Our Pool Experience - Week 2

January 30, 2001 - Day Eight

A beautiful sunny day. The electrician arrives around ten. He acknowledges the note and says there won't be a problem. He measures and marks the new spa location. He also takes the time to describe how he is going to wire the sub panels and how the wire bonding for the overhang posts is going to work.  When I arrive home, I expected to see spools of wire hanging from all conduits waiting to be wired to the equipment when it arrives.  I was wrong.  The only thing the electrician did was lay all of the underground electrical conduit.  After looking though all of my paperwork, I finally see that the final electrical is not done until the equipment is ready to install.

January 31, 2001 - Day Nine

Inspection day.  The first inspection is scheduled for today - pre gunite and rough plumbing/electrical.  The inspector is scheduled to arrive anytime between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.  When I leave for work I have to make sure we have a note allowing the inspector to enter the yard if we aren't home; the orange construction must be in place or the inspector will drive by without stopping; and the dog must be in the house.

The inspector arrives about 2:30 p.m.  The first thing he spots and expresses concern with is the way the overhang is temporarily tied to the roof.  He tries to avoid going under the overhang whenever possible.  Luckily we aren't written up for this.  We are written up for some clearances on the steel and some lack of steel in the deep end of the pool.  He also writes us up on the exposed pluming in the main drain (the rain had washed away the dirt covering the pipe).  In addition the pipes don't appear to be maintaining the necessary 35 psi preasure required.  The only remark that is questionable is the spa disconnect.  The inspector writes down that it must be at least 5' from the spa.  The current location of the spa, which is temporary for construction, is right next to the electrical on the equipment pad.  But according to the plans, the final location of the spa is about 15' from the equipment pad.

After the inspector leaves, we call Susan to give her the news.  We ask if this is normal to have this many things to fix and she responds yes.  It all varies depending on the inspector, but the things that need to be changed are all minor.  Greg arrives shortly after we talk to Susan and starts viewing the construction.  He notes that the love seat (swim out) is too long and two feet offset.  Greg leaves taking the issue sheet with him.

February 1, 2001 - Day Ten

I called Susan in the morning to find out all of the inspection issues, and to find out the next steps.  She tells me the steel crew and plumbers should be out today, and that we are scheduled for re-inspection the tomorrow (between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.).

 The plumbers and steel crew show up around 2:00 p.m.   I talked with the plumbers and the leak is most likely in the skimmer.  To test the pressure for the first inspection, they have to put temporary pipe in the skimmer to make a closed system.  Since this pipe is only temporary, they cannot use glue to hold the pipe, they have to use a plumbers tape or silicone sealant.  Since it was raining the day of initial installation, they used the plumbers tape to hold the pipes together and it doesn't hold as well.  They re-pressurize the system and verify there are no leaks.

The steel crew go over all of the issues that have been communicated to them.  They try and get in touch with Greg to find out the issue with the swim out.  I expressed to the steel folks that if it is just an issue with the placement, then they could leave it where it is.  I also asked if it is more expensive to have a wider bench.  They express they don't know the material cost for the gunite.  We measure the length of the swim out and observe that the plans call for a 5 foot length.  The steel is actually set at 5ft, so the swim out would be 6ft with gunite.  The steel crew leaves with their notes and will return in the morning to finish the morning.

February 2, 2001 - Day Eleven

At 8:00 a.m. I call Susan to find out where the steel crew is.  They were supposed to be their bright and early to finish before the inspector arrived.  She was surprised they weren't there.  She says she will find out where they are.

The steel crew foreman arrived about 8:15 a.m. and sits in his truck on the phone.  The crew finally arrive around 9:00 a.m. They finish the work just before the inspector arrives.

We pass the inspection, but he still marks down the spa disconnect in the comments section.  We call Susan and let her know we passed and to find out the next step.  We are scheduled for gunite on Tuesday.

February 3, 2001 - Day Twelve (Saturday)

No work today.  It's playtime.

February 4, 2001 - Day Thirteen (Sunday)

No work by the pool crew, but it's my time to put my pipe in the trenches before the deck crew shows up.  I spend all day digging extra trenches and lay pipe.  I lay three water runs and two electrical runs under the patio - one water line for a hose bib, one water line for the flower bed around the pool, one water line and both electrical for future use.  I move the anti-siphon valves to their new location.  In also lay new drainage pipes to replace the ones destroyed by the excavation and rough plumbing.

February 5, 2001 - Day Fourteen

I finish up connecting the electrical pipes that run under the patio.