Pool Project: Week Two

This week has been exhausting for the crew, us, and the dogs. The guys were bound and determined to pour the floor for the pool seating area, finish digging out the pool area, installing the drain and release valve, plus building the pool's vertical steel basket. Let's see how they did.

I am going to start with the pool seating area. At the end of last week, this is what that area looked like:

Not much room there for seating with all that dirt. 

The crew obviously removed the piles of dirt, as well as the earth beneath it to create a level base. 

With that task done, they put down plastic and tied the steel grid for the floor.

Then it was time to pour the cement.

While all of that was going on, work was underway for the pool. More dirt was excavated and block was going up to form the outer wall.

Some of the block needed to be trimmed, so the dulcet sound of a power saw echoed throughout the land.

And just when we thought the din of the saw was teeth rattling enough, the cacophony intensified. At any given time on Tuesday and Wednesday, we heard the saw, a hammer drill, the cement mixer, plus the lawn mower Fernando was using to chop the yard. We had to practically yell to one another to be heard. The dogs were less than happy with all the commotion, but, believe it or not, the cat slept through it all.

In the midst of the seating area floor being poured and the pool area being dug out, the contractor, foreman, and plumber put together a mock-up of the pool shape using random blocks.

With David's input they calculated the curve of the seat and where the steps needed to go.

In the meantime, some of the crew were bending more steel for the vertical pool basket.

Work was almost done in clearing out the dirt from the pool area, but the guys needed to make a slight adjustment to the block they had already put down to give them more room to work. Any guesses how they did that? If you guessed with a jack hammer, you're the winner. Poor Olivia, our small dog, was beside herself and needed some cuddles to finally calm down. The cat never woke up.

With pool floor cleared and leveled, gravel was put down. 

The next step was to install the drain, release valve, and the drain piping.

With that work done, some of the crew spent yesterday putting plastic on the pool floor and started the placement of the steel grid.

Once the block starts to be put in place for the pool itself, steel will be run horizontally every tier of block or two to complete the basket.

David and I escaped this beehive of activity to pick out tile for the floor of the seating area and for a decorative flourish inside the pool.

We picked out this gray, marble-like tile for the floor:

The tile measures 22" x 22" and has a nice, textured surface to help prevent people slipping.

For inside the pool -- at the water line, the base of the seating area, and step risers -- I picked out this:

David was shocked, because I almost always select stuff in neutral colors. But something about these lovely jewel tones spoke to me. We will probably use 3 or 4 rows to decorate the inside of the pool.

By the end of yesterday, the crew accomplished what they set out to do at the beginning of the week, and then some. 

Our pool seating area has a floor, the walls have been started and the conduit for our outlets and switches installed. 

The pool has its vertical steel basket, columns have been partially filled, and we're set to have the base poured next week.

The crew is off for the Easter holiday and won't return until Monday. We have been relishing the peace and quiet, with the only sounds being the whir of the ceiling fans and the rustling of palm fronds. I find it amazing just how much having all this work going on makes us mentally exhausted. There hasn't been a night this week that we haven't face planted ourselves in bed by around 8:00. But then both of us wake up in the wee hours of the morning with stuff shooting through our brains. 

After a three day rest, I am sure we will be raring to go come next week when the fun starts again.