered patio/kitchen I could use all year. Also replaced flagstone with turf and opened up fencing on the back that goes down to the lake. Still not done landscaping, but moving in the right direction

Just waiting for the corona to get finished so our kids can start having friends over again. The whole point was to make our house the one they all want to hang out so we don’t have to worry about them somewhere else.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Landomatic 3813]

8 minutes ago, PorscheGuy said:

Just waiting for the corona to get finished so our kids can start having friends over again. The whole point was to make our house the one they all want to hang out so we don’t have to worry about them somewhere else.

Huge improvement and looks great.  But good luck with the whole kids thing.  They seem to quit giving a shit about swimming about the time they hit their teens.  At least to that point that it doesn't factor into where they want to hang out.

[Hate 20107]

Mine is 12 and he only marginally gives a shit about the pool these days.

[BradInATX 9208]

Smart move to get them to agree to 10% if you can.  I think mine was only $1500, Less then 2%.  They were so busy, final punch out, which was very minor, and our argument with city final inspector, not minor, drug out for over a month.  If it would have been 10%, they probably would have moved faster.  

Only found one builder willing. Luckily it was the one I wanted to begin with. The rest told me to piss up a rope, even with me offering more cash up front than they asked for as a quid pro quo. It's definitely a seller's market right now.

[Landomatic 3813]

Finally got my gunite today.  Progress.

[PorscheGuy 127]

39 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

Huge improvement and looks great.  But good luck with the whole kids thing.  They seem to quit giving a shit about swimming about the time they hit their teens.  At least to that point that it doesn't factor into where they want to hang out.

You are probably right, its already trending that way.  I was hoping it was just due to everyone on lockdown.  I guess the silver lining will be the wife and I get some alone time in the hot tub.  I'll stock the outside fridge with champagne, bourbon, and vodka since I will not have to worry about teenagers syphoning it off.   

[Landomatic 3813]

30 minutes ago, PorscheGuy said:

I'll stock the outside fridge with champagne, bourbon, and vodka since I will not have to worry about teenagers syphoning it off.   

Oh they’ll still do that.  They just won’t hang out there for your pool 😂

[BradInATX 9208]

4 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Finally got my gunite today.  Progress.

 

That's a unique pool. Looks pretty cool. Trying to understand what it'll be at the end. Top section is a spa, and bottom is the pool? How deep is the bottom section of the pool? Bubblers on the first step? What's the length and width of the whole thing?

Edited September 11, 2020 by BradInATX

[BradInATX 9208]

Do you guys think 25 by 15.5 feet (down to 14.5 at some parts because it's freeform) is adequate, with a 6 foot sun shelf? Basically 19 swimmable feet. Is that going to be enough for the kids to burn energy off in? I'm starting to worry that it's not quite long enough (first time I've ever worried about that), but pushing it out longer creates some space issues in the spot where it's going. 

[Landomatic 3813]

9 hours ago, BradInATX said:

That's a unique pool. Looks pretty cool. Trying to understand what it'll be at the end. Top section is a spa, and bottom is the pool?

Thanks.  Yes, spa on the top and pool on the bottom (of the pic).  Don't remember each exact dimension but it's about ⅓ spa and ⅔ pool in total.

9 hours ago, BradInATX said:

How deep is the bottom section of the pool?

Small plunge pool...the deepest part is 5'.  No kids and this house is in a pretty adult neighborhood, so we did this one about as grownup as you can do it.  We never actually "swim"...we just get in to cool off and chill out with a drink or relax in the spa with a drink.  So this was built with all that in mind.  Much more about the conversation areas and access to all of the deck furniture and wanted each individual deck section (lounging, dining, sunning) to be poolside.

9 hours ago, BradInATX said:

Bubblers on the first step?

No, that's the in-ground cleaning system.  Put one in my last pool and I will NEVER build another pool without it.  I can't emphasize this enough.  What you're seeing on that first step is actually the pipes for a series of these little pop-up sprinkler type devices that are located all over the pool floor.  It eliminates the polaris entirely and they work flawlessly.  When it's running, the little sprinklers pup up about an inch and rotate while shooting all of the dirt toward the main drain that vacuums everything up.  When they're not on, they fall back down and are flush with the floor.  Best.  Pool.  Invention.  Ever.

9 hours ago, BradInATX said:

What's the length and width of the whole thing?

15' x 25' - So, I guess the spa is probably about 8' x 15' and the pool is about 15' x 16' (lose some for the dam wall).  Spa has seats for up to 6, but realistically, it will seat 4 adults comfortably.  And the steps for the pool are designed to double as seats all the way across.

 

[Landomatic 3813]

11 hours ago, BradInATX said:

Do you guys think 25 by 15.5 feet (down to 14.5 at some parts because it's freeform) is adequate, with a 6 foot sun shelf? Basically 19 swimmable feet. Is that going to be enough for the kids to burn energy off in? I'm starting to worry that it's not quite long enough (first time I've ever worried about that), but pushing it out longer creates some space issues in the spot where it's going. 

How old are the kids?  I think I mentioned this before, but I'd lose the sun shelf and gain some swimming space.  Although, the only time our sun shelf was ever used was when our kid was maybe 5-7 and they would play on it so maybe you'll like that aspect.

That said, you should be fine with 19'.  Your kids will be so excited, they'll use the shit out of it and wear themselves down just fine.  They spend half their energy climbing out and jumping in and running around the edge and making up new games and holding their breath and crap like that.  19' x 15' should be more than enough.

[Brew 3049]

That picture does some funny things with the dimensions. I would have never guessed 15x25, it looks spa sized.

[BradInATX 9208]

4 minutes ago, Brew said:

That picture does some funny things with the dimensions. I would have never guessed 15x25, it looks spa sized.

 

Yeah, I think that's what threw me off too, it looked kinda odd. But, given that it's a reasonable size, that's pretty bad ass for an adult pool. Big spa, no space wasted on stuff that only kids use, etc. That's a drinkin' and chillin'  pool if I've ever seen one. 

@Landomatic in regards to your response about our build, two kids, one is 2 y/o and the other is due in 4 months. The plan is to be in this house long-term. At least until the kids are gone. So trying to design it with the full range of kid ages in mind. My wife loves sun shelves, and the 2 y/o will sit there and play with the bubbler that will be on it for hours. He goes nuts for splash pads and that type stuff. If I were building it for me I'd dump the sun shelf. But in our design, it's not really eating a ton of swimmable space, because the area that it's in already has half of the pool width cut off by the spa overlap. 

My other consideration is total volume of the pool. I plan to heat it fairly early in the season and probably pretty late (maybe late April through early-mid October depending on weather that year, so keeping it to a manageable size will cut down on heating time and cost. Trying to strike the balance between enough size for the kids, but not an overwhelmingly big pool.

[Landomatic 3813]

9 minutes ago, Brew said:

That picture does some funny things with the dimensions. I would have never guessed 15x25, it looks spa sized.

Ah...you are correct.  Must not have had enough coffee yet / my memory sucks.  I just went and measured and it's 10' x 15' water's edge to water's edge.  So, spa is about 5' x 10' and pool is more like 10' x 10'.

[Landomatic 3813]

4 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

Yeah, I think that's what threw me off too, it looked kinda odd. But, given that it's a reasonable size, that's pretty bad ass for an adult pool. Big spa, no space wasted on stuff that only kids use, etc. That's a drinkin' and chillin'  pool if I've ever seen one. 

See my post above...I was a little off on my dimensions.  But it is a reasonable size and it will be bad ass for adults.  Especially when it's just the two of us 98% of the time.  This is my 3rd pool and I'm pretty sure it will be my best yet.  Excited about all the choices and lord knows I had plenty of time with the Covid backups to overthink the shit out of it this round.

4 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

in regards to your response about our build, two kids, one is 2 y/o and the other is due in 4 months. The plan is to be in this house long-term. At least until the kids are gone. So trying to design it with the full range of kid ages in mind. My wife loves sun shelves, and the 2 y/o will sit there and play with the bubbler that will be on it for hours. He goes nuts for splash pads and that type stuff. If I were building it for me I'd dump the sun shelf. But in our design, it's not really eating a ton of swimmable space, because the area that it's in already has half of the pool width cut off by the spa overlap.

Yeah, I kinda figured that might be the case.  Then definitely keep that sun shelf.  Happy wife, etc.  Plus that age kid will use the shit out of it and will for a long time.  But I still think you're big enough for "swimming" on the rest of it.

4 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

My other consideration is total volume of the pool. I plan to heat it fairly early in the season and probably pretty late (maybe late April through early-mid October depending on weather that year, so keeping it to a manageable size will cut down on heating time and cost. Trying to strike the balance between enough size for the kids, but not an overwhelmingly big pool.

Definitely a factor.  Which is another reason I went smaller this round.  Quicker and cheaper to heat.

Oh and that's another advantage of the in-ground cleaning system I mentioned.  They heat from each of those sprinkler head type things, from the bottom up, so heats much faster and more efficiently than the other kind.

[BradInATX 9208]

1 minute ago, Landomatic said:

See my post above...I was a little off on my dimensions.  But it is a reasonable size and it will be bad ass for adults.  Especially when it's just the two of us 98% of the time.  This is my 3rd pool and I'm pretty sure it will be my best yet.  Excited about all the choices and lord knows I had plenty of time with the Covid backups to overthink the shit out of it this round.

Yeah, I kinda figured that might be the case.  Then definitely keep that sun shelf.  Happy wife, etc.  Plus that age kid will use the shit out of it and will for a long time.  But I still think you're big enough for "swimming" on the rest of it.

Definitely a factor.  Which is another reason I went smaller this round.  Quicker and cheaper to heat.

Oh and that's another advantage of the in-ground cleaning system I mentioned.  They heat from each of those sprinkler head type things, from the bottom up, so heats much faster and more efficiently than the other kind.

How much did your in-ground cleaner add to the total cost?

[tokamak 6395]

18 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Huge improvement and looks great.  But good luck with the whole kids thing.  They seem to quit giving a shit about swimming about the time they hit their teens.  At least to that point that it doesn't factor into where they want to hang out.

Wait I thought creeping on your daughter's 16-year-old friends was a big part of the appeal?

[Brew 3049]

1 hour ago, BradInATX said:

 

Yeah, I think that's what threw me off too, it looked kinda odd. But, given that it's a reasonable size, that's pretty bad ass for an adult pool. Big spa, no space wasted on stuff that only kids use, etc. That's a drinkin' and chillin'  pool if I've ever seen one. 

@Landomatic in regards to your response about our build, two kids, one is 2 y/o and the other is due in 4 months. The plan is to be in this house long-term. At least until the kids are gone. So trying to design it with the full range of kid ages in mind. My wife loves sun shelves, and the 2 y/o will sit there and play with the bubbler that will be on it for hours. He goes nuts for splash pads and that type stuff. If I were building it for me I'd dump the sun shelf. But in our design, it's not really eating a ton of swimmable space, because the area that it's in already has half of the pool width cut off by the spa overlap. 

My other consideration is total volume of the pool. I plan to heat it fairly early in the season and probably pretty late (maybe late April through early-mid October depending on weather that year, so keeping it to a manageable size will cut down on heating time and cost. Trying to strike the balance between enough size for the kids, but not an overwhelmingly big pool.

Kids that age will live in the pool and swimable space isn’t important. Even as our kids got older, they didn’t want to swim really. They wanted to jump in constantly, splash, and primarily annoy us. Once they hit 12 or so, pool usage dropped off substantially. They would rather go to the lake or a friends. Our 15 year old swims laps with her mom now, so she will probably use it.

We’re building this one for us and aren’t worrying about what they want. It will be 16x44 so you can swim laps and then it will have a small seating area on the deep end near the TV’s. It will probably be 4-6 feet rather than the 3-8 that is more common here. 

Working on patio layouts now which has been the biggest pain in the ass of the whole thing. Everyone wants to just cover all areas. We’re going to go with limited decking, more grass, steps to the pool and patio area, and they just keep coming back with a completely travertine back yard. We’re on drawing number who knows at this point because the architect/landscape guy refuse to pay attention.

[BradInATX 9208]

10 minutes ago, Brew said:

Kids that age will live in the pool and swimable space isn’t important. Even as our kids got older, they didn’t want to swim really. They wanted to jump in constantly, splash, and primarily annoy us. Once they hit 12 or so, pool usage dropped off substantially. They would rather go to the lake or a friends. Our 15 year old swims laps with her mom now, so she will probably use it.

We’re building this one for us and aren’t worrying about what they want. It will be 16x44 so you can swim laps and then it will have a small seating area on the deep end near the TV’s. It will probably be 4-6 feet rather than the 3-8 that is more common here. 

Working on patio layouts now which has been the biggest pain in the ass of the whole thing. Everyone wants to just cover all areas. We’re going to go with limited decking, more grass, steps to the pool and patio area, and they just keep coming back with a completely travertine back yard. We’re on drawing number who knows at this point because the architect/landscape guy refuse to pay attention.

Yeah, I tried to think back to when I had a pool growing up and what me and my buddies would do. We'd mostly play pool basketball, rules made up as we went of course, for hours on end. That's easily accomplished in an 18x15 space. Also trying to jump into the pool and catch the football mid-air. 

Both of those things I'm also super pumped about doing myself as a 40 year old in my backyard, this time with beer. But I'm a bit of a 40-going-on-18 type.

Actually laughed out loud at a completely travertine backyard. Beyond the sheer expense, that's hilarious. Just buy one square of sod once a month or so and throw it in the corner of your travertine backyard for the dog.

Edited September 11, 2020 by BradInATX

[HouTex 1866]

So the HS and college kids aren’t enjoying late nights in the pool with their boy friends/girl friends anymore? What a shame.

[Landomatic 3813]

2 hours ago, BradInATX said:

How much did your in-ground cleaner add to the total cost?

Not sure...let me find out for you.

[Dbeasy 15042]

Yeah, I tried to think back to when I had a pool growing up and what me and my buddies would do. We'd mostly play pool basketball, rules made up as we went of course, for hours on end. That's easily accomplished in an 18x15 space. Also trying to jump into the pool and catch the football mid-air. 
Both of those things I'm also super pumped about doing myself as a 40 year old in my backyard, this time with beer. But I'm a bit of a 40-going-on-18 type.
Actually laughed out loud at a completely travertine backyard. Beyond the sheer expense, that's hilarious. Just buy one square of sod once a month or so and throw it in the corner of your travertine backyard for the dog.

We’d play “depth charge”. One guy had to swim the length of the pool while several guys did cannonballs on top of him. The winner was the swimmer who didn’t get slammed into the cement bottom and die. Kids.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21877]

Before the first set of kids came along the first ex and I used to skinny dip at night in our pool.  When this last set of kids is gone, i'm thinking a pool would be nice for skinny dipping with the GF of the week.

[BradInATX 9208]

Just finalized contract with the builder. Ended up getting him to agree to a huge chunk (relatively speaking) of the payment due on project sign-off which I'm pretty happy with. Just waiting on the loan. I got 3.99% through Frost which easily cleared my bar of "pay with someone else's money for anything under 6% interest". 

See how it goes. Builder is giving me a timeline of late December or early January to be swimming. Hopefully I'm not back here pissed off in 3 months. 

One question - to you guys with kids, what is the depth range of your pool, and how is it working out for you? I'm still debating what I want my depth to be in the deep end. 

Edited September 23, 2020 by BradInATX

[Hate 20107]

Mine is right at 6 feet and I wish it was a little deeper.

[PantsTent 2002]

Here's our drawing and progress after 4 days of drilling/digging.  Have an easement that provides a hard boundary on top of drawing and a tree we didn't want to cut down so the design kind of wraps around that tree with the spa being closest to the existing covered patio.  The depths are the circled numbers.  My youngest is 13 so we have 3'6" to step in and get to 4'3" and 4'6" as fast as possible which is pretty much shoulder height for wife/daughters.  Then just about 10' of 5'6" for a "deep end".

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

1 hour ago, PantsTent said:

Here's our drawing and progress after 4 days of drilling/digging.  Have an easement that provides a hard boundary on top of drawing and a tree we didn't want to cut down so the design kind of wraps around that tree with the spa being closest to the existing covered patio.  The depths are the circled numbers.  My youngest is 13 so we have 3'6" to step in and get to 4'3" and 4'6" as fast as possible which is pretty much shoulder height for wife/daughters.  Then just about 10' of 5'6" for a "deep end".

4 days of digging? Dang I feel lucky as ours was able to be dug out mostly in a day and we are in the hill country.

I get wanting to save your tree, just be prepared to be getting out a lot of leaves in the winter. I'd be more concerned with how close it is to your skimmer though. Builders like to skimp on the amount of reinforcing and rebar around those. With how close it is to the tree and it's root system, make sure you ask for some sturdiness around the skimmer. I had no trees around our pool and yet they still both failed /cracked within 2 yrs and needed replacing. The guy that repaired them for me ($1800 out of my pocket) said that he made good money replacing them because builders NEVER put enough rebar or reinforcing around them as they do for the rest of the pool. They pull away from the pool over time. And it can be a grey area if they are covered in your warranty or not. I'd ask your builder about it. I know I will if I ever build another pool.

Good Luck, I know you'll enjoy your pool. Even with some items that needed repair with ours, nothing beats being able to jump in and cool off whenever you feel like it.

[PantsTent 2002]

41 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

4 days of digging? Dang I feel lucky as ours was able to be dug out mostly in a day and we are in the hill country.

I get wanting to save your tree, just be prepared to be getting out a lot of leaves in the winter. I'd be more concerned with how close it is to your skimmer though. Builders like to skimp on the amount of reinforcing and rebar around those. With how close it is to the tree and it's root system, make sure you ask for some sturdiness around the skimmer. I had no trees around our pool and yet they still both failed /cracked within 2 yrs and needed replacing. The guy that repaired them for me ($1800 out of my pocket) said that he made good money replacing them because builders NEVER put enough rebar or reinforcing around them as they do for the rest of the pool. They pull away from the pool over time. And it can be a grey area if they are covered in your warranty or not. I'd ask your builder about it. I know I will if I ever build another pool.

Good Luck, I know you'll enjoy your pool. Even with some items that needed repair with ours, nothing beats being able to jump in and cool off whenever you feel like it.

Thanks, good info...will ask about skimmer.  I'll have to battle the leaves, but that close tree is not much of a leaf dropper.  That big fucker in back is another story.

[Landomatic 3813]

Finally got my tile work done.  Damn this is taking forever.  I just looked at my notes from the last pool we did a few years ago (same company, more elaborate pool) and it was 21 days from dig to decking.  This has already been over 50 days (not to mention how long it took from contract to dig).

[markersmake 15]

Our pool is done. Been brushing it for the last 8 days.. they still have to come and put in the spigots ?? for the in floor cleaning, finish up a few things, tell me how it works (first pool) then we can swim. Will have a few weeks.  Now to landscape and fix the yard/sprinklers.  Started 7/27... pic is the first day it was filled, pool guys came by and dumped in a bunch of stuff.

Edited September 24, 2020 by markersmake

[williemackgarza 1826]

Congrats on the finish.
Any day time pics?

[Landomatic 3813]

10 hours ago, markersmake said:

Our pool is done. Been brushing it for the last 8 days.. they still have to come and put in the spigots ?? for the in floor cleaning, finish up a few things, tell me how it works (first pool) then we can swim. Will have a few weeks.  Now to landscape and fix the yard/sprinklers.  Started 7/27... pic is the first day it was filled, pool guys came by and dumped in a bunch of stuff.

IMG_0125.MOV 9.99 MB · 6 downloads

Looks great!  So you're looking right at about 60 days start to finish?  That's a hell of a lot better than where I'm sitting.

Hard to tell from the video, but do all of your lights sync up?  Video makes it look a little like they all do different things, but hard to tell.  Or do you have them set that way on purpose?  Reason I ask is that on our first pool, we couldn't get our spa light to sync with our pool light (just one in each) and it was a fucking nightmare.  Builder always wanted to blame the manufacturer, manufacturer always wanted to blame the builder, nobody would take responsibility.  Went on and on and on like that and we never really did get it fixed properly.  They got it to where you could trick it into syncing up if you knew just what you were doing.  Wish I would have fought it at punch out or done something about it sooner, but I was just excited to be done with the pool and decided I could cross that bridge later.  Not trying to pour cold water on your lights, just giving you a heads up from one of my experiences.

Anyway, rant over...congrats on new pool...looks great.  And good call on the in-floor cleaning system - you'll love that!

[troph 24781]

Before the first set of kids came along the first ex and I used to skinny dip at night in our pool.  When this last set of kids is gone, i'm thinking a pool would be nice for skinny dipping with the GF of the week.

Another benefit of divorce (and shared custody), alone time to skinny dip with your person before your body is old and wrinkled. At our old place we had 100% privacy and would only swim/hot tub when the kids were gone because bathing suits suck.

[PantsTent 2002]

Builder says he has a new Shotcrete contractor and wants to know if I want that instead of Gunite as it won't have a 5 week wait time.  Pros/cons?  Is shotcrete used around here much?

[joe dirt 285]

2 hours ago, PantsTent said:

Builder says he has a new Shotcrete contractor and wants to know if I want that instead of Gunite as it won't have a 5 week wait time.  Pros/cons?  Is shotcrete used around here much?

ours is shotcrete. from my understanding, it’s just a different way to get the same cement mixed and set.

we’re 2 weeks past coping, stone and plumbing completion and still waiting on decking. the recent rain hasn’t helped but fuuuuuck. we’re like 5 weeks behind schedule at this point. 

[Poolflood 845]

2 hours ago, PantsTent said:

Builder says he has a new Shotcrete contractor and wants to know if I want that instead of Gunite as it won't have a 5 week wait time.  Pros/cons?  Is shotcrete used around here much?

shotcrete used in dfw more than Houston.   Not sure about Austin/San Antonio.   It's going to finish with higher psi.  Most of rest issues are builder issues.  Would press builder on shotcrete company.  What's their history.  How experienced is the crew.  

[markersmake 15]

The lights, I’m not really sure why they are doing that. It’s almost like they are in a demo mode. We filled the pool a week or so back, the builders came by while I was at work, threw in a bunch of chemicals. Cranked the pumps up and told my wife they would be back in about 10 days to do “pool school”. Havent seen them since. Told us to brush it everyday that was about it. I haven’t messed with the panel very much to figure the lights out yet. And don’t have the app set up just yet.

Im sure they will get them figured out. That would drive me nuts with them not being the same colors, or at least having that option.

Day time pic.

[williemackgarza 1826]

Nice looking pool!

[freyguy 4265]

It is a hard life

 

[markersmake 15]

58 minutes ago, freyguy said:

It is a hard life

 

Very nice, wish we had the space for a free form pool. Enjoy!!

[PantsTent 2002]

That grey layer of rock that runs all around is what took so long to drill through on our excavation.

[Landomatic 3813]

15 hours ago, markersmake said:

The lights, I’m not really sure why they are doing that. It’s almost like they are in a demo mode. We filled the pool a week or so back, the builders came by while I was at work, threw in a bunch of chemicals. Cranked the pumps up and told my wife they would be back in about 10 days to do “pool school”. Havent seen them since. Told us to brush it everyday that was about it. I haven’t messed with the panel very much to figure the lights out yet. And don’t have the app set up just yet.

Im sure they will get them figured out. That would drive me nuts with them not being the same colors, or at least having that option.

Day time pic.

IMG_0206.MOV

Great looking pool.  I did that exact same tile on our last pool...

12 hours ago, markersmake said:

wish we had the space for a free form pool

Huh, didn't know that was a factor.  I've always just thought it was a matter of preference in design choice.  You have a more modern look, which a lot of people prefer.  I never look at a modern, clean line pool and think "they must not have enough space for a freeform pool" nor do I look at a freeform and think "they must really have a lot of space".

[BradInATX 9208]

On 9/23/2020 at 6:27 PM, Landomatic said:

Finally got my tile work done.  Damn this is taking forever.  I just looked at my notes from the last pool we did a few years ago (same company, more elaborate pool) and it was 21 days from dig to decking.  This has already been over 50 days (not to mention how long it took from contract to dig).

Hell yeah, going for the full-on roman orgy pool. Keep out, kids! I can't wait to see your completed pic. 

[Landomatic 3813]

Just now, BradInATX said:

Hell yeah, going for the full-on roman orgy pool. Keep out, kids! I can't wait to see your completed pic. 

Hahaha wife is calling it more of a mediterranean inspired, modern interpretation of a classic style.  But I'll go with full-on roman orgy.

[markersmake 15]

11 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Huh, didn't know that was a factor.  I've always just thought it was a matter of preference in design choice.  You have a more modern look, which a lot of people prefer.  I never look at a modern, clean line pool and think "they must not have enough space for a freeform pool" nor do I look at a freeform and think "they must really have a lot of space".

What I meant, if we had a big yard it would have been a huge free form pool. We have a pretty big easement, and maximized our space with the modern look. I love the way it turned out,  no doubt, just wished we had more yard.. But what do you do.

Great minds on the tile, we saw it and that’s what we had to have. Even though it was on the higher tier..

I like the spillways in your old set up. We should have worked some in on our “pillars”. But hey it is what it is.

[williemackgarza 1826]

Finally gettin to my gas line this week and our slide came in. Water temps in the mid to upper 70s. Kiddos dont care. They were out there for 2 hours pregame yesterday and headed back out now.Need to get it all finished