The Finishing Touches!

Ok...so...here's nearly the last bit of work on the pool and the beginning of the fill. There's still a few more things left to do, but there's water in the pool and the equipment is working. We have another week of brushing it down before the heaters go on so, unfortunately, Jim and Barbara won't get to enjoy a swim or just even a soak in the hot tub before they go home to the UK tomorrow. We have enjoyed "cocktail hours" around the pool this last week and Barbara and I dangled our feet in the not-so-hot-but-rather-chilly tub this weekend. I guess they'll just have to plan another trip in the Spring/Summer next year. Who else is coming for a dip?

And here's a photo at night with the lights on...

MORE Concrete...and then some!

So watching them pour concrete became old hat...or so we thought. When it came time to do the "deck" around the pool, we were more curious about the stamping process. Hopefully these photos will give you an idea of how it's done.

Enjoy the show!

Outdoor Chef Needed!

Living in Texas you get used to all things grilled and/or BBQ'd. I could slip into a Bubba Gump-type recital of everything grill-worthy from vegetables to meats to well, even desserts, but you get the picture. Luckily enough we can enjoy that smoky outdoor flavor pretty much year-round; sometimes we might have to don a jacket, but isn't it worth it?

Well, here's the new outdoor kitchen taking shape...and visions of kebobs, steaks, veggies, and ....



































Now if only I
can wait long enough for it to be finished!

Get on the Floor!

These pictures show the patio transformation:


















































As well as the edges of the hot tub.

The Wall...

Here are a few photos showing the tiling and coping of our back porch and the hot tub. From what I've seen so far, I think it's going to look great...much better than the large concrete slab we had anyway!

Now we're cooking with gas! - Day 11 & 12

Day 11 and 12 are really just preparation days.

There is another crew coming in to start coping and laying the flagstone for our back porch, stairs and sundeck. (The outer deck surrounding the pool will be done later along with the fire pit area.) This crew will also begin construction on the outdoor kitchen. We ordered a new gas grill, side burner, storage compartments and a small fridge that will be built in at the corner of the back porch near the doors. Once the equipment arrives the tiling crew will custom build it into a counter area.

Also at this stage, we're required to "cure the gunite." Basically, for the next five days, three times a day, we water the gunite to strengthen it. Keith and Jim have been taking this in turns...and Bow has been supervising.

Tiling will begin after the weekend, but they came by to drop off the cement and sand early Saturday morning while Keith and Bow were watering down the gunite. The truck backed into our yard and the guys got out to start unloading the supplies. Bow immediately starting woofing up a storm and running toward the men. Keith said he's never seen 5 big guys jump into a truck so fast!

They didn't know Bow is just a big softie and more a watchdog than an attack dog, all they saw was 90-pounds of big dog closing in. Keith went over and tried to calm Bow down and assure the guys that he was perfectly harmless, but their limited English didn't seem to allow them to understand his encouragements. The crew leader had been here the afternoon before so he wasn't that afraid; he slowly climbed out of the truck. When Bow ran over to him, the guy was still a bit wary. Eventually, he realized that Bow just wanted some love and the guy pet him then threw a ball. Once the other guys saw our big lummox of a dog run happily off for a game of fetch did they finally get out of the truckbed.

So, now we're waiting for Monday and the return of the crew with the flagstone. Until then...

Watch the Slideshow from Day 10

Gun·ite /ˈgʌnaɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[guhn-ahyt] Pronunciation Key –noun a mixture of cement, sand or crushed slag, and water, sprayed over reinforcement as a lightweight concrete construction.

Day 10 brought the big trucks out to pour the gunite. This was very exciting for all of us and the whole process of spraying, carving, smoothing, etc. was quite fascinating to me in particular...I must have been getting in touch with my inner little boy or something.

The guys showed up at the "butt-crack of dawn," loosely translated as around 6:00-6:30 a.m., to set up the forms (boards and sheeting) around the outer area of the pool so they could begin spraying/pouring the gunite at 7 a.m. Considering the scale of work they were doing, we were pretty surprised that they were done by lunchtime!

Since I took so many pictures, I added a slideshow below that will hopefully give you a good idea of all they did. I've added captions, too, to add a litte more detail. **

**If you're not familiar with using this slideshow tool, here are a few tips:

• click on the "+" sign to speed up or the the "-" to slow down the pictures.
• roll your mouse over the bottom of each picture which will momentarily stop the scroll so you can read the caption.

Enjoy!

Stronger Still - Day 7 - 9

Day 7 brought the last of the plumbing work to an end. Here you can see the pipes leading to one of the skimmers. The other pipes are for the filtration system...I think.










Here's the skimmer on the other side of the pool. I guess the top edge of the wood will be the top of the pool...we'll find out when they pour the concrete, I guess.
















The final parts of the hot tub framework was also added, so that the last of the re-bar work, too. The plumbing around the sides will be for the jacuzzi jets.









Those pipes in the center are for the drainage, I think.

Re-bar? Done.
Plumbing? Done.

Now for the fun stuff....

Structurally Sound - Days 3-6

Day 3 (of work, not to be confused with the third day of the whole process...) sees the beginning of the plumbing and steel work.










...This crew of three is busy building the trenches that will house the plumbing and wiring lines, ...














putting in the re-bar which will support the pool, and all the plumbing pipes for filling, circulation and drainage. Sounds like I know what I'm talking about, huh?













Almost done with the steel...they return again on Monday.