FILL 'ER UP!

After 56 days of construction, it's time to fill 'er up!

They started filling it at 3:30 pm Wed. July 25.

The above picture was taken at 5:30 pm

7:15 p.m.


9:00 a.m. Thursday morning, still about a foot from the tile line.

Still at 9:00 a.m., view from above.

Micah and Leah relaxing in the new chairs.

3:00 pm Thursday, and it's just about full!

I guess it needs to be about half way up the tile (flagstone) line.

(The shadow in the pool is from a palm tree.)

July 25 - Plaster!

Today they plastered the pool! Hooray!

It took 6 or 7 guys about 4 hours to do it all.

It was neat watching it shoot out of the hose.

Here they are filling in around the mosaics.

Leah and Micah loved watching the process.

Here's a good view from upstairs.

They did a nice job of getting it smooth.

This is what it looks like right now. The color is white plaster with blue & green 3M Quartz mixed in. I can't wait to see what it looks like with water in it. Speaking of which, they left the hose in it when they left! It should be full by tomorrow (thurs) morning.

July 19 - Concrete decking poured

Not much happened to the pool while we were on vacation, but a lot has happened in the last week! The concrete decking was poured...

The color is called San Diego Buff. It dried much lighter than what it looks like here.

Above is the last picture I took.

Coping is Complete

They finally finished the coping and it looks great. They also added the two jump rocks in the deep end. They did all the electrical wiring yesterday too and hooked up the keypad inside our sliding glass door, which will control the spa, pool, heater, etc.

Not a lot has changed visually though, so I'll just post some pictures to show you where we're at in the process. Our concrete guy is coming tomorrow to put in drains and start laying out the forms for the deck. We also have a fence guy getting us a quote on replacing the back fence and gates. After that is all done it's just the final inspection and then they do the plaster! And it's not even July yet! Remember, they started this project June 1!

These are the jump rocks right after they were cemented in.

The mortar is still wet around the edges. The picture doesn't do the color justice though.

Close-up of the spill-over of the spa. The kids will love playing in this.

A view from the other side of the yard.

The fun mosaics the girls and I ordered to go on the baja shelf (big step).

Close-up of the flagstone coping on the face of the spa.

Coping Continues

The guys doing the coping are great. They've done such a good job. They are quite skilled at breaking/sawing the flagstone into the best shape and fitting it all together to form a great look. It's hard work. They were even here today, Saturday, working on it.

You can see here that they finished the top of the spa and have started on the front face of it. I love the look of it.

Flagstone Coping

This is earlier in the morning as they first cut and placed it.

This is when it's wet.

Close up of it wet.


Here it is starting to dry again.

This is my favorite shot :-). This is Trevor alongside the coping after it has dried.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I heard a saw buzzing at 8:00 am this morning, my first day to sleep in since school has finished :-). No worries though, I was so excited to see that they had started cutting and laying out the flagstone coping, that I didn't care!

I'm so excited about this. The flagstone quartzite is beautiful. It's full of different oranges, browns and greys and it sparkles in the sunlight. Marc hosed it down when he got home, and after he washed away a lot of the saw dust, we got to see the real color. It looks a lot darker when it's wet and then it dries to various different shades. I love it! Now we can decide what color we want the concrete decking to be.

I assume that tomorrow they will finishing laying it out and then install it with grout/mortar (?) We are also using it along the waterline, so maybe we'll get to see some of that tomorrow. I imagine it will take most of this week to finish this project, including the front of the spa.

Overall, though, I'm surprised at how fast this project is moving along!

Next Step

The next step is the coping around the edge of the pool. We chose a flagstone quartzite that can be used along the water line too (instead of tile). We couldn't use regular AZ flagstone because of our saltwater system. Here is a picture of the sample board with the one we chose. I'll post more pictures when they begin putting it in, hopefully this week!

Wow, Shotcrete!

The pictures really say it all! It's starting to look like a real pool :-). They started the shotcrete around 1 and finished about 5:30. It was fun to watch them spray it in and form the benches and spa. Let me know what you think. Just click on the comments button below.

Wed June 13

Just in case anyone is actually reading this...No I'm not ignoring you :-) The truth is that not too much has happened the past few days. They did get all of the plumbing in, but that doesn't make for terribly exciting pictures, so I haven't taken any.

The good news is that we passed the first City inspection today, so they are going to shoot the gunnite (Shotcrete) at noon tomorrow! Now THAT is exciting! Unfortunately, I'm not going to be here for it. I have a tennis match down in Del Mar in the morning and then I'm heading to the main office of the pool company to pick out the coping (flagstone) and tile. Wish me luck! I'll post some pictures tomorrow!

Feel free to post a comment to any of my posts, just click on "comments." At least that way I'll know *someone* is actually reading :-)

p.s. Happy Birthday Keslie!!

Thursday...they are adding the steel. It's pretty cool to watch.

Wed....above is a long-shot pic. The top raised part closest will be the spa.

Updates

Tuesday, the hole is dug! See Sarah and her friend Claire in the "deep end." It will be 6 ft deep when the pool is finished, but looks much deeper right now without all the steel, plaster, etc.

The picture on top is Sarah and Leah with all their neighborhood friends! :-)

Updates

Monday they actually started digging the hole. Here's a couple more pictures.

Check out one of the few big rocks they dug out!

Updates

Sorry I haven't posted in the last few days, I've had company in town (Hi Mom, Dad and Auntie!) I've been taking pictures, but I just haven't had time to upload them. So here goes...

Above is the bobcat removing our old concrete patio on Friday.

Day of the Dig!

We decided on our pool company, signed the contract, and they are here today to start digging! Boy, that was fast. Actually, they're doing more demolition of our backyard than digging at this moment, but we're getting there.

They spraypainted the layout of the pool and spa this morning after consulting the paperwork they had, but I was not happy with the layout at all. I called Marc to come home and talk with the site supervisor to get it the way we wanted it. So, after about 20 minutes, and a couple of cans of pink spray paint, I believe we have the outline of the pool and spa we want.

Above is our yard before they started digging. I'll post a couple more once they actually start digging :-)

Starting our Pool

Well, here we go! We've decided to bite the bullet and build a pool. Crazy you say? Perhaps. I've heard many horror stories about pool builders, and frankly, I'm dreading the whole process. However, my children are at the perfect age to enjoy a pool, and Marc and I have decided the time is right to dive right in :-). (Okay, I promise right now to limit the pool metaphors.)

And just for the fun of it, I've decided to take you all along on this little trip. Think of the memories we'll make together! From start to finish, for better or for worse, I plan on documenting every stage of the process.

In fact, I thought this would be a good way to hold my pool builder accountable too. (Are you reading this Chad? Steve?) Actually, I *think* they are the "chosen ones" to build my pool, but I'll know for sure after reviewing the contract on Wednesday.

We've already interviewed six companies and received six very different bids on the project. We have not chosen the one that is the lowest price, nor the most expensive one either. Price is an obvious issue, as is reliability and quality, but trust and compatibility are important to me too. So I think we've chosen a company that can build a great pool, and that I trust to be honest in their dealings. So, we'll see...