Building Our Pool - From Start To Finish

[Valentine]

Just wondering why the formwork is blue. BTW job looks to be going really well which would have been pretty hard here in Phuket with all the recent rains although it has been OK this past couple of days.

[apetley]

Any update or has the bad weather slowed construction?

[chrgrims]

a lot has happened, but i have been too busy to update. Concrete for the frame arrived. We had 25 workers here that day, making a line from the car with concrete to the pool. The tiles have arrived. They have started making the stairs in the pool, looks great. I will put up some pics when i have time .

cheers, chr

Edited October 5, 2009 by chrgrims

[chrgrims]

Hi all,

The work is going great and we think the pool will be finished within 4 weeks. The tiles are a bit darker than we had imagined. I guess this is what can happen with handmade tiles, it can be difficult to get exactly the correct color. Either way, we are happy with the color as it is now.

I also did some testing of the tap water:

ph 7,5-7,6

total alkalinity 80

calsium 450

So, i think we can use the tap water for the pool. I am yet to test for copper and iron, but i had a meeting with the state water analysis center in pitsanulok. they said that they test the water for our area often, and there is never excess of copper or iron. We will give them a sample for test for lead, they said this can sometimes be an issue here.

cheers, chr

[cdnvic]

Don't forget that there's a waiting time until you should use your salt generator with newly tiled pools.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Salt-Water-P...ut-t147460.html

[chrgrims]

ok, just read that link, thanks. its a white powder that comes off the grout, right? i guess vacuuming will be important in the beginning.

[cdnvic]

You may need to soften the water a lot at first as there will be a lot of dissolved mineral in the water that can't be vacuumed. Also, remember to backwash immediately after vacuuming as you don't want that stuff mixing long term with the sand causing early calcification.

If possible, find a storage solution for gathering rainwater from your roof. The rainwater is very soft and can be used as a top-up to dilute the hard water.

[chrgrims]

When you say soften the water, do you mean add water with lower level of calcium? or are there other ways too? great idea with the rainwater.

[cdnvic]

You will always need to add some water with lower calcium as 450ppm is a bit too high. 300ppm is what I like, maybe a bit higher on older pools. The water in outdoor pools always gets progressively harder as minerals are left behind due to evaporation. That's why you need to use soft water to dilute the existing water. Normal fill water won't work as it is already too hard, that's why a water softener is a good idea. You might already have one for the house. No reason why you can't use that water.

There are sequestering agents that help precipitate the calcium so it can be vacuumed up but I'm not really a fan as you are asking your filter to remove the calcium and calcium and sand don't get along well. best thing is to remove the excess before it even gets into the pool.

[chrgrims]

thank you very much for that reply, very helpful

[chrgrims]

i misread the calcium test. the correct reading is 45, not 450! so, thats a lot better.

[cdnvic]

In that case,forget what I said and buy a bag of Calcium Chloride.

[chrgrims]

yes. i also read that calcium goes up a bit over time by itself, so we will see what happens.

[nakachalet]

"Steng 240 KSC slump test 12 +-3-5 cm with water resistant chemical

Here is Thailand and hot. Water is gone faster. It looks wet to get rid of air bubble also. Tom (the foreman) will cure with water."

240 steng is good but if the concrete wasn't vibrated you will most likely have air bubbles and that will make the concrete less strong.

--------

CONGRATS CHRGRIMS.... FINALLY U R BUILDING....

rigorous vibration is a must to rid air bubbles, wonder why utai spares that expense?

also, just wonder, several contractors suggest using 300 rather than 240....?

does u-tai propose anything other than 240... pls?

[chrgrims]

i just got the answers from u-tai.

he uses 3 machines to get the bubbles out. This is no problem. It might be better to ask than to assume that no vibrator machine has been used.

he gave a long explanation on steng, ksc etc, why he uses what he uses etc. He is an engineer, and he says he can give a full explanation to anyone. The problem is that most will not understand the explanation. This is me included. But if you want, send me a PM, and i will forward his email.

Edited October 14, 2009 by chrgrims

[nakachalet]

chrgrims

sounded like you are overwhelmed with multitaskings.... lol

perhaps you can also assign someone whom you trust to take pix during your absence .... most contractors would almost always said yes, yes just to smooth over our concerns.... speaking from experience of course....

anyway, i'll be gone to the states until beginning of nov., if you like you can upload all your swimming pool pix to my email at nakachalet at gmail dot com.... when i get back i shall put all your pix together for you, then anyone who is building or thinking about building a swimming pool could benefit from your sequential pix.... to the fullest..... after which there will be no need to rehatch....

mostly i am rather selfish myself.... as you know i'll be building one next year.... lol

Edited October 14, 2009 by nakachalet

[chrgrims]

you like to make a lot of assumptions, man. I have seen the vibrator machines. Would he bring them here and not use them? I prefer to think not.

we cant make a full detailed recipe for making a very good pool in detailed pics. U tai is running a business, and we should be very glad he is allowing this thread with these pics.

[Maigo6]

Results 1 - 10 of about 4,100,000 for how to build your own swimming pool. (0.32 seconds)

This is the result in google search for building your own swimming pool.

[chrgrims]

yes, use google. i am sure mr google is a really cool guy too.

[chrgrims]

The pool is finished! We started the pump yesterday, and all seems to work well. The stone for the deck is si la laeng.

[bifftastic]

Just read this thread, pool looks absolutely stunning mate! You must be chuffed to bits!

Thanks very much for sharing the pics here.

[chrgrims]

yes, we are very psyched. very happy with the process and the result. tx to all who contributed in this thread too! Hopefully we will get our first swim tomorrow, waiting for the chlorine level to go down a bit.

[angiud]

Congratulations. Look gorgeous.

Hope one day to order mine too!

[neverdie]

chrgrims,

THANKYOU for sharing your experience with us. I had a pool built in my last Australian home, it was done somewhat differently to the way yours was but I'm sure theres many ways to do it, depending on the many varying factors. I hope you get as many happy years out of your pool as I did with mine.

Question. Those pavers you have used around the pool, the look fairly rough and textured, do they absorb water or are they sealed or something? How do they feel under foot (I hope you dont stub ur toe)? Perhaps they just look alot more rustic in the pictures than what they are in the flesh.

At first you may find it difficult to keep your pools water balanced and perfect but in no time at all you will get a hang of it and as you learn your pool you will almost be able to predict what needs to be added.

Now you have to get to work with some landscapings, plantings and beautification works.....the best part of all that labour type thing is when you get too hot you can just jump in get wet, get cool and then get back to work. Good luck and make sure you post some more pics in the coming months.

[Kadafi]

Thanks for posting.

The pool looks ok (abit basic for 1 million baht). A friend recently had his pool finished, has waterfall and built in jacuzzi, looks alot better than yours and didn't cost as much...

[chrgrims]

the stone is very rough. certainly need to be careful walking barefoot there.

we just put sand inbetween the stones. then they packed it hard. not sure how. its a very low tech approach to the deck. We will need to see with experience how it goes. we compacted earth, then put small/medium stone, then a layer of sand. compacted like 4 times, then put the stone.

the stone is very beautiful and feels great to walk on. but barefoot, it might be a bit rough. slippers for the win!

about price: we discussed this earlier in the thread. in summary: price is only part of the equation. location (i am far from central areas), stability of company, materials, type of pool, quality of concrete, depth etc mean a lot. I know i paid more than some, but i also know i got a very good pool with lifetime warranty on the foundation and quality followup.

EDIT: yes, the deck absorbs water. thats one of the benefits of a low tech deck. one doesnt have to think about draining.

i should also mention again that the depth in the shallow end is 1,2m, not 1m.

Edited November 8, 2009 by chrgrims

[Thaibloke]

Hello great post

Happy swims

Frank

[cooperspale]

the stone is very rough. certainly need to be careful walking barefoot there.

we just put sand inbetween the stones. then they packed it hard. not sure how. its a very low tech approach to the deck. We will need to see with experience how it goes. we compacted earth, then put small/medium stone, then a layer of sand. compacted like 4 times, then put the stone.

the stone is very beautiful and feels great to walk on. but barefoot, it might be a bit rough. slippers for the win!

about price: we discussed this earlier in the thread. in summary: price is only part of the equation. location (i am far from central areas), stability of company, materials, type of pool, quality of concrete, depth etc mean a lot. I know i paid more than some, but i also know i got a very good pool with lifetime warranty on the foundation and quality followup.

EDIT: yes, the deck absorbs water. thats one of the benefits of a low tech deck. one doesnt have to think about draining.

i should also mention again that the depth in the shallow end is 1,2m, not 1m.

did the company you use, design the pool for you or did you do it yourself?

I am wanting to build a pool in my garden and am wanting to have some one come in a give me an indication of the best space to utilize and also design the size and shape and landscaping ideas for around the pool...

I only have fairly small areas available so am looking at a pool maybe approx. 3m by 6 m...hopefully it works out half the price of yours!

[chrgrims]

The company showed us hundreds of pools and we chose this design. But there was a lot of adjusting when the shape was "drawn" on the grid for the foundation. in the end, we got it right, and are very happy with it.

[Naam]

The pool is finished! We started the pump yesterday, and all seems to work well. The stone for the deck is si la laeng.

the deck surface looks slightly rougher than what i have around my pool