Installation Pictures
Day 1 (9/24/02)
After waiting 3 weeks for the drop box (lower right) to be delivered by Republic Services, the Renaissance Pools diggers arrive!
Here's the nice lush grass before....
And after..... No more mowing!!!! Woo hoo!
They left the bobcat in my backyard for the night. But they took the keys!!!
Day 2 (9/25/02)
Time to start digging the hole
Here's the yard after they're done
Hi Moya!
It sure seems deep
There are some weird things buried here like this electrical box. Fortunately, no mobsters were found.
Click here to download a time-lapse AVI of the dig
Day 5/6 (9/28-9/29 '02)
With a pick and shovel I dug a trench and put down some PVC pipe for future speaker and satellite cable runs. When the pool is done, much of this will be covered with concrete.
Day 7 (9/30/02)
I came home to find a big pile of sand in front of the house
Day 8 (10/1/02)
They moved the sand to the back yard so they can backfill the pool
They also leveled the bottom of the hole so it can support the shell
They brought in the filter and pump and dug a trench for the plumbing for the pool. That pipe running across the trench is the electrical run for the hot tub!
I had to walk through sand dunes just to get out the patio door. Well, this is the desert after all.
Day 10 (10/3/02)
They crane in the pool shell
Here's a picture of the crane
Now they're lining up the shell in the hole
The shell is now in place
And the plumbing has been run to the equipment
Click here to download an AVI of the install
Day 11 (10/4/02)
The electricians came today and ran the wiring and installed a subpanel
They also installed the fiber optic unit that will light up the pool, although it seems to be missing something....
Here you can see some of the plumbing up close, along with one of the chains used to crane in the pool and a bonding wire the electricians ran all around the pool
Day 16 (10/9/02)
It took awhile but I finally got a hold of the wall guys, the Blakeleys, who are independent of Renaissance Pools. Apparently, they wrote down my phone number wrong and finally got in touch with me when I decided to give them one last call. Anyway, here's a shot of the wall before reconstruction. You can kind of see the plastic mesh and shrubs I put up as a temporary barrier for Moya. She only escaped once!
Here's a webcam shot of the wall being constructed by BJ. It was a fairly small job, so it only took about 45 minutes to complete. It took him longer to just track down the proper color cinder block.
Here's a webcam shot of BJ putting on the finishing touches
Here's a shot of the completed wall
Day 17 (10/10/02)
BJ came back and installed the gate and brought it up to code. It took him a couple of hours to complete this task and now that fall is here, the sunlight faded fast. I had to hold a flashlight for him at the end just so he could see.
Here's a picture of the finished wall and gate. I didn't use the old gate because I needed a wider opening so the hot tub could fit through.
Day 20 (10/13/02)
Using an electrician's fish tape, I pulled two RG6 coax and one speaker wire through the PVC conduit that I had previously laid down. Here's a picture of one of the ends. I ran the wires through a cap to prevent dirt and water from getting into the pipe.
Day 21 (10/14/02)
The pool people came back today and pressure tested the plumbing and partially covered up the pipes
Day 22 (10/15/02)
Inspection day! I haven't heard anything from anyone. I guess I passed!
Day 24 (10/17/02)
I guess it did pass inspection because they started filling the pool this morning!
While the pool filled, they filled in all the spaces around the shell. Here's a shot of the filled pool with a little bit of dirt still needed to finish backfilling the pool. Looks like they managed to get quite a bit of dirt IN the pool too.
Day 25 (10/18/02)
With the pool filled and the rest of the hole backfilled, it's time to prepare for the kool decking. Today the kool decking subcontractors showed up to level the dirt and lay down the forms for the concrete. According to a message left on my machine by Renaissance Pools, it's time for another inspection on Monday!
Day 28 (10/21/02)
The inspector came and went and the pool has passed this phase!
Day 29 (10/22/02)
Chilo from E&E Concrete came by to inspect his crew's job at putting in the forms for the kool decking. He also came by to determine exactly how much decking was being put in. I ended up having to pay for an additional 27 sq. feet of decking plus 52 feet of decko drain. You can see what decko drain looks like in this picture. It helps drain water away from the house and walls.
I also made sure he knew that I needed a flat surface where the hot tub will be located. He marked off the area and will make sure the pour crew keeps that area level.
Day 30 (10/23/02)
The concrete crew arrived this morning and got straight to work pouring the concrete and applying the kool deck on top. Here's the finished results. The square in the lower right is where the hot tub will sit.
Now the pool needs to be cleaned.
Yuck!
Day 30-31 (10/24/02-10/25/02)
The guys at Renaissance Pools came back and cleaned up the pool and did the initial chemicals. It's much nicer now.
It looks pretty cool at night. It looks much better than this picture indicates.
Day 36 (10/30/02)
Final inspection! It passed. Now I can swim in 58 degree water. Oh well, it will be hot again soon enough.
Fortunately, the hot tub arrived today. Here's the guys rolling it onto the kool deck.
Here's the hot tub in place with the cover installed.
Here's a picture or it with the cover opened. I could have had it open to the opposite side, but then the cover would have blocked access to the control panel from outside of the spa.
Here's the current design (click for larger image)
The pool will be installed by Renaissance Pools.
The pool was manufactured by Viking Pools.
The spa was purchased from Spas By Renee.
The spa was manufactured by Tiger River Spas (Hot Springs).