Looks like you are off to a great start. I really like the design. Keep those pictures coming.

Here is a link that might be useful: Landmark's pool build.

WOW! That looks so great...and big. It is a really nice design. I love the size of your shallow end.

Keep the pics coming!

Thanks ya'll for the kind remarks. It has been such a whirlwind the last 11 days, to say the least. I have followed both your threads for a few weeks.
Landmark: I really like your design. I can't wait to see the finished product. Love all the rock/stone and tile. Sometimes it is hard to envision the final look amongst all the debris and mess the process makes of one's yard.

Momo3: You have my sympathy and I feel for you on your pool build. Your design is sooooo beautiful. I truly wish the Tennessee Crab Orchard stone was offered by my PB. Believe me, I have asked! Your stone is exactly what I want. When I saw yours, it was love at first sight. ;)

The shallow end is 27'6" in length with a depth of 3.6 at the ends and tapers to 4' in the middle. For a variety of uses/play. My sun shelf is not near as big as either of yours (though I wish it were larger). But to do so, I had to give up room elsewhere. That, and with having a budget, I had to make choices. I hate budgets sometimes ;)

Thanks for your comments. I look forward to watching both of yours progress to completion!

Tomorrow the plumbers come and Friday the electricians. So far, it is flying by....I can't wait till the rockwork

zookeeper, looks really good! Can't wait to see your progress!

We are thinking of keeping our pool fairly shallow, too, though we were thinking of going to 4&1/2ft. Mind sharing why you decided to do that? Did you get any negative feedback from the PB or anyone else?

Grace:

Originally, we were to have 3 1/2 to 4 to 3 1/2. My husband told the PB designer to put it at 4' , 4 1/2, 4'. Guys show up to excavate.
Throughout the day, I had been talking with the crew about this and that. So here they are excavating 4' to 4 1/2 when one young guy could stand it no longer. He told me he was not supposed to talk to the customer about their pools but being a pool volleyball player at the Univerisity in our town, he had to speak up. Knowing I was going for, he told me my heights were too deep. I went to tell the man on the backhoe and he was soooo relieved. He did not want to say anything (they are really not supposed to-and it is funny-we had gone to High School together many moons ago).

I just told the supervisor when he came to measure that a friend had recommended it to me so I had the excavation guys change it for me.

My youngest is 4'11" so his head would just be above water at the moment. Even at 6 feet tall, close to the net, it should hit mid chest. When the portion by the net is too deep, it is harder to play volleyball. My mother is also able to do water aerobics and maintain balance with adequate body mass above and below water.

The deep end is 8 1/2' deep by 23' before the break. The floor break is rather severe. You are either in the shallow or the deep end.

Plumbers just left. Electricians Friday. I am ready for the pretty stuff to go in.;)

Thanks for your nice comments. Things are looking better for us now. We can finally see an end in sight.

It is great that you caught the pool depth issue. Ours was overdug and then they did the rebar with it that way. We were able to convince them that the dig was not right and they had to cut out some rebar, add rock to fix the floor depths, and then reinstall the rebar. Time was wasted but at least it is right now. You caught it at the perfect time.

Congrats, it's looking very nice! That's a BIG pool! How many gallons?

Hey tresw:
it's 30K gallons. When the plans were drawn, I had no concept what size that many gallons was. We measured it out on the lawn and it still seemed average. Even when the forms went up. Like the foundation of a house, I just could not conceive the size in my head. Until the diggers kept commenting "this is a big pool" did I start to think, "This must be a big pool". It is shallow and deep. Not much in between. Pretty severe slope between the two.

I am in the DFW area. Are you getting wet yet? My oldest is on a youth mission trip in Brazoria. He may not want to swim for awhile. I think they are soaked! LOL safe, but soaked.

I got 10 seconds of rain on my car on the way home today, other than that we've gotten squat here (Forney, east of Dallas)! Brazoria really got hammered though! My dad is in Houston and he said they were supposed to get 3" today and tonight. Did ya'll get anything?

I saw the example pictures you posted in the other thread, your grotto is going to look outstanding if they can come close to replicating that!

Your comments about the size of your pool really made me laugh. The same thing happened to us. It really is hard to envision how big it is looking at it drawn out on a piece of paper or looking at paint on the lawn. We thought our pool was just a normal size until the PB workers, inspectors, etc. kept commenting that it was a big pool. Of course, this was after it was dug so it was to late to do anything about it then. One of the inspectors even asked me how much I was planning on charging for a membership.

tresw: Why did I think you were down by Houston? Now that you say Forney, I do recall that now. Duh on me. No, we have not received a drop. I don't think they expect it to reach this far.
Yes, if the PB can replicate that grotto, I will be extremely happy. I'll have to wait and see what I get. I will definitely be here when the rock folks come.

momo3: We did not have the paint layout done. I kept thinking about asking them to do it, so I could see it on the ground to look at but did not get around to it. I did want it big enough that when we have a pool full of kids (1 teen & 2 close behind) that there was plenty of room.

Electricians come today so I will post a few uneventful photos of that & the plumbing. Then, a weekend of nothing going on. Hopefully, coping or rock stuff will start next week. The pergola will also begin sometime.

Week of July 20
Our dirt dobber hunting dog, Deacon, had to check out the pool. With all the dirt and mud we have had around here lately, he has been having a ball. Hes as ready to swim as we are. It was 105 today.
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The plumbers came last Thursday and that was pretty neat. They came....
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And they left....
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The pool equipment
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The electricians came on Firday but that was not as exciting. The guy that came was the son of the owner. He works for Dad doing pool work because he knows electric and has absolutely no people skills whatsoever. They were to do some personal electric work (tho pool related-to us). We needed electricity re-run to our sump pump (which the plumbers re-did the lines), to our storage shed, a stub on the back side of the pool so we can landscape, and to the grill island for the fridge.
A little agonizing but it is done and it is all good.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch.....and speaking of grill islands.....
The electrician has to come back on Wednesday of this week to finish the electricity for the arbor. That meant, we had to move the grill island a bit so that it would be centered under the arbor (installation of poles Tuesday). We went to move it and make the lines parallel with the house, to discover the whole bottom was rusted out. Being that it was a a relaxing Saturday and for the first time, no particular place to go, we decided to build a NEW grill island. Must have been a lack of coffee or something. So, here is what we got done on Saturday after going to home depot. We also changed the design for just an "L" shape and added more length to both sides.

Saturday
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Then a full day of work after church
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Now the decisions have to be made how we want to finish it out. This was such a spur of the moment DIY project, thought processes have not even gone that far.

The arbor pieces get pre cut and stained today at the shop. Posts get set tomorrow (Tuesday) and the arbor goes up Wednesday. Coping and other rock stuff on Friday or Saturday. Decking next week sometime.

Monday morning, I was out in my gown, drinking coffee, watering down the pool, when I am surprised by 3 guys walking in the side yard. SURPRISE! They are here to do the coping and tile. I must have misunderstood who was coming when, because I thought they were coming next Monday. So, here we go.

I leave them to their work, and go about my morning.

In about an hour, I go out to check how it is all coming and I am horrified. Stunned. The tile is all wrong. What is going up is not what the sample I ordered from looked like not the sample piece I had in my hand. I am the 2nd pool this tile has gone on, it is that new a product. I hold up the guy while I race the 3 minute drive to the PB showroom, taking 2 pieces of the "new" tile.

Pics are not the greatest, but here is what I chose. Has browns & ambers, some copper and a cobalt blue streak here and there.

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Here is what went up. Very little amber, no blue and LOTS of yellow/Gold.
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Long story short, I go ahead with what is halfway up. At first, I hate it and resign to live with it but I do not want to halt progress and loose time. I could not pick a 2nd choice I liked any better than what was going up. So, they continue coping. I did not like it any better once the coping was up but will not complain about it further.

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This morning, they came back to work on the grotto and got it done. It really looks nice. I am liking the tile better but it is not a love match.

The arbor goes up tomorrow. We have our work cut out for us tonight to work on the new grill island and get the old one out of the way.

The paver estimate kept going up and up. We had to have drains installed and various other sundry expenses and last night, we decided to 86 the paver decking and go with the aggregate decking. It will tie into our existing paver patio. That saves us some $$ that I might get to get a chair or two out there this year!

A retaining wall goes in somewhere, sometime this week and then the forms for the concrete and decking finished.

It all looks great! That's a shame about the tile, I can't tell a difference between the two pictures but then I am colorblind :-) The waterline tile will look substantially different once you have water, you may like it a lot more once everything is done. You really only see the exposed half of the tile, the half that's underwater is obscured by reflections. The grotto looks nice!

I am getting used to the tile now. We put most of the yellow/gold splotches on the bottom so it will be underwater.
Thanks for your comments. We are so excited. It is starting to come together. It has all gone so fast. Our dig day started July 11 so we are not even 30 days into it. It is also so blasted HOT, as you know. Combined with the humidity...Whew! I should be skinny by now we have worked outside on this grill so much and sweated.

We fell a day behind on Tuesday when we received a much needed rain. The retaining wall was to be installed as well as the arbor. But alas, we enjoyed the precipitation. I sure wish I had something to jump into though with these over 100 temperatures! H-O-T
H-O-T this weekend.

Wednesday was productive. The retaining wall guys got finished. We have draining issues so the wall will help hold back the tides from the pool while the super duper sump pump takes it all away. The top of the wall is actually to be the edge of the decking and will be flush with the aggregate decking and coping.

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The arbor got underway but the heat beat out the Irish guys. (the south of the border guys worked all day on the wall in 103 heat). They will come back this morning and it will be done. The electricians come out to run electricity to it & the new grill island we are building. Hopefully get the hardie backer all on this weekend to tile/grout and stucco next week.

The arbor in the works

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The new grill island under construction. 82" x 86". The cost to build it is a fraction what a retail store sells them for. Like a 6th of what we bought the first one for.

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Forms and decking next week sometime followed by plaster? How long after plaster can we swim? Can we be in the pool to do the brushing?

DH and I continued to work on the grill island Friday night, all day Saturday and most of today. All the Hardie Backer is on now. We need to do some corner work where we will be stucco-ing (interior of grill area shown here) and need to apply the lath for the stack stone (cultured stone made of light weight cement) that will be on all the outside surfaces.
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The top will go on last, so we know how far to extend to match up with the cultured stone. The top will be tumbled marble (like our old grill) but a different color. We are going darker, called Noce. Then, there will be 3 accent mosaics on the top like the one below, except it will be a Longhorn (Texas Longhorn Logo). They also have a Texas Star in addition to the longhorn & state.
We are hoping the electricians come Monday or at least Tuesday. They must run the electricity to the arbor before the forms can go in so they can pour the deck. I am hoping the deck will come this week. It is 107 today and it would be sooooooooooo nice to have some water to do the ice tea plunge!

It has all gone so fast, it seems that time just drags on when we have an idle day and the weekends are just murder.

Tuesday. August 5, They came out and set forms for the deck. Once upon a time, we were going to do a paver deck but costs kept adding to it and finally, we decided enough was enough. So, we went back to the original deck of the hand seeded aggregate.
I am always amazed at how fast the crews get things done and it looks so neat and tidy.

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Hauling in the concrete, one wheel barrow at a time.

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With the decking done, it still has a grey film on it from the washing. The concrete must set for longer before we can clean it up. These pics do not look very good. I will try to get better ones.

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Next (but without a date) is clean up day. Then on to plaster.

Very nice! Love the arbor! You asked about how soon you can swim, our PB told us we could get in as soon as the pool was filled, but when ours was filled the water was 62 degrees so it wasn't really an issue, LOL! You're going to have lots and lots of plaster dust the first 2 weeks, so it won't look too inviting for a while. I like the Texas tile for your countertop, but longhorn? Sorry but the Aggie in me can't much stomach that :-)

LOL Tresw. Hubby is a 91 grad and does bleed orange. I am a 89 grad of a UT branch. However, both of us, in this day and age, would prefer College Station for any of our kids over Austin.
I suppose it is a good problem to have but gee whiz. I am on my back porch once again in my robe and here comes the clean up guys. Had no clue they were coming! Hello. It's 6:30 AM! I did not know they were coming yesterday to do the deck. Had an idea, as Wednesday I was told a call was put in to the crew for scheduling but That was where it left off.
I did tell the kids (13, 11, 10) that while we could get in per the PB, there will be lots of dust coming off & lots of work brushing. The water might be watery milk looking for awhile.
I was looking close at the grotto last night and only one side has holes in it for water to come out. Like big openings. The other side all the way to the middle has mere cracks. I hope those cracks are not sealed with mortar further underneath the rocks. I do not want a one sided waterfall.
One volley ball sleeve was set wrong. To play, one team must stand on the steps to play! Duh! The sleeve is set in the aggregate deck so I am not sure how they will fix it. Drill it out?

Gorgeous! Everything is looking fantastic. I really like the tile. I think it ties in well with the other colors you've chosen. I can't wait to see how everything looks together.

I was class of '85 and I was kidding about the longhorn, I'm not one of those hardcore tea-sip haters :-) One of my bosses went to UT and the other to Tech and we all get along just fine :-D On the sleeve, our PB forgot to install an umbrella sleeve and had to core drill the deck to install it after the deck was poured; so that shouldn't be a problem. You might want to leave the one that's in the wrong place rather than try and patch it, is it in a spot that you could use as an umbrella sleeve?

The pool seemed to be at a stand still while a lot of underwhelming stuff went on.

After the hand seeded deck went in, it was a couple of days and the lawn sprinkler guys came in to redo the back yard. Or should I say what bit we have left that is grass :) That was on a Saturday.
The following Tuesday (last) the clean up guys came in. The removed all the junk soil lying around (big balls of dry clay), all the debris (wood forms, chipped rock pieces, etc., and put in top soil.
We were slated to be plastered on Friday. However, Thursday night, Mother Nature, gave us a much needed soaking. No plaster Friday, as the forcast called for rain off and on. Forcasted all weekend. PB scheduler tells us we are first on the schedule for Monday AM, around 7:00, barring weather. Plus, the access that has been used us super muddy, especially with the new top soil.

I guess I should be used to the surprise show ups, but alas, we are caught off guard once again. On the east side of our yard/house, we have put up our temporary redneck fence of goat wire and T posts as a yard for our bird dog, Deacon. Our bedroom windows are in the fenced area. Access to the pool is on the other (west) side of the yard.

At 6:20 AM Saturday morning, and thankfully Deacon has an inbred soft mouth, Deacon is going M-A-D. It is not a normal "Im after the squirrel on the fence" bark. It is one where you wake from a deep sleep but still cobwebs present, and know things arent right. Hubby and I both bolt upright in bed and then we hear the foreign language chatter and I suppose the "Oh Hell" in Spanish. So Dave runs out. Its the plaster guys. Once the fog clears from our heads, we are excited.

The guys waste no time in starting up the circular saw to cut off various PVC pipes, thus letting the whole neighborhood in on our morning! By 11:00, we are filling the pool! YEAH! Acid wash the deck on Monday along with pool school to learn how to run it all.

Getting ready

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Cleaning up

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The first Glob goes on. We went with old fashion (classic) white plaster. While we looked into a colored plaster, we had a budget we really were wanting to keep to (all cash) and we had to pick and choose where we wanted to spend the money.

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The boys really thought the blow torch? Was cool.

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Finally, filling with water that is not from a gully washer! 11:00 AM Saturday

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3:00 PM Saturday

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7:30 ish PM Saturday

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7:00 AM Sunday
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We still have a lot of work that we need to do ourselves, like a dry creek area where we have two serious drainage areas, grass, fan for the arbor, and finishing the grill island, as soon as the cultured stone arrives, and plants. I am sure that other projects will creep.

Well, wouldnt you know it, the day our pool is ready, it is 15 degrees below normal for August in DFW and rainy. But that did not curb the enthusiasm of the first swimmers. Still lots of work to be done in the landscape arena but Houston....We have WATER!

We are not officially open. It is just plain water from the tap. We will have pool school tomorrow. It took 53 ½ hours to fill this baby so the kids did not get to get in until after 4:00. They are out now for a night swim after football practice.

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I know what you mean about finally filling the pool and then the temps drop and it rains for days. I hope we have some nice pool days before school starts next monday here in DFW!

It looks amazing! I bet you are so so excited! How is the temperature of your pool? We are set to plaster on Friday and we live in the hill country. Is it a comfrotable temperature? Have fun and enjoy your pool!