Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
smbnobles_gw

You're Getting a Pool in that Yard? Yep! Spring, TX Pool Build

smbnobles
15 years ago

Yes, you can get a pool in a small yard! Ours isn't very large, but it's going to have some punch.

The gunite trucks just pulled up, and we're only at the start of our third day. The PB (Kelly, aka Huskyrider) has been busting his rear getting it to this point, and the pool has been fighting back. I'm sure he'll be glad to finish this one.

What I never mentioned to him, is that things constantly go wrong with anything I do like this, and it's not just me; it happens to my whole family. We call it "The Curse". And The Curse was in full force.

We've had equipment failures, sewer lines where they're not supposed to be and a torrential downpour. (I got poured on in Spring, and my parents didn't get a drop in The Woodlands. Only in the Houston-area.)

The pool is a 25' x 16' in-ground, traditional, chlorine pool. It has a raised bond beam along the back, which will have stacked stone, with a 3' sheer decent in the middle. At the other end, there will be a sunshelf with two bubblers.

We've gone with regular white lights, flagstone coping, and pea gravel decking, with flagstone inlays. The pool finish will be Tahoe Blue PebbleTec. It'll be heated, because we're weenies.

We have a rather large existing patio, which will also be covered with flagstone. We have a separate company building a pergola that will cover the existing patio.

Everything has happened so quickly, that it's been hard to get photos of the pool without workers in it, but here's what I have so far:

Here are the plans, although we've modified them since this was drawn, and it got modified again when Kelly got here.

Here's what happens when you have equipment failures, a sewer line where it's not supposed to be, and a torrential downpour. Needless to say, work had to stop for the day.

The next day though, they busted their rears getting it from this:

To this:

Comments (150)

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Actually the issue in question ended up being much sturdier than it looked.

    It was definitely wide enough for the wheelbarrow and sat on three horizontal legs as wide as its width, with two side legs nailed to it, with the ends on my coping. On top of that, it was spanned across my top two steps. I think the worst that could have happened, was I ended up with steps full of concrete.

    I removed the picture before I got a good look at it. OSHA approved, probably not, but unsafe - no. At least not where they had it on my pool. :-)

    The decking is done! The flagstone inlay still has to be done, and flagstone has to be set on the new steps at our exterior doors, but the bulk of the pool is now complete! They were here until dusk, so when I have better light I'll take pictures and post them here.

    PebbleTec is next and we've chosen Tahoe Blue. We also still have the pergola top to fix, and the pergola lights to be hooked up. And then we're pretty much done!

    My oldest daughter is in the Bahamas and I pick her up on Monday from the airport. She doesn't live in Houston anymore, but she'll be here that night before she heads back to college, so I would love to be able to show it to her finished.

    Hear that Kelly???? :-)

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Here are some photos of the completed decking. All that's left is the flagstone inlay in the decking, and the flagstone on the new set of steps.

    It's still hazy, but I think it goes great with the Oklahoma Wister.

    We're getting a steady rain right now, and the drains are working great! We managed to salvage a previous directional drain and tie into that. There's a steady flow of water coming out of the drain, at the street. What's funny, is we had no idea that drain was ours, or that it even existed, until Kelly tore through it in the dig! For once, a ruptured pipe was a pleasant surprise!

    Looking towards the house:


    Looking towards the pool:

    The new sundeck area:

  • tresw
    15 years ago

    Quote: "if you look close you can see the worker has a safety harness strapped to the Canary Island Date Palm."

    LOL! There's a whole series of job site photos that make the rounds of architect's offices now and then, there's this one pic of a guy standing on the very top step of a ladder (you know, the one that says "don't use this as a step") and the ladder is resting in the bucket of a Bobcat that is extended all the way as high as it will go, and the Bobcat is right on the edge of a big opening. It's funny and gives you the shivers at the same time :-)

    Quote: "They were raising it up with some sort of pick on the end of their tool."

    That's OK, it's not the best practice to use but at least the mat isn't sitting on bottom. If the mat is left on bottom then it will eventually rust and spall the concrete.

    Quote: "The painter was up there painting the trim all the way up at the top, by standing on two ladders that had been roped together!"

    HAHAHA! That would have been right at home in the email I mentioned above!

    Quote: "I removed the picture before I got a good look at it. OSHA approved, probably not, but unsafe - no. At least not where they had it on my pool."

    It's still showing up (the pic of the guy pushing a wheelbarrow across a narrow plank over the pool), but I was jesting about OSHA. They don't go to residential jobs, they're not going to show up and shut the project down. I was serious about it being unsafe though. Job site safety is not the homeowner's responsibility, but if anyone sees something unsafe going on at their property then they should immediately report it to the superintendant or project manager and let them deal with it.

    Sounds like you're in the home stretch now, just in time for swimming weather!

  • susannap2
    15 years ago

    Wow! Amazing how everything has come together so very quickly!
    Cannot wait to see the finished pool!
    I think we have decided on a Midnight Blue plaster, Tahoe was our original, and DH and girls now think it's too light and want darker. Does the color really affect pool temp that much for us?

    Nasty thunderstorms blew through this morning, somewhat drier now, but definately not workable conditions to lay more stone, grrrr!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    My pool designer has Midnight Blue and it's gorgeous! We had to draw the line somewhere though, since I went so far over our original budget. Tahoe Blue was the closest to Midnight Blue, in Level I.

    The electricians just set the GFI's for the pergola. Now we're waiting on the transformer and the top to be fixed and it's done.

    We have a small issue with the patio. We got mild rain here today, and it's holding water badly in one corner. We have a downspout there, that we're going to have to reroute somehow. We think the slope was off when it was laid out. Instead angling it off to the side and around the house, it angles to the side, towards the house.

    Where the inlay will be, water is also still standing in the section towards the edge that's closest to the patio. I have to make sure I'm here to make sure he doesn't angle it towards the patio, or even more water will get to that back corner. There are drains near the inlay, but not on the patio (we used existing concrete).

    Debris called hauled away today, which was a much welcomed sight! Kelly called me about my choice for PebbleTec and he was putting the call through on that today, so hopefully that'll be happening soon! I'm ready to close this chapter of my life!

    Oh, and we got our first estimate on wrought iron for our breezeway today. For about 25', we're being told close to $2k!!!! Yikes!

  • syntagma
    15 years ago

    It looks soooo great! I absolutely love the flagstone and peagravel!

  • tamu81
    15 years ago

    smbnobles,

    Your pool is going to be "awesome". The design is perfect for your backyard.

    However, as a word of advise, make sure Kelly finishes EVERYTHING before giving him the final check. This is our firepit 2 years later. The last $400 profit is not worth his time when he can make thousands off the next build.

  • tresw
    15 years ago

    I can relate on the fence "sticker shock"! We spent a lot more there than we had planned. Sounds like you should have plaster soon, exciting!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Kelly is reading this thread. Hopefully you'll get a response about your fire pit.

    Plaster probably won't be here until the latter part of next week, which is okay. My yard guy comes on Saturday to rip out the remaining grass behind the new deck, and to install dirt. I can start planting after he's done.

    At least by the time the pool is filled, the landscaping and the fence (Kelly is handling it for us) should be done. I would love nothing more than to be able to sit back after the pool is filled and see that whole area finished!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    We've made some small baby-steps since my last post. We gotten most of the beds prepared behind the new deck area, and the pool was cleaned out today in preparation for the Pebble Tec. The electrician came out and set the transformer for the pergola lights and it's officially finished!

    All we're waiting on now, is the flagstone inlay and the steps - and of course the last big step on the pool and we're done! Well... I still have to break my back (and my bank) landscaping it, and we have to buy outdoor living furniture, but we're so close now!

    The new beds that should cost a small fortune to landscape. Some of the dirt is for the area behind the raised bond beam, but until the flagstone is picked up, it's piled up in the one bed still:

    The pergola at dusk with the new lights on:

    I love the look of the lights! They're definitely not enough to read by, but they give off a soft ambient light and if you could see the inside of my house, you'd know how big I am on ambient lighting!

    Here's the pergola, almost dark out:

  • tresw
    15 years ago

    Looks good! The lighting should be just right for dining & hanging out on the patio without drawing a lot of bugs, we've got something similar going on around our pergola. I'm big on ambient lighting myself, but my wife loves BRIGHT lighting. We have a constant battle going where she turns on every light in the house and I turn certain lights off and leave others on for effect.

  • susannap2
    15 years ago

    I love the lighting Suzanne! Everything is looking great! Have they started on the landscaping yet?

    We were in your neck of the woods this past weekend, went to Trade Days in Old Town Spring, what a great place!
    My step son and daughter in law are opening a bar on 2920, with any luck they will be open by this weekend...

    Was told this morning we should have water in our pool by early next week, woo woo!!!!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    They're here doing our Pebble Tec! I had no idea they were even showing up today!

    Susanna, I live just on the other side of I-45 and a road up, from Old Town Spring. Where is their bar going to be located?

  • huskyridor
    15 years ago

    quote" make sure Kelly finishes EVERYTHING before giving him the final check. This is our firepit 2 years later. The last $400 profit is not worth his time when he can make thousands off the next build. "quote

    This reply makes the implication that I didn't finish his contracted job yet collected the money in full.

    This is not the case.

    His pool is an unbelievably beautiful piece of inventory. I'd say it's in the top 10 of the past 200 pools I've built since the year before last.
    However, the firepit was not part of the contract. It was an verbal agreement in addition to the pool construction that I entered into and have yet to follow through with constructing. The truth of the matter is that I offered a discounted price, performed a $200 gas connection/gas line run, and paid the concrete man $200 for the work he performed to construct the base because it was elevated 12 to 18" plus to the relative lay of the land prior to grading. The buyer was never invoiced for these services because I don't invoice until completion on deals like these.
    I do feel bad though because I did promise him earlier this year that we'd come out and build it out because we were slowish and my guys were bellyaching about not having a job to move to the next day. I don't remember what their excuse was about not wanting to work that day but I sucked it up and told them we'd knock it out later on in the week. Well we got busy and I never even gave him the courtesy of a return phone call.

    He is a 100 percent correct in the fact that I can make thousands off of the next pool build, but is incorrect that the next 400 in profit is not more important. If this was truly the case I'd of invoiced him immediately for the gas connection/pipe run and the concrete guys service which were items I paid for but didn't generate a bill on.

    Tamu, I am really sorry that I didn't call you back, you did deserve a call. I can assure you that we'll build you an awesome firepit for the price we agreed on at the time and I won't ask for a dime until it's completed. The sad part is that this is just a one day job now and I haven't just scheduled a day for the boys to handle it.
    Call me on my cell at your convenience, if you can't get through wait a few minutes and try again.

    See ya,
    Kelly

  • tresw
    15 years ago

    You're a good man Kelly, if I were in Houston I wouldn't think twice about hiring you! :-)

    Suzanne, congrats, are you filling now?

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    No, not yet. We're still waiting for them to come out to acid wash it.

  • texasbrew
    15 years ago

    smbnobles -

    Congrats! You are getting done just as we are finally settling into the 90s. The pool water will be warm in no time.

  • susannap2
    15 years ago

    Kelly, you are truly a great PB and an even more wonderful person!

    Suzanne, any acid wash yet? They started acid washing our deck this morning while the other crew is cleaning every thing up. I can't wait until our grotto is finished! We sat there with the mortar and dust making "mudpies" to get the perfect color I was looking for.
    The bar is named Beach Bums, and I believe its at the corner of 2920 and Bridgestone, need to check on that. Fire Marshall was supposed to inspect today for soft opening this weekend.... but who knows? They had a waterfall built against one of the walls that spans the entire length and width of it. Looks to be 20'tall X 15' wide...? Gorgeous! I also love the lifeguard tower, that will be the sound booth later.
    I would have decorated some of it differently but with 4 different partners, each has their own style... ha!

    Be sure to post some new pics when you can!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Susanna, I'll have to check that out! I know exactly where it is!

    They're here right now acid washing the pool, so we'll have water in it by tonight. All that's left now is the flagstone and pool start-up and we're done!

    I found some awesome deals on Queen Palms (45 gallons for $225 ea.) this afternoon and my landscaper is coming by here to plant them. I got two to go along the back fence, to the right of the Date Palm. Once those are in, I can start on the smaller stuff.

    I also went and purchased patio furniture today for the pergola. If it had a steering wheel and tires, I could have driven it for what I ended up spending! It does have a lifetime warranty... I just have to keep repeating that over and over and over.

    Here are some pics from yesterday. The next ones I post will be of the pool filling up! Yippee!

    Trapeze Act Take I:

    This is some nasty sounding stuff coming out of the house! It makes this sick gurgling noise...lol.

    Starting to get smoother:

    My first look at the pebbles:

    This morning:

    A close-up of Tahoe Blue, pre-wash:

    And here we go... the final step - taken about 10 minutes ago!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    The palms are in ( and boy, are they gorgeous!) and the pool has been filling up for about two hours now. We must have an obscenely small pool, because the water is already up to our bottom step!

    I figure in about ten minutes it should be full. ;-)

    Here are the new palms:

    First water!:

    Tahoe Blue up close - after wash:

    Ten minutes later (okay... it was more like two hours, but look at the water level already!):


  • huskyridor
    15 years ago

    Thank you guys and girls for the vote of confidence, but the real truth of the matter is that I'm a semi-dirtbag like many of the other pool builders that some of you guys Boo-Hoo about when being ripped off or let down.
    One of the few differences between them and myself is the numbers I generate.
    Tamu81 is absolutely right when he mentions that the thousands I make off of new pool construction is very very important to me. When you can knock out around a 100 pools annually it's easy to generate good income, and it's just as easy to let little losses like this firepit get behind you. If he'd have contracted someone else to finish it I'd have simply let go of it and hoped his new man would have cut him a sweet deal because the mechanicals are already in place. This doesn't make it one bit right, it just makes it easier to dismiss when scheduling work for the day or week to come.
    This family was a pleasure to deal with and paid their draws immediately upon presentation. What I did was wrong whether I had a contract or not. We entered into an agreement and I only performed a portion of the scope of the work. Even though I didn't pursure the progress payment doesn't make it right.

    Note to readers who may be contemplating my services when looking at the timeline of her pool construction.
    Whatever you do don't think that just because hers is almost done in 4 weeks is that all my pools are like that.
    I have pools right now that are 2 to 3 weeks older that are just coming to plaster. I don't treat any pools differently than any others. Some simply fall into place and turn quicker than others. I look at many things from simpleness of the project to proximity of other jobs at similar stages when making my scheduling.
    Hers rode the coat-tail of another job that is 10 days older and very close. It just Domino'd on the ride to get a good turn because it caught up with the other and worked
    along the same pace as an older pool construction job.

    See ya,
    Kelly

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Don't let Kelly fool you. I'm special and he knows it. He told me everyone else was going to suffer and his whole business was going to bow down to me until my pool was done.

    Just joking. :-)

  • tamu81
    15 years ago

    I want everyone on this board to know that I am very pleased with the pool that Kelly and his crew built for us. From signing the contract to filling the pool was about 12 weeks for us. Considering the massive amounts of rain that spring and the extended shortage of concrete, Kelly did an awesome job. He personally spent many extra hours on the plumbing so that I could have the equipment in my "pool house". All of the other bidders wanted to take the easy way out and install the equipment outside of our bedroom window.

    Kelly was also very flexible in utilizing my design for the pool and decking. His crews are truly craftsmen.

    But I still have hopes of roasting marshmellows over our firepit next month when the extended family comes in town.:)

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    My pool is about 1" of being full! The water looks gorgeous! I'll post pictures when I can get some with the sun on it too.

    All I can say is, Tahoe Blue is gorgeous! :-)

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    It's full! I can't even begin to tell you much I'm loving the Tahoe Blue. The water is absolutely beautiful, and this is without any chemicals at all!

    Here are some pics:



  • syntagma
    15 years ago

    YEAH!!! It's soooo gorgeous! I just love your pool! It looks so sophisticated! CONGRATS!

    PS Still sooooo jealous of that palm! ;)

  • tresw
    15 years ago

    Kelly, quit beating yourself up, I think your worst "fault" is that you're overly honest :-)

    Suzanne, congrats on fill! It looks really nice! Please post a pic when you get your furniture arranged, I'm curious to see what the big dollar stuff looks like ;-) I've been meaning to post a thread asking about backyard security, I'm curious what people do to make sure their furniture doesn't walk off. I haven't spent a whole lot on ours, but still I'd be steamed if it made an unauthorized departure!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Someone would have to do some serious planning to haul ours off. It's a full-size couch, two large chairs, and two heavy tables. I figure if they're going to go to that amount of trouble, nothing I do will stop them anyway.

    BTW, the stuff I got came from www.smithandhawken.com. I got the Bonaire collection, but the tables from the Whitfield collection (they were sturdy enough to sit on). The couch is unbelievably comfortable. It's way more than I wanted to spend, but it has a lifetime warranty.

    We went with the Terra Cotta fabric. Now I'm glad I got that top, since it cuts out 80% of the UV rays. It's Sunbrella fabric, so between that and the top, I shouldn't have to worry about any fading.

  • susannap2
    15 years ago

    Um, yeah, well our patio furniture budget somewhat went out the door with our yard/fence extension and extra irrigation reconfigure. I consoled myself by buying another Margaritaville blender yesterday. I will proudly display that on our bar for now I guess....? Me being the cheapskate that I am, hoping to find those end of season mark downs later this summer....

    I am so very happy to see your fill Suzanne! The water looks great already! Your post was the first one that I watched from the beginning! Everything is just wonderful! Kelly,(who shows to be a normal, real person by his response) has done beautifully!

    The guys are removing the boards under the concrete slab right now to start building the top of the grotto, can't wait to see it! Plumbing and electrical to be finished today.

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    We're not done, but we're up and running! I took this through the window. I'll post better pictures of it later, but I think it looks great!

    My Golden is just staring at it through the backdoor. I still have to go purchase skimmer socks. I know if I go out there, she's going to go nuts!

  • firsttimepool
    15 years ago

    Looks awesome!

  • momof3littleboys
    15 years ago

    Your pool looks great! Your design is so amazing. It fits in perfectly. I am so in love with your flagstone patio. It is gorgeous.

    Kelly, I am so impressed by you. Too bad you don't build pools in NJ. I have been reading this board since last fall and I think you are such a huge asset to this group. I am sure many others agree.

  • susannap2
    15 years ago

    It looks so inviting! The bubblers are just perfect! Can you believe how beautiful it looks?
    Glad to hear you spent the weekend in it. We spent ours cleaning and pulling bushes for the new landscaping... ugh!
    Any advice for warming our dogs up to the pool experience? I am at the point where I really would like to see them enjoy it, but if they don't, less pool cleaning time for me...
    Oh, the bar failed inspection again! They have to rewire the sprinkler system, then get the fire marshall out there again... The other bar they opened is up and rocking already, at least they are trying to stay encouraged.

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    It took us forever to get our Golden in, when I had my first pool. She was too big to carry out there, so we had to coax her in with food. Once I managed to get her in on the first step, I kept getting further and further away, holding a treat. Eventually she pushed off, and that was all it took. She's been a water nut ever since.

    With the puppy, we got in holding her. One of us held her, while the other stood at the steps calling her. My husband let her go and she instantly went to the coping and tried to heave herself out. It took a few attempts before she grasped that there were steps there. Now, she jumps off the side!

    My husband wants to trim Chloe's (the Golden) hair, but I worry that the shorter is it, the more will go through the skimmer. The longer hair seems to weave its own little netting. The Lab isn't shedding yet. We've still got to come up with some sort of solution for the hair. For now, I'm the solution...lol.

    Where is their other bar? You might want to keep from her that my husband is a career firefighter and an inspector...lol.

  • dagirlmd
    15 years ago

    smb~
    so glad to see a picture of a Tahoe Blue pool! It's just gorgeous....your pool builder is a dream come true for sure...just wrote a mini novel at momof3's thread complaining about how loooooong everything is taking...but I can see from your posts that we all must have patience, and in the end it's clearly worth it! So jealous of you south/west folks, your builds take 1/2 the time of the east coast ones!!! And no palm trees either!
    Enjoy and thanks for your great posts.
    dagirlmd

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    The Tahoe Blue is prettier than that last picture. That was pre-chemical and it looked that good!

    I haven't updates any pictures of it. I'm on strike until my pool gets finished...lol.

  • dagirlmd
    15 years ago

    "I'm on strike until my pool gets finished...lol."

    Oh do I know the feeling!
    Just posted my own thread, now that I think I know how and to thank those whose ideas and stories I've enjoyed so much over the last few months! Yours was one!
    ~dagirlmd

  • huskyridor
    15 years ago

    quote" I'm on strike until my pool gets finished...lol. "quote

    OUCH!!! That hurts. I hate to bring up my earlier reply but I'll try!!!

    quote" Here comes the hard part, now it moves into rotation with 19 or 20 other pools going simultaneously. quote"

    All I can ask is to have a little patience and bear with us.

    The sweetness of pool ownership will most definitely offset the slightly bitter taste of what it took to get there.

    I can assure you that there are more than plenty enough of folks like yourself and husband that have been through a much much worse experience.

    HANG TIGHT, we're very close now !!!LOL!!!

    See ya,
    Kelly

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I'm trying... patience is not my strongest virtue. I'm being good.

  • texasdawner
    15 years ago

    smbnobles,

    Your pool is great! Thanks for sharing all the pics!

    If it's any consolation, they started ours at the beginning of February and we are still not finished!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    texasdawner, where are you located?

    Things started moving a little bit again today! Woohoo! Our iron breezeway fence is being installed as I type, and my furniture was delivered too. No cushions yet, as those are shipped directly from the factory.

    Having a fence again is going to be sooooooo nice. I think I'm going to burn all the dog leashes.

    Best yet, my husband is actually home for a couple of days. I have a honey-do list a mile long and he's finally able to start knocking some of it out.

    I found the perfect pots to sit on the lower portion of the raised bond beam, on either side of the sheer decent too. I've been looking for weeks now. I ended up spending a little more than I planned (isn't that always the way it works?), but I can't wait to get stuff in them, spilling over the wall. We've built the retaining wall behind the curved portion of the wall, and have lots of ferns for that space.

    I'll take pics tonight and post them. I'm officially off strike. ;-)

  • texasdawner
    15 years ago

    smb,

    Were in Katy. Youre off strike and Im on ;(

    A crew just showed up about an hour ago to remove the rest of the dirt they dug up four months ago. Problem is, I walked out earlier this afternoon and found a pool full of ants . . . the big flying kind. So I did a little investigating and it looks like we have an infestation. They are coming out of the cracks in the decking. . . the brand new decking *sigh* I have so had it.

    I used up the only can of spray I had and now that the guys are digging up the dirt it's just gotten way out of hand. . . big ones and little ones, thousands of them, everywhere. No wonder our pooch, Dixie, got eaten up this morning when she went out to do her business. I guess I'll be running to the store when DH gets home. Any suggestions on what to buy?

    I hear ya on the leashes too! Can't wait until its all cleaned up back there so I dont have to walk down the street in my bathrobe in the middle of the night to take her out.

    I actually came here today to find any threads on the PCC2000 cleaning system and the whisperflo skimmer pump when I got sidetracked looking at all your awesome pics!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Are you sure they're ants? Termites swarm this time of year, but of course they don't bite. They will burrow into dirt though.

  • tresw
    15 years ago

    Yeah, the winged ants are called "swarmers". Somehow all the mounds are syncronized so that they all disperse their swarmers at once which results in a huge number of them appearing suddenly. They don't pose any particular threat, but they can be a nuisance just because they're there! Around here they typically are around a few days and then disappear. Below is a link to an article about swarmers.

    Glad to see the pool is almost done! Have you been swimming yet? We've been swimming a lot lately, the water is mid-80's and just right :-)

    Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/Pests/flyant.htm

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I've only gotten in it once, can you believe it? And when I did, it was with my clothes on. Yes, I was planting, and it was *that* hot.

    My dogs on the other hand have been in it every single day. Since the fence it being installed right now, I haven't let them back there, and my Golden is driving me bananas! She just sits and stares at me.

    As for the termites... I've been finding them in my pool the past couple of evenings. One night a bunch of them were standing on a clump of Golden hair that had blown into the pool, like a little life raft. :-)

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    We finally got started planting behind the raised bond beam! Talk about a lot of work! We had to build a retaining wall behind the curved portion of the wall with Castlerock, and those things are heavy!

    I haven't planted anything along the new sundeck, but hope to start that today. We also still have four Pygmy Date Palms for behind the raised bond beam, that we have to plant. Two will flank either side of the CI Date Palm for some added privacy.

    Here is a close up of the area we planted:

    I'm super pleased with the look of the ferns. We're lucky in that we only get about 1 hour of direct sun there a day, and it's from about 5:30PM - 6:30PM. Hopefully these Kimberly Queens will thrive there.

    I looked forever, before finding these bowls for the lower portions of the bond beam. There is a really good nursery, showcased in Southern Living, in a nearby town. They're my go-to place for hard-to-find Texas plants, and they have awesome decorative items.

    The bowls look amazingly like Oklahoma Wister flagstone!

    I've planted this combo before. It'll be white in the back (Angelonia), Liriopi in the middle as a perennial, and eventually the purple Scaevola and New Gold Lantana should spill over the front. With the Blue Plumbago in the back, the color combo should look nice. In about a month, it should be totally full.

    All I'll have to do is change out the annuals each season for color.

    The fence is in. Now all we have left is the flagstone inlay and the flagstone on the steps and we're done!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Firsttimepool, when the sun is on the pool, I'll take more pictures of the water! If there's anything specific you want to see, let me know! :-)

  • stonesmama
    15 years ago

    WOW! I just love your whole project. I adore the ferns and the pots of flowers add just the perfect balance of color. As you know, I have tremendous palm tree envy. lol Thanks for sharing.

  • funinthesunincl
    15 years ago

    Your pool looks WONDERFUL!!! So inviting... We live in Clear Lake and love our pool. We have several Pygmy Date Palms around our pool and we love them. They take a lot of abuse from our boys and their friends while swimming. We also have them in large clay pots around the pool/decking and really like the look. We have had them for almost 4 years now with no worry of freeze damage---they are very hardy! They are so delicate looking but take alot of abuse---and in our case, sun! We have Tahoe Blue pebble also and love the look. I think you have attained the 'WOW' factor in your yard! Just wait to see the look on your visitor's faces! Have a great summer & ENJOY!!!

  • smbnobles
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I'm glad to hear that your Pygmy's made it through the winter, because I lost one around six years ago. It made me leery of purchasing them again, but I got a really good deal at Houston Plants and Garden Center.

    I want to put some in pots too. I think they look awesome that way!

    Sorry about the palm envy stonesmama! We do love our palms here!

    firsttimepool, I took some water pictures for you (and anyone else considering Tahoe Blue PT). They're not too exciting though! You'll have to excuse the interloper in one of them.

    Full Sun:

    Close-up of water in the sun:
    {{!gwi}}

    Close up of water in shade:
    {{!gwi}}

    And yes, even a close up 1/2 and 1/2!
    {{!gwi}}