Almost Done

We are almost done with the pool. The latest was the installation of the solar pool heating. The panels that go on the roof come completely assembled with the panel attached to the feed and return pipes on the top and bottom.

The two young guys who did the installation located the roof rafters (tap, tap, tap like a woodpecker) and installed the lower brackets for the panels on them.

Installation only took about 4 hours. They claim that we will be swimming (high 70''s to 80's water temp) every month except in maybe January.

The piping for everything is getting a little complex but they are working - the water temperature has already gone up 3 degrees in one day.

Besides the solar heating we also got the robo-cleaner that just keeps going around the pool and even climbs the pool walls until it falls off.

We bought a solar cover for the pool on-line. This one is 3/8" thick and is supposed to last for at least 6 years. It not only insulates the pool water but also stops evaporation which is the largest heat loss for a swimming pool.

Well it is fine for swimming but Polly decided to work on her tan so she could show it off - we leave for the cold north on Sunday.

Work & Play

On the work side, Polly and I are still landscaping around the pool. This week was in the backyard end of the pool. Home Depot had a $49 special on Palm trees so we got our wet back laborer to install two next to the pool.

Then to finish them off, we dug out a bunch of different shrubs that the previous owner had started and now were hidden by overgrown other plants. The outer edge is a some sort of Day Lily, the red colored plants are a Croton and the row next to the pool are ferns (Polly's favorite).

We also received a nice pool warming gift from the Curry's. It's called a Corn Cane. We pt it into a ceramic pot and then had the problem of how to move it. It weighted a ton.

And now for some R & R - I'm a member of Groupon and I saw this trip advertized for 1/2 price ($15 ea). They call it a Duck and it goes down the road along the string of islands just off the coast near St Petersburg.

And then into the water it goes.

And we see the back side of all the buildings we saw from the raod.

And we were joined by some Bottlenosed Dolphins that played around the duck for quite a while.

All in all, it was a very nice trip, especially the lunch at the American Legion Post overlooking the Inter Coastal Waterway.

Self-draining Deck

Another step closer to a finished pool - they laid the deck around the pool and what a deck - It's not the normal tiles, its a porous sand and epoxy mixture. When you get out of the pool dripping wet, the water goes down into the sand/epoxy deck and runs off under the surface rather than making a slippery puddle on the deck. So this is how it's put on. Two guys mix the sand, epoxy and catalyst in a small cement mixer.

Then it is wheelbarrowed out to the pool.

Where it is raked to about 3/4" thick coat.

And then it is smoothed and compacted with a big trowel.

And, walla, a beautiful finished deck is formed.

They came back in a couple of days and put a second coat of epoxy on as a sealer. Still a little sticky to walk on. Now we are just waiting for the solar matting to go on the roof to warm up the water and we're all done, except for some landscaping.

Almost there

Getting closer and closer. Bob the Pool Builder was back with 12 gallons of acid which he poured into the pool water. The acid etches the finish coating and brings out the blue speckles and cleans up any mortar on the tiles.

I retiled the slate floor to mate up to the new pool access.

The safety fence company came by and installed a removable fence that prevents toddlers from wandering into the pool area. If I didn't install the fence I would have had to alarm all the doors that enter into the Lanai.

The pool boy came by and installed a thermal blanket that prevents water evaporation and heat loss.

With all that done why not relax with a drink in the pool

Every morning I get up and do 100 laps. The water temperature is 68 so if you don't keep moving you turn blue.

Gary and Cousin Sandra invited us over to Anna Marie Island where they live to go to a Christmas celebration. Most of the shops and restaurants were providing free food and drinks. I got a glass of red wine and it never went dry. That's Polly, Sandra, Holly's Friend, Holly (their comedic daughter) and Gary. All waiting to sit on Santa's lap.

The weather turned nasty that night and we got caught in a Florida snowstorm. Funny it tastes like Ivory soap.

Finish Coat on Pool

The Mexicans shot the gunite, the Cubans did the screen house and finally the finish coat on the pool is done by a group of overweight white guys. The finish coat is cement with fine shiny blue particles in it. The guy in the truck is mixing it and the guys in the pool shoot it on the wall and smooth it out.

There is one guy shooting it and three guys smoothing it out. First guy gets it roughly the right thickness, second guy gets it level and last guy puts a smooth finish on it.

They all wear spike shoes so when they start doing the floor of the pool they only put four little holes in the finish instead of a big footprint.

The last guy smooths out the spike holes on his way out.

Some extra tiles that were used around the top edge of the pool were cut into small squares. These were set into the finish coat for decoration on the steps going down into the pool. The step edges were trimmed with a deep blue cove tile as a finishing touch.

I mentioned that the finish coat had little blue speckles in it but you don't see them as it is being applied. After the pool is filled they will throw 6 gallons of acid into the pool water. This will etch the surface of the finish coat and the little blue speckles will show up.

Speaking of filling the pool, I started last night at 11 PM (as per their instructions). I got up once in the night to check the filling and noticed that the well pump was red hot - I turned down the fill rate so it wouldn't have to work so hard. The next morning, I was surprised how little water was in the pool (looked like it would take 2-3 days to fill) so I hooked a hose to our second well and started it up. But it only had a small (4 gallon) air bladder pressure tank on it. This caused the pump to turn on and off every 20 seconds or so as it tried to keep up with the pool filling. So I went to Home Depot and bought a bigger bladder tank and a whole bunch of PVC fitting - and back again twice more for parts I forgot to get the other times. It is working good and the pool fill rate has improved (should be filled by tomorrow morning).

Landscaping

It's been a slow week on the pool - I guess pool builders do Thanksgiving too. Seeing there weren't too many workers around, we got started on landscaping the front side of the pool. I got my slave to move all the leftover pavers into the outside passageway to the pool. She loved sifting the stones out of the old flower beds to use to fill the gaps between the pavers.

We took advantage of the landscaping to correct some previous planting errors. These Bromeliads where on the south west side of the house. I cut down several trees on that side to open up the sunlight to the pool which exposed these to full sun and they didn't like it. They slowly changed from a dark green speckeled with red to a pale yellow. Hopefully they'll  like the cool North side of the house better.

Another fix was to move some sun loving shrubs (Gardenia, Hibiscus, & Hydrangeas) from the shadows (most were where the Bromeliads are now). A few new plants were added in between
the old ones.

Completing the Screen House

The roof is next to go up - They sure use a lot of screws to make the roof beams

The beams are assembled on the ground

And then after the screening is attached on the top, they are walked into the pool area

One end is lifted up and a single screw is placed into each rafter so the entire roof can be pivoted around that edge.

The other side of the roof is then lifted into place and now they go back and rigidly attach all the roof rafters to the screen house uprights.

All the screening and cross-bracing is completed.

They even put in a door for Kayla - anyone know how to teach a cat how to go out through it?

The next day the screen house is all done and ready for use.

Come on in, the water is fine - not quite - (that's Kylie and Bowen - Amy (my daughter) and Dan Baker's off-springs)

Screen House Going Up

The pool guys took down the cement forms around the pool and turned it over to the screen house guys.

The screen house guys are Cubans and Bob the Builder says they work to a different schedule and he was right, they don't show up until 1 or 2 and then work till 6 or 7 every afternoon. This is their work bench for cutting the Aluminum beams.

They quickly remove the outside wall of the Lanai and set up the beams for the walkway to the pool.

They assemble and partially screen all the wall sections while they are laying on the ground. Neat tool the guy is using - it has a roller on one end which he uses to push the spline in and the other end has a razor knife which he trims the screening with --Very fast.

They then pick them up and carry them over to the pool.

Where they bolt them to the deck and the last wall pannel.

This is the end of day 2 for the screen house guys

It looks like they are going to put up the roof beams next.