Finishing an unfinished pool

[AJBangkok]

All,

I have just bought a house which is 70% complete ( construction was halted a few years ago) and would like to find out what I need to arrange to get the pool finished. Basically it's just a concrete structure . There is a bunch of blue pipes under the house which I think go to the swimming pool and a bunch of pipes sticking out of the pool around the spa area. But other wise there is no anything except concrete. Unfortunately there are no plans,and and the company who built it went out of business. I know on one side there was supposed to be a spa and on the opposite side there are supposed to be steps. I'm not sure how much it would cost to complete but I figure the standard pool equipment ( pumps, filter, clorinator spa stuff etc) would be around 250k + and I would like to put in Beadcrete instead of tiles so that will be another 250k + but that's all I know. I have no idea about what else needs to be done to finish it or  costs for labor, plumbing rendering or anything else I would need to get done. I'm based in Hua Hin and a bit wary of going direct to a local pool builder without some understanding of what needs to be done.

 

 Assuming the pool is structurally sound and the blue pipes go to the right places, from the pics below could anyone tell me what's needed in terms of work and equipment to complete it.

 

cheers

 

[sappersrest]

What is required is a few more photographs.

Photos from in side the tank showing the following areas..

The two recessed areas.

The walls showing where the pool inlets should be.

The position of the bottom sumps.

Inside of the balance tank and any other areas

 

Dimensions of  pool and balance tank.

 

Presuming the structure is looking reasonably sound , without getting into the argument about waterproof concrete structures the best thing would be to cap  all pipes exiting the structure and fill with water, you will loose some water through seepage and evaporation, but the test is to check the structure will hold so many tons of water without collapse.

If proved to be sound ,the next thing is the identification of all  existing pipework, this can be done by using water and colored dyes.

Next step is to pressure test all existing pipes.

 

Next is to determine the finished design and what you expect, it to look light.

To me it looks like an infinity pool ,

 

[AJBangkok]

Many thanks Sappersrest. I have had a couple of people come to look at it today and one said the pool was built structurally correct and looked ok and the other said pretty much the same thing except they would have used 16mm rebar not 12mm rebar. There is an issue with the water inlets as in they couldn't find any but they said a closer inspection of the piping under the deck pool area will be needed. They couldn't do it today as it required going through a crawl space .

 

Your suggestions make sense to me and I will hire professionals to do a thorough inspection as the last thing I want to happen is to get it finished, buy all the equipment, put 250k of Beadcrete on it, then watch it collapse.

[Anythingleft?]

On 08/09/2016 at 8:58 PM, AJBangkok said:

 

Your suggestions make sense to me and I will hire professionals

[bark]

Why not turn it into a fish farm and grow some shrimp ? They take only 110 days to grow; and you can get 150 baht/kg.

You can get enough money to finish the pool, with the profit.

[ddraig92]

Lots of good advice ,

 

I built my pool, around 2years ago , I don't think whether this is an infinity or standard makes a lot of difference at this stage . Don't empty or fill the existing structure I'd wait for the dry season it will dissapate . If you fill and drain the pool it may crack . I'd also suggest that you ceramic finish the pool this would add a layer of waterproof adhesive and an extra secure coat .

 

Piping pretty simple 

1. Drain 

2. Skimmer (a box to catch leaves if as the other poster suggested this is an infinity you won't have this just a fall off area and a return drain .

3. Return 

4. Possibly a vaccum if you have an infinity this is a given as us regular pool guys use the skimmer 

 

Finally the solution :-

 

1. Lowest pipe bottom of the pool - drain 

2. highest pipes skimmer jet return vac

 

it shouldn't worry you too much as if nothing is connected you can decide what is what .

 

Dyed water sounds good but I think you can save some hassle with ordinary water and a permanent marker shove a hose in any of the top side vents and see where it comes out ?( Marker is for writing an identifier not for dying the water:))

 

I'm not sure if the second box at the end is an infinity catchmnent or designed to be the pump room . Pump rooms are often located underground to help the system prime . Mine isn't just went for a kick ass pump Hayward super 2. Final piece of advice buy well , Danfoss ,Hayward ,emaux, Zodiac not knock off local or chines from the big Thai sheds . Swimming pools thailand are recomended great advice and they are online 

[coxo]

It's easy so don't worry, 

1. Cap off all the pipes and fill the pool structure with water to test structure for leaks, test for two days. If ok drain all water,

2. Pressure test all pipes at 4 bar for two days, if ok,

3. As its an infinity pool there is no skimmer box, the water flows over the edge taking any rubbish with it, the tank or area at end of pool at infinity edge is your surge tank, that should be minimum 7% pool volume,

4. At the spa you have your air intakes coming out at top and possibly an air switch for the spa, remote controls are best,

5. There should be a pipe from surge tank to machine room, water from surge tank>pump>filter>salt water chlorinator>back to pool.

6. In the deep end floor at lowest point there should be two pipes for the Main Drain, these run to Machine room,

7. There should be 2"pipes in the walls or floor, these return the water from Machine room to pool, in the wall there should be a 2" vacuum pipe running to machine room.

8. Lighting conduits in place ready to loop above water level.

Equipment- 2 Pumps for pool and spa, sand filter 30", salt water chlorinator, Lights LED are best, MD boards for electric lights and automation. 

[AJBangkok]

Update - I have had 2 engineers and 1 pool company take a look at the pool. We test filled it with 50,000 liters of water and it is structurally sound with no leaks. I am getting Beadcreate instead of tiles and the Beadcreate engineer has inspected the pool and given us instructions on how to render the pool prior to the Beadcrete application. I am replacing the black tiles on the pool deck with premapave which comes from the same company as Beadcrete. My next decision is if I want to take the premapave down from the deck to the waterline or tile from the deck to the waterline. The overflow tank will need to be tiled. The pool equipment has been ordered and the electrical company that is doing the house will be doing the pump room.

 

The pic is what it looks like now. It will be a few months before its complete as the Beadcrete is a 2 month lead time and the pool has to be filled pretty much immediately after its application and I don't want to do that until the house is finished.