Possible Pool Add-ons

Found a few things we may consider adding to the pool. (I can hear Steve's big sigh.)

1. Handrail for the lagoon:
The lagoon is the shallow bowl at the east end of the pool. It is where most of us enter the pool if you're not cannon-balling off the waterfall! The first step is about 12 inches and can be a little unsettling for the balance challenged. I'm considering installing a handrail to help ease the process of entering or exiting the pool. It looks kind of clunky, but not out of place since most pools have them. It will ultimately come down to a battle between form and function... with function the most likely victor. In the Swim offers this hand rail at a fairly affordable price, but since I've just started looking... I have no idea what a good price is. It's a start.




2. Ladder to the upper waterfall: The waterfall is a favorite place for jumping. It's not too high and seems to keep things interesting when the kids dare each other to jump. I've done it ONCE... that's all I'm going to say about that... but the kids love it. Right now we use an old red ladder from a bunk bed to climb up to the waterfall. The round bar treads hurt the feet, but works for now. I'm wondering if this stainless steel ladder from Back Yard City could be attached securely (but removable when not swimming). It is designed for above ground pools, but could possibly work... the height is perfect for our needs.



3. One More Ladder
I don't know. Maybe I'm getting ladder crazy, or over safety conscious, but this would be nice down at the west end of the pool. I admit, it may be too much for out little pool (at least I'm not shopping for a lifeguard tower... yet!) This one is on sale at Back Yard City.



The pool is empty of most of the water. Just need to remove the rest of the tile and clean, clean, clean. Should be fun!

Tile Removal Begins

We began removing the tile around the lagoon today. The tiles actually POP off easily... not a good sign, so it's good that we are re-tiling.


The mortar is very crumbly under the tiles. We've found bugs, pine needles and mold under some of the tile, and the surface is very moist... is that normal? I think the only thing holding the tiles up is the grout. The removal looks to be the easy part. The cleaning and prepping will take some time. I'm going in to talk with our pool guy tomorrow to discuss strategy and buy the correct mortar and grout for the project.


Some of the tile actually sits underneath the pool surface and there are a few crack in the pool wall and lagoon bottom, so I will schedule a professional to come out and evaluate the pool surface. This may be a little more than a do-it-yourself project.

That's one green pool! Oh, and it's bigger than I estimated... I have to buy more tile.

Pool Tile Pics

This is going to look so good on our pool... even better than the pics with white grout between the tiles. Can't wait to see a tropical blue pool in the backyard. What a switch from the "nuclear green" it is now! Looks like we will be draining and cleaning it this weekend. Fun. Stay tuned!

Pool Tile is Here

I ordered tile on Tuesday and it was delivered this morning... it's gorgeous. I love Hakatai!

I'll post pics soon. :)

Pool Paint

How can you not want to paint your pool with ad graphics like this?

Initial research on pool resurfacing is distressing. Full resurfacing is very cost and time prohibitive. Maybe we could just paint it. Still need to research this more before making a decision, but Rumac Pool Paints seems like a viable option. Sold locally at Rodda Paint and step by step application instructions are a huge plus.

Still don't know cost, but check out the colors!

The Pool

Seems like I've been focusing on tile quite a bit, so sorry if this topic is getting a little boring.

New Project: The Pool
We planned to have the pool ready by Mother's Day, but our pool is a mess. Very, very green. And the weather has not been cooperating. It will actually cost less to drain and refill it than purchase all the chemicals required to clean it. The decision to drain it and start over was simple. Since it will be empty we will give it a good scrubbing, repair the tile and rust-proof the supports for the lava rock waterfall wall. I'm hoping that we can resurface the pool too, but that's still in the maybe column... the previous owner re-did it a few years ago and decided that the black bottom gave it a lagoon feeling. Who wants to swim in a lagoon?... when you can have the cheesy, bright, obnoxious turquoise color of the South Seas. I'm hopeful, but have no idea what the process is for resurfacing the pool bottom. We'll research this in the next couple of days and post our findings.

Step 1: Drain the pool.

Step 2: The blue tile must go.
Plan A: chip off all the country blue tiles around the edge and replace them with this snazzy mosaic from Hakatai. Today I ordered 50 sheets of Sky Blue/Mint Green Blend. It will be here next week.

Plan B: there is no plan B so plan A better work!

Colors in blend
30% sky blue
25% light blue
20% lake blue
15% mint
10% mint ice

Step 3: Clean metal supports and apply rust-proof paint
I know absolutely nothing about this. Steve will post the project details, but I believe it includes wire brushes and spray cans!

Step 4: Repair lava rock waterfall and reroute water.
Steve really wants to create a fabulous water feature in the back corner of the fill pond... possibly a volcano (surprise!) The water pipe carrying water from the pump house will need to be moved about 6-8 feet. Steve assures me that the process if fairly simple... but Rule #1 in home improvement is: nothing is ever simple.

Some of the rocks and masonry work around the waterfall is breaking down. Many rocks need to be re-set. I don't know how to do this either... hmmm. How hard can it be?

Step 5: Fill pool, add chemicals, heat water and enjoy!
Sound pretty simple to me. Time to start shopping for patio furniture!

Holes in the paneling?!!! ACK!

Hanging something on our new wood paneled hallway involves pounding a nail through it. It's kind of a permanent thing. That's why all the walls that have new paneling up don't have anything on them yet. 

Well, tonight we took the plunge and hammer in hand, hung up a recent Craigslist purchase, a 5-foot long wood carving of I think the Bay Bridge as interpreted by the fabulous WITCO! (W-500 for my Witco freak friends.) The colors are great and the first pic is how it looks from about 2 steps inside the front door. The second pic is how it looks as you start walking down the hallway. This is nighttime lighting... I hope we like it as much in the daytime. 

(Also, I'm trying a new font. Ariel is the closest thing they have to Helvetica.)

Just let it go......

Okay, so Haley and I were talking about how we can give the atrium more "zip" and I had the stellar (I thought) idea of putting small fountains all around the flower beds, buried in the lava rock. They would be set up to spray water up a foot or so for just 10 seconds each in random. Then what if we rigged it up so there were little bursts of flames, too! COOL! Then I thought it would be amazing to figure out a way for it to rain in the atrium! WOW.... or so I thought. Haley brought everything back down to earth by saying it would be easy to make it rain in the atrium... just take the roof off.
Genius.

More Fabulous Tile!

Check out these colors! Our friends just ordered custom blend mosaic tiles from Hakatai. I love these colors and they will look great with their pink/peach fixtures. Must be the season for bathroom projects!