Wrapping up the Big Stuff

   This continue to push forward, quickly to the finish with Eli's crew finishing up all the retaining walls and grading.  Initial gas and electrical inspections have passed and the trenches have been filled in.  Everything is tidy and all the big equipment is gone.  The crew expertly graded everything they touched, not just in the back yard.  The areas around the driveway have been used for boulder storage and a pathway for the heavy equipment.  The Tango Pools equipment trailer has been parked next to the swingset for the better part of a month and the initial dump of boulders have torn up the grass in the street.  Everything was made right with smooth grading and strawmat at the street to help protect the grass seed.  Tango Pools has provided once of the most professional jobs we've experienced at the house and it has been a pleasure to work with them.  It's not all done yet though, as gas and electrical need final hook up and inspection, plaster is still scheduled to go in next week, and we have to get a pool fence and water in before we can finally take a swim.

   The pavers that were removed for the trenching have been repaired and you could never tell they were missing.  The pool side power conduit has been plugged until the electrician comes to run the wires.  All the ground is graded nicely so we can determine where the planting bed and grass will meet.  Lawn irrigation is coming on Monday to provide a quote for repairs and installation of the new bed irrigation.  After they're through, I'll amend the soil with good compost and get some mulch on the beds so we can plant them in the spring.

   The crew got a nice rock in the middle planting bed.  We're planning on putting a nice dwarf maple on the right to add some zen to the pool.  We'll mulch it, so it won't be a rock garden, but there will be lighting in there.

   Here's the repaired section of patio.  Without the presence of extra mortar spill over, you would never know it was missing.  Maybe the pavers are a little cleaner, but it will all blend in when I take a power washer to the pool.

  Here's the boulder wall in the completed state.  We've always planned for some land retention here, and reserve the rest of the space for future construction.  The plan is to get stone steps installed sandwiched between this wall and the walls closer to the house, as the incline is too big to comfortably keep.  I'll grass it to prevent erosion and hopefully we'll soon save up enough money to complete this section.

   A small amount of trench remains so the electrician and gas installers can have access.  The small gray conduit sticking out of the base of the wall is for the pool side socket.  This post will actually be a combination of two days since things are moving so fast.  The initial visit for gas and electrical has happened, so this picture is a day behind.

   There's a painted rebar to denote something, and a copper ground wire sticking out of the ground.  I don't think it's the bonding wire, but the electrician said something about the pool side power.  We'll see what happens to it later.

   So here's where the electrical and gas are currently.  Eli said electrical will finish up tomorrow, making it a two day job and gas is currently pressure testing and will remain like this until next Tuesday, when the city inspector can come and pass it.  The large gray box is the main pool controller box.  It will house all the connections and control board for the pool functionality and automation.  It controls the lights, pumps, heater, chlorinator, and hooks into the little wireless bridge on the upper left.

   The gas pipe is currently pressurized to 16 PSI and it should be able to hold at least 15 PSI until Tuesday when the inspector comes.  After that passes inspection, the gas can be connected to the heater via the pipe at the top of the picture.  A hot water blow valve was installed on the other side in the manifold.  It's similar to a pressure valve on a hot water heater.

   Here are the penetrations in the under deck storage space for the electrical and gas.  Code requires house penetrations to be a certain height above grade and these will mostly be hidden from view by the raspberry and blackberry bushes we're planting in the location.

   Here's a final shot of the entire pool area, final grade.  Plaster will be early next week and water mid week.  Eli said that as per the pool finish warranty, you can't add salt to the system for 28 days.  You also have to have weekly water test performed at a pool company with a print out to ensure the plaster has time to set in a correct water environment.  Since we're so late in the season, that means we won't be using the salt water chlorinator this year, but will instead be using traditional chlorine, before we close the pool.  Next year, when we get the pool water up to 70 degrees consistently, we can add the salt and use the salt water chlorination.  He's also going to put us in contact with a pool maintenance company, which we'll probably use this first winterization.  We'll need to get a cover tarp and it would be good to have the pool professionally closed the first year.  I'm planning on maintaining pool water chemistry and opening/closing myself in the future but it will be good to have it done the first year.

   That's it for now.  Tomorrow will see the electrical completed.  Next Monday will be plaster, Tuesday will be power washing to expose the pebble aggregate followed by water the same day.  Gas inspection will also be Tuesday so hopefully we'll get the system running.  A Jandy automation rep will be around to get everything setup and the pool fence will be in later in the week so the entire setup can be inspect for final inspection.  The end of next week should see everything completed.