New Pool - Part 2

This pool re-do is proving to be a pretty tough nut! I did NOT expect that it would take more than half of our already short summer season just to get the ground dug and the pool in place... but it has and I have to admit it, I have not been a happy camper. I have never, in my life, enjoyed summer weather; I am a full-fledged winter-loving chick through and through! I love the crisp winter air, so cold it hurts my lungs to breathe. I love the snow and the quiet of it's sparkling insulation. I love the skiing, skating, snowshoeing, tobogganing, skidooing and especially winter bonfire weenie roasts with hot chocolate. Summer is just not my thing and being too hot makes me incredibly unhappy... well, not actually 'unhappy' but it just doesn't agree with me. I don't think there's anything that makes me actually unhappy, my heart is always happy but like everyone I do have moments of upset, short-lasting as they are and being too hot brings upset on which is why we have a pool in the first place.

Both of the homes we have built have been slab-on-grade with in-slab heating which meant we didn't have need for the duct work that air conditioning requires. In our first house I wasn't too worried because we were told that there was a new way of running cool through the pipes for summer which would act as air conditioning but it never did come available and after one summer of roasting, well,  a pool became necessity. I wanted air conditioning in our second house soooooo badly but with the layout, duct work would have just taken on an odd look so again I caved on the issue and just demanded a pool be put in right away, I was happy with the demanded 'compromise'.

I can't stand not being able to cook anything in the summer but our house is brutally hot and turning on the stove or oven is just torture beyond torture. With the pool, even cooking isn't so bad because I can cook on the barbecue, which is only about fourteen feet from the pool, and just take cooling off dips between turnings. Because of having no pool this year, we have been having a LOT of takeout this summer... not unhealthy fast food takeout but mostly roaster chickens and salads or ham and salads or meatloaf and salads, the stuff I would usually cook but won't without air conditioning. A few years ago we did buy a portable standing air conditioner for the bedroom and boy has that saved us for being able to sleep comfortably at night, even during the day the boys can nap comfortably and I don't have to worry about them overheating; Greyhounds aren't well able to regulate their body temperature so being too hot can be just as dangerous for them as being too cold can. I'm hoping they will decide to try swimming and grow to love the pool, too... although they sure haven't shown much interest in their wading pool...

Tip-toeing in to save a toy is as far as Play will go...
and watching Play tip-toeing in to save a toy is as far as Day will go!

Anyhow... back on to the pool build!

Once we had dug the ground out deep enough to make getting into the new pool a little easier for me, it was time to start building up the base. I feel really bad that I wasn't able to physically help with the base prep work as I did with the digging work but it was just too deep and too mucky for my still healing body to manage even just trying to climb in and out of the mess... I'd have been face down in the grossness, for sure!

In my last pool post I left off here...

Gross after a quick, hard rain but the ground was dug out and ready for base work!

Base prep started with laying down a layer of black, heavy landscape fabric then topping the fabric with crusher fines. A ramp was necessary to build since wheelbarrowing would have taken waayyyy more time and effort than we had available to spend in the heatwave we were unfortunately stuck right in the middle of!

A crusher fines ramp of awesome!

The ramp wasn't created without hilariously nosediving on the first attempt and it was a learning experience I was glad I was NOT involved in the nosediving of... My tummy still hurts from laughing at Enz's first ramp fail which I unfortunately was not filming. I did, however film the proper ramp build as shared below, just in case anyone is interested.

Next up... preparing the forms for the side walls!


The wheelbarrow did become necessary for the fine-tuning around the side forms.

WooHooooo! It was finally time to start placing the pool walls!! This pool came with probably one of the absolute WORST set-up instruction booklets I have ever seen in my forty-three years of life! If my mom hadn't have been over and been willing to help me figure the wall-setting steps (you have no idea how badly I wanted to say wall-ERECTION steps... HAHAHAAA..... I'm such an immature idiot!) we may still only have had one wall standing today! Here's a hint for the pool manufacturer - how about at least LABELLING the the PARTS BOXES!!!

Panel by panel they went...



Totally looked like we were putting in a skating rink but these insulated walls are sturdy!

Set, levelled and ready for concrete!

 

Concrete time!!!!!



The concrete and pump trucks arrived right on time!

Soon after arrival... the concrete anaconda was in the pool and ready for business!








 

Waiting for the pump to start pumpin'.....

Here's hopin' the pool is set and levelled correctly because there's no moving it now...

 

The PlayDay Duo actually took their supervising duties pretty seriously for once.....

 

 Perhaps just a little toooooooo seriously.......

Enz clearly took his anaconda-wrangling duties quite seriously too; seriously enough that he had time to do what he does best in the whole, entire world... chit-chat.....

 

Chatting up a new best friend... Good work, Enz, good work!

Just one month after a stroke and Enz's Pa is already trying to get his concrete finishing skills back up and running...

 

"Smood'a'da'cemento for good'a'sol'a'seta..." which translates to:
smooth the cement for a good, solid set!
(I don't speak Italian so he answers me in English when I ask questions)



All of the concrete work will be buried and hidden but it still
all has to look good for the finishers to be content!

Next up... sand!

We've decided to sub-out the liner installation because it's an incredibly finicky job which I am just not mobile and maneuverable enough to help with; since ONE teeny-tiny liner wrinkle can wreck the entire pool building ordeal it just seemed best to hire this part out. When the pool installer came to check that we were ready for the liner/water install he suggested a couple inches of sand beneath the liner pad to soften the bottom slightly so..... we had a load of sand delivered. We used a lot of the sand to backfill aound the pool but left more than enough for inside the pool. The installers are going to take care of spreading the pool-floor sand since they have a method of just slightly tapering it into the center to help get a super smooth liner finish.

This pool is only one foot longer than our last pool but sits surprisingly defferently so we will need to come up with a new landscape plan since it doesn't sit nicely into the sidewalk area as it's predecessor. We'll worry about that sidewalk part later, I'm just concerned with getting the water in at this point!

All ready and waiting for the liner install!

One more day of work should see this pool swimmable... c'monnnnn liner pad!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now we wait for the liner pad to be delivered... which I am hoping happens today! I know that very soon this huge project will well be worth all of the time and work we have been putting in but I can't help feeling anxious to again have a swimmable pool to share the remainder of summer with.

To be CONTINUED... again.......