Well, after plaster, we started filling the pool with the hose, per Sammy’s instructions. And it filled all day and all night and by the following afternoon, it wasn’t full, but the kids went swimming anyway!
Then, it was finally all full and beautiful!
A different Hauk Pool guy came to start the pool. That was Friday, the last day of school for the boys. Of course, they were DYING to go swimming…but the Hauk guy said we had to wait a day, since he had put lots of chemicals in the pool.
Then, on Saturday, at 8am, the sound of running water woke me up. I looked out the window, and saw the fountains running for the first time!
After a few hours, it was still running. I figured it had been programmed to do that, but it was strange to hear/see it.
Saturday was Brad & Peter’s birthday. So we went out to celebrate and didn’t get home for several hours. When we pulled into the alley, we saw a geyser shooting up next to our house, so we ran to see what it was.
On our way in, a neighbor asked if it was ours and if he could help. He told us it had been doing it for a while, which we verified by looking at the water level in the pool, which was back down to just over half full. We started calling the Hauk people, who walked us through shutting it all down. A City of Frisco showed up shortly after thanks to a neighbor who called. Thankfully, we were back or he would have shut our water off and we would have had to pay to get it turned back on.
Meanwhile, we have discovered a separate leak at the back of the pool, possibly explaining the middle fountain’s slower flow.
But we didn’t let all the problems keep us from swimming! It wasn’t full, but we still had fun. It was our first time to swim as a family.
So…it’s kind of done. Oh well, hopefully they will iron out all the kinks this week!
It’s been a few days since I last wrote because, frankly, nothing has happened. But today was PLASTER!!! I’m SO EXCITED!!! I got all my detailed instructions on what we have to do for the next few days and it’s a little daunting (scrub the inside of the pool 3X a day for 10 days???!!?) but at least WE HAVE PLASTER!!! That means they will acid wash it tomorrow, then begin filling it immediately after. The hose has to be left on constantly until the pool is full to the level of the tile, then the spa must be filled, but not overflowing the spillway…all very complicated. The dog can’t run in the backyard until the plaster dries so she doesn’t create footprints – which means, I can’t let the boys out there either! But the good news is that by this weekend, we should be swimming! So exciting!
So today is Thursday, the day we were originally supposed to get plaster in our pool. Plaster is the polymer coating on the inside of the pool that we will actually touch when we swim. The one we chose is a very pale blue with tiny pebbles embedded in it. It’s called “Pebble Sheen”. Once the plaster is sprayed, it dries for a day, then they come back and do an acid wash so that some of the pebbles are exposed. After that, they use the garden hose to fill the pool, and it becomes our job to scrub off any of the pebbles that might catch on our clothes or scrape our feet. For about 4-5 days, we have to scrub the entire pool with a pool brush!!! Fun stuff.
So they can’t plaster the pool when it’s raining. So when we heard it was going to be dry today, we cheered. Then Sammy called me yesterday to say the plaster guys are behind schedule and couldn’t make it until Friday. So we booed. Then this morning, at 8am, two men showed up in our backyard and when I ran to the front, there was a plaster truck parked out front! I cheered, and then ran outside to welcome them to my home! But when I got out there, they informed me the pool was too wet – it’s had rain water seeping in on the sides because the water table is so high – and so they wouldn’t be able to plaster today. I went back inside and quietly booed. They said they would have to wait a few days for the pool to dry out, but with our crazy weather, that might be weeks.
<Sigh>
Guess we’ve come so far so fast, it’s hard to wait now that the end is in sight. However, the fence is up, the dog can run in the backyard, the arbor is done and oh! They finished the decking yesterday! So I’m happy. Here are some pics of the finished deck:
Friday came and went, and we got both green tags – for the pool (pre-plaster) and for the arbor (pre-pier). Then on Saturday – the only Saturday we’ve had anyone working on the pool thus far – men came and poured the cement piers for the arbor posts. (Now that we’ve had workers come on a Saturday, I have to renumber the days. Before, I was only counting weekdays, but including weekends, it’s been 49 days…<grin>)
Monday was Memorial Day and no one came by, then on Tuesday, we got our arbor!!!
Day 30 was a real disappointment. I thought this week would be a flurry of activity. Turns out, not so much. On the 31st day, some guy showed up to put a document in our sideways Ziploc baggie that’s taped to the back windows, the one that holds the plans for the pool, all the permits, as well as the green inspection tags we’ve received.
Day 32, Sammy came by. Turns out, for the inspection – scheduled for Day 33 – our gate had to close automatically after opening. Sammy (thankfully) was able to set it to close 30 seconds after opening, and I’ve had to work hard to remember not to dally pulling out of the driveway. Don’t want that silly gate to close on my car! The gate was also supposed to have a back-up battery supply, but ours does have a release, so we crossed our fingers it would pass. Sure enough, it did! We are now ready for plaster!
Here’s a video I made this morning. It might work, if I’m lucky:
So the decking is in, but not the stuff that goes between the bricks. Which is okay because it still looks fantastic.
I’m especially thrilled with how they did the edging. These are cemented in, effectively creating a form that keeps the stones from moving over time.
We’re getting there!
Snickers is ready to have her yard back.
Today, they are cleaning up the backyard. All the trash and stuff has been hauled off, and now they are power-washing the interior of the spa.
According to our wonderful project manager, if we don’t run into any bad weather or delays, we will have plaster on Friday, which means we can swim!!! I’m not getting my hopes up…much.
