Great looking pool!

Aren't you concerned about having the loose rocks on the waterfall?

Scott

So beautiful Terri! It looks so natural. I love the stone you used. What is it? How long did it take from start to finish? More importantly, when are you going swimming?!

Scott, the rocks look loose but the are mortered in from the back using portland with a bonding agent. I walked on them and they aren't going anywhere. I wanted them to look like they were loose for a more natural look.

Watermom, took 4 months but we lost about a month due to weather. We used tennessee flag. We already jumped in for a few seconds....water is freezing. We will fire up the heater in about a month and use the pool and hot tub for real.

It looks wonderful!! So natural and inviting!! :) Share with us what you or builder did after the pebble was put on? Are you waiting a month or so before adding salt? I will have mine finished in about 4-6 weeks and just not sure what all everyone does on the finish side of the process...thanks!!
Tara

I have pool school today so I will know more later but the plan is:
we are waiting 1 month to start salt and run the heater
scrubbing the pebble
checking the ph and the calcium regularly
we did have a drop in water level today so we have to investigate that

Looks great,but I am questioning why there is not a isolation joint where the deck meets the back edge of your pool beam? If you get "any" deck movement, which you will, it can break the stones loose in that area. Possibly they are going to saw cut and install later? if not you might want to ask your builder what he/she thinks. Good luck Keith.

If the beam was prepped like a cantilevered deck, it'll slide independently.

Scott

Scott and Keith, I did the decking on my own and decided to float the stones from the coping to the deck for a better look. We did not do any saw cuts and figured that the cracks will be in the grout joints. Also we have a lot of mortar under the stones on the deck to account for the pool deck height we needed since the coping stones were 3 inches thick and the deck stones were 2 inches thick. Hopefully mild cracks won't make it to the stone but I am sure a major one would. we actually poured the deck right to the beam without any expansion joints and I am hoping that was a good decision. We will have to see how it works out. We waited almost 2 months after deck prep and got pounded by record rainfalls so hopefully the settling will be minimal. We are also sitting on NC clay which packs pretty hard. If I start seeing cracks in the center of stones than I will put expansion joints in. I did not lay large pieces down hoping the cracks will make its way to the grout joints for easy fix. I got a whole palet of stone left over for spot repairs however.

Sorry Terry, not good. I have a PB in my area who does this all the time. He wont listen. Its a shame because he really does some magnificent stone work.

The mortar and the bond will expand and contract differently. This will cause the two to separate and erode the mortar. The coping will eventually come loose. Eventually will be a as little as a year or as much as 5 years.

The deck may need pointing now and then but should be fine overall.

I think the pool is fabulous!

Scott

thanks Scott, what does pointing mean? If it is matter of re-mortaring the coping a few years later than that is worth the current look and i was expecting some minor repair work. If it is a bigger deal than I will cut the control joints this spring. I really hate to do that because I like one seamless flagstone deck :(
Does the PB in your area have a lot of issues because grinding out and putting a few pieces of coping back would not be big issue to me.

Pointing is the repairs of the mortar you already expect.

The PB rarely gets to keep the customer as a customer.

Given what you have personally accomplished with the deck, I expect you will be able to deal with the loose coping as it occurs.

Scott

As I said before your pool looks great. however I live and build in your community,(NC) and I 100% disagree whith Scott,sorry,no disrespect intended.in our area we get frost heave,3 weeks ago I spent a hole week doing nothing but coping inspections for home owners whos coping came completely off the pool.Some were old and some were new, but the construction practice error was the same. The joint between the coping and beam was not honored. My suggestion to you is to have your stone masson saw cut a joint at the back edge of the beam,install a backer rod or sand,and caulk.This will give you the best results and longevity of your beautiful deck. I hope this helps, it wasnt ment to scare you.these are not my spec's but industry standards.Good luck Keith

Keith, see the post 3 up from yours.

Scott

Scott I caught that as soon as I clicked my post.sorry. We are in agreement, I still would advise adding the joint where the deck meets the beam.I wouldnt cut any others I would just re tuck point when needed.

Hi terryibra,
I see that you have some red/burgandy cover in your patio area (for shade). Where did you purchase this? I definitely need one or two of these.

thanks in advance,

~jv

JV, we made it with sunbrella fabric, wood and hung it with chains.

Keith and Scott, when I do this saw line along the beam, should I just cut through the flag or all the way down through the concrete decking.

This isn't a simple job since it's an after the fact.Curved cuts with a diamond blade must have a wide radius or the blade warps and teeth break off. If I remember, you said you have 3" thick stone. Figuring an inch of mortar, thats a depth of 4". That's just close to the max with a 14" saw. I just bought a medium grade blade for stone and concrete and it set me back $138. At that price, you don't want to warp the blade or lose teeth.

I have seen masonry chain saws. I don't know much about them but given the shape of it's blade, if the saw can do stone, you might be able to do it without tearing up any deck. The narrowness would allow the tighter turns the curves you pool has to offer. In not then...

I suspect that you will need to take up a couple feet of deck from the spa to the gardens on each side of the waterfall. Then cut the stones that go over the beam, install some tear away 1/2" foam for a form and finish the area you tore up.

If the joint between the deck and coping is tight, I have seen many people wait till the foam degrades before digging it out, filling with sand and self leveling joint seal.

Scott

Scott is correct. At this point you are not going to be able to cut through the stone and concrete sub base,which would be ideal,but unrealistic at this stage.The diamond blade chain saw could do the job,however it would be very difficult to cut a clean line. choice #1 hire a company that specializes in concrete cutting.There are a couple in our area.Option #2 go to Lowes or Home depot and purchase a couple 7-1/4 diamond blades for a circular saw,pre mark the deck with a pencil,take your time cutting to max depth,approx 2-1/2" this should make it through most of the stone coping.The stone is stronger than the morter,hopefuly this will creat a shear line and allow for some movement,with minimal damage.In an ideal world, you would need to cut through the stone and the concrete sub deck. This would allow movement independent of the pool without damaging the stone. I hope this helps,good luck Keith.

Hi,
could I bother you with the details in how you made it with the fabric, wood, and chain. Sorry, I'm not too creative when it comes to this and need step by step instructions.
thanks

We had a seamstress do the sewing but she made pockets to slide the 1x1 wood into and we drilled eye screws into the ends and the pergola. We then connected them with chain links. Make sure you use all stainless steel and awning grade fabric. All together it cost about $600. We have two swags set up that are 5ft X15t each.