Things have really started to move into high gear in these early stages of construction so I'll try to keep up with the updates. I've seen pool building estimates between 2-6 months and Eli has said that he's looking at finishing the pool near the end of swimming season so maybe it will be possible to take a dip before it gets too cold and we'll have to close it for the winter.
So far, we've gotten final designs, local permitting, interim HOA approval. When building the house, we had the foresight to install a breaker panel and gas line in the storage space under the back deck, so all that can be pulled from that location. Initially, we were hoping to house all the pool filtration and heating equipment under the gazebo area, but looking at the build pictures, it looks like there's only 5 feet to the footer inside and I would need to excavate around 1.5 feet of backfill to reach that depth. Additionally, the pool filter will need around 6 feet of operating height to for filter servicing. The final nail in the coffin was the heater clearances. Since it's a gas operated heater, there are installation codes dictating air make up and spacing requirements, which I don't think we'll meet in that space. The pool equipment is designed to work in an outdoor environment and most people just stash it on the ugly side of their house, but we don't have an ugly side so placing it will be an issue we'll have to deal with.
Eli obtained the engineering drawings and recently shared them with me. It contains yard elevations based off the initial plot survey and adds the pool design, showing elevation measurements for the final surfaces.
As shown, there will be a 1 foot drop from the house to the pool area. Currently the drop is much higher as measured by my peep sight level tool. The height differential should be able to be made up by the excavation of the pool itself. As with the original landscaping design plans, a retaining wall will be required to reach that desired level. Some of the already implemented retaining walls in the back yard are the same caramel mint stones used around the rest of the house. We're currently planning on using boulder walls for this part of the landscaping. We've used boulder walls on other parts of the property, namely near the driveway at the house and entrance. It lends a more natural feel to the location and is a bit less expensive. The height differential between the top of the wall and bottom, as per the plans, is 2 feet. I'm not sure if two layers of smaller boulder or if a single layer of large boulders will be used. Since the pool cap, the border of the pool, which is the highest part of the pool area, is at 1005ft, it looks like the top wall height of 1003ft will allow for a 2 ft sloping drop across the planting area. The fire pit sitting area will drop about a foot and a 3/4 from the rest of the pool decking so considering step code max height is 8.25 inches, there will probably be two steps down, as supported by the illustration. The engineering plan has the steps of the height at a very comfortable 0.58 foot, or a little over 6 inches each step.
So in summary, lots of interesting information that informs what kind of work will need to be done to the yard to prep for the pool, and how the look of the yard will change when the pool is installed. We're going to be having a meeting early next week to finalize the decisions on materials and finishes, and nail down a final quote. Eli is hoping that we'll get the silt fencing installed early next week and break ground the following week. Things are moving fast!
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