cwalker1960

Jamie, It seems to have been some time since you asked this but I'll still reply for others that may be interested in the information. As with anything construction related the geographic location can alter these numbers significantly. I am a professional shotcrete contractor in the state of South Carolina. While shotcrete pool shell installation has always been our mainstay, we occasionally do pump jobs for block fill and for slabs that are unaccessable by concrete trucks. In my area the general going rate for shotcrete application for pool shells is in the $65.00 to $85.00 per yard range. Pool contractors that use us regularly obviously being on the lower end of the scale. This price is for the application and finishing of the concrete and does not include material.. Some contractors price the job based on the perimeter foot of the pool. and add extra for benches steps spas and other more detailed items that may be included in the shoot. I don't know their pricing schedule as I've always priced my jobs by the yard only adding extra for major items such as negitive edges and fountains. These are things that take extra work beyond just shooting and finishing. Most contractors charge a setup fee(some call it a mobilization fee), this is to cover the expense of getting the equipment to the job and setting up.This is usually between $200 and $300 depending on the contractor and the difficulty of access to the job.By access I mean can we place the equipment close to the job or are we going to have to drag out 400 foot of hose. Most of us also charge extra for mileage if the job happens to be further than a typical service area. I charge $2.00 per mile on anything over a 50 mile radius from my area. And lastly most of us have a minimum charge to cover operating expenses. I personally have a 20 yard minimum. Another thing to keep in mind that while concrete may be $85 per yard but shotcrete is a little different mix design consisting of pea gravel or other smaller aggregates than typical concrete mixes. It also usually has a little higher cement ratio and sometimes flyash to aid in pumping. Shotcrete mix in my area typically runs $15 to $35 per yard higher than regular deck mix depending on the supplier. Also not to be confused with just a regular pump mix such as used for block fill. While just plain pump mix is designed to aid in pumping it still lacks the needed ratios to be pumped at the slumps or the cured compression stregnth required for shooting a pool shell . I hope you and others find this information useful and good luck with your project.

Regardless of what you are using for coping , be it brick, stone , cantilever or something else , the tile always goes on first. While it is possible to do some minor adjusting to the height of the tile, it's mostly predetermined by the skimmers and the pool beam. Whoever formed the pool and set the skimmers should have already taken into account the grade for the deck and coping. Several things should be checked. The highest place on the beam should be slightly lower than the skimmer/s. I try to keep the skimmer throat as level as possible. The top of the tile should be level or slightly higher than the highest place on the beam. Nail boards in place to set the tile on. Use a water level to set the boards. I use 3/4 inch Styrofoam cut in 4" strips for tile boards but a lot of tile setters use expansion joints. Doesn't really matter as long as it's wide enough to set the tile on top of and flexible enough to bend around the curves of the pool. Don't try to just stick tile on the pool wall and hope that it's level. If it's a straight wall pool , pull strings on each wall and lay the tile to the string. Make sure tiles are level vertically as well. On a free form pool , you can pretty much just go with the flow unless a radius is obviously out of whack. On a straight wall, you may have to do some browning out before setting the tile. the strings will let you know this.Some people use mortar for browning the beam out ,I always use sand and portland cement. guess it doesn't matter , just how I was taught.Once the tile is set and tight, you can brown out the top of the beam with sand and cement as well if you want everything to look pretty. Never really seemed where it mattered as something is going on top of it anyhow.