WOW! What an awesome pool! I love your tiki torches alongside the pool. Just adding a tropical effect until you can get water in it?!? :-)

-Melissa

Hey, your pool looks fab! (trying to come up with retro slang) - we love all that stuff, too, and our house is filled with tiki/atomic stuff.

Since you're ordering from MaiTiki, I'll assume your near me. And, since you mentioned tropical landscaping, let me offer some unsolicited advice... Have you been to Valkaria Gardens? Dr. Brown gives tours and has awesome stuff for sale. Here's a link to a tour of his place: http://tropicalbamboo.org/events_images/central_florida_valkaria_gardens.htm - I'm not sure when he is open, usually the first weekend of the month.

Also, Okie of Palm Growers has the best deals (and prices) and healthiest palms around. Everything we've bought from him has flourished: http://www.foxtail-palms.com/ He's on Tropical Trail.

No, I don't work for either of these guys! :-) I just have spent a lot of time going for that tropical look in a yard that was once a sand pit!

I love the deck and tiles you picked, and the idea of tiki fountains. Very fun. Keep posting pictures of your progress - congrats on a great job.

Looking forward to seeing the tikis. We have one large, carved tiki that was done locally here in Pasco county. We call him "big red".

Wow! I'm flattered! Your pool, even though it is inspired by many others, is definitely an original. I'm dying to see the final product! You must post as soon as the pebble is done. I can't wait to see how everything works!

Kristen

Thanks guys! The pebble tec crew was here today doing the acid wash and the three of them spent 10 hours going over the whole thing. Some may remember Pool Boy Plastering, who used to post here a while back for a bit. Well, when I looked up the owner, Jason, last year to ask him for some advice, it turned out he lives about 150 yards on the other side of those banana trees in the top picture. Small world doesn't begin cover that one! Anyway, he's the Pebble Tec installer for South Florida as of November, so I must say the timing worked out well for both of us.

Thanks for the tips mango, but I'm a little farther south, near Boca Raton in a little place called Coconut Creek. Wayne dropped the tiki's off while he was passing through today. They look perfect, although he had to do a little oral surgery on one whose mouth was about a half inch to small for the fountain head. I'll post pictures of them soon scapula, maybe in a couple of weeks after I get them installed. Yours is a riot, your pool is lucky to have him watching over it!

And thanks Kristen. I hope to post more soon. Tomorrow I have to finish up the plumbing though. Nothing like a pool half full of water to provide a little motivation.

Wow what a unique design. Can't wait to see the finished project also. We love the retro theming you are doing. May the Tiki Gods bring peace and harmony to your own slice of paradise! :-)

last mango are you in Brevard/IndianRiver County? Spend/Have spent a lot of time on the Space and Treasure Coast over the years Know Valkaria well. Alumni of FIT in Melbourne and do PT Conservation work for a shipwreck museum in Sebastian further down US1 Thanks for the links.

Here is another great link for Tiki goods:

A quick picture. Pool is almost full, and I just hooked up the electric and turned on the pumps and SAMs. Everything seems to be working so far. I love my little Casio camera, I just set it on the table and took this 10 sec exposure.

How cool is that? Keep them coming! What a beautiful sight.

Kristen

Love it!! Thanks for sharing!

Hi, Your pool is very nice. Here's a link (hope it works) for Oceanic Arts, a place in Whittier, CA that does everything Tiki. I think they've been in business since the mid 1950's. They sell, custom make, or rent anything and everything tiki. Although they will ship their stuff, it's a great place to visit if you're in the Los Angeles area. Get their contact info, address and hours by clicking the box right above where it says HOME. Linda

The main fountain return in the 6' deep area is a 2' brass female threaded return in the floor, so I can switch out fountains easily. This one came out really cool - it's a crystal fountain 'deck spray' jet for water parks. It's supposed to sit flush with a hard dry surface or extend up above the waterline (which I can also do with a short extender). But sitting two inches below the waterline it looks like it may become the favorite 'play fountain.'

It's already been dubbed 'the tsunami.'

Fantastic! I predict you're gonna be the busiest house on the block this summer!

Awesome pool Rob! Are those travertine pavers? I have ones that look the same, they are called multi color. Did you seal them? I haven't and they look lighter, when wet they look like yours and I am still deciding whether or not to seal.

Well, some small delay as the pool decided not to hold water the first time around! Three tries at patching the Pebble Tec and I think we're finally in business. The water level is climbing in this picture, which is a nice change from ther last ten days.

Anyway, here's a pic of Wayne's tiki's. They're not plumbed up yet, they're just set over the piping. I think they look even better in full sun, when the shadows really bring out the texture. This weekend we'll see if we can pick up a couple of nice bismarck palms to go with these guys.

How do you control the waterflow on your tsunami or how will you control the flow through the Tiki gods. Do you have a variable speed pump?

Hi jcjr,

Yes, they call them yellow/gold down at Florida Sand and Silica where I bought them. They're not stained, but I've been told that they'll get stained (that is, stained by grape juice and fritos and stuff) if you don't. But I've also been told that in the Florida sun you need to reapply the stain every 6-12 months. When they're wet they get much darker, you can kind of see it in the video.

Pooldazed, I forgot to mention the plumbing. Pool/spa pump is the Intelliflo, which also runs the spa tiki and pressure cleaner. A Intelliflo 4X160 runs the tsunami, 5 bubblers and the angry tiki (he's really a family protector tiki). Both are plumbed in parallel to share the seven returns/attachable-fountains in the 6" bench area. A third pump, a 2hp Hayward, is dedicated to the spa foot jets.

When everything is up and running, the plan is to have the pumps and valves (I may wind up with 9 actuators!) working together to shift around between the various fountains while the kids are swimming. I like the idea of having the tsunami coming on 1 minute out of 10 or 15. If you've every been to Universal Studios, the Curious George water-play area has those giant buckets that dump hundreds of gallons every 15 minutes. The kids get pretty excited waiting for it.

fabulous !!! more pictures please, I love your deck too. Barb

Broke the pool in today, lots of fun:

Wow! What a beautiful pool, I'm so jealous! Congratulations on a great pool build, I'm sure your pool will inspire many others.

Regards,

Mike

Still plugging along. I've added a planter to give the tikis someplace to live and filled it with three foxtail palms, three red palms (Chambeyronia macrocarpa), and a bismarck. A coconut is in the solo planter on the right.

Also, here's a picture of the "multipurpose pool" that I was shooting for: the moms relaxing in the shade, the kids screaming 5 feet away (somehow the moms can't hear it!), and the dad digging dirt and hauling rocks around the yard. Everyone's having a great time!

The first half of the landscaping is in. The next major project is to build the "dock" along the deep end wall between the two planters.

What a great job you did. As an "owner/builder" doing my first pool, I gotta hand it to you. My makeover won't be nearly as cool but I'm hoping it'll be something I can be proud of and enjoy for many years to come.

What are the chances of seeing your water flow schematic? I'm cogitating on all of my water features and pumps and could use a little edumacating.

Thanks and enjoy the Holiday!
Joe

I love the spitting tikis! Nice job on the pool. It looks fantastic.

Absolutely spectacular pool! What a first class job you did. I love the design of the pool. I wish I had found this site before I built my pool.

One of the most perfect pools I have seen on this site. Just beautiful and the Tikis are wonderful. Congratulations!

Very nice! Very fun pool. It reminds me of the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland.

Congratulations on a job well done Rob!

I am absolutely stunned!! Your pool is so cool! You should be way, way proud.

What a wonderful job you did! That is absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys. Cannonball, it's funny you should mention Jungle Cruise. That is definitely a major inspiration, and eventually my patio area should be reminiscent of the queue of the ride at Disney World. Right now I'm looking (unsuccessfully) for a nice big wood "CARGO" crate for pool toy and cleaning supply storage.

Joekl, I'd be happy to share anything I've learned from my mistakes, but I don't have a diagram I could share. My plumbing job is not perfect, but at certain times, I felt it was more important to get it finished rather than get it 100% perfect. Here's a pic of the plumbing leading to the equipment pad.

Outstanding pool, congratulations.

Your tikis certainly remind me of The Jungle Cruise, but also of the tikis in the The Tiki Room (at Disneyland, where they still have the original show, not Disneyworld) and I can't get the sound of the tikis grunting at the onset of the storm out of my head...

Okay, here's the latest. Had to redo (under warranty) the pebble surface on the shelves and spa due to application issues. It was a pain, but it allowed me to change the Tropical Breeze on those areas to Desert Gold Pebble Sheen, (which was, odly enough, in line with my original plan which I didn't follow the first time around). MUCH happier with the sheen on the shelves, texture-wise, you can crawl on it and lay down on it with out worrying about your knees; and the color contrast between levels makes me feel better about safety. I've got to hand it to Pebble Tec, they know how to stand by their warranty!

This was yesterday. 95 degrees (heat index 104) in South Florida, so even the people who never get in the pool were in there!

Wow, this is the first time I've seen this post. Very impressive! You all are certainly enjoying it.

I like the new color, it looks like sandy beach. Very cool! Almost as cool as your Tiki's ;-)

Any luck on your cargo storage?

Wow! Great job....I really love the Desert Gold and Tropical Breeze combo....makes it look like sand! We are going to have a beach entry with Sandy Beach and Prism Blue in the rest of the pool. Thanks for posting the picture!
I used to live in Coconut Creek about 7 years ago...I lived in The Township right on the corner of Sample and Lyons! :)

rob o

I like the Tsunami. Could be be more specific on which fountain head model you used and how you get the effect, i.e., what valve control and how you time it.

Thanks.

AWESOME POOL! You did a great job. One question. How do you clean the portion of the shelf that is 5"?

rob_o - What a beautiful pool and area. Just stunning.

I have a question for you, though. I really like your pool deck, and it looks like it pavers or tile. Did you have them installed over concrete or on gravel? I'm looking at refurbishing and enlarging an existing patio and that tile look is what I'm after. Thanks.

is that planted close to the pool? I WANT ONE!! :) I have seen them but don't know the name.

Hi guys, thanks for the compliments!

About the tsunami - the head for that one is a Crystal Fountain NLG (has a 2" connection). The reason it does what it does is not from valving, but from the water level being about an inch or so above the fountain head. as the waves start to build in the shelf area, wave troughs expose the head and allow it to spray high into the air. As a crest flows over the fountain, the spray is suppressed. It gets a very regular rythm going after about a minute.

Cleaning the 5" shelf area is very easy, and it is directly under a very messy banyon tree that drops leaves, seeds and debris into that area. The ledge keeps the mess from getting into the main pool, and when you run a net through there to scoop the stuff up, the currents created always gather the debris into two neat and compact piles for easy scooping and removal. There is no automatic cleaning of that area, if that's what you mean.

The pavers are travertine (gold) set in sand.

The palm next to the pool on the far right in the panorama above is a Maypan coconut. I think I should be OK for the most part, but after it grows up if a hurricane ever blows it the wrong way the pool-wall there will be toast.

Rob, this is an older thread but hopefully you are still around... that is one beautiful pool! I'm bringing this back up because I was searching for ideas on how to plumb my tiki to spray into the pool. I love your fan-spray effect, what head did you use for that? Thanks!

I'm glad you bumped it up too - this is one my favorite pools.

Rob o - want to come and build my pool? Good job

This is one sweet a$$ pool! :-) GREAT JOB!!!!

The Plumbing Job: OMGGGGGGG!!!!!

Glad I had a chance to see this. Great idea with the Tiki!

Beautiful pool - what is your waterline tile - it is just stunning

Wow, I
thought this thread got eaten by the internet along time ago!

Maybe it disappeared
for a while with the switch to the new management, but I'm glad to see it is
back up. We're still enjoying the pool, and Wayne Coomb's tikis are still the
kings of our backyard, although sadly Wayne passed away a few years back. He
was an amazing guy and he called me a few times regarding orders he got from my
mentioning him in this this thread and to discuss new fountain ideas.

Here's a recent picture I took
showing the growth around the pool. I took this not of the pool per se, but of my last remaining fire palm (of the three I planted), Chambeyronia macrocarpa, in full
"bloom" with a new frond showing blazing red for a few days as it
opened up. I knew these were delicate plants going in, and I guess the other two
were just too crowded in the poolside planter with probably a little too much sun.

I uploaded this to dropbox first and the colors look a little funky, but close enough.

You did an amazing job - I think most pool builders could learn a thing or two from what you have accomplished here. As someone who has plumbed hundreds of pools with similar configurations I just want to provide you with a little bit of insight into your underground plumbing chase. While it is clear that you took a ton of care to have a clean raceway to run the lines it, you made a few key errors that anyone looking to reproduce your results should avoid. In the areas where you have needed to raise one pipe over another you used double 45's to create a saddle. While this is the right choice from a system efficiency and friction loss standpoint, having underground 45's like that can be a problem. You will not be able to sufficiently compact under the saddle and as a result the top pipe will sink over time as the ground settles. Even a tiny movement of the pipe with rigid lines can cause a failure - and the 45 saddle is a weak point for a failure. As much as having back to back 90 fittings is bad, they are able to take the compression of ground movement better than an unsupported 45. Again, amazing job...just want to lend some experience. One more thing worth mentioning is that when you have a pipe penetration through the shell it can be a good idea to 90 down immediately. If the rigid pipe comes straight out, again it has to endure the force of the ground settling around it. By turning the pipe down with a 90 you do increase the friction losses in he system but relieve this leverage point which is a known failure point in swimming pool design. I hope this info is helpful!