Getting Started with Gunite Pools
Design Process
First Consultation
The first appointment will take place at your home. We will look over your survey, measure the property, shoot elevation, look at access, and discuss the type of project you are after.
The Designer’s First Draft
Our design consultant will then come up with a custom 3D design that will be to scale and give you an idea of what is possible in your backyard.
Review and Revise
The second appointment can be done at your house, via zoom, or in our office. Having you in the office allows us to make changes in real time, while also being able to look at the endless amount of materials we have in our Design Center.
Final Touches and a Completed Agreement
Once the plan and price is agreed upon you will then sign a contract and pick your selections.
Construction Process
Following is an explanation of the swimming pool construction process. This is a basic outline, as all jobs are different, and some require additional steps. This should help clarify basic swimming pool construction.
Layout
The first step is for your designer to paint the pool out in your backyard. This is required for some cities, but is mainly to help you see the location and size before construction begins. We will also have a Pre-Construction Meeting prior to starting that will include your designer, a project manager, and our superintendent.
Excavation
This is the big day that you have been waiting for. Pool excavation requires heavy machinery including an excavator and dumptrucks. Although we try our best to keep the mess to a minimum, the backyard that you have worked on becomes torn up in a matter of minutes. The form boards for the pool are set and the pool is excavated. When the excavation is finished, the excavated hole resembles the same shape of the finished product.
Plumbing
A crew will dig trenches around the excavated pool and install the circulation plumbing pipes between the pool and the filtration system. The plumbing is pressure tested and inspected for leaks prior to backfilling the ditches. The pool plumbing is laid in trenches the pool plumbing is hooked up to filtration system.
Reinforcing Steel Installation
A crew will install the reinforcing steel to the shape of your pool. This steel reinforcing helps hold the gunite structure of the pool together. The pool takes shape after completion of reinforcing steel.
Gunite Application
Installing gunite is one of the most impressive parts of the pool construction process due to the equipment involved and the skilled craftsmen that trowel and shape the pool. The gunite is pneumatically applied over the steel to form a single piece gunite shell. The craftsmen will trim out the final shape of the pool. When the crew leaves, the pool structure is in place and it becomes evident what the pool shape actually is.
Tile & Coping Installation
The tile and coping that surrounds the pool is then installed. This begins to dress up the pool structure, giving your pool an attractive and safe pool perimeter.
Equipment Installation
The pump and filter system is now installed and set into place.
Electrical
The electrical work of providing power to the pool filtration equipment and the underwater lights at this time.
Concrete Deck Installation
It is at this time that the concrete deck is laid out, formed up, poured, and finished. Control joints are also installed at this time. We are getting close to the finished product.
Preparation of Surface and Installing the Interior Finish
The surface is then cleaned and prepared for installation of the interior finish of the pool, which provides the waterproofing surface over the gunite shell. The skilled craftsmen will trowel the surface until it is smooth. The pool then begins filling. Skilled workman smooth out the plaster with trowels. Then the plaster is applied.
Filtration Equipment Start-Up
When the pool is full, we start the filtration equipment and begin analyzing the water and adding chemicals.
Clean Up and Grade Work
At this time, we remove construction debris from the site and bring in a load of topsoil to spread around the pool area. It is at this time that you begin to get your backyard back and landscaping can begin.
Final List and Inspection We then have a final list that we go through that includes such things as installing the diving board, ladder, install the automatic cleaner, fill-in expansion joint between the coping and the deck, as well as other things.
Pool School
Time to go back to school! It is at this time that we explain the complete operation of the pool. We want you to have as much knowledge as possible, as we feel that the more you know the happier that you will be with the swimming pool.
