Jump to content

Dreamscapes Pools/Design

Members
  • Posts

    28
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Dreamscapes Pools/Design

  1. Did you say you painted the fiberglass shell? I would add chemicals and wait to swim. The tap water is not harmful until it heats up and bacteria begins to grow. This does not take long in your climate
  2. Marcite or any cementious material will cause some scrapping if swift contact is made, I agree. That has always been the downfall of that material. We will use polished marble finishes to make the surface as smooth as possible. Usually a marcite or similar finish that is really rough like sand paper is due to PH balance damage or most commonly from acid washing the pool multiple times. It has become a habit for pool service companies to offer acid washing as the first solution to cleaning and removing stains when other less damaging products are available. The real answer is to keep your pool clean at all times especially before it is winterized. If your pool is very rough then you may consider having it hydro buffed to bring back the smooth finish. Just make sure the marcite layer is thick enough before you have the outter layer buffed.
  3. Quantum have you ever built or engineered a pool? You are very much a negative blogger on this site and need to relax. I can show you data proving marble aggregates are easily dissolved by pool chemicals. As well, marcite is NOT slippery compared to fiberglass or vinyl liners but in the spectrum of slip resistance testing, DIAMONDBRITE is less slick. This is a fact!!!!! Why do you think we "Designers" spec these products when designing zero entry pools. Greater slip resistance!!
  4. Due to the fact I do not design or build pools in Arizona, I cannot say in your area it is completely wrong. I will say any competent engineer or designer would be against tying the deck to the pool. In colder climates it is absolutely never done because the freeze/thaw cycles. A deck can crack a pools beam when the deck rises and the pool "which is far below the frost line" remains unchanged by the cold. In a normal weather climate I could forsee the deck cracking as it moves and the pool of course does not. Especially if your contractor says you have unstable soil. You would create a fulcrum point just beyond the beam or where the rebar extending from the pools beam stops. The only way to 100% protect yourself would be to tie the entire pool deck to the pool shell with #3 rebar. This would be expensive and a waist of material. An expansion joint is the normal way of dealing with lateral movement of the patio deck. As well if the pool deck is cantilevered the deck contractor MUST use a bond breaker. You can use felt paper or similar plastic sheeting to create the bond break. There are plenty of free profiles online you can review. If there is a soil instability issue in your area, why does the contractor think your pools shell is safe? Get a soil compaction test "not too expensive" to verify which points in your yard are suitable for the structure. You can do this without hiring an engineer and give this information to your prospective pool designers.
  5. Quantum is right to refer you to the WhisperFlo pump as well. I have used this pump many times before they came out with variable flow pumps and have had no unhappy customers.
  6. mstng, Please consider using Pentairs variable speed or variable flow pumps. These are absolute best pumps out there for residential use and carry a 3 year warranty to back it up. You ony get a 1 year from Hayward. Dirty pool, use a Smart Pool NitroXL over the Hayward brand any day. No vac hoses and no thought needed. An A.I. robot is what you want. My opinion is to change your filter rather than using a robotic cleaner if money is an object. Use a Pentair Clean and Clear Plus cartridge filter over any conventional sand filter. Visit Pentairs website and review the differences between cartridge, sand and DE filters. The particulates you will remove from the water will be far smaller with a cartridge filter over sand. DE is the best but not as necessary with an enclosure over the pool.
  7. It would be great if they offered a natural gas model similar that of indoor tankless water heaters. The price is about 1K which is a steal. I use Coates all electric water heaters in commercial pools and will pay 5 times that amount. This product is so new I cannot really say why it costs so much less.
  8. Samsneet, I have reviewed the spec's for the product you are considering using and find it fascinating. The only problem I really can see is the 112 amps required to operate. This is a similar problem with all electric heaters. You should check with an electrician to see if your homes service can even handle this many amps. You should also check with the manufacturer to see if this heater is salt water safe. You may not use salt, but the next guy who buys your house may.
  9. Dan, The reality is your cover is going to hold water whether it has a pump or not. I understand you don't like the performance of the pump, but why do you want to remove it naturally? You can create a crown in the center by using lumber but you run the risk of the cover being damaged under heavy now loads. Do you live in a warmer climate? If you are not experiencing any negative affects to your cover or home from the left over water on the cover, my advise would be to leave it alone.
  10. Check out Pentairs Eco Select line of equipment if you want to combine solar, heat pumps and automation. I have actually designed and installed these systems and the last thing you want is an assortment of equipment and contractors screwing with it. Pentair offers a 3 year warranty on their stuff and it is designed to work in harmony with one another. You will have to automate or have a controller like the Sun Touch to manage the type of system you want. Being in Florida, a heat pump is a good idea compared to us in Ohio and Michigan. You will need a gas fired heater for your spa though because heat pumps are not obviously designed for on demand heat. Use a Pentair 400,000 btu heater for the spa and see the difference. All the east coast guys love Hayward because it rules this side of the country. Pentair rules the West and in my opinion knows a heck of alot more about Eco pool equipment. Hayward and others just copy what Pentair does a year or two down the road with a knock-off version. Check their website to get more info.
  11. Doug, The only problem I have with hyrbrid pools from Family Fun Pools or your own brand is the elastic joint between floor and wall. There is a really good pool builder around here who has installed Family Fun for 40+ years. He does a great job so I can't knock his work, but I just think the hybrid technology is ancient. Does your fiberglass wall install and anchor the same as Family Funs? After watching them install a few, I felt more comfortable with a K brace or something similar used in a liner pool. Just curious about your thoughts. Masanori, There is no real difference in thermal properties of a composite or stainless steel wall. Doug is 100% correct in saying nearly all of your heat loss is from the top surface of water. Most of this heat loss happens during the evening. With a heat pump you will find yourself running it constantly to keep up a temp of 82 degrees for example. You will have to cover the pool each night and should pay attention to the model of heat pump you are getting. Most heat pumps are undersized by the installer and they can fail. I don't like running any pool equipment constantly so I would recommend a large heat pump especially with a 20x40. You are going to still have possible issues with a single heat pump with that much volume of water. Are you not using a gas fired heater to save money in the long term? Though gas heaters are less efficient, they do provide on demand heat and cost 60-80% less than a good heat pump.
  12. There are a whole host of reasons for a five foot crack in the shell, but we all can agree it will grow larger. Pools with poor construction can crack like this with very little hydrostatic force or movement. Rebar could installed improperly, the crack could be the result of a semi-cold joint during the shoot, poor PSI strength of that area, broken underground drainage systems in that area of the pool "pool is shown empty" and bla bla bla. As an investor myself, I would patch and paint the sucker and hope for the best. Removing that shell is far more expensive than salvaging it. I would remove the tile and coping though to make sure the crack does not carry all the way through the beam. If so, don't patch and paint and be prepared to fork over the big bucks to have the pool properly stabilized. A pool in two pieces is not a pool at all.
  13. I agree with the guy from Indian Summer Pools. I thought we were the only ones applying aggregate finishes out of spec I love the look of an aggregate finish over a strictly quartz finish for a whole host of reasons. If money is an issue, then Diamondbrite or another quartz finish may be more up your alley, but if you have the money, aggregate finishes will outlast any other finish. Not only that, they actually turn the waters color like the pretty brochure shows.
  14. Honestly, no chlorine is not the best choice. The facts are you will have a much greater chance of imbalanced PH levels in your pool from Chlorine than from Salt. Chlorine evaporates and is so unstable you need to be a water chemist or a very involved pool owner to keep it right. Salt systems do need to paid attention to, but in the scheme of things, is far better than Chlorine. Outside of your concern for your marcite finish, salt is by far the easiest method of maintaining a clean and safe aquatic environment. We spec salt systems all the time for hotels and nearly all of our residential clients for a whole host of reasons. A short list is below. •Yes, depending on the amount of calcium in your water you may find that scaling will appear on your pool surface if you have a plaster pool. A salt system attracts calcium to the titanium plates and then can discharge it back into the water. This excess calcium can result in a buildup on the pool surface. I have found this to be most common in self cleaning salt systems. •The salt content in a saltwater pool is about the same as the salt content in the human body. It definitely does not harm pool equipment. Here are some of the advantages of having a saltwater pool: No toxic chemicals to buy, store and handle; No stinging eyes and no chlorine smell; Lower maintenance. The main disadvantage of salt water pools is that it reduces the revenue generated by pool chemical sales. Aside from the initial setup cost I don't think there are any disadvantages in salt water pools They feel better to swim in according to many people and you don't have to worry about constantly having to handle chlorine. and now that you can get alternative salts to sodium chloride in Magnesium and Potassium chloride you can even water your garden with the backwash which can be a boon with some of the water shortages we are experiencing. Saltwater pools are cheaper to maintain. No need to buy liquid chlorine and slug it home from the store. You do not have the harmful effects of chlorine i.e eating elastics out of your suits, friendly to dyed hair, excellent for light skin disorders. Your hair is softer as salt used is water softening salt. Be very conscious of the fact that you must make sure your pool is balanced at all times as you will have to add stabilizer. I have had a saltwater pool for 3 years and when the hot summer comes and everybody is throwing every chemical in the world at the pool trying to keep it clear, you will have peace of mind. Just like the Caribbean, but with 1/10th the salt content. You wont make a mistake going for the salt, its worth the extra monies. Good luck.
  15. He is right, you cannot bypass it and If you could figure out how to, I would not advise it. You may permanently disarm the system and open yourselft up for a lawsuit or government fine. What I would suggest is purchasing a different vacuum. Rather than using the old school skimmer vacs, look at some of the robotic products out there from Pool Smart and others. These vacuums do all the work with no help from the pools suction. They have self contained baskets and operate without any human help. The biggest bang for the buck is the NITRO from Smart Pool.
  16. Diamondbrite or any other enhanced surface is far better than regular marcite for a variety of reasons. If you think about what standard marcite is composed of versus Diamondbrite or other similar products you will find it is like comparing concrete with no aggregate in it versus one with none. The concrete with the aggregate is naturally going to be more durable than one of pure cement. Diamandbrite only consists of quartz crystals compared to River Rok or any other Pebbletech type pool finish that have small washed stones combined with quartz. The quartz still does make a difference and does not change the surface finish. You will not feel the quartz, but only see it faintly. The exposed aggregate finishes are noticeably more rough and you can definitely fell the texture. Unlike traditional marble-based pool plaster, Diamond Brite is made with natural quartz, one of nature's hardest and purest minerals. Marble aggregates are easily dissolved by pool chemicals causing unsightly attaching and rapid deterioration. Diamond Brite's insoluble quartz aggregate is unaffected by the harshest pool chemicals and resists permanent staining, Also, the 3-M colorquartz accent colors won't rust, rub off or fade like other colored aggregate because the pigment is ceramically bonded to the quartz aggregate. Finally, state-of-the-art polymer modification of Diamond Brite's cement increases hardness, improves bonding and reduces water penetration. All this adds up to a beautiful yet durable pool finish. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll have an added sense of security knowing that your pool is comfortable and slip-resistant. Because SGM selects quartz aggregates that are smaller than pebble finish surfaces. The surface is comfortable to bathers feet, and in this age of safety consciousness, Diamond Brite is the ideal surface where wet, slippery conditions are a concern. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Developing Diamond Brite, SGM made ease of maintenance a top priority. The impervious quartz used in Diamond Brite resists stains and etching caused by harsh pool chemicals. And, unlike existing pool plasters, Diamond Brite can be drained and cleaned without being damaged. Additionally, the accent colors in Diamond Brite give the surface a variegated appearance, masking the slight imperfections that are readily apparent in traditional finishes. http://www.sgm.cc/pdf/Diamond%20Brite%20brochure1-2.pdf
  17. At my house I have 3 insane kids so my steps are always wet
  18. No I did not notice a post date of 2005? I am quite aware of the use of hydrostat valves considering we design and engineer everything from residential pools to swim parks. I was merely replying to the few other postings that wanted to add a hydrostat as a solution to their pool issues. You sound like you know about pools and would agree a pool with excess ground water should not be installed unless a sump system is installed permanently. Did the guy say his pool had a sump line installed with a gauge? If so I was unaware of it.
  19. You must think about what is legal and what is not when answering questions about hydraulics. Please read my reply to a question similar about teh VGB Act. 32. Where a single main drain has a hydrostatic relief valve, can a Safety Vacuum Relief System (SVRS) be installed as an alternative to installing a second main drain? If yes, is there any restriction if a hydrostatic relief is installed? The ASME A112.19.17-2002 standard states that the SVRS can’t be used with a hydrostatic relief valve. The ASTM standard for SVRS doesn’t mention hydrostatic relief valves. The CPSC advice is that the SVRS manufacturer’s instructions be followed and any restrictions on use should be acknowledged by the manufacturer. Plans submitted, that intend to use the SVRS in a system with a hydrostatic relief valve must be accompanied by the manufacturer’s installation instructions that specify that the use of the SVRS is compatible with a hydrostatic val
  20. Wow everyone is quite excited about this problem. I can answer your question and most of the others who have similar questions posted on this string. Pleas email your question to remy@dreamscapespools.com The fix for a gunite or fiberglass pool popping out of the ground is not impossible and there is no need for freaking out. In the pool construction industry there are many companies that know nothing about hydraulics and physics so we have problems like this that hurt customers. Your fiberglass pool for example was installed incorrectly. The guy stating you need a hydro static relieve valve is clearly not installing pools currently. They are ILLEGAL according to the Virginia Graeme Baker Act. Installing a similar system in your main drain does work, but only when you empty your pool. If you had a hydrostatic relieve valve installed, you would not want ground water leaching into your pool anyways! They are used to relieve pressure during winter or during draining cycles to clean or perform maintenance on your pool. A simple drainage system installed beneath your pools shell would have relieved the water pressure underground and saved you alot of headache. You can attempt to add one along the outside perimiter of your pool without removing the shell, but no guarantees unless the entire shell is lifted out. A gunite pool that has lifted can be re-leveled in some situations. Removing the shell is 10K-20K and many times is only beneficial to the guy doing the work. I have removed pools that now looking back, could have been salvaged. You can pump grout beneath the shell to fill in the airpockets after lifting the lower side of the pool up with a crane. This costs money but is less than removing and replacing your pool!
  21. Where exactly in Ohio are you located? Our company travels between Ohio, Michigan and Indiana installing gunite and fiberglass pools. On a more local basis we install inground vinyl liner as well. We have a location in Findlay Ohio and one in Toledo Ohio. The Findlay location is a distribution yard for Barrier Reef Pools "Leisures Australian Competitor" and In Toledo we push Blue Hawaiian. If you are looking at a diving pool, I can design and install one from Blue Hawaiian with an auto cover and salt for far less than 60K. I have designed, engineered and installed San Juan, Ocean Reef, Aloha and a few other fiberglass manufacturers pools in the past and can say there is a difference in quality and performance. San Juan and Ocean Reef are bankrupt for the most part which leaves few companies with 8ft deep diving pool models. Blue Hawaiian has multiple models like San Juan did but with much better color selections. The warranty is better than most and customer support is excellent. Auto covers, salt systems, diving boards and pool equipment can affect your price dramatically based on the manufacturer. I prefer Pentair in my residential and commercial projects because of the 3 year warranty on the equipment. No one else comes close. Cover Pools and Coverstar are very high quality auto cover manufacturers and I have had no problems with them in the past. Installation of an autocover on a 40' fiberglass shell can be tricky if installed undertrack style. We had a San Juan diving pool with an undertrack autocover installation that caused us alot of headaches. One of the walls moved inwards less than an inch and cause the cover to bind up when opening and closing. This same installation on a much shorter fiberglass pool has never casued any problems. We did of course fix the problem at our own cost and I vowed to never design an undertrack mounted cover on a 40' fiberglass pool ever again! Top track is the safest way to go considering by the time you have an issue with the cover your pool contractors warranty has expired.
  22. If you cannot use a self leveling concrete product to fix the issue "least expensive" then you can install concrete pavers over top the concrete slab. The compressive strength of a concrete paver is nearly twice that of you poured slab. To fix the dip in the middle you would have to wet set the pavers. This would allow for you to permanently fix them to the concrete and fix the grade. You would mix a bag of Type M or Type S mortar from Lowes or Home Depot and set each brick on a 1/2" or less of mortar. Start on the outside perimeter of two sides and level off of them to the middle and other two sides.
  23. Please do not buy a spa from Costco!! If you want a spa, buy it from a spa dealer. Our company is a dealer for Sunbelt Spas and one of our programs to save customers money is to have the spa direct shipped to your home. This way you can get a quality spa for a low price. There are many spa manufacturers with models in the $4K range, but infortunately they all have issues. Whether it is with pumps, blowers, heat sensors or with acrilic problems, cheap spas are built cheap. I can sell a spa on the internet from a high end manufacturer for 30%-40% less than I can from my showrooms in Ohio. If you are interested in buying a cadillac for the price of a dodge, contact us.
  24. We have wonderfull weather here in Northern Ohio and have addressed this issue with our spa customers many times. In reality, the towel idea does not work because while your in the spa, water gets splashed on your steps and when you step out, BOOM. We have a commercial carpet that we cut to size and give to your customers for free to drape tightly over the steps during the winter months. In reality, you will never be able to beat the elements without enclosing the spa.
×
×
  • Create New...