I bet you will be VERY happy with the new upgrades! We've got Heliocol panels and the same Intelliflo pump you plan to install and are very happy with both!

Hope it goes quickly and smoothly for you!

jennifer - I very excited for the upgrades. Its good to hear that you like your heliocol panels and intelliflo pump. Hopefully they will work great for us too!

It took almost 2 full days to drain the pool.

Hot tub mostly drained:

Pool down some more:

Shallow end nearly empty:

What was hiding under the water:

Today they are removing coping, tile, and sandblasting.

They removed all the tile, coping, and then sandblasted the pool.

They also drilled 2 holes in the bottom of the pool. Does anyone know why? Very weird.

Here is a picture of our pool after today:

Here is a link that might be useful: All pictures of tile and coping removal and sandblasting.

We have had all the equipment installed and the tile and coping installed.

New tile and coping:

New equipment:

Solar (also on side roof):

The new tile and coping look great! How exciting that it is all coming together so quickly! When do you get plaster?

I think they drill the holes to address hydrostatic pressure while the pool is empty (to make sure pressure can't build up and pop the pool shell out of the ground). My pool had holes in the bottom during the build for that reason until the pebble was applied and we began filling it.

Thanks! It is all very exciting. We get the bondcoat tomorrow and I am not sure if plaster goes on soon after that or if it needs a day or two. It could be as early as the end of this week!

Thanks for explaining the holes. I just thought it was really weird!

Looks great!!

If you don't mind my asking, how much is a facelift like that going to cost? We just bought a house with an old (ugly) pool that would GREATLY benefit from a remodel.

ren0_fan - Thanks! Excluding the equipment, the remodel is between 11,000 and 14,000 for the basic remodel (brick coping or simple stone, basic tiles, white plaster, basic lights). Most of our bids fell in that range, with one being much higher. These are northern CA prices.

Equipment can really vary and it depends on what you want. I was initially shocked by the price of the equipment but it didnt seem so bad when I saw all the work they had to do. They rewired EVERYTHING and replumped it all. It took then 3 whole days to get it done(1 guy doing most of the work).

>> Excluding the equipment, the remodel is between 11,000 and 14,000 for the basic remodel (brick coping or simple stone, basic tiles, white plaster, basic lights).

Wow! Makes me glad I decided to do it myself (everything but the coping, that is). I've spent about $2,000 to redo the tile and plaster (coating with Ultraguard) on my own. Of course the downside is that I've been working on it for 6 weeks now and still have a couple more weeks to go. It's funny - what your guys did in a week took me 5 weeks on my own.

The remodel is looking good, though. You're right about the sticker shock with new equipment. I've been slowly replacing mine. I lucked out and got a new cartridge filter under our home warranty when we bought the house. Then I replaced our pump last year with a 2 speed pump. And I just bought a saltwater generator to install after the remodel is done - to help keep my new finish looking good with less maintenance. Now I just need to save up for a new heater and the whole pool will be practically new.

Tonic,

NICE JOB...I know it s a big decision and stressful one. I am going through it myself out here in Virginia. I see you selected a lot of the same equipment.. What did you hear about the filer. PB was trying to talk me into this instead of DE.

Once again, pool looks great

Mac

Thanks for the heads up! It looks amazing with just the new coping.

Can't wait to see the whole thing finished.

Tonic,

How is it going? I am trying to organize a similar project - but without the coping. Can I ask who you used and how it has gone thus far?

Thanks

gwarrington - I replied to your other post with who we used (Lewis Pools and Solaron). I am very happy with their work and how it turned out.

porkchopp - I didn't really ask much about the filter. I just wanted something basic that was big enough for our pool. They suggested this. I did more research on the pump and easy touch system.

We got plaster today! So things are pretty much done.

Thanks for all the help from this board! I will try to post pictures once its done filling with water :)