DVC Jen and DVC Ian's gunite pool being built (update10-22 Landscaping!!!)

[DVC Jen]

After enjoying watchingluvflorida's pool being built I decided to start a new thread on our pool.

We have done everything we can so far. Now we are waiting on the permits to come through. Tomorrow the two large trees in our backyard have to come down. A landscaper is coming by tomorrow afternoon to cut them down. We are really sad about this, but it can't be avoided. Our yard is pretty small by most standards and there is just no way to work around them. On the flip side.. we talked to a landscaper this afternoon and he took the plans for the pool, our ideas and is coming up with a landscape design which we should have in a few days.

We are hoping the excavation begins on Friday, but we aren't holding our breath.

Here are the first and second design drawings from our pool designer.

We fell in love with this design. We just wanted the pool to be a bit larger. The pool has a waterfall/grotto area on the upper left hand side as you are looking at it. The spa/jacuzzi is ending up being fiberglass, but made to look as if it was built right along with the pool. We do not have a gas line to our house and our pool company said if we tried to heat it with a regular electric heater it would cost a fortune, heat slowly and the equipment wouldn't last very long. So it was either go with a totally seperate system and design it to look like it is all one, or have a huge propane tank in our small yard. WE are going with the fiberglass seperate system.

This is the second design that is a bit larger and includes a "jumping rock", and two "bubblers" that were added to the tanning ledge. The pool will end up being 31x19 when it is finished and have a very natural feel to it. Half of the coping will actually be rock as well as having 2 boulders and rock all around the spa with a "dry waterfall" look to tie the spa in with the pool.

Hopefully I can update again tomorrow or Tuesday with pics of our two trees coming down.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Looks like it will be great, very nice. Will there be MouseHouse Radio piped in??

 

[DVC Jen]

Looks like it will be great, very nice. Will there be MouseHouse Radio piped in??

ooohhhhhh good idea.

 

[DVC Jen]

It was soo sad. I came home from work today to find both of our trees cut down to stumps. We were expecting them to come around 3pm, but when my DH got home at 2:20pm they had already been there and were gone. We were hoping to get pictures of them in action.

We did however get a picture of the larger of the two trees.. the maple we planted when we first moved in before it was cut down.

Before

After

Next someone is supposed to come out and mark the entire backyard so the excavator knows exactly where to dig.. then it's excavation time.

 

[DVC Jen]

Today we tackled picking out our rocks, coping, tile, boulders and jump rock. We were sent to the stone yard. We got there and the guy that was supposed to help us didn't know what the he was doing. He was supposed to know what we needed and how much. He didn't. When I told him I did not want anything brown or rust colored he looked at me like I had 4 heads. Well just about all he had was brown or this baby doo gray with rust mixed in it. I did see some coping stone that I fell in love with. As soon as he realized what I wanted he started pulling attitude. He said it was an upgrade and he didn't even think he could get any. Then he kept pointing me back in the direction of the stuff I didn't like. Finally he pointed to another stack that looked just like all the stuff he had just shown me and asked if I like it. I looked at him and said, "No! I hate it!" By then I was in tears and ready to call the whole thing off. There was no way I was going to settle for something I wouldn't like.

Ian called Sue, our designer and she sent us to another place. It was better but still not really what I wanted. So then she told us to meet her in Frisco. We got on the freeway and drove an hour to Frisco. OMG What a difference. This had to be the cream of the crop as far as stone yards go. Within minutes I had seen EXACTLY what I wanted.

Then we chose the tile and Sue took us by a pool that had a "black sand" finish to the plaster. It was close to what I had envisioned but not exactly. I really wanted a really dark blue color for the pool plaster, but she told me it would "mottle" or etch over time and it was also a several thousand dollar upgrade... just something they really don't recommend doing. So the pool water will look lighter than what I had orginally planned but with the coping and tile being so dark going lighter with the plaster color is probably the best idea.

She also talked to us about the decking and having it seeded with these little stones. The more I thought about it the more I realized I am just not going to like that. SO..... now we need to find out what other options are available to us in the same price range.

Here are the pics from this afternoon...

This one is a wall build with the stones that will make up our waterfall/grotto area as well as surround the spa.

This is the stone coping rock (outlines the pool)

The Jump Rock (mottled gray/black rock. This will extend out into the pool instead of having a diving board. It isn't meant for diving, just for jumping off of.

Boulders to be used as accent

Tile (at the pool waterline)

This is the coping and tile together. The tile looks more blue in this pic than it does in person.

That is it for now. The excavating should start on Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[m&m's mom]

Sounds great.
We are looking for some rock etc. for some landscapng we are going to do. What was the name of the place you liked in Frisco?
Looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

[DVC Jen]

Sounds great.
We are looking for some rock etc. for some landscapng we are going to do. What was the name of the place you liked in Frisco?
Looking forward to seeing the progress.

The stone yard was Custom Stone Supply and it was off Main Street in Frisco.

 

[DVC Jen]

It has seemed to take FOREVER, but they finally started on the actual construction and boy are they flying.

Here are the latest pics.

Here are pics of the dig from Tuesday and Wednesday

Removing the fence to make room for the equipment

Holy moolley that was close!

I snuck home when my class was in music to make sure they were doing their job. They had left the day before because they started the dig and did NOT have someplace to put the dirt.. AND the excavator had left his cell charger at home so he left to go find another one.

The completed pool hole.

A closer look from the deep end.

 

[DVC Jen]

Here are some more pics from today. They did ALOT of work today. The steel rebar was put in, the plumbing and electrical work was started and some of the filtration equipment (skimmers) were put in place. Tomorrow the inspector comes and the designer said something about the gunite MAY be going in tomorrow as well after the inspector gives the all clear.

completed hole with the steel, some plumbing and electric

skimmer area looking towards where the waterfall/grotto will be. There is a seating "bench" beginning to take shape that will be where we can sit under the waterfall.

this is looking at the shallow end. On the right hand side you can see the light that was put out for the inspector. The square area behind it is the pad for the spa.

that's it so far.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Wow, that is really some progress there. You guys will be swimming in not time!!!! :coll1: Looking very nice. Those rock ideas are pretty neat too. Thanks for the updates.

 

[Mermaid02]

Really cool!!

 

[luvflorida]

Ha! This brings back memories! They seem to be going very fast on getting everything in. How deep will the pool be? At least it looks like you'll save on fencing since your yard is already fenced in. Fencing is a big expense!

We are enjoying our pool a lot! I like to go out, put on some Jimmy Buffett songs, and just sit beside the pool with a good book. It won't be long now before we have to close it up.

 

[DVC Jen]

Ha! This brings back memories! They seem to be going very fast on getting everything in. How deep will the pool be? At least it looks like you'll save on fencing since your yard is already fenced in. Fencing is a big expense!

We are enjoying our pool a lot! I like to go out, put on some Jimmy Buffett songs, and just sit beside the pool with a good book. It won't be long now before we have to close it up.

It only a "play pool" The shallowest end is 3.6 ft deep and the deepest part by the tanning ledge and also right by the jump rock will be 5ft.

Luckily we don't officially HAVE to close our pool. I am hoping for one of those really warm Texas falls ...the kind where we run the air conditioning through November. I really want to have some time to enjoy the pool too. At least we will have the hot tub.

How did the brushing go with your pool? Was it as much of a pain as it sounds?

 

[palmtreegirl]

Very nice, love the stone you've picked out!

 

[Poohnatic]

Very cool!

Suzanne

 

[Spoisal]

How did the brushing go with your pool? Was it as much of a pain as it sounds?

DVC Jen & LuvFlorida - I would like to know about the brushing also. It will probably be about 2 weeks before our pool is filled & it is going to be COLD here! Do you have to be IN the pool to brush it? Are you allowed to crank up your pool heater right away - or is there a waiting period for that? Anyone know???

 

[luvflorida]

How did the brushing go with your pool? Was it as much of a pain as it sounds?

The brushing isn't too bad. For the first two weeks I had to brush it twice a day. For the next three weeks I only have to do once a day. Then the winterizing crew will be out to shut everything down and close up the pool.

The brush is on the end of a long pole, (the same one that the skimmer net attaches to), and I just walk around the edge of the entire pool making sure to get every area. I sort of follow the lines in the concerete decking so I know if an area has been done or not. I start at the tile, brush that, then brush down the sides of the pool and onto the bottom. The skimmer is turned off first so that everything is directed toward the two bottom main drains. Each brushing usually takes about twenty minutes.

The thing I hate the most is opening the top to the skimmer to see what got sucked into the basket each night. The first week it was just a few leaves, but then after one rainy night, I opened the skimmer, reached down to take out the basket, and jumped back about ten feet. There were two frogs and a small snake swimming around in there! Now I'm very cautious when I open that top. I use a hanger, (idea from another poster here), and hook the basket with it. Most mornings there isn't anything but a few twigs in the basket, but every now and then I come across a frog or two.

I'm surprised at how clean the pool and the water has stayed. We haven't even had to vacuum it yet.

I'm still learnig the chemical side of things and I'd still rather have a good-looking pool boy to do all the pool chores and bring me lunch poolside!

 

[vettechick99]

Wow, your pool is going to be awesome!

 

[DVC Jen]

The brushing isn't too bad. For the first two weeks I had to brush it twice a day. For the next three weeks I only have to do once a day. Then the winterizing crew will be out to shut everything down and close up the pool.

The brush is on the end of a long pole, (the same one that the skimmer net attaches to), and I just walk around the edge of the entire pool making sure to get every area. I sort of follow the lines in the concerete decking so I know if an area has been done or not. I start at the tile, brush that, then brush down the sides of the pool and onto the bottom. The skimmer is turned off first so that everything is directed toward the two bottom main drains. Each brushing usually takes about twenty minutes.

The thing I hate the most is opening the top to the skimmer to see what got sucked into the basket each night. The first week it was just a few leaves, but then after one rainy night, I opened the skimmer, reached down to take out the basket, and jumped back about ten feet. There were two frogs and a small snake swimming around in there! Now I'm very cautious when I open that top. I use a hanger, (idea from another poster here), and hook the basket with it. Most mornings there isn't anything but a few twigs in the basket, but every now and then I come across a frog or two.

I'm surprised at how clean the pool and the water has stayed. We haven't even had to vacuum it yet.

I'm still learnig the chemical side of things and I'd still rather have a good-looking pool boy to do all the pool chores and bring me lunch poolside!

I couldn't remember is your pool chlorine or salt? Ours will be salt. Our pool builder said they will brush it for us once a day for the first week so we only have to do it once a day. I can't remember how long after that they said we have to continue brushing.

You have scared me good with your frog and snake story. I think cleaning the skimmer just went to DH.

 

[DVC Jen]

Wow, your pool is going to be awesome!

Thanks I hope so.. we have had quite a few aggrivations. The pool builder does EXCELLANT work, that we know, but they are kinda flighty at times and that is hard for anal me to deal with.


Today is our first inspection. Everyone cross your fingers. I want it done NOW!