Let's Build A Pool! Part 7: Waiting

Let's Build A Pool!

Part 7:  Waiting

It's been a month and a half since I've posted any updates on our pool.  There's a very good reason for this....nothing's happened!  To be fair, I should say very little has happened.  I have to emphasize that it's not the pool companies' fault at all.  The pool construction has gone well, but they got to a point where there was not much they could really do because our concurrent guest house build was in their way.  We always knew this was likely going to be the case, but I didn't think it would take quite as long as it has.  The main issue has been the lack of electricity available for the pool equipment.  I had a designated circuit added to the guest house just for pool stuff.  You can't spray the pool until you're ready to fill it with water, and you can't fill it with water until you're ready to power it up, and you can't power it up without, well, power.  We JUST got electricity to the guest house this week so I would expect the pool to ramp up soon.  Here's what's happened in the meantime.  

  
A crew came out and finished all of the steps and step faces with travertine and stacked stone.  We have a lot of new patio and steps weren't originally part of the plans but the drop from the guest house patio to the new pool area was substantial and really needed them.  Preferred was great about doing this and it looks good.

They also did the travertine inserts.  It doesn't show up that much now, but when we eventually get the spray deck coating on the concrete this should "pop".

After a few weeks of zero activity, Preferred decided to start knocking off a few items on the list while waiting for electricity.  The most important was installing all of the drainage lines away from the pool and patios.  It was a big job and I didn't take any pictures, but drainage is a very important part of this project. Another item they knocked out was the fire pit.

The stone guys came out and built this cool pit in a couple days. There's more to something like this than I would have considered.  There's a drainage hole in the middle for example that runs to a pop-up valve about 15 feet off the patio. One thing the guys did which they'll regret later is they grouted the stacked stone.  The stacked stone hadn't been grouted on the spa or any of the steps, but they did it on the fire pit and it looks great!  I wouldn't have known I wanted it, but now that I've seen it they're going to have to grout everything.

From time to time they send a cleanup crew to remove trash and grade out all the dirt.  They do a great job and it makes a big difference.  I asked them to move the three palm trees that had been land locked just laying on our patio since before it was poured to the back so they could be planted.

We sat with patios finished and just waiting for about a month.  

They did a really good job on the steps.  I'm optimistic that this is all going to look good when finished.  I'm sort of second guessing our choice of color for the spray deck, but we have some time before it gets applied.

This week, after getting the news that they had power to the pool circuits, Preferred sent out their electricians to get started.  They ran us a couple lines, one to the back side of our patio for our pavilion, and this one to the outdoor kitchen.  

Most importantly, they hooked up the pool equipment to the power circuits. They did all this in a couple days.  I think we can now go ahead and get the pool sprayed...once we get it drained - it's nasty!

On Saturday we came home to discover that our palm trees were actually vertical again - finally!  I know they're tough, but I was getting worried about them just laying on the ground for months.