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After the old forum software breaking in a way that we were unable to fix, we've migrated the site to a new platform.

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How about a pool ?

derrilexderrilex
edited November 2012 in Off-topic
Thought I document the plunge pool project that I've undertaken. So far its all site prep. The pool is currently being built up the coast and will arrive fully tiled and basically ready to swim once the filter is hooked up. The pool is pre cast concrete and measures 3.5 mt in diameter and 1.4 mt high. because its poured in a mould upside down, the top ( bottom of pool) is finished by hand and is therefore not perfectly flat. Therefore, the pool has to sit on a bed of 5 mm gravel to avoid point loading. So, in the following photos we have the formwork set up to pour border to contain the gravel. I set it up with the laser level and its pretty spot +/- 1 mm so I'm happy. Next is moving the gravel. 1.6 m3 in a barrow - bugger. Using the laser level to screed the gravel dead flat. The pool arrives on the 29th of November and is craned into position on the 30th. More pics when it arrives.
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  • Brett HBrett H
    Great work mate! Some spectacular form work... Almost qualifies as cabinetry!  I love the way you've tied the cement boarder to the existing slab.  Lets hope your supplier is as precise with their measurements!
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  • derrilexderrilex
    Great way to use up a bucket full of 12 mm gal dyna bolts. Drill the hole and thump em' in. I dont like using them for much else anyway. The slab falls about 25 mm to the bottom right of the photos. I put 3 drains in that section and after todays storm I can say they work very well indeed  :D
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  • Ol GrumpyOl Grumpy
    FWIW, I built concrete inground swimming pools for twenty odd years- and helped set up the moulds for a range of sprayed fibrecrete shells- just like your swim spa- put a few hundred of them in too... So, if you want to ask, I'll see if I can help.... PS. The most important RL is the waterline tiles... Shim up the shell to get them perfectly level... Then wet set the base to this level and the rest is pretty much plug-n-play... OG
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  • derrilexderrilex
    I asked them about setting the pool up on levelled blocks and pumping a grout slurry underneath. They said no way. Gravel bed only. PITA but its done now. I'm getting mine fully tiled at the factory so as long as the crane driver can plonk it down without rooting my perfectly level gravel we should be sweet
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  • Ol GrumpyOl Grumpy
    Like I said-so long as the waterline tiles are level... Cause the water you fill it with will be 100% level... Sloping tiles are not a good look. We used to set up fibreglass pool shells on screeded road base- it can be done. Still check the tiles before you accept the final level... It's where any mistakes will be highlighted...
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  • derrilexderrilex
    For sure. Good tip. Fortunately the pool tiler they use has done heaps of them so I can only trust them at this stage. They are sheet mosaics, bit of a art but a piece of piss for the pro tiler. Have google for allcastprecast.
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  • derrilexderrilex
    But you're spot on. I'll make sure the tiles are level while it's still hooked unto the crane. Would be a real bugger to rectify though.
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  • Koffee_KosmoKoffee_Kosmo
    on 1353156233:
    But you're spot on. I'll make sure the tiles are level while it's still hooked unto the crane. Would be a real bugger to rectify though.
    That depends how long it takes to fill the pool and how long the crane is staying KK
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  • derrilexderrilex
    Nah. Check the tiles with a level once its sitting on the gravel
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  • Brett HBrett H
    on 1353198145:
    Nah. Check the tiles with a level once its sitting on the gravel
    Yep!  Have you got extra fill ready or is it already so level that the earth is spinning strangely now because of it?
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  • derrilexderrilex
    :rofl:. I finished levelling it yesterday arvo with the laser and its +/- 1 mm.  :thumb:
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  • Brett HBrett H
    How good is it that you are on a slab already!!  The subsidence will be negligible.  Brilliant!
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  • derrilexderrilex
    Hopefully the clay underneath plays nicely though- the slab was done in 1993, 6 years before we bought the joint. Who knows what the quality is like ? No cracks but it has a low point where the water tank used to sit. But, it may have been there all along - I didnt check the slab prior to putting the tank there. She'll be right mate :D, 5 T of pool + 10.5 T of water should go anywhere in a hurry
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  • Ol GrumpyOl Grumpy
    I'll try and be clearer... I said to check the RL...( Either relative level or reference level) I'm quite sure the companies tiler laid the tiles level.... I'm also confident you've got the pad level... What you need to check is that the RL used to lay the tiles is 'perfectly parallel' with the base level... In practical terms... Sit the shell on the pad and take the weight off the crane... Now before disconnecting the crane... check the waterline tiles are level from one end of the shell to the other- before you fill it - if they're level... Proceed. If not use the crane to lift a little and use some villaboard or similar as packers, as necessary... And *IF* necessary. Putting the tiles on before levelling the shell is a little bit cart-before-the- horse... But if you complete this RL check you will ensure the waterline tiles are level with the water level- when you fill it. You don't really want to find out the (waterline) levels are out when you fill it; do you?
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  • Ol GrumpyOl Grumpy
    Tolerances: (top level of top row of waterline tiles- one end of the shell to the other) Laying the tiles the top line will be +\- 1mm but doing it this way +/- 2mm would be considered 'perfect' Anything up to +/- 6-10 mm would have to be considered acceptable but if the level is much more than this I would be shimming the shell back to acceptable tolerances... Just set your laser up and measure down from the horizontal line with a tape measure... Check  the four compass points... N,S,E &W. Take you less than two minutes... Which is about 1/10 of the time it's taken me to explain it :lol Have fun...
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  • Brett HBrett H
    Ah Villaboard... Is there nothing that it cannot do!?!?
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  • derrilexderrilex
    No need to explain it OG, I got it :thumb: but thanks anyway. Time is the main reason for pre tiling. By the time its delivered and sorted out, had its inspection from the pool tiler, been waterproofed and then tiled it will be Xmas. I have to build a deck around it etc..... well before then and having it all done in a covered factory in a controlled environment makes sense to me. As soon as it arrives I can crack on with the deck without having to worry about a tiler pissing and moaning and getting in my way and visa versa. I think over 3.5 mt using 25 mm mosaics it would have to a full tile out to be noticeable, which would be a massive fuck up on their part and virtually impossible to do as they will be following a perfectly level top edge of the pool. It should all come down to the crane placing it gently straight down ( hopefully) 
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  • Ol GrumpyOl Grumpy
    on 1353242736:
    ..... worry about a tiler pissing and moaning.....
    Awwwww come on now I don't piss and moan... Sure I might rant and rave now and then... Just ask our mate Galumay... Nah... Piss and moan... Sounds more like a chippy to me... :poke
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  • derrilexderrilex
    :rofl: :rofl: fair go OG. Honestly, the only ones that whinge are the finishing type trades - tilers, plasterers, painters. Always sooking because things are not perfect and they may have to use a bit of skill to make good. Mind you, Ive had to rectify a shit load of other carpenters work before I would hand it over to the painters or tilers. Walls miles out of plumb etc... So many chippies have the " painter will fix it " attitude. Scary stuff. Brickies are the absolute worst though. Fuck them.
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  • Ol GrumpyOl Grumpy
    Any update in the project?
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  • LacehimLacehim
    D is visiting the pool place as we post to see the final product I think. :)
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  • derrilexderrilex
    Ok, made the trip up to Woombye today to see the almost finished product. Looks bloody awesome and bloody massive. The guys are going to texture paint the outside for me for free ( at their request) so thats a bonus. There are still few bits to finish off like fitting the jet plates but basically its ready for the truck next Wednesday or Thursday.
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  • derrilexderrilex
    Took a few snaps of another one being tiled while I was there. They take a solid 4 days to tile and they are a real bugger as the tanks taper, meaning the sheets of tiles have to be opened up at the top a bit.
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  • UNMUNM
    Bit of a climb to get in. Arent they normally set up so the water level is roughly flush with the ground? :question: our pool is a straightforward plaster type interior, with a ton of silica flecks to make it sparkle. not our choice as it was done before we bought, but looks nice enough. I am guessing that ours  is a cheaper finish, haven't a clue about longevity, but seems to be lasting ok.
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  • derrilexderrilex
    Its getting a deck built around it at coping tile level with a walkway connected to the house. No doubt about it, fully tiled is where its at. All the plaster based finishes leach into the water and mess with the chemical balance. Eventually the water will penetrate the finish and get behind it then its game over as it literally falls off the walls. Some of the rendered finishes can be really rough on the skin too. The tiling basically trippled the cost of the pool but I think its money well spent and its not that much more than having a plaster type finish in this situation. The cheapest finish is epoxy pool paint which could be DIYed for about $ 1200.
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  • derrilexderrilex
    Ok, its in. After a few puckering moments and a sinking crane  ???. Video available if you PM me your email addy.
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  • LacehimLacehim
    Nice job D, sounds like it wasn't easy though!  Hopefully when you get it full of water asap for a plunge! :)
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  • derrilexderrilex
    Its got about 30 cm in it now at the request of the manufacturer - still bloody tempting but a bit hard to get into - and out of
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  • Brett HBrett H
    Looks amazing!!  Covered Timber decking and walkway with rails.... Hope your Timber supplier is on ya good side ???
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  • Ol GrumpyOl Grumpy
    Pool Party? :nudge Actually I reckon 1big bomb from my fat belly and... Ol Grumpy :in Pool Water:out... Tsunami Warning!
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