Last week

It is finally here, the last week of the pool build. Tomorrow the clean up crew will be here getting the pool ready for the final stage, the Isle Verde Diamond Brite (the inside of the pool). This is a two day process starting on Tuesday and should be finished up Wednesday morning where they shot the pool with a thick goo and trowl it out. Then the next day they will come back out and acid wash it to expose the shiny stones, then a good power wash to clean it all up. Right after that we start filling it up!! Hopefully it should only take one day to do this since we will be using both hoses. Below is a picture from the web cam of the finished deck and some of the furniture we have just put out.

Equipment Set

Yesterday they came out and set most of the equipment. Holy cow I did not think the filter was going to be that big, but it will definitely do the job (100 gpm filtered). I will build a fence around it all so the dogs don't decide to have an afternoon snack while we are not out there with them. Look what a great job they did on the plumbing.

Today they came by and pulled off the old stain from our existing deck. I had to come to the house because they popped the breaker using the grinder, thank goodness it is only 20 minutes if I use the tollways.

Deck pour is done!

Well the deck finally got poured yesterday. It was started with the forming and rebar on Monday and Tuesday then they poured yesterday. Here are a couple of pictures. So next week will be refinishing the existing deck and then spraying the Kool Kote on all the decking. Also next week they should install all the pool equipment and lights.

Rock is almost done

Ok heard from the mason today about why he was not showing up and it is a good reason. His 7 year old son was having heart issues, so I guess that is good enough. You can see by the pics below the rock work is going great now and they will be done on Saturday. They wont work tomorrow as we have the deck guys coming to lay out the deck.

Not happy with the rock guys

This is the first "not happy" post. The rock guys were supposed to be complete yesterday, but they decided not to show up Thursday, Friday or Saturday of last week and have only worked half a day Monday and so far half a day today. This puts us one week behind schedule with no way of making up time. So far they have the rock around most of the pool and hot tub but still need to cut the rock and grout it. So they still have 1 - 2 more days. We are bummed.

Tile

Yesterday the tile was laid down on the pool and hot tub. I can't wait to see how it will be against the stone. The stone should be started tomorrow and be complete on Saturday. Next step should start on Monday or Tuesday and this will be the decking (last of the big steps).

We have a pool

Today was very cool. The crews arrived at around 7:30am and started to prep the area with plastic tarps. They unloaded this large machine that pushes the gunite at great force out on the street. At around 8:30 the pool shaping began, this was very cool to watch throughout the day. Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

Steel is almost done

As of today the re bar should be all complete. I have included pictures from Friday that show how complex this step is. The guys doing this are artists for sure, using a large steel pipe to bend the steel re bar to give the pool its strength and shape. It is amazing how all this is going and you truly get to respect the labor it takes to make it in to a pool. If all goes well plumbing should start tomorrow, then on Thursday the shot-crete (gunite) should be going on. I will put a video up of this as it is supposed to be really cool.

Last Day of Digging

Yesterday we finally heard the words we have been longing to hear, "We will be done digging tomorrow". This will also make the neighbors happy I am sure. As you can see from the pictures below it looks like a pool now. The next phase, which should start tomorrow, will be steel and plumbing. We are hoping this will only take 2 days then we should be able to get the inspection done on Friday. If all goes well we will be able to move to gunite, then the pool will really look like a pool.

**Update - Just heard from the wife and digging is now done - YEA!!!!!!!!!!

And still Continues

Well just a short update as to where everything stands, they are still digging. They are currently at about 6 1/2 feet on the deep end so they still have another foot to go. Then they will move to the rest of the pool, so we are still looking at 2-3 more days of digging. Wish us well and our neighbors as this is some loud digging.

And the digging continues

Well the past two days have been really slow due to the amount of rock they have hit. Looking from Wednesday to Thursday there was not much progress except for hauling off the dirt. I am hoping today they are able to move a little faster as they had planned to be done with the digging today. We are supposed to be moving to the plumbing and steel next week but this may have to be postponed.

Start Day

Wow what a great day. The back hoe showed up today and the digging started. You can see by the pictures below they have dug to about 2 1/2 feet deep in the deep end, this is farther then all of us thought they would get without the rock pick. He managed to get all the pool outline dug out minus the hot tub and tanning shelf. Tomorrow the rock pick will show up and they should be moving some of the dirt out. Here is the web link to see the live camera Http:\\99.16.138.42 the user name and password is view.



Paint and Permit

Yesterday was paint day. Ron and the Foreman Ruben came by and painted the outline of the pool on the ground. Kris did not like the first place as it was too close to the trees, so we had them move it a little farther out.

 

Then today the city of Cedar Park came out and made sure it was all good and placed the green permit on the gate. This makes it official, so they will start digging on Tuesday morning. I will send a link to everyone and let them know what the password is going to be to look at the web camera.

3D Pictures

Today Ron came by and dropped off the 3D pictures of the pool. He also gave us a time frame for the dig - start next Tuesday and be done by Friday. Once we get the pool started I will put pictures of the progress. I also installed a new camera for the backyard and will post a link shortly.

Approved and added dog run

Yesterday I thought I would prep the backyard for the pool construction. This consisted of moving the play scape back to the back fence and constructing the dog run. I have attached a picture of the backyard now.

This morning we received our letter from the HOA architectural committee approving our plans. So that makes us one step closer to getting the permits. Hopefully we will know tomorrow when they will start digging.

Funding Round One

Today we went to the bank for round one or pre-funding. Basically we signed for the funding but have to wait for 3 days so we can sign again and pick up the checks.
As of right now we have been denied by the architectural committee for the original plan however we have submitted a new plan that moves the pool four feet away from the fence. We should hear something by Monday and if we are approved we can move to the next phase, building the pool.
We are hoping to start digging next week but may be delayed by the permits. If we receive our permits we should be able to start the dig the next day.

More to come.

The Plan

Well today we received the documents to turn over to the MUD for approval by the architectural committee. I have attached the sketch drawing of what the pool will look like. We should get the 3D drawing Friday and I will post it then. We also found out today we will have funding complete on Friday so it is moving faster than we thought it would.

Braziel pool build

Today we signed the contract on our pool. We have decided to go with Austintatious pools as they seemed to want the business more than the others that we interviewed. It will be 32x18 and will be 6.5 feet deep with a 7 foot round spa, some boulders and a nice blue green look.
Will add pictures as the pool progresses.
I have attached a picture of the backyard from the "Pool Cam" which will be available as the pool progresses.