Day 7 Pool Project

Today started out early, the fellows were here to start work at 7:30. I was ready for them but I don't know about my neighbors. They cancelled yesterday because it was too hot, not too hot for the workers but for the curing process of the plaster and pebble. I got a huge laugh out of this truck that they backed up my driveway to my gate, the name for the large tank is called the "Ditch Witch". If you even look closely, you can see a witch on a broom flying by the moon.

The first part of the job was the prep work. They wrapped all the new tile, copping, and concrete work. Then they strung belay rope across the pool and tied them down to anything secure in my yard: a pillar to the patio overhang, the orange tree, the potato bush, a block from the retaining wall. This was a suspension system that they could hang some of their water air lines, the suction line and the line that sprayed the finish onto the surface of the pool.

As they were prepping the area, they brought out a 10lb. bag of sugar. I did not see where the sugar was put into the process but it was there for some reason. Maybe it helps to give the stones a shine.

Finally, some plaster and pebble is being applied. It was a dark goop.

All the fellows (4 of them) in the pool wore these funky four pronged platform shoes to protect the plaster they were working with. The shoe was connected at the toe like a cross country skiing. Another fellow was working along the edge of the pool and another fellow was outside at the big mixing truck. A pebble finish is mixed on site and each job is different depending on the color. I think there was a slight breeze outside and the fellow mixing must have been standing in the direction the wind was traveling because he was completely blue and looked like a big smurf. He was blue from head to toe.

After the goop was sprayed all over the pool the men quickly started to trowel the whole pool, starting with the sides and the bottom last. There was two thick layers applied to the sides of the pool and one thick layer on the bottom and they troweled each section separately.

After the sides of the pool had been troweled the sides were sprayed down to reveal the pebble finish. They continued to trowel to get make a perfectly smooth surface.

These are the "ditch witch" and the "mixing truck" out front of my house. Notice, I still have not quite finished the front yard, the Bermuda grass needs to be killed and sod put in. The grass has to be completely dead before I can move on. Continuing to kill the grass will give me time to get some funds under my belt to then finish the project.

At this stage you can sort of see the color of the pebble finish. It is cloudy now, tomorrow the acid wash will help with the luster of the stones. Actually, from what I have read online, it will take a couple of weeks to have the pebbles really shine. Over the next couple of weeks, I will need to brush the pool a few times a day. Some of the pebbles and plaster will fluff off, leaving a nice pebble finish.

My new steps.

Nice clean lines and curves. There is something about that.

Here are all 3 of the steps.

The website for Stonescapes has a picture of what the stones will look like after they are all polished. The water color of my pool will look something like the sample to the right. There are many factors that help the color become what it will be: shade, light, sun, clouds, and blue sky. I will have to take a dip in my pool on Thursday and imagine I am at a beach with a black sand beach. The pool is almost finished!