Oh boy. Get a plan of action before proceeding. That doesn't look deep either. Hopefully, it's just a pocket or it's source is traceable and correctable. We've seen what water can do before.

Scott

Water is at about 3 feet. This is in the shallow end of the pool on the side of my yard that is closest to lots that are higher up the slope. The deep end which is dug out deeper than 3 feet has no water. PB believes it's sprinkler excess. He's going to over-dig a bit and put some gravel on the bottom. The pool will also have hydro-static valves. Anything else that should be done?

IF the water doesn't sbside, I would suggest a bedding the entire pool with a layer of gravel and a dry well be installed. This way, you can pump the water from under the shell when the time comes to empty it for services like new plaster, tile, coping, acid washing, etc...

Scott

Exciting! Keep posting pics. :D

The dig has been completed! They finished just as it was getting dark so no pictures until later. They busted their rumps and was amazed that they only nicked the bottom corner of the stucco in the third picture above after hundreds of runs through our tiny side entrance.

The water continues to leach through the soil and is traveling from the shallow end and pooling in the deep end. So basically the entire bottom surface is a muddy mess. Doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon though after our very wet winter it may subside as we enter the dry season. I find it hard to believe the water is due to sprinkler excess.

The suggestion of a dry well is a good one. I know the gravel is going to be going in.

PB is now waiting on Paramount for in-floor design to proceed with plumbing. Should be starting that on Monday. Don't envy those guys dealing with that mud while putting in the in-floor.

txmomoftwo - It is very exciting but I woke up this morning saying to my self "What have we done??" My 6 year old was standing next to the gigantic hole in our back yard and said to me "We're definitely getting a pool." :)

Here are a few pics. This one shows the water in the shallow end and pooling in the deep end.

Interesting layers. These lots were terraced by the home builder so a lot of this is just fill.

Not much to report this week. PB didn't order plumbing supplies till after dig was complete because we didn't want to pay for the PV3 in floor cleaner if the dig was going to cost a lot of money. Luckily the dig went well so the PV3 in floor is going in. Plumbing supplies should be here this week and rough plumb should begin on Tuesday I hope.

We've had a lot of rain this week in Northern California which is unusual so PB applied a thin coat of gunnite to hold things in place.

Here are the PV3 plans. Thanks to trhought I'll be able to make sure it's installed properly.

mudn...Congratulations! I like your design.

With Paramount print in hand, you can now double check the work as it happens. There will likely be some changes that happen over the course of the build that will effect the Paramount design. Stay with it every step of the way and your dilegence will be rewarded with a cleaner that works as designed and will effortlessly keep your pool clean.

Congrats!

Rough plumbing has been ongoing the last 2 days. They still have to finish the spa and water features after rebar gets done tomorrow.

Skimmer and auto-fill:

Equipment pad:

Paramount PV3 in-floor debris canister:

Lots of PVC:

Few more pictures of completed rough plumbing and rebar. Inspection today and gunite tomorrow if we're lucky.

Is it just me or could they have done a better job here by digging a wider trench?

My eagle eye spies a leak beneath the ring on the 6 port valve... pressure dropped from 24 you see here to 16 this morning. Ring actually was leaking in 2 different spots.

Gunite is complete! Yea!

Nice design mudn! What is the approximate size of the backyard and the pool? From what I can see from the photos, it looks like a very nicely scaled pool/spa relative to the size of the backyard.

Not sure of the yard size... think it's about 100x80 or so? Pool is around 600sf.

Finally have made a little progress. PB owner has been out due to a death in his family so my PB has been covering for him, slowing everything down. Things are back on track though the 100+ degree heat in our area is going to delay our deck pour by a few days. They should pour on Friday.

Kiddos.
{{!gwi}}

Portion of the deck and the waterline tile. The spa will be getting glass tile around the outside.

Overview of the deck layout.

Tile is all finished and deck jets have been installed (though 1 needs to be moved). We should pour the decking next week if it isn't too hot.

LOVE the mosaic tile on the side of the hot tub. Gonna have to add a picture of that to my "Pool Wishlist" Folder.

The tile installers did an amazing job. The glass tile looks different depending on which direction you are looking at it and the sun angle. Changes all the time.

Question on grout for tile experts. We used a charcoal sanded grout. Tile installer told us this will probably fade over time and wasn't a fan of sealing. Anybody have any experience with a good sealer that will help prevent fading?

To be honest, I would have loved travertine or pavers for the spa, coping, and decking but I was worried about the long term effects of salt and my DW fell in love with these glass tiles, considers the salt a must for her and the kid's skin, and didn't care for travertine/rocks or pavers. You see who won in the end. :) She calls the glass tiles the pool's jewels and let me tell you, they cost enough to be considered jewels!

I like the look of the glass tiles! Are those Oceanside, Lightstream, or something else? I got a price list from Lightstream, and they are spendy. I was looking to add 2" diamonds to the shelf and steps.

Thanks! The tile is a custom mix from Oceanside that my DW and the designer put together.

Mudn,

Pool looks great. Who did you go with?

typea: We chose Wells Pools, a local company here in the Sacramento area. So far they and their subs have done a great job and have been very attentive to our questions/concerns.

Wow and I thought we talked to all of them in the area. We went to the home show and there were a bunch. In the end we also chose to go with one of the locally owned and operated companies. The smaller companies seemed like they were more willing to work around our schedule and coordinate with our GC who is building the outdoor addition onto the house.

We went with McCauley Pool & Spa. So far they have been great and their references talked about them like they really knew them. I can't wait until I get to your stage of construction.

Overflow line is nice for when it rains you don't have to pump out the water. It's just a piece of pipe noche in the beam and under the deck to drain. get a little extra tile for repairs down the road also I see a little water weeping through the gunite from up the hill still ,pool looks good.

Hi neighbor- ;-)
Got your note to look on this link...from your other posts.
Looks like you might be swimming soon. Looks really good. I was just curious, did your PB do the nice design art, on your other posts --or did you use someone from this forum?

Decking is complete. Looks really good! We went with a pretty basic salt finish since that's what our existing concrete has and a brushed bullnosed coping with a darker color. I'll post pictures tonight.

plasterman2000 - We do have extra tile that we're saving. We also have more 1x1 that is going on the raised seating area and some 2x2's to go on the steps when the Wet Edge Primera goes in next week.

hotinsac - PB used somebody else to do the pool studio renderings but the design of the pool itself was done by the PB

Here's a few pictures of the decking:

Equipment has been installed. Plaster on Friday it looks like. Yahoo!

Plaster was done today. We installed Wet Edge Primera black kona. Can't really see the rocks yet until they polish tomorrow.

Cool photos--looks like it's coming along nicely!

Are the cobalt diamonds in the steps from Oceanside as well? How much were they if you don't mind me asking? I've been looking for 2" cobalt diamonds for my steps as well.

Also, what's the height on your large shelf? We speced ours at 12" with two bubblers, but at least one PB tried to convince me to make it the second step at 18".

Yes, those are also Oceanside. They are cobalt iridescent. Not sure of the cost as it was lumped in the whole tile bill.

The large shelf is 12". I'm worried it's too shallow and won't get used much... we'll see. We have a friend with a 18" we swam in after our pool was gunite'ed and it seemed like a more useful depth to just hang out in. I guess it depends on how it's going to be used.

They are polishing our Primera right now, man is it loud! Only had 2 guys show up. I heard that from 3-6 would show up. So these 2 poor guys will be here at least 10 hours from what they told me.

It's looking good though. Spa is done and full of water. Unfortunaley the spa spillover spills onto the glass tile instead of the pool so will probably need that fixed.

Pool is filled, only took 12 hours with 3 hoses.

Today I did lots of brushing, finished replacing some boards on my deck, and went for a short swim! PB came out to start the pump and filter. Tonight I figured out how to turn on the Intellibrites; they look really cool!

Here are a few pictures. Of course this will clear up as the dust gets filtered out and chemicals are added.

You'll see some abalone in the Primera. My wife asked to have that added and I had no idea! Looks great.

Looks great already--congrats! Does the additional abalone shell make it look "sparklier" than the sample? I have the Blue Pacific Coast sample, and there seems to be some abalone shells in it already?

Thanks!

No abalone in primera as far as I know. It definitely makes it "sparklier" as you can see in the pictures.

Hmmm. I saw two different samples of the Blue Pacific Coast Primera (I kept one of the samples), and while not numerous, there are bits of sparkly abalone in it. Maybe it is used sparingly in some Primera colors--I'll ask my PB.

Now that the pool is filled, how deep is the water on that 12" shelf? Do the bubblers work well on the shelf?

rice_rocket, those are for the in-floor cleaner, not bubblers.

Scott

Water is about 9" deep. Probably wish we went 18" or so.

Scott is right, 2 are for the in-floor cleaner and 3rd is for an umbrella. We decided to go for deck jets instead of bubblers. In-floor cleaner heads won't be installed for awhile yet to make sure all the debris is out of those pipes and to give the plaster more cure time.

Great setup. really like your coping and tile. The shape of the pool seems to fit your yard great.

OK mudn--here's what I dug up on the Primera Stone finish: A crushed blend of Mother of Pearl and Abalone shells from the islands of the South Pacific are used to enhance Primera Stone pool finishes with a shimmering sparkle.

So I think your PB probably put in extra abalone shells for extra sparkle.

I'm second-guessing the 12" shelf a little. My thought was that the bubblers will work better and it would also basically be deep enough to lay on chaises or sit in low chairs but not get soaked. Hmmm.

As for the glass diamonds on the steps, did they tape those up before they polished/buffed the Primera finish? I was wondering if the diamond-sander they use would scratch the glass tiles.

I forgot that this pool has in-floor cleaning system. I was considering it for my pool, but in my area, blowing fine dust is more of a problem than sand. So my PB advised against it since such a system only stirs up the dust and clouds the water. Although he said that it could be somewhat useful on the shelves or benches. I opted not to do them at all since it's too much money just to put in the for the benches. He did say they work great when properly designed and installed in the right environment.

Mudn-

Not sure if you check back here or not-

I'm looking to do a remodel in the Sacramento area, could you tell me the name of the sub that did the primera stone finish?

Was the sub easy to work with, do good job? it looks great-

Thanks Kevin

I find myself coming back here just about every day. I should have choosen pool construction as my career...

Burkett's Pool Plastering did our plaster. We are very happy with the final product. We had to have some spots re-polished which they did with no complaints or cost to us of course but otherwise they did an excellent job.

Here is a link that might be useful: Burkett's Pool Plastering

On a chance you will see this, I am curious now that it is 9 years later how the Primera Stone finish is holding up. Also sure there are others in the same boat who would be interested in hearing about any durability or lack of durability concerns.

I have a pool project in MD and the PB is pushing us towards Luna Quartz and says from his experience the product is much more durable than the other options(the shorter warranty time made me question that statement in my head but what do I know). We also prefer the black bottom pools (Madagascar for the luna quartz) and am worried about the possible patchiness with the dark color in the quartz line which is a known issue with the darker colors(also was told was present in PS darker colors as well to a lesser exttent so curious if you noticed any issues).

I started researching other options and primera stone sounded like maybe a better option for us but not sure about shelling out the extra money. I have requested a quote from the PB on both LQ Madagascar and the PS Black Bottom options. Your answer could sway us one way or the other.