Toys came in yesterday to do alittle digging and put in some forms. Here this morning to finish up the excavation. Left the track-hoe in the back yard all night, kids thought it was the coolest thing, the guys let them get up in the drivers seat as well. Wish they had left the keys with us...I would have had a ball!
Painted outline, kinda hard to see.

Boys up on one side of the track-hoe

Some forms in place, track-hoe resting for the night. Boys thought it was like having a dinosore in the back yard. I really need to get one of these for my next toy!

man, i know you're excited about getting things rolling and i know your kids and labrador are as well!!!!!! i really do hope this crazy texas weather cooperates with you moving forward. keep the pictures coming!

Well the Holiday break put us back just a few days, but we got back rolling early Monday morning. Equipment was delivered and the excavation was finished up. It's very impressive what these guys can do with a track-hoe. Our youngest and one of the dogs thought it would be neat to walk to the bottom. Re-bar ad plumbing is happening today.

Equipment Delivered.

Overhead view of finished dig 20'x 36'

View from shallow end.

Trav and Savannah checking out the dirt.

looking great garageworksguy! looks like cold weather for the end of the week but warmer for next week. hopefully you can get something done tomorrow. no progress on ours in 2 weeks.....waiting on warmer weather to do interior. keep the pictures coming!

Yes the weather has been cold, but clear. All the re-bar is in today and plumbing and the equipment was put on he pad. re-bar was bonded as well. Tomorrow is some inspections and not sure if gunite will happen tomorrow or not. Have not seen our const. manager for the PB in a couple of days, but I would imagine at this stage he really does not have to be on site hours at a time for re-bar and excavation...if something is wrong I'm sure we are at a stage were a correction can be made fairly easy. I did check a few measurements...I'm weird that way and everything check our per the build drawing. Boy 1/2 re-bar 8"-10" OC sure adds up quick!
Will post some pic's tomorrow, was dark by the time the crew finished up today.

Boy Jones 2 weeks without work progress...hope it picks up soon for you. with the weather and ten the Holiday's I'm sue that pushed it back some. Does it have to be a certain temp to do the interior work? How many weeks out are you from completion?

that's awesome that they completed the plumbing and rebar, hopefully they can get the inspection and get prepared for the guinite. not sure what the temps have to be for interior applications but would guess it would need to be the same as guinite. my PB stated it needs to above 40 with the temp rising and a hard freeze not predicted the night the work is completed. i told him the other day that i didn't want to rush completion and certainly trusted his judgement. in regards to cleaning up, fairly certain that can be done regardless of the temps unless the workers don't want to be in that...............:)

as far as completion, not sure on that either. all that has to be done is clean up, interior, sealing stone and rock not necessarily in that order i guess. i'm thinking that all can be completed in a weeks time provided the weather cooperates.

keep the pictures coming!

In a cold Texas winter the gunite can be applied only in the morning, not in the afternoon, if the current morning temp is 35 or over. Then you cover the entire shell with a roll of some thick plastic like the 20' x 100' rolls of 6 mil. Get the black color instead of the clear if they have it.

See ya,
Kelly

Yep they are going to try to shoot it Monday, temp may be upper 40's low 50 same for the next day. Don't want to rush any portion of this project,one of the reasons we wanted to do it in the winter down months. On another note. Per code one can no longer tie the auto fill line into the sprinkler system. My PB did plumb a auto-fill line and has it coming out to the back yard faucet for hook-up. I have run sprinkler line before and can splice pvc, is it that much of a chore for me to tie this auto fill line into my sprinkler line at a later date after completion of the pool? I just finished the restore on a 66 mustang 350 so I can turn a wrench alittle.

Isn't that a 351? Hope it's a Cleveland and not a Windsor.

Scott

Sorry typo I meant GT350, now has a HP 289 with a Holly 4 barrel carb,3 Speed Auto. Next project will be all disc brakes, and maybe a nitro set up...if I can sneak it past the wife!

garageworksguy, any progress on getting the guinite done last week or this week? would love to see some pics of the progress! gonna be in the 60's all week next week. WOOHOO

1/2" Rebar and plumbing done late last week. Still a bit of ice on the deep end of the pool. Loaned the gunite guys my 70,000 btu diesle heater to get them started in the morning.

Tile & coping and electrical all went in tis week as well as 80' of retaining wall and steps that are not seen.

Close up of tile and coping

Two very muddy puppies. They are loving all the mounds of dirt and the mud, but hate sleeping in the untility room at night. Will give them both a good bath once it warms up some this next week.

WOW, that looks great! love that tile as well. Lot's of progress so keep the pics coming!

Do you know how they attached the pool coping to the underside? I have been reading up on techniques and it warns against not using some sort of material that will expand/contract between coping and gunite level...that over time the expansion/shrinkage due to heat/chemicals/etc. will make the coping pop...wondering how your crew handled this connection?

Tara

Per our PB the tile is applied with a thin-set. They put a layer on the day before they actually put the tile on. So I'm sure they use more thin-set when they are affixing the tile to the wall. As for the coping that was put on with a buff colored mortar, and a good amount of it from what I could gather. These guys that do this stone work are truly skilled guys if you ask me. That rock work has to b the hardest working crew thus far. I have been feeding them everyday that they have been here...nothing but red meat on the grill. The electrician mentioned that he has only seen customers feed the guys on two jobs in 5 years. So just a little word of advice to those in the beginning stages of their build. Alittle bit of food and drink can go along way with these stone and tile crews. While building the water feature today they used a bunch of quartz stone that I had from my other home in the waterfall and will use it on the retaining wall cap stone parts. The quartz weighs much more then the regular sandstone flag so it is a bit harder to work with. These guys with A&M Tile and coping are great, if you get them as a sub you will not be sorry.

Will post some pictures of the finished waterfall when they are done.

garageworksguy, I could not agree with you more about feeding your workers. We gave our workers lots of bottled water and sodas and provided ice for them. I honestly think they went out of their way to do a good job and some extras also. I even got a couple of them to come back and do some after hrs work on the side which worked out in for both of us...........

Waterfall/grotto area was done yesterday. The thing looks huge to me, but with the pool filled it will probably look right with the size. I wanted it big and that's what they did. It was around 4 tons as well as some quartz stone out of SE Idaho that I had them work in.

Side view of the feature, note the large rock toward the bottom right....will make a perfect adult beverage ledge!

Shot from the top looking over the large sheer slab. They placed the slab to over hang the bench area by 8" so the water sheer will fall just in front of you when sitting under the fall.

One of the retaining walls in chopped mill sap and OK Flag on the cap. Also the stairs coming from the porch.In the design the PB had them all square and straight,I had them round them out the day the forms were put in. I think with all the radius's of the pool squared off and straight steps would have driven me nuts!

Deck forms and rebar go in tomorrow and then pouring of the deck on Turs or Friday. We are about 3 weeks into the build and things seem to be going smoothly.

Oh I better quit looking at other peoples pools.... I just love your chopped Millsap. We're doing stacked flagstone...so I better close out of this thread quick before changing my mind! hahaha. I love all the different browns.

I was just curious is this the finished waterfall or do they still need to add stone????

The main part of the water feature is complete, I sure hope they aren't adding any more stone to it. It's already bigger then I thought and is about 5.5 tons as I recall We will be adding some larger boulders on the ground near coping on each side at the bottom once we landscape so the water fall flows out each side and along the pool for a few feet. They will be acid washing and cleaning the waterfall stone as well toward the end.

Do you think it needs more stone? From the top of the fall to the water line it's a 4' drop and 12' wide across.

Your pool is beautiful! We're looking at putting one in and a similar size. Do you mind sharing the cost?

Let's make this fun. Everyone take their best guess what they think the total package as listed above cost. We are doing our own landscaping(actually trying to find a Pro landscaper to barter with) PB is doing everything else listed above, which includes putting the irrigation system back in order. No fence work done as I have a 12.5' barn gate on one side of the house.

Maybe I can come up with a little prize for the closest winner.

Okay - I'll go first.. $44,000

I'm going with $53,800 considering it's similar to what we're doing and you've got the added retaining wall, rock isn't cheap and you finished out the interior.

garageworks guy, that's fantastic!!!!!!!!! love the wall and step and especially the grotto and waterfall. did you ever figure out what you were going to do with the lighting inside the grotto? keep up the great work and keep the pictures coming!!!!!!!!

Decking, grading and some left over stone work was completed yesterday. Went with the rock salt deck for the look and texture. The deck guys waited to long to throw and push in the salt into the concrete as it had already started to set up a good bit and much of the salt did not go down into the concrete to create the pockets and pits that a salt deck should have. In some areas it looks good but in large areas the concrete is just smooth like a driveway. Expressed to my PB Const. Manager that I was not pleased with the outcome of the deck and they want to send out there concrete sub to look at it...like that will be an unbiased opinion. I will also have a concrete guy come out and give me his opinion of the salt deck and the way it turned out. I do decorative concrete for a living, I am very familiar with the concept,design and process of a random patterned concrete surface. Having areas that have up to 4-6 sqft bare is not the way it should look.

garageworksguy, sorry to hear about your dilema but you can see in the pics what you are talking about. hopefully they will make it right for you and the family.....great deck and pool, love the design!!!!

Awe, I noticed first the tiny hand prints in the deck. I hope my kiddo is here when they pour and that you don't mind if I copy your idea :) Really like how you step down from your patio to the pool. At least you know water won't come into your house.

Did you ever post your cost? Looks awesome! Love the step down especially - great visual interest.

Thanks to all for the comments. The hands in the deck was fun for the boys, if you have kids or not it's always fun to make your mark in wet cement...or semi wet in our case. I had to put alot of pressure on the boys hands just to get those impressions and then 30 min later the deck crew threw the rock salt, and thus the problem with the inconsistency with the finished deck. Since all the rain came today and melted off any remaining salt and washed away any of the salt residue you can really see the deck...and it makes me sick the way it looks and feels. I have large areas where there is no pot/pit marks in the surface and in these areas the surface is very slippery. I plan to have another PB that I did some work for a few years ago that dose not build in my area come take a look at it and tell me if this is the way it's suppose to look and feel. All I can say is that it looks nothing like the sampled my PB had out back at there shop/retail store and it looks nothing like the dozen or so images I found on line. I will keep my cool though as we try to resolve this issue with our PB, we are too far along in the process to make any waves. Tearing it all up is one option, the other is no charging the deck....and then some.

Oh and to answer the other above question our pool came to $42,000 with the PB throwing in the salt version diving board. I had bids from $65K-$38K all for the exact same pool. I went with our builder due to their time in business and a few people I knew that had used them before. They were not the cheapest, actually they were about in the middle on price and then made some adjustments to get competaive, but did not change any of the design, equipment or scope of the work.

Love your pool. Unfortunate about the deck. I agree, the PB owes you something. We had a mis-communication about our waterfall and looking at it still bugs me 2 years later. FYI...a similar pool where I live would be 100K+. Amazing how different pricing is around the country.
Judy

Have taken a few pic's of the deck since the rains came through two days ago. The first three pictures are of the deck, the next couple are of the sample deck sections at the PB shop. Am I crazy or just being too picky on the issue with the deck appearance and texture? The samples look nothing like what was done on our deck. Any PB on here want to comment and tell me what might be the best way to resolve this situation with the PB with the salt decking I have?? the rest of the pool thus far looks great, but looking at this deck for the next 20 years is going to drive me crazy!!

Salt Rock Deck as it is now:

Samples of Salt Deck at PB shop

garageworksguy, sorry about your issue. i agree that it looks considerably different and feel that something should be done about it. i guess my concern would be since it doesn't have the appearance of the deck you saw at the PB's shop, is there a safety concern when wet and all of the neighbor hood kids are running around on it......i'm sure it' very stressful but hopefully the PB will do what's right......i asked above but did you get your lighting set up the way you wanted it with the grotto?

Ajones,
Yes on the light for the water feature area I am going with a spot light that will be hidden in one of the boulders off to the right that is not in place as of yet. The spa light was an option, but I think may have been over-kill with the two LED's we already have in the pool. Plus with concealing it outside and in the boulders I can manipulate the direction of the light a bit more. I plan to add landscape lighting later this summer and will also put in the fire features that will be up toward the top on each side, these will be propane fixtures that I will run together off one tank that will be concealed behind the waterfall. That will be a summer time project as well. I would like to work on it now but between doing Home/garden Shows and on going projects I am just buried at the moment....which is good need to pay for the future BBQ kitchen and outdoor ice machine if I can pull it off.

Hope your pool start up goes well. We are still a little ways out I think.

that's sounds like an excellent idea for the light that gives you some flexibility. hope you get that opportunity do your outdoor kitchen!!!! that would be awesome!!!!

BTW, the two LED's we put in our pool was the best upgrade we did by far. can't imagine not doing that now.

keep the pics coming. weather doesn't sound like it's going to cooperate for most of the day tomorrow or thursday.

keep the updated pics coming when you have time!

Sorry to hear about your decking. Hope it all works out OK for you.

During my build the first deck company my PB used botched the hand seeded aggregate. It was awful with chunks of aggregate missing everywhere. Very sloppy job. My PB stepped up and made them jackhammer it all up and we got another company in to do it right. It was a mess but well worth it for the end result.

I need to update. PB and their decking Sub came out again to evaluate the decking after all the rains we had and they concured with my findings that the salt decking did not turn out as it should have. PB offered a few options to resolve the issue. 1. Stain and seal the deck what ever color and pattern I want. 2. Spray Deck over the existing deck and do it in a couple of different pattern finishes. 3. break out all the decking and re-pour it again. Of course neither myself nor the PB wants to do the tear out. So I think we are going to go with the Spray Kool Deck and maybe do the stamped pattern in a light tan or buff color. They will also seal it and I'll have them put some shark grit in the final coat for alittle more traction. I have been very impressed with the way our PB has handled the little hiccups we have had with the build so far and I should say their has only been two....so I think we are pretty lucky in that aspect. The other was that the tanning ledge was about 8-10" too short on the depth from the coping out. The Only thing the wife wanted on the pool was the tanning ledge a certain size and after the gunite was shot and it was shorter then it was suppose to be she was not a happy camper for a few days. I actually stepped out of the way at that point and said " Dear you need to deal with the PB rep directly on this issue" The wrath of a woman has much more bite then I could ever have! :)I am happy to report that in that case as well the PB stepped up and resolved the issue in a manner that was acceptable to her and me as well. Now all we need is for the rains to hold up for a week or so and get the decking done and the pebble interior. With the weather delays and new years holiday we are going on 6 weeks out so far I think. We are getting tired of the mud and can not wait to clean the carpets in the house.

Any thought out there on Spray decking and what pattern looks and performs the best???

Thanks to all for the great comments.

I like the knock down look.

Scott

I am glad you got this worked out with your builder. The pool looks great! I think a pattern might be too busy with your flag and stone wall unless you keep the pattern sections large. A buff color with some dark brown or cola mixed look awesome.

Scott,
What is the "knock down look" guess I'm not filmilar with it.

And I like the idea of adding some dark browns mixed or worked into the design.

Ok I just Googled the Knock Down texture, I think some call it "lace" as well. That does have alot of traction to it, I have seen that pattern on alot of commercial pools I think. It looks good as well, but not sure if that is the look I would like to go with. Is the random stamped pattern too slick? We went and looked at some this past friday while it was raining and the wife went barefoot on it and did not think it felt slippery, though it was more slippery then the knock down pattern she walked on wet as well.

Just curious how the tanning ledge (too short) issue was resolved. Were they able to add the 8-10 inches?

"* Posted by nosabe:
Just curious how the tanning ledge (too short) issue was resolved. Were they able to add the 8-10 inches?"

They did tell me at one time what they could do after the fact but I don't recall what the process was. I think it was re-shooting some gunite along with using some flagstone to extend out the ledge. I'm sure it was more $$ then the PB wanted to do for it so the PB made some concessions on equipment which we felt worked out. The Tanning ledge will hold two chase chairs...but it's tight and kinda blocks the stairs with one of the chairs. I know it was only a few inches, but the wife was very clear during all meetings that she wanted the ledge a certain way and size. For her the tanning ledge was the pool....she did not really care how the rest of the pool went.

To others in the building stage be sure to get your tape measure out during the build and take measurements of those items or features that are size sensitive. If the steps are to be a certain height or width be sure to measure. We did this and I mentioned it to the PB Cost. Manager and he mentioned it to the gunite sub to shoot it out another 12", the sub failed to do this thus the shorter ledge depth. Things happen during major construction projects, even when your on top of them. The good thing is hopefully you have chosen a builder that steps up to the plate and addresses the issues and offers a way to resolve the matter that is workable for the owner.
Now to figure out what what style decking to go with....I hate trying to figure this stuff out. :)

I was curious because my ledge is 6 inches shorter than it was supposed to be. I didn't realize it until after a few days after gunite. It bugged the heck out of me, and I did point it out to the PB, but I didn't push it.
I agree with you...get your tape measure out for anything that's important to you.

Hey guy,

I'm am uncertain what the best way to contact you is but I am going to want you to do my garage floor this summer.

Here's a picture of my last toy, got out of racing about 4 years ago but still love the cars. (sorry about the poor picture, I will try to find some better ones later)

Very sweet!! Love the paint job, very old school. What size engine you have in there and is that a Turbo or blower system under the scoop?

I have never done any "actual" drag racing but have always wanted to. Most of mine was on back streets and the serv. roads out my way back in the day. Thank goodness the street racing stuff was not around when I was in HS....could have been a goner for sure. Funny thing is the cars I have had and fixed up as an adult would blow the cars away I had in HS, but I'm an old fart now and very rarely get them over the speed limit. Weird how that works. I guess it's the love of the sound and feel that really does it for me these days.

Need to paint that 66...wanna project?

Feel free to e-mail me or call and I'd be happy to take a look at your garage.

For the most part, we ran the Camaro in a 10.5(tire) OutLaw class. We had a 632 cubic in. motor and ran 300hp NOS off the line and hit another 300 once I hit second gear.

We also ran a 762ci motor without any power adds in a True Sportsman class and used the 16" slicks.

Been known to stick a small block in there when the money was right.

It was a blast but I'm glad I am out of it as it eats up a lot of money.

I have a few questions for you so I will email you.

Did get the deck issue resolved, went with the kool/spray deck and am pleased with the results and color. They are applying the Stone Scapes today in the Tahoe blue plaster and midnight blue mini's for the pebble. Progress was slowed alittle with weather issue and getting the decking issue resolved. Then we had some weeping water issues with all the rain and snow we have had...which has been out of the norm for this area of Texas. Will post pictures later this weekend, will be at the Dallas Home&Garden show all weekend so if there is some down time I will try to post pictures.

Congrats on the new pool, your almost swimming now, LOL!!!
Your pool/waterfall/retaining wall look is AWESOME.

Hopefully all this cold winter weather is now behind us.
I'm sick of it.

See ya,
Kelly

Finally have the pool about done about a week ago. Have been brushing three times a day for about a week now. Pool color came out even better then I had hoped for with mixing the two different plasters and pebble colors. The plaster co. did an awesome job, there are zero streaks or blotchy areas on the bottom or the sides that I can see. The waterfall has been twiked some and it really puts out some water and does a decent job of drowning out the hwy nosie that we sometimes have here. The light so far are the best part for the kids, they love watching them switch. Both boys could not resist and jumped in on Saturday when it was in the 70's..a quick in and out. I told them they were nuts, but they had to be the first in the pool. The dog on the other hand I can't keep out on the warmer days. She thinks the cleaner is possessed and follows it around the pool running along the coping. Will post a better picture when the sun is full and the falls are on.