The pool dig started the same day as Ginger went into labor. We considered ourselves complete 15 months later, August 27, 2005. Please review these pictures carefully if you ever consider undertaking such a project!
Update: 2014. A wise man once said a pool is a hole in the ground into which one pours money. That about sums it up! We still enjoy the pool but maintenance is never far out of mind. Check out the latest pics at the end of the album to see why I say that. Cheers
Date(s): June 17, 2004 Updated 2014. Album by The Vierregger Family. 1 - 274 of 274 Total. 2119 Visits.
12 July 6, 2004 - 3 weeks later - excavator finally came back
13 Until the pool is ready, Ryan has to use his imagination
14 One of a couple of big "baked potatos" found during the big dig
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16 July 16, 2004 - Steel frame is being built
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21 July 30, 2004 - Plumbing begins. We are now more than 2 months into the project. Plumbing takes about 3 days.
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31 August 9, 2004 - Gunnite for the pool. Takes 7-8 hours and three truck loads to shoot
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49 As if it wasn't enough chaos building a pool, our chocolate lab had 9 puppies at the same time, and we built the temporary fence in the front yard to let them play. Apparently, we are crazy!
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63 August 18, 2004 - Plumbers are back to complete the plumbing. Pump area to have 5 pumps, 3 blowers, heater and filter
64 1300 ft of PVC pipe was used
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69 September 23, 2004 - We are three months in to the project. The fence is going up.
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81 First tile and coping didn't go so well...
82 Somehow we ended up with about 2" of mud when it should have been only 1/2"...
83 The whole thing, tile and coping, was removed to fix it. This meant more delays...
84 October 5, 2004 - The next crew did an excellent job
85 So many cuts to make in 2" stone - and all with a handsaw
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91 Finally with water - and just in time for Christmas. The landscaping is going to have to wait.
92 The plaster is "medium" gray with 3m ColorQuartz aggregate. This tints the water a bit.
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94 The pool wasn't opened until December. It has to be open for about a month to allow the plaster to cure. Hope it doesn't get too cold...
95 Oops, a little plumbing glitch and a big freeze cause a bit of ice to form
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97 It's January, but have cleared the patio and yard for major excavation. Sinking the patio 2 ft and digging foundation for the pool house.
98 The shed has been emptied and limits of clearing have been painted
99 500 sq ft of mesh-reinforced concrete have to be broken up.
100 A view towards the future poolhouse area.
101 After the excavation, 9 6x6 deck posts will need to be replaced. They won't go deep enough once the dirt is excavated 2+ feet.
102 That pile of dirt on the construction road is actually a solid block of ice. Had to rent a backhoe to break up and remove the 15 yards of dirt/sand/ice in order to access the back yard.
103 February 5th - The big dig begins... Moving 75 yards of dirt and concrete.
104 In this picture the patio has already been broken up and hauled away. It took 5 workers 2.5 days with 2 jack hammers to break up the concrete, and 1 day to haul out.
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106 Don't start a project like building a pool unless you can live with a mess for months on end...
107 Because so much dirt has to go, hand-digging was used to get away from the house before the Bobcat starts to dig.
108 Will have to go down 10" below the existing basement slab to make room for the new patio. Retaining walls will hold back the walls and steps will lead up to the pool deck.
109 March 15th - the excavators are back after disappearing for 5 weeks.
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111 The bobcat made the job much easier - but there wasn't much room to move around
112 Instead of hauling, the dirt was piled beside the pool. Some will be used to fill the back yard around the pool in preparation for the deck. The rest will still have to go.
113 The finished product. 6 weeks after starting to dig, this is the end result. The posts will all have to be replaced because they don't extend in to the ground anymore.
114 The new patio will be at basement floor height and stone retaining walls will be constructed.
115 The post in the foreground was tapped by the bobcat. Good thing it wasn't load bearing - in fact it's dangling in mid-air!
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118 Some of the dirt that was excavated for the patio - most of this will have to be hauled.
119 Dirt is fun to a boy. Ryan is playing king of the hill. Sorry son, that dirt has to go if you want the pool opened this year!
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121 The manual part of moving the dirt around the back yard isn't as fun as it looks
122 The extra dirt was used to fill in around the back of the pool where the yard sloped off.
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124 March 19th - ready to have the posts replaced...
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130 March 21st - 4 man crew shows up to replace 9 6x6 deck posts with 12 footers. This is a big job but the crew is very professional and efficient.
131 Lead carpenter was impressive.
132 Supports held up the deck while the posts were replaced.
133 Measure twice, cut once...
134 The crew managed to swap out 9 posts in a single day. And they even showed up when they said they would!
135 April 11th - Workers show up for the patio and stone walls...
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137 The problem with having a sunken patio is what to do with the water. We are installing a dry system under the new composite deck boards which will keep the patio dry for the most part. This worker is digging a 3x3x3 dry well store whatever blows in.
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139 Installing rebar for the stone retaining wall footers
140 The concrete arrives for the 500sf slab under the flagstone patio
141 12 yards of concrete (2 trucks) were wheelbarrowed to the patio
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143 Worker is measuring the slope of the patio. The pad had to be sloped to the dry well so water doesn't stand or puddle
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145 Only a rough finish is required for the pad because it will be covered with flagstone
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147 April 16th - the stone masons are on site
148 Laying the cornerstone - ah, progress!
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150 Flagstone floor and stone walls to be installed around patio
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155 Floor is still dirty - but there seems to be a pretty good color variation in the flagstone
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157 Stones will enclose the wood deck posts
158 April 21st, the patio is starting to take shape. The capstone is a 2in. gauged pool coping flagstone - a bit of an upgrade$$$ but looks like a million bucks
159 The remaining patio is awaiting a gas inspection before completion. Cheryl and I decided to have a gas firepit installed since the stonemasons were on site anyway...
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162 The decision to run a new gas line to the patio led to 3.5 days of digging and trenching for the gas line - by the homeowner himself! The 100ft trench for the gas line ran right through the contractors 4ft pile of gravel, and ultimately through the new patio - fun, fun, fun!
163 Around the pool equipment...
164 around the future pool house...
165 and down to the patio. That was the relative easy part. Well not really, but it was easier than sawing through the new slab and footer!
166 The footer was 2ft thick! The gas line has to run under the footer.
167 Try digging out 18" of concrete, gravel and clay with a 3" shovel. It took a day and a half just for the patio portion of the gas line excavation. I sure hope it was worth it.
168 More trenches - the left side is for a stone retaining wall to run along the fence. The right side is for drain lines.
169 June 30th, 2005 - Workers are preparing for the pool deck
170 Doesn't that water look refreshing?
171 The hole in the ground is for the diving board stand - concrete is 12" thick there
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173 14 workers moved the 19 yards of concrete by hand
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175 It was a hot day but the rain held off
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177 We had timber-framed steps run up the side of the house and filled with the same brushed concrete as the pool deck
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179 After draining and cleaning the pool, Ryan and Ginger wait anxiously for the water to rise...
180 Success!
181 The spa is just right!
182 All the fountains in action - Ginger really seems to like the pool
183 Showing small fountains - they are adjustable using a valve
184 "Bubbler" fountains
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187 Getting closer to finished...Cheryl just finished painting and new light fixtures are up
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192 The deck is almost done - notice the black roofing material I installed to keep rain off the patio underneath. It uses a gutter to send water out to a drain. This turned out to be a massive, time-consuming, heavy job. Over 3,000 staples and about 1,800 screws, all of which had to be pre-drilled. Whew!
193 Showing part of the finished section of deck
194 Chairs just waiting for a party!
195 8/15/2005 - The waterfall crew has arrived. They are building the support structure for the waterfall, placing 1/2" rebar every 12" to reinforce the concrete shell.
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197 Piping on floor is for drains - the flexible pipe is the 2" waterline that feeds the waterfall.
198 Formed out and ready to go.
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200 A work in progress - concrete shell supports the boulders that become the waterfall. In the end the shell won't be visible at all. 5.5 large pallets of boulders were used.
201 The crew had to wheelbarrow the concrete in due to tight space constraints. It is 4' thick in places!
202 The completed waterfall. It is a bit larger than we expected but it's great for climbing on and jumping off.
203 Ryan and his friend Mark wasted no time in testing out cannon balls from the new waterfall.
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206 The completed patio with firepit. The firepit is a natural gas appliance using piped-in gas. It really makes the patio.
207 This is an early morning shot with the sun coming in from the east. The patio has a dry roof system so it provides nice shade during the day. Ceiling fans help cool things down further.
208 The patio also features recessed lighting with dimmers and a separate dim-able spotlight over the firepit. More than 450ft of wire was used to wire the patio electrical sytsem.
209 Notice the gutter system installed at the front of the patio to drain off the water from the deck above. The gutter goes to the pool deck which drains out to the woods behind the house.
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212 The yard was destroyed during the construction project. We hired a landscaping firm to regrade and lay down sod. We even treated the yard to a "spring cleanup" in August. Better late than never!
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217 The sod is stressed because it's late August. Only 15 months since the first shovel hit the dirt and our yard is ours again.
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220 We still have a little grass in the back yard!
221 The end. Except for the landscaping, fix the sprinkler system, build a shed, screen off the pump equipment... A successful project is never finished!
222 UPDATE - January, 2014. The pool has been open 8 or 9 years now. We planted some tall laurel evergreens behind the waterfall in 2005 or 2006, and they grew into what we affectionately called "the green monster".
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229 The reason we are updating the album is because the waterfall is sick. Notice the gap in the stones? The entire waterfall is sinking backwards. We attempted a rehab a couple years ago to compensate for the rearward leaning and to waterproof the front side. It was an expensive, losing battle. The hulking beast must go. The reason? The jackass who built it didn't put footers under it. And he disappeared by the time we became aware of the problem.
230 In the foreground, you can see some of the mitigation work, where the waterfall ledge was redone and elevated in the rear so the water could go downhill into the pool. Cost to mitigate and waterproof the front of the waterfall where it lifted off the coping - too much, and it still needed more work just for mitigation as it is impossible to fix completely. Add to that the hassle that no one wants to touch the beast and dislodge those big boulders for fear of liability.
231 It's winter in these pictures, but just trying to document the final state of the waterfall before it is demolished. The waterfall will be replaced something, but what?
232 More green monster shots.
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234 Looks kind of like a big chia pet. The laurels got out of hand,, but they make a great evergreen screen.
235 Ah, what is missing in this picture? Demolition has begun!
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238 Using my trusty sawzall, the green monsters were down and hauled to the front in less than 45 minutes.
239 The former green monster now looking quite sad while waiting to be hauled away.
240 No more waterfall chia pet.
241 Now there is room to work. In a stroke of luck, a landscape company happened to be driving by as I was hauling the laurels up to the front of the house. They offered to take the laurels to be shredded and while they were loading them up, I talked the foreman into "making that pile of rocks disappear". Lol.
242 The demo crew in action. They have already removed most of the boulders.
243 Talk about physical, back-breaking work! A sledge hammer and a breaker bar were used to dislodge all the stones and dolly them up to the street.
244 After five hours, this is what remains of the waterfall. It's just a shell of it's former self, no pun intended.
245 Not a very attractive feature anymore!
246 On their way out for the day, the guys said "there is a lot of concrete under there". Uh huh. I am supplying them a jack hammer to break up the shell. That concrete is 3 or 4 feet thick in places!
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248 This is what four guys can do in five hours. Of course, they have to now lift it twice to get it in the truck! It hurts my back just to think about it.
249 Forecast for tomorrow? Snow! But the guys are hungry and said they would be working anyway. Goodbye yard.
250 Day2 - we had some snow and it's 15 degrees. Will it stop progress?
251 Nope! The hard working crew is back and braving the elements.
252 End of day 2 and the guys have made some progress knocking down the concrete shell.
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254 Can you imagine attempting this with a sledgehammer?
255 Day 5 of demo. The crew missed a couple of days due to the Polar Vortex and below 0 degree weather. It was still less than 10 degrees this morning. The guys asked for a second jackhammer, thinking they could finish. These 70lb electric jackhammers are just not made for 2-3ft thick concrete so it is a slow process. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have rented a trailered compressor and heavy duty air hammers - available up to 90lbs. Live and learn (and pay out the nose).
256 It's a mess, but the concrete shell is almost gone and the boulders have been hauled out from the front. One day left I am told.
257 End of day 5. Some final demo and lots of cleanup tomorrow. Weather permitting!
258 Day 6 of demolition and we can call it complete. Now the fun starts. We have opened up a can of worms and will have to deal with the mortar-covered coping in the spring. At least we have a blank slate and the hard part has been completed. My hats off to the crew, they really worked their butts off. More pictures will be posted as things progress. Cheers
259 May 20, 2014 - after spirited debate about what to do with the area where the waterfall once stood, a decision was made to extend the pool deck with a flagstone patio inlay.
We considered making this a grill area or an outdoor fireplace. Too little room and too much hassle to get gas back there, so a new patio it will be.
260 A deep footer was dug to make sure this patio doesn't sink like the waterfall did.
261 Everything had to moved by hand.
262 End of day 1 and the slab is done.
263 Day 2 - Have to knock out the old coping stones that were ruined by the waterfall.
264 These stones will have to be replaced and matched as closely as possible. The pool coping actually has a blue-green tint to it and that has proven impossible to find. Attempting to fill in and replace stone after 10 years means nothing is perfect but hopefully everything will blend.
Getting the old stones out and starting cuts on the new stones consumed day 2.
265 Day 3 - Cutting and fitting the coping stones is a slow, painstaking process. The entire perimeter of the new deck area was redone. Can you see where the old coping stops and the new begins? It's a pretty good match and the stones still need to be cleaned up.
266 The new coping is on the left, 8 year old coping is on the right. This area is adjacent to the rear bar area and should make a nice planting bed for some annual color.
267 View from the rear bar looking at the new planting bed and pool deck.
268 The area inside the coping will be filled with irregular flagstone. There was no way to match the poured concrete deck so we decided to make the area look intentionally different. We have other flagstone nearby so the theme should carry over.
269 View from the opposite side of the yard. The rear bar is in the top left of the picture. We left 18" on the back side of the pool deck extension to put some narrow evergreens as a fence screen.
270 Another view from the left side of the yard.
271 Looking from the deck.
272 Day 4 - more help arrives to assist with the flagstone installation. We really like the colors in their stone selection. It has been a long day to get the jigsaw puzzle figured out.
273 We had an image in our heads when we decided on a flagstone pool deck "insert" - but it is looking even better than we had envisioned.
274 These guys are artists with a hammer instead of a brush!
