Pool Progress: Week 6

How is it already week 6 of our backyard renovation? It’s actually going rather quickly, but as the weather warms up, we are getting more and more anxious for everything to be finished!

If you’re new around here and want to get caught up, you can check out these other posts about where we started and the progress we’ve made so far:

A Pool + Backyard Update | Pool Progress: Week 1 | Pool Progress: Week 2

Pool Progress: Week 3 | Pool Progress: Week 4 | Pool Progress: Week 5

Now is as good of time as any to talk about our cleaning system (because the bulk of the work involved this week was centered around this and other plumbing).

Not sure if this is a “Nebraska” thing or just “our neighborhood” thing, but we don’t see pools covered in the summertime in Nebraska. Like ever. Basically all the pools around us are “opened” in the spring and then don’t close until mid-September or so. This means they essentially are not covered the entire summer (even at night). I imagine this may be different in a home with small children (for safety reasons) but all of them around us are always open during summer months.

With that being said, leaves and other debris can become an issue (especially with the wind Nebraska always seems to have). Shane with Phoenix Pools recommended an in-ground self-cleaning system (the Vanquish In-Floor system from Paramount in case you’re interested in reading more about it). We have some friends with the same system that said it is a life-changer. The in-ground system basically means that it runs at night, cleans out the pool and you don’t have to deal with those annoying little vacuums that drive around the pool during the day. Long story made semi-shorter, there is a lot of extra plumbing/pipes/waste drains that all need to be handled before the concrete can be poured. This is the bulk of what occurred this week.

The waste line was run from the house outside on Wednesday in order to get approved for inspection. We then had a visit by the health department on Wednesday and our first inspection yesterday. Thankfully, all was good!

By the time I got home last night, things looked drastically different! The pipes for the cleaning system had been filled in, dirt had been leveled, the pool concrete footing had been poured, and we had the slab for our pool equipment. Looks like our dead pine also snapped off in the wind.

In our weekend recap post this week, I mentioned that on Sunday we spent some time outdoors and making more cosmetic decisions. One of those was for the concrete coping that goes around the pool. We originally were going to have the travertine pavers run right up to the edge of the pool (the look I really love), but the extra cost of the travertine coping, as well as labor involved to cut all those pieces around the shape of our pool made it a bit cost prohibitive. I think the concrete coping will look fine too but will just give a little more contrast than I wanted. Definitely not the end of the world though for the cost savings we get. So, I had to pick the color of the concrete for that coping. I wanted something really neutral without weird undertones.

Right now we’re deciding by Earthen (the third one down on the left) and Taupe (the fourth one down on the left). Or maybe Thyme because it has some of the yellowish tones of the travertine? Ugh. I have the color card on the wall cap we’re looking at along with our travertine.

We also talked a lot about tree placement to give us maximum privacy from all the neighboring views. The nice thing is that in three-four weeks, the leaves will be filled out on the trees and most of the windows will be covered up. But, we figure with three or four trees strategically placed, we can gain even more privacy! Here was the shot I took Sunday when we were down at “pool water” level.

My parents are flying in to visit us over Memorial Day weekend, so fingers are crossed that everything will be done AND the weather cooperates! Have a great weekend!

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