PB left a hole for ours in gunite. Then sleeve itself went in the hole at plaster. Water sits in the sleeve all the time since it is in the water.

I would think they would have set the hole while shooting Gunite. I would ask PB about this....
We had 3 installed, but in the decking. We have salt and didn't want the pole to rust. However, my PB said to make sure when they poured the deck to be there and show them excactly where I wanted them. It was on the plans, but always gets "overlooked".....
We have a small screw in cap that goes in ours....it's threaded and easy to remove and that keeps the water out of ours, but again our sleeves are not in the water.
I would think since it's just a part of PVC pipe, you would'nt need a cover/cap if its in the water.
We LOVE our umbrella sleeves, they are a must......and used them all day yesterday!!!

So now is it too late? We REALLY wanted an umbrella sleeve in the tanning shelf and PB knew this! Also, I have photos now but don't know how to post them here?

We didn't decide the placement of our sleeves until right before plaster - a hole was drilled and the sleeves were installed during the plaster process. No problem that it hasn't been done yet! Our guys said most people want to pick where it goes once they see what the actual steps etc will look like (so you can better decide where to put chairs etc!

If the guniters missed it the PB will just have to make a hole for it to go into.

No big deal.

Ours was put in at the time of the shotcrete. However, if I was to do it over, I would have it put in the coping. Friends of ours had rocks built up at the coping to the side of the baja step and put the umbrella hole in that. Otherwise, the umbrella sits really low. You have to duck to get under it. Also, you need to take it out of the water daily. We didn't do that and it rusted and broke within a few weeks. Our friends just keep theirs in the hole year round and raise it when needed. Looks much better than ours did. Just one of the things I would've done differently.

Lisa...I am in San Diego to! Are you saying the umbrella sleeve at your friends went straight into the coping (i.e. we are doing flagstone quartzite) or did it go straight into a rock that was by the coping? I can't imagine they would be able to put it in a rock? Good point about it being too low though!

I am attaching a picture of the rocks we had built onto our coping. My friend has a flagstone coping as well, with similar rocks made. Her umbrella comes out of the rock. The rock was formed around the umbrella sleeve. Looks great!

Since the PB forgot or the Gunite crew overlooked this, I would ask for an extra one put in for no charge.
We have all 3 of ours in our decking about 3 inches away from the coping. Works great, no worries about rust and we still get lots of shade from the umbrella.

we just had ours put in; before pebblesheen. we added stone on some of the pool steps. they just drilled thru the stone/gunnite and set the sleeve; with cap. our pb discourages the sleeves because he says if it (the plastic sleeve) breaks, cracks, whatever; then you have a useless,broken piece of plastic stuck in there. anyhow, i'm still going to get one in the deck.

Lisa! Thank you so much for clarifying. I will show my PB (Mission Valley Pools, by the way...who is yours?) your picture and explain what your friend did. He already has a rock going in by the sun shelf anyhow in the drawing he did, so it sound perfect! Janetlong...that's a good idea...you mean just in the coping around the pool somewhere for some extra shade??

Our sleeves are in the deck (exposed aggregate) about 3 inches from the coping, so about 15 inches away from the pool edge. I wanted them all around the pool for extra shade, Yes. We just move the umbrella to where we want it for some shade. We put one near our swim deck/tanning ledge, one by the bench and one by the steps in the shallow end.
Just ask the guys pouring the deck if they can add a couple sleeves, show them where you want them and that's it! If they are out of the water, they will have a cap that screws into the pvc pipe to close it off so no water gets in there. Simple idea, but great!

That's ingenious Janet! Is this a big deal thing? Will they charge extra to do a few like this? We're just getting colored concrete...so is that what you mean? What is exposed aggregate by the way??

"Since the PB forgot or the Gunite crew overlooked this, I would ask for an extra one put in for no charge. "

I love the rationale.... The pool isn't finished yet, so has it completely been forgotten?

Exposed Aggregate is pea gravel...but it's in concrete....very common here in Houston. It is very easy for the guys pouring the deck. They just set a PVC pipe in the ground and pour around it. All of the pipes are the perfect size to accommodate the umbrella pole. So I guess you can say they are universal in size.
We told the PB we wanted 3 and he said No Biggie. I know they weren't in the contract, but he told me just to tell the deck guys and tell them where I wanted them and so I did......it's so easy for them and probably a minimal cost. I have read on here that some people have paid $20-40 for each one, but I assume your PB would put them in no charge since the other one was forgotten. I would just tell the deck guys and they should add them. It does work best with a concrete based decking as they just pour the cement around the pipe and that is it. I will try to take a pic for you and post it on here later today. Just remember if you place the umb. sleeve in the decking, it needs to be 3 inches from the coping....probably for strength and to protect the coping.....makes sense, but I just can't explain it.

Hope this helps....something so simple is something I could not live without....
Pics later...

I have been thinking about adding some of these, but then thought that there would be times when the sleeve would not be in the right place. Early morning or late afternoon. I was thinking a movable stand would be better, so it could be placed to give the maximum shade coverage.

Am I over thinking this or are you going to run into problems at certain times of the day when the umbrella will not shade the area you want.

Cmoses,
Every time I roll those heavy stands around, I dream of umbrella sleeves.
Loveallmykids,
Diamond Pools did our pool. It will be 4 years next month, since that photo was taken of my sons first plunge. Good Luck with your pool. Lisa

Mine was also "overlooked" initially - but no one broke a sweat when I told them about it even though shotcrete day had already come and gone.

Instead they just took a hole saw and drilled into the shotcrete and placed a PVC pipe in the hole where the umbrella/volleyball net would go. Pebbletec guys plastered around it and no problems so far.

I'd like to find a cap for it, though, so that no one busts a toe when its empty (which is most of the time). So far this summer, though, it hasn't been in the way at all.

That is the reason I added 3. I have one on each side of my pool....one by my tanning ledge, one by my bench and one by the stairs. I can't imagine having to move the base around the pool edge.
A base is nice if you want the umbrella at your table or in another area, so I did both.

janetlong, did pb provide sleeves, caps, and umbrellas? Do you remember cost?

Nosabe--The decking guys do this. They installed and had all the sleeves, caps and placed them where I wanted.
Our PB threw in the umbrella sleeves, they weren't on the contract, but I told him I wanted 2 or 3 and he said it was no problem and didnt charge us. I'm sure he wasnt going to worry about the 30-50$ it cost to put them in.

I have read on here that they cost anywhere from $20-40 per sleeve, but negotiate them.....

We had to buy the umbrella though. They have umbrella's everywhere, just make sure you don't get wood.

Nosabe, try eBay. I've seen some on there. When in doubt, check out a manufacturer of the sleeves (w/caps) over at www.poolfittings.com

Thanks for the info.