Post-mortem

We were so busy with the pool fun, that I did not have time to post any more comments. It must be a good sign? Well, indeed it is. The pool was ready for swimming in July 25th. Right after we started to work on planting our backyard. It took some time for the landscape crew to prepare the soil. Then we went to the nursery and picked some plants. By early September everything was planted beautifully and we started to have pool parties. 

The whole project would not be real, however, if there were not at least one "but". Our "but" is that even though everything seems to be great, our final permit has not been received. Why? Apparently there was a new regulation introduced by our city that the pool builder needs to provide a receipt to the city proving that all the soil was dumped into a special designated place. If there is no such receipt, then the city will issue a $1000 fine to the company. I suppose nobody wants to lose this money, and so our pool builder seems to be stalling time and dragging things. Will they find a way out? I don't know, but our patience is coming to an end, and at some point we will need to contact the city with a request to investigate what is going on... I still hope to avoid this, because the pool company guys were all great to work with.

I will take pictures of the end result and post them some time soon to put a period at the end of the story.

First spillover

Yesterday the pump was turned on to start water filtering. This includes a wonderful spillover of water coming from Jaccuzi down into the pool. The acidifcation process that took place earlier made the pool dark blue, and the water looks gorgeous. The pool manager already started to alcaline the water, and mentioned that we should be able to have our first swim this weekend. So excited!

Pool and Jacuzzi are filled with water. Concrete curing process is taking place

Yesterday, July 13th, Mike, the pool manager, came to put acid into the water. He showed to us how to brush the pool 3 times a day for 2 weeks from now on. Philippe is doing this happily, though hardly staying away from jumping into the water to swim.
Next step: arbor to be built starting from Friday. After that we will move to concrete sealing and landscaping.
We have already ordered a barbecue machine from Internet. Waiting for the shipment.

The pool is full of water!

It took 30 hours to fill the pool with water. Next hour and a half - jacuzzi time. After that we will start the acidification process to reveal the quartz colors.

The pool is filling with water!

And finally: the pool has been plastered and is now filling with water! The plaster crew arrived around 11am and worked for 4 hours. It was an interesting process of shooting blew "cement" and leveling it while walking in special boots. Now our pool looks very blue. This, however, will change through the acid process that will take place once the pool is filled in. Apparently the blue mass already contains the mosaic of navy and white sparkles which will be revealed in several days.
Today Rocco, the contractor building the arbor, also came and took measurements. We should have the arbor built over the weekend.

Mike, the pool manager, came to check the project condition. We agreed that the pavers which got misplaced by the bobcat would be fixed up this or next week. We did not even need to worry about that since this item was included into the contract.
So the bottom line is: we will need to work on the water condition for maximum of 2 weeks, and then - swimming time!!! :)

Ready for the last phase

On June 30th the baby fence was re-installed. This time it was the right fence, but a couple of noticeable spots on the concrete got damaged. Oh well... We did talk about this to the fence company owner and she said they were willing to come and fix. 

The pre-plaster inspection took place the day after. When the inspector came into the backyard, he was preoccupied checking the alarms, because apparently he did not notice our fence. We were pleased by the fact that the fence does not stand out from the whole picture that much.

During the past week our jacuzzi walls were also fixed up by the pool company. Looks like everything is ready for the plaster scheduled for July 11th.

Looks like nothing can be done well from the first time...

Today we had a baby fence installed. The man was very nice! He drilled the wholes, suggested to us about the gate opening, and then put the fence in. And what do you think? The fence was not the one that we ordered. So he took it all out. The company owner called us and apologized. Our fence will now be installed next week. Luckily, for us it is not a biggy, because we would not plaster for another couple of weeks anyway. But still... Could something be done correctly from the first time?

No pool fun till July 25th :(

Today wave discussed the schedule with the pool manager, and apparently there is no way we can dive into our pool before July 25th. It is because of our vacation in between and a need to brush the pull for 2 weeks once it is plastered to have all chemical reactions completed. I want to cry!!!!!!!!!! But this will not help. So we are calming ourselves down trying to focus on many future years of pool fun.

Concrete is fixed. Hopefully we can move further.

On Wed, June 15th, concrete crew came to remove the damaged section of the concrete. Yes, they did try to fix the stains by scraping them off, but the result looked ugly, and yes they did try to talk us out of removing the whole section claiming that it was not fair, but we were firm that it was not fair for us to have to go through this fixing process when our patio is not done in a single pour to ensure color and stamp consistency. I am very glad that this arguing did not last for too long and they agreed to do everything to meet our expectations.

    

On Wed, June 16th, the crew came to re-pour. We are afraid to jinx it, but so far everything looks very good. We will water the fresh section for one week and then the result should become obvious. We already have the baby fence installation scheduled for the next Wednesday. Pool plastering should come right after. And then in 2 weeks the pool should be ready to swim in! Cannot wait, because the weather is getting really hot already.

It has been a long time! But not without progress

It has been a long time since I put the last update on May 2nd. Both parents of mine and my husband have been visiting, so I was busy with the family and simply did not have time for the blog. Today is June 7th and I think I need to update my blog since it is not fair for its readers to think that no progress has been made.  

The pool project has been moving without significant delays.

What has been done till now is:

1. All masonry work completed.

2. Electric and gas inspection passed.

3. Patio concrete poured.

We are happy with the pool so far. John has been great without a single doubt since the beginning. He even was coming and watering our concrete 3 times a day for the whole week while we were out on vacation. Who could imagine such generosity at all? Recently we have finally chosen the color of the inside pool surface. It will not be white! The main reasons for us going with the Quartz rather than plaster are: double life time (30 years vs 15) and also we assume that darker color should attract more heat. The color cannot be too dark, though, because it gets mirror effect and becomes too bright for the eyes. The color that we have picked is called Aruba.
We have already met with the owner of the company that will be installing the safety fence for us. We will take dark brown fence.

As for the concrete, overall things look great, including the color and the stamp, but two things worry us. First of all, once the release has been pressure-washed, two weird stains occurred on the surface. Concrete company owner promised he would take care of it. He believes another session of pressure-washing plus a sealer should remove the problem. If not, then he will redo the parts. Frankly speaking, we do not think any type of external work will help, so we are getting ready for a part of the concrete to be removed and re-poured. We will want the whole concrete section to be replaced, and I suppose the contractor will not like it. But we believe we are more than reasonable in our expectations and will demand what we deserve. John says he will support us. So does the fencing company owner who says that fence should not be put it until concrete is all fixed. Second, the shape of the path which was supposed to be round is not actually round. When the boards had been put in place to mark the shape, we did notice that it was not quite round, but the concrete company manager assured us this would later be adjusted by hand. We believed him, but now it is obvious that this was supposed to be addressed on the shaping boards level. The owner, however, insists that he will fix this by hand. Well, we shall see.
John keeps ensuring that everything will be done to our satisfaction, and we believe him, because so far he has kept his word every time he gave one away. No, John is not in the contract for the concrete part, but he does feel responsible for the overall service, probably because he strongly recommended this concrete company to us, because he wants us to be happy with the pool and because he simply seems to be a very good man.

Coping, stone and tile

Today, May 2nd, a lot has been happening in our backyard.

First of all, masonry work has almost been completed. Basically everything has been completed, but we do not like the spillway stone - it differs from the wall stone a lot, and it is going to be replaced. Again I need to say that as soon as we called the project manager, John, he passed our concern to the masonry crew and confirmed that this will be corrected without any additional fee. The mason called us very soon and said he would be back on Wed.

Second, all electric work and gas piping has been put in place. City inspection is anticipated tomorrow.

Third, the landscape contractor came to start the patio. He suggested that we reconsider our intention not to put any concrete between the pool and the fence, because children would be running around the pool and bringing mud into the water. We agreed to that and adjusted the design a little bit to stay within the budget. A little later in the day another person from the landscape crew came and started to level out the ground for the concrete patio.

Fourth, John brought samples of quartz that can be used as a pool facing instead of plaster. He did it because we started to doubt about the white color of the plaster, and so John proposed to look into the quartz. It does cost additional, so we need to think carefully about all cons and pros.

Masonry work started

Today, Tuesday of April 26th, after 10 days of triple daily pool watering since the gunite was completed, masonry work has kicked in. A crew of two people came over in the morning, brought coping stones and started to position them around the pool and jacuzzi. Interestingly, it appeared that it will be one-piece coping stone on the edge of the pool, but two-piece coping stones on the edge of jacuzzi. It is hard to understand what I mean here, but pictures should help me out. Frankly speaking, for now it seems to me that the color of the coping is too grey. My husband says he likes it, though. So basically it is good, but I will definitely look into reconsidering the concrete color for the patio not to make everything too grey.
Today I also went out and talked to the masonry guys. They told me that coping should be finished tomorrow, and then on Thursday they will start to put tile and stone on the jacuzzi walls. The manager (he me very well be an owner) asked me if I could give him a stone sample to make sure he brings the stones that have the shade we want. This was very professional of him. As per the tile, we picked a custom one, and I am very glad we did. It has dark and light blue, as well as brown colors and should bring life and brightness to the pool. When it came to the tile pricing, I need to admit that John, just like he always was saying, did not nickel-and-dime us. He gave the price he mentioned in our conversations, even though the price list eventually showed $.50/sq ft more. He just keeps his word, and has our deepest respect for that.
Besides, I have noticed that the pipe that had been placed incorrectly before (I mentioned this in one of my previous posts), is already fixed. I did not even notice when this happened. Very nice surprise for me. Now the cement needs to be filled as well, and we should be good.
Overall I need to say that till now everything is happening as promised, on schedule and within budget. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

One-day transformation

On Saturday, April 16, as promised, the gunite crew came to make the pool body. We left earlier in the morning not to hear the roar, and it was the right thing to do. When we showed up to pick something from the house, it was loud. Men were walking around the backyard in masks, the pool area was all surrounded by plastic separation not to damage the house windows. The guys were shooting cement through a powerful hose, and the pool was growing under their arms magnificently in minutes. 1, 2, 3 and the Jacuzzi was there! 4,5,6 and the stairs to the pool shaped out. It was an amazing transformation process of wire skeleton growing into something impressively big.

Like always, my hubby went outside and checked the result of the job. He found that a drainage in the hot tub was placed incorrectly. He called Mike who confirmed he was aware and that the plumbing and gunite crews were already scheduled to come back to address it. So far I see that this company does care about the quality of the product they provide, and this makes me feel safe. Fingers crossed...

Neighbours - human factor

I thought I would separate this short story into a post as, I think, it may be interesting and useful.

Since tomorrow we are getting a loud gunite job done in our pool, and it will be Saturday morning, I decided to walk around the neighbourhood to warn people about potential 4-hour constant loud noise. Let me tell that we moved into this place only 3 years ago, and have not had a chance to talk to every neighbour, yet, so for me it was almost first time ever talking to some of them. I need to say that everybody was very happy to hear about our project and sounded quite supportive and understanding. People were extremely appreciative of me taking time to go and warn them about the inconvenience. Each of them, regardless of the reputation (you know, we all have reputations among our neighbours), thanked me for that and said it would not be a problem, since they understand it needs to be done, and especially because it is a one time thing. Every neighbor told me a short story about their life, about when they moved into the neighborhood, about their relatives, family, occupation. I enjoyed time we spent together on a porch of each house. Very lovely.

Now returning to the pool... I was pleased to hear from one of the neighbors that the pool company we have picked built a pool for her relative about 40 years ago, and also for another relative just recently, and that everyone is very happy with their work. Isn't that amazing?

First inspection is passed. Pool structure and water piping are approved

The pool inspection has passed unnoticeable. We did not hear when the inspector was even there. The pool crew came to check/correct some lightening position in the pool and jacuzzi. Mike went over bench sizes for the jacuzzi with us. He even had me sit on a chair to make sure we get the height we will be comfortable with. The next step is pool gunite - a very loud 4-hour long process to make the pool body. It will happen tomorrow.

As I understand, here is the list of what will be happening after:

- After gunite, the pool will stay untouched for a week, and we will have to water it 3 times a day for concrete not to crack.

- Then coping and tile will be put. Again we will have to water everything for a week.

- After that gas and electric will be done followed by inspection.

- Then concrete work around the pool and patio will be done. Again need to water.

- The last phase of the pool will be pool plaster.

- Then we will get to the landscaping.

Steel and plumbing

Eight men at a time were working on our project yesterday and wrapping up today. These were 2 crews: steel and plumbing. Now our future pool is full of metal wires, and backyard full of pipes. An electrician also came to check whether our electrical panel has sufficient amperage. Apparently the amperage is OK, but there is not enough breakers space. The panel will need to be replaced. We have discussed it with John, and he promised he would take care of it without extra cost.

Inspection is the next step. It is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

So far I need to say that even though project cost is an extremely important factor, ability to trust your contractor is far not the last thing, or even as important. One should not go without the other, or otherwise the project will be a torture, rather than pleasure. And this is applicable to any type of work. How to know whether you can trust a contractor? These are my lessons learned: talk, check, read reviews, ask ex-customers, talk, check, read reviews again, ask many questions, do not be afraid to be annoying, talk about every little detail. We did all of that, and whether the choice was made correctly I will write at the end of the project not to jinx a thing ;)

Excavation is done. Pool facing is chosen

When excavation crew came to finish work on Saturday, they noted that more water was in the pool and this is why deeper excavation had to be done and gravel put. Apparently it was extra work for which we needed to pay beyond the contract. We were prepared for that because John had warned us that should a rock be found that needs to be removed, or something like that happens, extra work will need to be done and paid for. What did not seem to be right was the price. I am glad I went out and negotiated it. We did get a discount and I think this was reasonable and fair. The job was finished in the afternoon. As per everyone in the constructing crew, once the pool is excavated, there should be no more surprises with extra fees.

A little later John came over and we discussed further steps. At this point we had to make our mind for coping, tile and facing stone for the pool and hot tub. What a tough exercise! With help of two reasonable man, however, John and my husband, we did make a choice, otherwise I would not be able to decide for another month. Many times did I tell John that we are so afraid to make wrong decision on the design, and he reassured he would not let us make a fatal mistake. Sounds trustworthy :)

Tomorrow, April 13th, we are anticipating both, steel and plumbing crews. Things are moving!

A bobcat in our backyard

Today, April 8th, was a big day. At 8am the crew showed up, as promised. Our neighbor ran out with questions about what was going to happen. Michael, the crew manager, pampered her right away with nice voice and a business card asking to call whenever she feels uncomfortable (note: apparently you do not need to get neighbors' permission to do remodeling, only city or county permission). The guys removed a part of our fence, and a bobcat started to navigate through our backyard. I could not imagine how fast everything that used to be grass could disappear. In minutes no more grass was left from this wild, but cute animal's jaws. I could not understand how they will know where to excavate the pool, because all the drawing from the day before yesterday disappeared. Michael told us not to worry, that the bobcat will first level the ground, and then the pool will be re-drawn and marked using wooden boards. As I wrote yesterday, we wanted to change the shape of the pool a little bit. Philippe edited the lines and e-mailed the new drawing to Michael yesterday night. Today, however, when it was time to mark the pool, Michael was not there, and Philippe noticed that it was being done according to the old design. He went outside and corrected the mistake. I was about to get upset as to how come the crew manager could let this happen. However, minutes later Michael called his crew and told to stop doing anything till he is back, because the pool design was different than what they think. That was a relief for me, as I did not want to realize that we could not trust our contractor. Soon after, the pool was marked all over the place with metal strings and wooden boards. Once we confirmed we liked what we saw, the excavation started. The bobcat was running back and forward, removing soil and taking it to the truck outside of our fence. I also need to say that the guys put plywood on the pavers we have in front of the fence, and also our contract says, that should pavers become ruined or misplaced, they will fix them up. The underlying layer of the soil appeared to be clay, most probably because we have a creek right behind the backyard. Mike says it is the most complicated type to work with for them, because water is coming. But it is not a stopper. Several concrete panels were found during excavation. Mike called the concrete removal guys to break those down. That team showed up right away. By 4PM our pool, together with the hot tub (did I even mention there would be a hot tub as well?), were excavated almost completely. The crew will come tomorrow at 9am to finish.

During excavation we realized that our current irrigation system is going in the middle of the backyard, and thus the pipes got broken. This is not a big deal, though for some time we will have to water our front yard manually. For the rest - no complaints so far. Fingers crossed!

Pool drawing

Yesterday, April 6th, John and Michael came and drew our pool on the grass. Michael measured everything, then drew the borders using pinkish-orangish spray. First it appeared to be very small to us. Well... 83' perimeter. But then when I started to walk "inside", it did not look that small anymore. A friend of mine has 120' pool, it is definitely much bigger. But 83' is not bad. So the drawing is now supposed to stay there for us to look at it and confirm that we like the shape. Philippe, my husband, has re-measured everything today. Somehow the pool on the grass appeared to be 2' smaller, than it should be. Good catch. I also do not like some curves which looked good on the paper, but do not look good on the grass. So Philippe will re-draw with new lines. Michael called today and said they will be coming tomorrow morning to put borders along the perimeter and then to dig. It should take one day to dig the pool out. Isn't it fast? I also asked if we could get the pool building schedule for a couple weeks ahead of time. But apparently pool projects do not have hard schedules, because all simultaneously running projects depend on each other in terms of equipment and weather. So we basically can know only 1 step ahead. Till now it has not been a problem as everybody is communicating with us very well.

Ready, set, go!

We signed the contract on March 17th. John, the sales manager, said the pool should be ready within 8 weeks, if the weather permits. The pool design was submitted to the city the week after, because the engineer was out of town, and once he was back, it took him a couple of days to put everything on the paper. About a week later a tree person from the city came to look at our backyard. He noticed a little tree growing behind the fence, and said that he would put a note on the permit that the pool is in the close proximity to that tree needs to be excavated manually. How is that possible? No idea. But apparently this was not a problem at all, since on March 28th we received a phone call from the pool office confirming that permits are signed off, and that Michael, the work manager, will be contacting us soon. This was Monday. On Tuesday we went to the pool office to look at tiles (still working on what tiles to select) and Michael was there. He and John were discussing that the pool should be dug next week because the soil has still not dried from the heavy rains we had for the whole week just a several days ago. However, they are ready to come over and remove the old concrete that we need to replace with the new one to build a patio. I asked whether this would be a loud type of work and received a positive answer. So we asked them to come at a certain time, because we work from home and cannot be on conference calls with loud external noise. John and Michael promised to warn us every time some loud work will need to be done. The next day, which is yesterday, Michael called us to warn that the crew is coming. It was a good timing. They showed up 20 minutes later: John, Michael and the concrete removing crew. John gave them very detailed instructions on what to do and how to do in order not to damage the house. He also told them not to drill close to the house, because someone else will come and remove concrete from there manually. Well, nice attitude! Indeed, a person named Roberto, who appeared to be the building lead, came and broke concrete with some non-automated tools wherever it was close to the house and the pole that holds the patio roof. The drilling guys also removed our fence gate and put it at the patio door to protect it from the concrete pieces flying in all directions. Nothing has been damaged so far :) They promised to return today to move the broken concrete pieces closer to the fence from where a truck will remove them later. So today they showed up, just an hour later than promised, at 9am, vs 8am. Not bad. Two other people came at 8am. Apparently those were the landscaping crew who came to disconnect the irrigation system pipes to save them for the later. It was right on time. This team works separately from the pool company, so we had to coordinate their work on our own. The next step is expected next week, and it will be for the management team to come and spray the shape of the pool on the ground for us to confirm if we like it. Apparently we can change the shape, the size and the location to some extent up to the last moment. Cannot wait!

Things to know before signing a contract

Here is what I have gone through and learned so far.

To start a pool project you need: big desire to have it, funds to pay for it (it is too hard to get financing for it), place to build it (pool can be built even on a hill). Pool is not an investment. It will add only about 50% of the pool price to the house value. It will also add to your electric and water bill.  It will not add to your home insurance (unless you do not have a fence), but it will require monthly maintenance, and also some part replacement from time to time. Pool requires permits, including permit from a tree department - this part should be covered by the pool builder. But from another side, pool is lots of fun. At least this is how I think now :) It is important to get bids from several contractors, read as many reviews about them as possible, check their license and projects they have built (they should have photos). Simply ask to take you to the pools they have built in the area, or ask for phone numbers of the people and call them to talk in private. When going through the bids, ask about every item! Why is it needed? Is there an advanced option? For example, outside control of the equipment vs remote. Read about what needs to be in the pool: tile, coping, heating equipment, lights, hot tub, number of jets, pool cleaning system, including little robot running on the bottom, stairs, amperage, pool shape, size, cover, etc. Ask about each of these items when going through the bid. Also do not listen to what they try to sell to you. Listen to the facts. Negotiate for everything! And the most important thing to remember is the following. You are the boss before the contract is signed. A pool builder, like any other contractor, wants your business, and will give you maximum discounts for everything you ask for to get it. Once the contract is signed, and you want to get something extra, you will pay the full price. It is not because contractors are bad people, it is simply because there will be no reason for them to give you a better price.

If you want to build a patio or a deck, it is time to get bids for them as well. Usually pool builders partner with landscape contractors, and they will recommend them to you (make sure you get landscape bids without pool builder's price mark-up). Talk to them as the whole project should go smoother if you work with well partnered companies. But make sure you get bids from other contractors as well. It is your money and you deserve the best deal. Just like with the pool bids, ask about each little detail. Everything needs to be questioned: material - basic vs colored vs special shape or stamp, drainage, type of wood or pavers, pump for concrete, and whether it includes stand-by and hose length, removal of your current concrete or pavers, etc. Make sure they take you to the projects they have completed. Nothing will ever compare to a couple of live pictures. 

If you want to add lights or plants to your project later on, think about them at this point as well. You may need to get conduits put under concrete or pavers to be able to put electric or water pipes through them from one side of the backyard to another, and you will not be able to put them afterwards.
Think, think, think. Do not let anybody pressure you. Before the contract is signed - you are the boss.

The pool idea

We bought our house several years ago. The backyard looked quite big. It was completely empty with nicely planted grass everywhere, and seemed attractive for the kids to play. With time we realized that kids do not use it, and moreover, there is no place to spend good time during summer. With the heat in the area where we live, there is no way you can stay outside of the house under burning sun. Moreover I am used to living in areas where there is a pool. It may be a community pool, but it is there. Where we live now there is no pool in the walking distance, and you need to drive there. No, not good. One more condition that contributed to the pool idea is working from home. Of couse I will not be swimming during the day instead of working, but spending 24/7 in the same place needs some entertainment. Even offices have gyms! So I decided I wanted a pool. My husband was skeptical, but then agreed :) We read a lot about pool projects on internet. It started to be scary. So scary that after talking to several companies and getting bids we put their folders on a shelf and did not touch them for a year. Until... the sun started to shine and the same mood of happiness came back. Finally we have signed the contract and now waiting for the BIG project to kick in. On a side note, it would be unfair to mention that together with the pool a whole bunch of other things need to be done, aka patio and landscaping. And this stuff is so expensive!  But one does not go without the other. So either we do everything or nothing. And we do everything. Fingers crossed!!!

Hey! We are building a pool! I am going to capture and post everything that is going to happen. May be interesting for those who are dreaming to have it one day :)