Construction Information
In the construction of your pool, we consider ourselves as guests in your home. Your assistance can help us keep the inconvenience of swimming pool construction to a minimum. The following information will help you with our “team effort” and give you an idea of the amount of behind-the-scenes effort we have to do to keep you pleased with our organization.
Plans and Blueprints
A blueprint of your pool layout will be provided. This document will be used to build your pool and should be examined closely. If there are any questions regarding the pool or equipment location, please contact your sales representative or sales coordinator immediately.
Changes
We understand that changes are required at times. Any changes should be directed to your superintendent or the construction coordinator in our office. Changes can require duplicate efforts and material substitution that can result in increased pool costs availability. We are happy to make any alterations you would like, but the details must be discussed before the change is made. Any change in the contract price must be mutually agreed upon.
Contract Addendums
For your protection, and by law, no changes on the original contract and construction plan may be made without your written approval. These approvals are then called addendums and actually amend your original pool contract. Should you wish to make changes before or during the construction of your pool, you will then be requested to approve and sign an addendum, which could change your original contract price.
A note about how work is scheduled
The normal installation time is ninty (90) workings days after the completion of excavation. The flow of work usually proceeds with minimal delays. However, you may experience normal delays between crews due to inspections, crew scheduling, material availability, shipments, rain etc.
Please remember that work cannot be done on rainy days. If the rain is heavy, work may be temporarily interrupted for a few days depending on how your area drains and soil conditions. Rainy days will also keep us from pouring concrete, setting tile or plastering due to the real threat of ruining the work.
Work schedules are firmed up daily as it is most difficult to schedule construction more than a few days in advance due to extenuating factors: i.e., weather, equipment breakdown, material deliveries, and degree of job difficulty. Only your job superintendent and the construction coordinator handle the schedule for your pool. Crews in the field rarely have accurate response to scheduling questions, so your best source of information would be to call our office direct.
31200 Landau Blvd. #2203
Cathedral City, CA 92234
(909) 606-8470 – Fax (760)459-3603
Progress Payment
Payments are an important part in the scheduling process of your pool. Your prompt payment will enable us to expedite the construction of your pool. Our people are paid upon completion of their work, and so we must adhere to the payment procedure that is established in your contract. All billing and addendums must be received prior to scheduling final plaster.
Excavation and Layout
When the excavation is scheduled, you will be asked to remove any plants, sprinklers or other lines which may be in the pool area or in the path of the entry and exit of the tractor. This should all be done a day prior to the excavation. The removal and/or replacement by ELEGANT CUSTOM POOLS are limited to the work explicitly shown on the plan. (ELEGANT CUSTOM POOLS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR OR RE-ROUTING OF SPRINKLER SYSTEMS IN THE POOL AREA OR ACCESS AREA UNLESS NOTED IN THE CONTRACT.)
Our excavators will form and lay out the pool according to the enclosed construction plan, which indicates size, shape and location of your pool. If this plan does not conform in every way with your instructions to our sales representatives, please contact our office immediately to make sure your pool is done properly.
We would also like you to know a little about what layout is. Explicitly, the form will be 12” outside that water line, and 2” below the finished grade, depending on the type of coping on your pool.
Pool decks and walkways should slope away from the pool at least 1/8” to 3/8” per foot for proper drainage of the area. At the completion of layout you will be asked to sign an excavator’s sheet approving the location of the pool as staked out on the ground. For this reason, we require that someone be home on the day of your excavation to ensure that you are satisfied with the pool location.
Depending on your contract, the dirt excavated from the pool area will either be loaded onto the trucks or hauled away or left on the site. If you are in need of some of this dirt, we will be more than happy to leave some of the dirt on your property. However, please be absolutely sure of the amount of soil you need. In the event you ask us to leave dirt on your property and you cannot use it, it becomes an expensive matter to bring in equipment to remove the soil after the excavation is completed.
With normal soil conditions, excavation will take approximately one day. If you wish additional grading over and above the arrangement on the contract, please sign the excavator’s worksheet so that he has authority to do any extra grading. The cost of such extra work will be billed to you accordingly.
Steel Placement
Steel is installed as per the engineered structural design for your area and soil conditions. Steel normally takes from one to two days to install, depending on the size and complexity of your pool. Shallow edges and steps do not necessitate any steel structures and are formed with gunite at a later date.
Progress Payment #1
Your first progress payment is now due upon the steel placement. This payment amount and percentage is located on your contract.
Plumbing Placement
Our plumbers will now install the pool plumbing system. Plumbing will be installed per contract and construction plan. In most instances the pool equipment will be installed the very same day and will be placed on pre-cast slabs, less otherwise specified. This crew will complete the bonding of the pool lights also.
Inspection
Inspectors will be out after the plumbing and steel have been installed to check that our work conforms to the city and county codes.
There will be an inspection card posted in a conspicuous place on your property, generally in an ELEGANT CUSTOM POOLS MAILBOX. on the side of the house. Under no circumstance should this card be removed. This card is required reading for the building department. They give us no guarantee as to when they will visit a site. If you are home when the inspection is made, a call to our office giving us the results will help to expedite your pool construction.
Pneumatically Applied Concrete (Gunite)
After inspection has passed we will schedule the gunite process. There is usually a delay from three to five days while the scheduling of gunite material is coordinated to meet the equipment for this phase. Our office will call you the day before and inform you of the time of the guniting. Please keep your doors and windows closed while the gunite machine is in operation due to the dust that is created. If there are any day sleepers in the home or people who are irritated by excessive noise, this might be a good time to be away from the home, as the gunite machine makes a considerable amount of noise.
Pneumatically applied concrete must “cure” slowly for the maximum strength. Please keep it damp for about seven days after the application. Only light sprinkling is required with a garden hose. You should water the entire surface of the pool inside as well as on top. This should be done two to three times a day. This process is known as “curing” and is important to the structural integrity of the pool shell. During the hot weather the pool should be watered three to four times to slow the “curing”. Do not be concerned about the water that will be forming at the bottom of the pool, as it will be removed prior to plaster. In the event that you are planning a trip or will be away for a day or so, you might arrange for someone to handle the watering of the pool during that period. However, missing a day will not harm the unite integrity.
Progressive Payment #2
Your second payment is now due. This payment amount and percentage is located on your contract.
Gas Line (Not always on your contract)
The gas line is installed from the gas meter to the pool heater and any other gas appliance specified.
Electrical
Conduits are placed for wiring the underwater lights and filter equipment at this time. In addition, pool lights and switches are installed. PLEASE DO NOT SWITCH THE POOL LIGHT ON. If it is turned on while the pool is empty the resulting heat can burn out the entire light fixture in only minutes. If the electrical work is not part of our contract, please be sure the final electrical hookup is complete prior to the plaster. This should be coordinated with our office. If there was no power for the pump after the plastering phase, this water could become stagnate and stain the new plaster.
Inspection
The city and county building department will now inspect the gas and electrical work that has been completed. Again, your assistance in contacting us when the inspector signs the inspection card will help us in expediting your pool.
Tile and Coping
Our tile setters will install the tile, coping, brick or rock, per plan. This work is done during or after the gunite-curing period. Installation can take up to five days depending on the complexity of your project. Do not walk on or tamper with the coping, as the concrete underneath will be soft for several days.
Progress Payment #3
Your third progress payment is due upon completion of water tile. This payment amount and percentage is located on your contract.
Decking
The decking is normally scheduled after completion of tile and coping. This is usually done in two steps. The first step the set up crew forms the concrete and in the second step the concrete is poured. These functions are usually spread over two days but can be delayed. If you wish to run chaseways or sprinkler lines under cement, now is the time. After completion of the deck set-up, please sprinkle the area to keep it moist until cement is poured. After cement is poured, it will need to be “cured” as the gunite was. You will need to keep it moist for seven (7) days by watering it twice day. Do not worry if you cannot do it every day – you may skip a day or two if your schedule keeps you away from your house.
Progress Payment #4
Your fourth payment is due upon completion of decking. This payment along with all addendums needs to be received in our office prior to plastering.
Landscape and Fences
As with deck work, landscaping and fencing may not be in our original contract. However, whoever does your work should be aware of the following important points:
Area Drainage: Up hill slopes should be drained with rock filled trenches, surface and/or subsurface drainage. Deck drains included in our contract are stubbed out at the edge of the deck. These lines should be carried out to daylight or surrounding landscaping drains prior to any planting. Most problems related to cracking pools or shifting decks are traced to poor or non-existing drainage. Water is the lubricant that causes soil to slip and drains away from your pool.
Fences: Five foot high fences with self-closing gates and latches out of the reach of children are required by law in most areas. This is advisable in all areas, and must be installed prior to plaster. Check this point with our office if you have questions. No matter how secure your pool area may be, we strongly suggest swimming lessons for all children in the family.
Something very important to remember. Before plastering is done, you should complete all projects, which create dust and dirt, such as woodcutting, painting, landscaping, etc. This will protect the coping and decking from staining. Please try to keep all materials out of the pool.
Clean-up
Our clean-up crew will remove all debris and leave your yard as clean as it was before we started. Although we do not finish grading, planting, or seeding, all ruts will be replaced by us only if shown on your contract.
Final Payment is Due
The final payment is due upon commencement of plaster. This payment amount and percentage is located on your contract.
Plaster
The sparkling clarity of a fine quality pool depends heavily upon keeping the plaster clean through the critical curing period. Prevent sweeping, burning or yard work in the area until the pool is full of water. This will take approximately one or two days and will eliminate any dust or dirt that can cause staining to the plaster.
When the plasterer finishes his work, he will set the hose and turn on the water prior to leaving. If the day is cool, he will set the hose and instruct you when to turn it on. Once the filling has begun, NEVER TURN OFF THE WATER until it has risen to the middle of the tile row. This is to prevent formation of a ring, which would be extremely difficult to remove.
Start up
When the pool is full of water our customer representative will start up the pool, usually two days after plaster. They will put the filter into operation, install the diving board, ladder and any other equipment that you might have ordered. Please plan on meeting our representative so that he may show you how to care for the pool chemicals and pool operation. Our representative will install the initial chemicals, but thereafter the chemical maintenance is your responsibility.
While our start up representative is there, feel free to ask him any questions regarding any item we may have overlooked. Our superintendent and start up man will be working to complete any “punch list” items they may see.
The pool must be brushed down twice a day for a period of a week or until the plaster dust is removed. This will help the plaster to cure evenly and prevent any kind of staining.
We assure you that we are just as anxious to complete your pool as you are to go swimming. However, we are just as interested in seeing that the pool we build is constructed in a quality manner.
Therefore, we will not, under any circumstances, speed up the construction of the pool or any particular phase beyond what we consider consistent with good construction standards just to save a day or so in the overall construction
Thank you for selecting ELEGANT CUSTOM POOLS as your pool contractor.
Colored Plaster Notice
Although colored plaster creates an atmosphere of beauty in a swimming pool, it cannot be guaranteed for color consistency. Local water conditions, chemicals, and curing create an individual look in each pool. ELEGANT CUSTOM POOLS takes all mixture and application protections but we will not guarantee any color mixtures for absence of staining, mottling, or discoloration.
ELEGANT CUSTOM POOLS would like to thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Puckercrete Decking
We cannot guarantee uniformity to washed finish concrete. Some more aggregate and sand may show in different areas, also footprints show up and white calcium marks. These spots may fade out in time.
Pool alarm for all doors leading to pool area (Techko S087) can be purchased at Lowe’s.