Swimming pool – Farm and Finery

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021

Pool Completion is Here!

Well, complete enough to use it… ☺️

Before the plaster could begin the pool had to be cleaned out, so a team of three came to vacuum and pick up debris out of the recently pumped-out pool.

I realized this was the last chance we had to see our handprints in the concrete shell of the deck. Awww-uh!

The next morning the crew arrived around 6:30 am and made quick work of plastering the pool. In fact, they were cleaned up and out of here by 11 am-ish. It was fascinating to watch them work with their system of ropes tied to our cedar posts and looping hoses over them.

The crew also cut off all the pipes and installed the water return valves.

Ready for the acid wash and to start filling!

The next day the crew came back to do an acid wash on the plaster. The acid wash allows the aggregated pebbles to come out. It gives the pool color some depth and that grippy toe feel we’ve all noticed in swimming pools.

With the acid wash completed, they emptied several containers of a chemical call StartUp Tec, which is used (as you might guess) when they start up the pool for the first time.

And with that it was time to start filling the pool!

It took 43 hours for the pool to fill. Good thing I’m a patient person (that’s a joke)….

Finally it was time for the equipment to start up and for us to attend “pool school”. I have 18 separate videos from our pool school instructor and it lasted from 8:30 am until 1:30 pm. Yikes, that was a lot to learn!

Old faithful is up and running in the pool shelf!

The water is murky, but we were told that it would clear in a few days time. There are also a few things that are missing or not working properly. The ozone filter needs something or other and the two lounge chairs for the shelf pool have not been delivered yet…. But that didn’t stop us from having our first pool party with the Strever family right after pool school ended!

Since then, the pool water has gotten clearer every day. We are responsible for brushing the plaster on a daily basis for 28 days as the plaster continues to cure, and you can really see a difference after brushing.

We’ve also played with the pool options on our app. Yes, there is an app for the pool. We can turn on the spa, turn on the spa bubbler, set the spa temperature, and turn on and change the lights. We’ve had some fun with the lights…

I’m looking forward to using the USA color option for the upcoming Independence Day holiday!

Cycling through the pool light options at night

And with that the pool is officially open. We are hoping to receive the shelf pool loungers soon and get the remaining “punch list” tasks completed. In the meantime, we have our outdoor dining table, couch, and Adirondack chairs all set up. Not to mention the outdoor bar….

Until you come visit, thanks for stopping by!

Hugs, Libby

June 21, 2021

Cool Coats on the Patio, Posts, and Chairs

Happy Monday and we hope you all enjoyed a great Fathers Day weekend! Since the patio and pool decking was poured and cured, we opted to have the concrete coated with a product to help reduce slips and keep it cooler underfoot.

First, the house and cedar posts were wrapped up for protection. Next they removed everything and power washed the patios. Then they put the tan base coat over the concrete.

The next day they added a textured coat that was a whiteish grey color. They also began pumping all the rainwater the pool had collected out, in preparation for the plaster to begin the next week. John wanted to save the tadpoles that had been living in the pool, but I think he was only able to save a few. Sorry frogs!

On the third day, the crew returned and put the final top coat on the patio. We like how it looks with the great room chimney and outdoor bar stone. I think this product is called Smart Deck, and we selected Houston Tan as our color. It is supposed to help creat a non-slip surface around the pool and keep the concrete cooler for bare feet.

While the pool decking was getting coated and stained, yours truly did the same for our cedar posts. We had asked our contractor about having the posts stained and I believe the price that came back was $125 a post. Well, we have 19 cedar posts around our house, so we decided that we could complete that chore ourselves. And by we, I mean me…Although John is in charge of the removal and reinstallation of the gutter downspouts.

Honestly, it isn’t that difficult and we really like how much better the posts look with stain. Besides, what else am I going to do on the weekends? Hang around our empty pool? 😜

The other work we completed was to haul our old Adirondack chairs out of the barn so they could be cleaned up. A big thanks to John as they were buried in the barn and he had to pull them out and pick them up overhead. And, as you can see in the picture, they were in rough shape.

Adirondack chairs after a fresh coat of paint

A fresh coat of paint made quite a difference and John will have to replace a few slats in the oldest of the chairs. But in the meantime, they are quite serviceable…

Tomorrow we are scheduled to have the plaster completed and then the pool will be DONE!!! 🤞As always, thanks for stopping by!

Hugs, Libby

May 2, 2021May 2, 2021

Catching Up on Pool Construction

Hello friends! Earlier this week we had a Zoom chat with our friends Julia and Bob and Julia, being the true friend that she is, gave me a “talking to” about how long it has been since I updated the blog. “Oh, it hasn’t been that long,” I protested. Only more than 2 months since my last post, as it turns out. Ooops.

So my apologies to everyone (although I doubt any of you lost sleep over the lack of updates) and thanks to Julia for the kick in the rear.. 🙂 The photos in this post go back through April and March to February 27th when the plumbing and equipment were all installed.

They made quick work of getting all of the equipment including the pool filter, the heater, and the ozone filter installed. We “hid” the equipment on the south side of the house, off a storage room at the end of the great room. Having grown up with a pool, I know that the heaters and filters can be noisy (I’m guessing these new units are more efficient and silent than I remember), but still. I like that they are tucked away and not in view.

Meanwhile, John “helped” by hovering where they dug so he could hunt for arrowheads…

So all of the above took place on February 27, 2021. Then, on March 3-4, we had a group of 25 people from all over the world descend upon us to “shoot the pool”.

Turns out we had a world expert on shotcrete here in LaGrange, TX to teach various crews how to spray liquid concrete (or shotcrete). Oscar lives on an organic blueberry farm in Sonoma, but his main job is traveling the US doing commercial concrete work. He rarely does residential projects and one of his most recent projects was refurbishing underground tunnels out of the US Capitol.

The other crews were from Northern Texas, Arizona, and as far away as South Africa! They began by wrapping up the house so random spray wouldn’t damage the porches.

Then the spraying began…They started with the spa and went into the rest of the pool.

There were always at least 2 guys holding the hose at any point. The nozzle alone weighed 75 pounds. The pressure through the hose could be regulated and they generally had it spraying at a level 1 or 2. John asked, what would happen if you turned it up to a level 4? Oscar told us that it would lift a man off the ground and he would be flying in the air like a cartoon. 😳

Before the concrete fully cured, John and I put our hand prints into the pool ledge. No one will see it after it gets plastered with the PebbleTech, but it was a fun touch for us at the end of the process.

Next came tile and coping (the top stone around the pool). I had forgotten what we had selected last September when we signed the contract for the pool, so it was fun to see the tiles and stones in person.

First they added the tile at the waterline on March 24-25, 2021.

I’m glad I still like the tile we selected back in September.

Then the travertine stone coping was installed along the top edge of the pool and spa.

The travertine looks good with the stone we have on the outdoor chimney and bar

And finally, they cut some of the blue tiles to be installed along the benches and steps. I thought that was a nice touch and offers some visual interest and helps everyone to see where the steps are located.

So that brings us up to date on the pool progress. Sadly nothing, and I mean nothing, has been done for the entire month of April.☹️ Pool and other construction projects are in such demand that they cannot get crews out to finish the work concrete decking or plaster work. Thankfully, the deck forming is scheduled to begin this next week so we will get back on track soon.

Sorry for the epic post and if you’ve made it this far, thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Libby

February 23, 2021

Creating Structure and Strength in the Pool

I know I said this last time, but this is crazy. The pic on the left is from Tuesday, February 16, 2021. The pic on the right is from today, Tuesday, February 23, 2021. Exactly one week apart. Wow.

Anywhoo, today a different crew arrived and began and finished the swimming pool’s rebar – in one day. The rebar steel structure is created and tied together to give the concrete some additional tensile strength. At least that’s what I read when I wondered why they needed the steel structure to be part of the pool.

Turns out the rebar is spaced to offer maximum strength to each other – like a buddy system. The steel rebar is tied to itself with strands of wire to hold it in place. There are also spacers below the rebar in the pool floor to allow the gunite/concrete to get below the rebar and to completely enclose it.

After getting lost, trying to find our home this morning, they arrived around 8:30 AM. And they were gone by 3 PM. Seriously – they did all this in 5.5 hours.

It was fun to see the shape of the spa and the now, larger size of the tanning ledge. You can see the spa seats and where the waterfall from the spa into the pool will flow. I even ventured out onto the rebar to make sure the spaces felt right since we had altered it yesterday. Meanwhile, John continues to be the stone whisperer, reaching into the sides of the dirt walls for tooled pieces.

So that was Day 2 of the swimming pool construction. Who knows what fun will begin tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our journey! Hugs, Libby

February 22, 2021February 23, 2021

Pool Excavation Done in a Day!

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Actually, what a difference a week makes! Last week at this time we were worrying about freezing temperatures, losing power, losing water, and generally staying sane through Snovid-21.

Today we started building a swimming pool! And it was 74 degrees. Crazy…

On Wednesday, February 10th, our contact with the pool company, Sam, and our site supervisor, Fernando, came and sketched out the pool we designed last year with spray paint. It gives the home owner a chance to see the pool in the space. Thank goodness we had that time, albeit covered with snow, to do just that….

The tanning ledge was going to be really tight with the 2 in-pool loungers there. So we expanded the pool so there is more room to walk around those loungers.

…because we realized that the tanning ledge/Baja shelf was going to be way too small. So we called Sam and Fernando and expanded the pool from 15’x37’ to 20’x40’ (including the spa and tanning ledge).

Today they came and staked everything out, measuring multiple times in multiple ways to make sure the layout was square and perfectly centered in the courtyard. Expanding the pool obviously reduces our pool “deck”, but there are still 8’ of space on either long side and 10’ of open decking near the kitchen (not counting the covered porches) – plenty of room for loungers.

Then the digging began. After every pass of the Bobcat, John went out looking for tooled artifacts, arrowheads, and the like. I think he’s the stone whisperer…

The team was gone and cleaned up before 4:45 pm. Boom – day one of the build is done!

I’ll continue to post progress on the pool as we go. Until then, thanks for stopping by!

Hugs, Libby

June 27, 2020February 23, 2021

Pool Planning

As we get closer to when we can move into our new home we are also beginning to think of other projects we want/need to complete. And that includes a swimming pool. It’s Texas. It’s hot. In fact, as I write this on June 27th and look at the 15 day weather forecast, every day is forecasted to hit 90 degrees or above.

We’ve been waiting to go ahead with the pool until we sold our lake house up in Illinois. At one point in time we thought about keeping it and working from the lake during the hot summers, but cousin Callan pointed out some problems with that. First, you cannot just leave a house with a swimming pool for 3 months in Texas and expect it to be A-OK upon your return. Also, it isn’t like winter up north where everything just stops – the grass, weeds, and yaupon holly bushes keep growing, so we would need a yard guy. Add to that the stressors of maintaining a house 1,000 miles away (which we experienced this winter when a window broke at the lake cottage and we were trying to get it repaired while locked down from COVID-19), and the decision to sell was made.

Yay – we have a cash offer on the cottage!

Now that we have a contract to sell the lake cottage, we can look ahead to completing our forever home with a swimming pool. I think we will wait until the closing to sign the contract for the pool, just in case, but with a cash offer we are feeling pretty confident about the sale of the lake cottage. We’ve now received 3 bids for a swimming pool and have decided on the contractor we want to work with for this next phase of construction. Because of delays, it likely won’t be completed until mid-September, but thankfully we have a long swimming season here. Did I mention it gets hot here?

We had previously met with Sam last fall to look at material options for the pool, so our most recent web meeting was to make sure that none of the house dimensions had changed and that we still liked the pool design we had discussed before. And we do.

Our pool will be 15′ wide by 30′ long with a tanning shelf and a spa on the far end. It’s what is called a sport pool – meaning there is no deep end. It ranges from 4′ deep to 5′ deep in the middle and is designed for shallow water activities and games. So it is perfect for volleyball or badminton or just swimming laps.

The pool will also have a bubbler and umbrella hole in the tanning shelf, as well as lights in the pool and spa. The spa will have benches on 3 sides and 6 jets. The color of the lights, the temperature of the spa, and pretty much anything else you can think of can all be controlled from an app on your phone, tablet or computer. It’s crazy.

So that’s where we are on pool planning. I grew up with a swimming pool and love to swim – this was definitely a non-negotiable for me. What do you think of the pool design? Would love to hear your ideas!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by!
Hugs, Libby