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You're curious about what happens during a pool resurfacing
project, and you've come to the right place. . . As we
prepare to start your job, there are important things you
should know. First, your project is major construction. We
built our company, from the ground up, for pool renovation,
not new construction. We use hoses and buckets, not backhoes
and heavy equipment. We're used to working around mature vegetation.
That means we're a heck of a lot LESS noisy, dusty and messy
than companies that do both new construction and renovation.
But, at times, your backyard will be noisy, dusty and messy.
That's simply the nature of this level of construction.
To
minimize any potential inconvenience:
Move
furniture, potted plants or any movable items out of the way.
Close
your windows to reduce noise and dust.
Keep
pets inside. Your gate will remain open the entire time
our crew is in your backyard. Please make all necessary arrangements.
Communicate.
We do our best to let you know what's going to happen before
it does. With schedules that depend on weather, equipment
and materials, we can't always do that. And, during our busy
season -- January through June -- you may need to wait a few
more days to start your project. So please,
if you have a question or concern, call us.
We've
explained what to expect in detail below, complete with
pictures. However, if you want to watch the entire
process take place in 3-minutes,
watch our time lapse video.
What to Expect
There are several stages of construction. The following briefly
explains what happens during each. Pay special attention
to the Post Construction Stage, that's when we turn your pool
back over into your care.
Preparation
Stage
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Before we resurface your pool's interior and begin any
additional construction, your pool must be drained and
the existing surface prepared. If your pool isn't already
empty we drain it into your outside sewer drain or into
the street in accordance with the laws of your city.
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After
your pool is drained, DO NOT TURN YOUR POOL LIGHT ON.
This will burn out the bulb and may even break the lens (pool
lights are water cooled).
Once the
pool is drained we prepare the interior surface. This can
take the form of tile cleaning (if you requested this service),
"chipout" or "bond costing." Our goal
here is to prepare the surface for proper bonding with the
new surface. If we chip out your pool, a crew uses power tools
to chip out all the old plaster. Bond coating combines chipping
out the top portion of the plaster and power-washing the remaining
surface with a super high speed jet spray. Both processes
can be noisy. A friendly "heads up" to your neighbors
would not be unappreciated. All debris is removed from your
yard by bucket.
Construction
Phase
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The
construction phase has two parts: outside the pool first;
then inside the pool. We do everything outside the pool
first; install tile, re-plumbing, install new equipment,
redo your deck, add boulders or a water feature or place
the barbeque and/or fireplace. We work outside the pool
first to guard against debris falling into and damaging
a new interior surface.
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The final stage of construction is redoing the interior
of your pool with the type and quality of surface you
selected. The process varies slightly depending on the
surface.
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Plaster, Premium Plaster and 3M Colorquartz
For many people, the first time they see their pool's interior
without water is when we resurface it. Regardless of the surface
you select, it is very much a product of nature; basic materials
hand smoothed and finished into a naturally imperfect surface.
To achieve this, we first cover your decking with plastic for protection
against overspray.
Plaster is mixed in our truck
and fed under pressure through a hose to your pool where it
is sprayed on the interior surface. If you select 3M Colorquartz,
the quartz and any color you requested are mixed into the plaster
at the truck. A crew then "shoots" your pool and hand trowels the entire surface to smooth
and set the plaster. Your garden hose is placed in the pool to begin
the filling process and we do a final clean up.
It's
important to remember: do not turn the water off until the
pool is completely full. Doing may create a permanent ring. If
you're concerned the pool may overflow at night or when you're at the office,
simply slow the water flow or have a neighbor check. But
don't turn the water off until it reaches the water tile line.
Baja Pebble
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A proprietary blend of cement, pebbles and other strengthening
components is mixed at the truck (along with color,
if requested) and fed under pressure through a hose
to your pool where it is sprayed on the interior surface.
We then hand trowel the entire surface to smooth and
set the pebble/material mix and gently wash the
pebbles to expose their natural beauty..
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We
return the next work day to acid wash the surface. This
reveals the pebbles and puts the final finish on the surface. Your
garden
hose is placed in the pool to begin the filling process
and we do a final clean up and remove the slurry box.
The true beauty of our Baja Pebble surface isn't seen
until the pool is filled and the water has a chance to
clear and you return your water to proper chemical balance.
So be patient!
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Baja Pebble Smooth
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A
proprietary blend of cement, pebbles and other strengthening
components is mixed at the truck (along with color,
if requested) and fed under pressure through a hose
to your pool where it is sprayed on the interior surface.
We then hand trowel the entire surface to smooth and
set the pebble/plaster mix. We return the next day with
our smoothing crew. Several crew members spend several
hours smoothing your pebble surface (something we won't
be showing you, since we don't want to help our
competitors who are trying hard
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enough to
discover every nuance of how we do it). Our equipment and
techniques (it's a patented process) achieve what we believe is
the smoothest pebble surface available. Your garden hose is
placed in the pool to begin the filling process and we do a
final clean up (please follow the important pool filling
instructions in the next paragraph).
Post
Construction
A
few things you need to know:
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When
our plaster crew leaves they will put your garden hose in the
pool and begin filling it. Do not turn the water off
until the pool is completely full. Completely full
means when the pool water reaches the middle of the
water line tile or when your surface skimmer is half full
of water. If you turn the water off before it's full,
a permanent ring may form around the pool. |
If you feel
your pool may overflow at night or when you're at the office,
simply slow the water flow or have a neighbor check. But don't turn the water off!
Also, do not wash down or
spray the sides, sudden cooling may damage the plaster.
Do
not enter your pool until it is completely full of water.
If you have a pet that loves the water, keep it inside. You
can damage your new surface if the pool is entered too soon.
After
the pool is full you may notice plaster dust at the bottom.
This is a normal reaction. However, it's important you brush
your pool regularly until the filter has a chance to pull
the dust out of the water.
Brush
your pool at least four times a day until your filter has
cleared the plaster dust from the water.
Run
your filter pump 24 hours a day until the water has cleared,
checking the pool pressure regularly and backwashing when
necessary (when your pressure rises 5 to 10 pounds over your
normal, clean running pressure).
Begin
testing and adding chemicals to balance the water chemistry
immediately after your pool is full. Consult your pool
service professional or have your water tested at a nearby
pool supplies store.
A few
things you'll appreciate knowing:
Our people
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It's
easy to look out into your yard and only see "a bunch
of laborers." The reality is many of our crew have
been with us for years, and we work hard to keep them
(with a pay and benefits package rarely seen in our industry).
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Your
pool will be plastered by, in our humble opinion, the finest
pool plaster craftsmen in the Southwest. And one more important
thing you should know about our people. All pool companies in
the Valley have a busy season and a slow season. Most add temporary
workers during the busy season and lay off much of their crew
when it gets slow. WE DON'T! We run our crews all year
round. Same people, same quality, for every job we do. The only
thing that changes is our lead time: during our busy season
(January through July) you'll just have to wait a bit longer.
And you know what? Our quality is worth a few extra days.
Our material
It's just
cement. . .isn't it? That's what most people think, including
many companies currently satisfied buying their material from
local suppliers. We shop the world and buy direct.
That means two things to you: you pay less because we buy for
less (we even negotiate our own freight); you get better quality
materials (much of what we use are proprietary blends). And
one more thing - one more important thing in today's
world: every supplier we use is located in a country friendly
to America.
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also appreciate our obsession for quality materials; perhaps
not today, but certainly 5, 10 or 15 years from now. By
the way, it took Chris Jones, our co-owner, six months
of faxes, emails, samples and negotiation to secure the
price we (and you!) now enjoy for cement. Did you know
you can save money on freight by shipping in bulk bags
(bags of bagged cement) instead of by the container? The
ship you see is unloading our cement in Los Angeles (those
same big bags end up in our construction yard). One of
the many ways we both save money! No, it's not just
cement. |
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Those
aren't just pebbles we use in our Baja Pebble Standard
and Smooth surfaces either. Chris made two trips down
to South America during the past year to help our family-owned
supplier become more efficient (one trip to deliver equipment
we bought and gave them to better control the consistency
of pebble size). And that isn't just hype on our
Premium Plaster.
It took hundreds of hours of testing and dozens of reformulations
to arrive at just the right combination of materials to
produce a significantly longer-lasting plaster surface. |
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