Build A Praire Style Home

And the enjoyment....

2009-04-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here we are ... actually in the pool... Happy we got to enjoy it since the day was hot and the pool was friggin cold... Be we wanted to get in this weekend for sure...

The boss is inspecting the cover and what would happen if one of the inspectors did walk out on the cover...

I like this view...

And the real reason we got the pool... Ya... you can say that again.... shuuuuuussssssssshhhhh

Aha..... Here it is......

2009-04-25T17:10:00.001-07:00

The pool is physically completed... We have quite a bit of work to do on landscaping but that said it is done... Of course there is the chemical blah blah blah,,, and then there is the few odds and ends left ... But at least we can say we can see what its suppose to look like,,,

Here is the pool fully plastered... The hose in the back is to keep water flowing overnight while we wait for the water truck to come in the morning...

Here the whole family is watching as the water is being pumped into the pool from the water truck... He had to lay out 400 feet of hose to get the water to the pool. It took 2 loads which amounts to about 25K gallons... Plus leaving a hose on overnight probably put in 5K. The pool is estimated at about 30.9K gallons

And finally here is the pool...all filed with water...looking pretty clean after a week of brushing... Now comes the time for all the chemical balancing etc..

Plaster Plaster.... We got PLASTER

2009-04-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

The end is near, the end is near.... we are getting close to the end.....
The plaster went on this afternoon and water will be delivered tomorrow... We are running a hose into the pool while waiting for the truck.

I am amazed how quickly you can cover an area with a soupy mix of white cement and marbelite. Wish we could have done pebble tec but alas too pricey for now...

The water was sucked out using a sump pump but I believe it helped that I spent most of yesterday evening using the power washer to get all the loose crud out...

Here is a hard working clean up man... glad I had the power washer...

The Excitement is Building...

2009-03-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

The whole family was out enjoying this wonderful Sunday... Even the CEO put on the gardening gear and help plant some ground cover...

The members of the executive board also lent a hand...

and were able to get a Lot done...

We are definitely nearing completion... Major milestone this week with completion of the electrical and finished the pool deck and most all major construction...

Here Valentino is grouting the sheer descent wall... One of the tasks we had to complete before pool gets plastered hopefully next week...

2009-03-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

The final push to get the pool done is on now....

We started by getting the deck on the side of the pool completed...Originally we were going to use a sand base but it was just not strong enough... So cart off the sand and pour in concrete to give the pavers a good base...

It was back breaking work... 60 bags of 80 lb concrete mixed in a wheelbarrow and dumped and screened... Just the way to spend a Saturday.. And this after finishing up with the fence.

And after all of that, here is the pool deck with the travertine. The electrician was out today finishing with all the controls and wiring the pool lights..

Small progress makes for big morale boost...

2008-09-20T14:10:00.001-07:00

The main accomplishment for today is the completion of the travertine wall where the sheer descents are.

I love the diamond look. Now for how to show it off with plantings in the background. This also needs to block the fence so maybe evergreen with Crape Myrtle in the back?? A row of 4 or 5 ??

Here is the long end of the pool. Still need the coping on the end as well as the pool cover and accessories.

This is the planter on the back side. The steps are to the jump rocks and this is where the paver path will end.

So what about here?? What to plant??

O what to do about landscaping....

2008-09-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

So here is the status after come of the hardscape is in place for the most part. The plan is to complete all the decking and stonework next weekend once we get our wet saw. But what is the real question is what to do about landscaping... The path to the barn will be moved to take advantage of the other door in the back and there are no more plans to extend the path way to the gate. So what to do...There are five main areas... one is the spot above the pool, shown here to the left. The second area is the far side of the pool infront of the fence.

The third area is along side of the fence going around the pool.

The fourth area is the space behind the bbq area and finally the fifth is the ares next to the pool equipment.

We have some ideas on what to do but would love some more input...

We have a great blue print which we would love to expand a bit.

Update on Patio

2008-09-02T07:39:00.001-07:00

This was a weekend of some awesome progress... We have finally started some of the finishing on the back yard....

Here is a picture of the rough gravel we started with on Sunday morning...

After a good days work we have a significant part of the patio covered with the pavers but all the curve cuts and edge work still remained..

And here is the close to finished product. Patio in front of the future outdoor kitchen.

Here is the view of the outdoor kitchen and patio from the family room.

And here is the inspector looking at the work approvingly...

The entrance into the backyard and looking out towards the walkway.

We ran out of pavers to finish out the back walkway so one more weekend and then we start landscaping...

Updates after a summer of inactivity

2008-08-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

Not much has happened until this weekend so not much to write about... But

Here is one of the brightest spots this summer... We did have quite a surprise with good Asian Pear fruits...

Just showing my love to these wonderful trees... I did not water (irrigate) this year but I definitely will be next year. Since we had a pretty wet spring it was not as necessary to water.

We finally excavated for the deck around the pool and the walkways.

Here is the area that will be the patio with the gravel in place...

Here is the area with the BBQ. I hope to have a small sink and fridge along side of it as well

We were able to get the dirt excavated, the gravel placed and compacted pretty good. Its going to sit for a couple of weeks to make sure its nice and hard. We are going to use concrete pavers on most of the patio but on the pool deck we will use travertine which will be good as it is cool on the feet

Slow progress but its in keeping with our plans

2008-04-11T19:37:00.001-07:00

So most of the project has been put on hold while we were working on the orchard... We had to plant about 250 new trees which was quite an undertaking....

These are pictures from about 2 weeks ago when the coping was installed.

They are setting a gravel and cement base for some flat rock boulders... The intent is to break up the formality of the travertine coping and also plan for future water cannon balls when the kids are older...

Some of the boulders were pretty heavy and quite an effort to get them in place...

Checking out the level.

And the final product... The boulders came out pretty nice I think..

Here is looking at the fence which I just finished today... Now will come the energy and heavy finish work of landscaping and finishing work...

I view of the house, barn and the cherry blossom

and finally a true signal of spring.... The Cherry blossom... It is very nice....

I don't know what we are going to do next but it will be a few weeks... After all its tax season....

Finish work started....

2008-03-11T14:41:00.001-07:00

Progress is happening .... Now that we have the retaining wall, step up completed, we have the waterline tile installed. Its called Durango something from NPT

Here is a picture in progress....

And final ..

The cover people will install the cover rail pretty soon and then goes the coping... We are almost there now....

Winter is on the way out... Some new stuff

2008-03-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

There has not been much progress on the house or the barn and definitely nothing on the pool over the winter.... Hoping for a good spring push to get some of them completed but as the saying goes its a never ending process.....

Here is the view out of the family room... The immediate deck will be covered by flagstone or tile, depending on some of the other choices.... The gravel will remain with a fire pit at the end where we have the stone bench. To the right where the dirt lies will be a patio using travertine pavers. The block wall was needed to handle the transition from ground level to the pool. It also gives us a nice seating area, being between 8" and 16" above grade. We will face it with stone. The wall to the left inside of the pool will also be stone faced and will have two waterfalls. And finally in the back side of the pool, we will have four water spouts arcing into the pool as well...

The pool equipment is finally in place. I think it does fit pretty well but more importantly we are making progress to completion...

Not that it does a good job, but this picture does capture the pool, relative to the barn and the master bedroom wing.

Other updates

2008-01-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

So this is the newest addition to the project. We have a 30x40 pole building in the back of the house now. It will be the home for the dogs, who have already happily settled in out of the snow and the wind this winter. I still need to get electricity and plumbing figured out so we could have a small 1/2 bath in the future. I am also planning to store apples in the future...

The pole building is an interesting construction in many ways... The structure is pretty much the same as most timber frames, with posts at 8 foot spans... They are buried in a 24" round 48" deep hole with cement. The poles are then tied laterally with 2x6 dimensional lumber and the roof is standard trusses. It goes up fast, is significantly cheaper than a regular garage, because of the reduced cost of footings, foundation etc... The skin is powder coated metal as is the roof, but the flexibility of the interior is remarkable....

And finally here is a picture worth everything in the world to me... The Big Bosses all dressed up for Xmas Mass....

So were we ended up for this year.....

2007-12-15T18:57:00.000-08:00

The pool in its winter dormant state... You can see the steps in on the far shallow end. The extended box on the bottom is for the auto cover... The wall on the near end will be stone veneered as will the far end wall with a couple of water features. There will also be two columns about 3 feet high on the left side also with water sheets.

This is a picture of the backyard with the winters first snow... It has since melted but it was sure nice looking....

This is the pool coping we will end up with.... Travertine called Sahara Gold...

This is the color of the 6 by 12 travertine tiles we will use for some of the decking... Not sure we will use it everywhere but it is nice stuff

I also have some cool looking stone slabs which I am hoping to use as jumping rocks closer to the deep end. But at this point because of the shape and size of the pool some of the plans for the landscaping and outdoor kitchen etc.... But having a couple of month of winter down time will give us a good opportunity to come up with a plan..

Details of building a pool....

2007-11-12T22:05:00.001-08:00

The gunite process is pretty amazing... Steel wrapped in concrete to create a pool... pretty cool...

The gunite process..

The power of the hose is amazing... basically spray concrete...

Here the steps are being formed in the corner.

And at the end of the day, a hole in the ground is a pool... complete with steps, ledge etc...

WE HAVE A POOL....well at least a shell..

2007-11-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

The day finally arrived for the gunite crew to come over and get the pool into its final shape. This was an occassion we were looking for and pretty much signals that our pool project is really here. The hole was fun, plumbine was essential, the rebar was a tease and finally the pool is the real thing...

Check it out

The guys arrived at 6:30 am and pretty much figured out where they were going to set up. At about 7:05 they started the guniting from the shallow end...

The first truck was the toughest it seemed. The lines were clogging and they kept playing with the mix .... But it did not seem to slow then down much at all...

As the day progressed the speed of the walls being done was incredible. We have a bench alone one side which essentially is a thick concrete wall. It took quite a while to get that done.

Here he is buling the steps into the pool. There are four steps going to the shallow end.

This is a shot as they were starting... We barely had daylight...

The young man with the red hat was the foreman. These boys don't mess around at all.. The were all moving doing stuff as a well choreographed dance troop. The set up was efficient, the progress none stop and efficiently executed.

And at the end of the day here is what it looks like...

Finally the weather and the timing and the stars aligned so we have moved a major step forward.

Problems with rain and not sure what its going to mean

2007-10-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well mother nature finally caught up with us and with all the delays because of the HOA as well as getting everyone started on scheduled we hit the wall....

The excavation, plumbing and steel went off with out a hitch but waiting for the inspections to get done from the county took two days and by the time we had the cover box done and ready for Gunite we stared having rain.....

Here is what it looked like on Thursday when I thought the worst had happened.

But by Saturday morning we were here,... a pool ready for swimming with a few critical pieces missing.....

So I have been pumping out all this water all day hopoing for a Sunny Sunday and Monday.
They will be by to clean it out on Monday let it dry on Tuesday and shoot for a Wednesday, God willing.

Pool progress updates...

2007-10-18T06:46:00.001-07:00

An update for the pool is in progress.... Based on the house build this is like being on Mac 8... We are flying through the process.... The rough plumbing is complete and here is where the equipment is going

There will be a change from the original plan based on the feedback of our pool builders Mike and Doug. There will be one sheer descent on the shallow side for kids entertainment and two spaced equally on the long side. Maybe it would be better to have three???

This is the view of the pool from the house... I think we need to incorporate a pergola or something on the other side of the pool??

The steel is in place... Here is one of the corners with the seat shelf which will be along the whole side.

Overall the whole pool looks pretty good. I am wondering whether we really need #4 steel everywhere but everyone assures me this is per requirements and no need for it.

Another look of one of the corners on the shallow end..

I know this is a lot of pics for a pool build but based on what I have witnessed it seems to be a well orchestrated process with each piece knowing exactly what is required and doing no more than whats necessary...

Lets hope that efficiency will result in a pool that will last a life time...

The big dig....

2007-10-15T15:46:00.001-07:00

The Big Dig is on.... We have quite a bit of dirt coming out which will be going out on the field to fill in some of the low spots...

And the Pirate is here... looking for her ship.

The inspector monitoring what all is going on in the back yard. Once the job started lots of options are surfacing...

The pool is a bit daunting... The width of 15 feet, shown here as 17 feet, seems fine but the length is loooong. I am sure we will be in shape in a few weeks ;)

A view of the back yard alteration... I think it will end up looking just fine....

Updated pool plans and some of the specs...

2007-10-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

The pool design has changed finally to a rectangular 42 by 18. Here is what it will look like. The back and side walls are the bond beam

In the mean time the sheer descents remain as is, as does the walls and look. This allows the pool to be better viewed from the family room and also does seem to work better in terms of the yard but the main reason for the change is to be able to have an auto cover.

Here is what we are adding into the specs for the pool

Specification Sheet as Addendum to Contract.

Pool Specification to include the following…

Automatic Pool Cover

Includes Stainless Steel Braces to support coping stone
Includes the necessary electrical connections
Cover to use side wall recessed tracks and not use coping mounted tracks.

Install gas heater into plumbing.

Gas connection to be made by Master Plumber arranged and paid by Owner
All necessary connection components to be supplied as part of the heater.

Nature 2 Pro G Plus

Includes Clorinator.
Supplies for startup and one year operations to be provided

Three 24” sheer descents with separate pump

Each sheer descent to be valved individually
Separate pump control to be integrated with pool cover. If cover is in place, the pump should not be able to be turned on.

Two floor inlets

Floor inlets to be valved and plumbed independently to the other inlets
Each floor inlet to be individually closed if needed
Floor inlets not to obstruct auto pool cleaner

Side inlets as per design

Side inlets to be individually plumbed and valved

Plumbing to be covered in 4” gravel prior to steel installation
Pebble Sheen to be used

Color Blue Granite
Two coat application to be done as per manufacturer’s specifications

All equipment to be premium grade

Light niches to be stainless steel
Valves should be Jandy Neverlube 2.5” or similar
Safety drains to be Hayward Dual Anti Vortex drains

All plumbing to be pressure tested and remain under pressure during pool construction.
Filter to be a Pentair Purex Trinton 60 sqft or similar.

Fall is coming and so are some projects...

2007-09-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

We are awaiting the approval of our HOA but in the mean time fall is coming ...

The fall colors are starting. Here is a view of fall 2007 behind the house...

Clearing the back porch area with the help of Valentino. We are edging it with granite blocks.

Could not help it but to put in a picture of the Chief Inspector....

And my new co-workers on the orchard... from front to back (Dingo, Kyle and Brycee)

Plans for updating the landscape.... Can you say POOL??

2007-09-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

So we are now developing some plans for the back yard.

We would like to incorporate a pool and we are interviewing several builders ..
Here is the plan that Lisa our landscape designer did for us... I think it would work pretty nice...

The pool is a 14 by 40 with a 14 by 14 extension. The plan is to use the main pool for laps and the extension for the kids play area.... We still need to figure out whether we will put in a spa.

Its been a while.... Some updates... Front Landscaping

2007-07-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

The front of the house... The waterfall on the side of the stairs is almost ready...

and the family hanging out.... The Chief, along with the inspectors and Emama Askale...

This is the view of the front yard. You can barely make out the orchard tress. Lining the driveway are Yoshino Cherries... Makes for a wonderful spring.

This is the front area with the circle. The dry river bed came out ok, as did the belgian block circle.

The more I look at this picture the more I like it...

Updated pics of the outside....

2007-02-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

We have lots of landscaping to do so the outside will be significantly different by end of the year... But I could not resist a couple of snaps with some snow on the ground....

The front will have a circular driveway. The water feature under the stairs and to the left is almost there. We will have some plantings on both sides.

Another look at the front. The motif of landscape will definitely be Japanese...

Still not sure what to do to the "high" side of the house. The balcony wont go in for a couple of years but we have talked about planting a row of weeping willows.

Another look at the hight side.

And here is the biggest challenge... The rear area which will be a combination of patio area, future pool and a creation of an outdoor room.

Moved in but lots to do yet....

2006-10-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

You can see some of the colors from the trees...

Front with the color finally painted.

The living room..... Still has some trim work left.. But its comfy...

Its a pleasure to see everyone enjoying

Interior pics... This is the first party

Getting the sun set on the west side... Porch is complete...

Back yard still needs a lot of work... Patio, screen for the AC..