The last time I posted, I commented that nothing had been done in the entire month of April. Maybe our contractors saw that, because a team showed up the next day to begin creating the forms for the pool decking. As I write this (technically, began this post), ANOTHER 30 days has gone by with no progress. God give me patience, and give it to me now…
Once again, the importance of being there came up. We expanded the size of the original decking on the far end of the pool and on either side of the porches. Last September when everything was drawn up, I said I wanted a larger patio space around the pool. Our sales guy said, “oh, we can easily expand that when we get to it.” That is code for, sign the contract at this price point now and we can upcharge you for that later…
Anyway, we opted to expand the patio and even out the patios on either side of the pool. On the great room side, we plan to keep our grill so it’s out from under the covered porch. On the master bedroom side, we wanted more space for loungers and maybe an outdoor pub table. And on the far side of the pool I wanted more space for loungers or Adirondack chairs.
While the sales people got the message that we wanted to expand the pool decking (and quickly amended our contract by $10,000), the contractors didn’t. I brought a set of the new plans out to them so they could redraw the guides for the forms.
They used dirt from the pool excavation to fill in around the pool. They also installed the French drains around the house and porch, and dug the footers around the exterior of the pool.
The next week they began adding all the rebar and tying it into the pool rebar.
Finally, on May 12th the concrete trucks arrived!
When our foundation for our home was poured, we pushed a 2019 penny into the foundation. It was a fun ritual so we decided to repeat it this round with a 2021 penny (wow, time flies!).
Robert was also documenting the penny installs 
Checking on the penny
The newly poured pool decking came at a great time as John’s brother Robert was visiting and we hosted cousins and extended family during his visit.
The concrete decking around the pool was a very LARGE improvement for us. We track much less dirt and sand into the house and it’s so much more comfortable to hang around the empty hole that will someday (soon???) be a swimming pool.
So that’s our pool decking update. A new post showing the smart deck coating installation will be coming soon. Until then, thanks for stopping by!
Hugs, Libby
OK, cuz, when do we get to swim? I want to do a cannon ball! It’s been swimmin’ hole weather for a long time here in West Point, Tejas! If no swimmin’, how about cooling off with some margaritas?
Cuzn Bubba
Cuz Bill – sounds good! We should be ready for swimming NEXT WEEKEND!!! And margaritas are always a good idea…. 🥰
Thanks for this Libby! We have been talking about you and wondering how things were coming. Now we know. I can only imagine how anxious you are to get the WATER in the pool with all this hot weather upon us!
Betsy, yes – we are beyond ready for this to be done!! Let’s find a weekend soon for you to come over and float!