This Old House: Pool-Patio Makeover

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This Old House: Pool-Patio Makeover

November 30, 2012 by whileeveryoneelseissleeping

The money shot for the realty listing of our new house was clearly this pic of the backyard pool. Dean was instantly sold. I had some concerns about Juliette’s safety and the work that goes into caring for a pool, but the idea of sipping margaritas by said pool eventually won me over.

Once we moved in, we were dazzled by our first few swims in the pool but were less than impressed by the lack of functionality of the seating area. You might remember a previous post in which I griped about a few off them. Our main complaints were:

No railing on upper patio. Plantar boxes with overgrown bushes served as pseudo railings.
Large sweeping staircase that terminated within a foot of the pool. Railing was lacking here as well.
Pool plaster was showing its age with exposed gunite in areas.
Lower seating area was on two levels due to a spa that was removed a long time ago.
Feature palm tree met its demise years ago and its skeleton was just hanging around.
Narrow walk ways around pool perimeter and very little room for seating.
Fountain leaked out the back and looked like a pile of turds (no exaggeration).
Landscaping was non-existent in some areas, overgrown in others.
Decking material was exposed aggregate, popular because it is nonskid but not our taste.

Here are some BEFORE pictures to back me up:

: Sweeping staircase, no rail

: Worse than no rail, there are two different levels once you reach the bottom of staircase

: Did I mention the stairs drop you right in front of the pool?

: Seating area on higher level than pool due to it being the location of the old spa.

: Someone added this flagstone seating area after the fact.

: Very little room around pool to walk or add seating .

We had a parade of contractors out to look at the pool- pool builders, patio & landscape companies and stone masons. We thought the job would be as easy as covering the old cement surface with a new flagstone surface. Unfortunately, the way the flagstone coping had been incorporated into the cement surround, it would need to be saw cut out and pretty much all the decking except for that anchoring the pool needed to be ripped out. In addition, to make it all one level and still maintain drainage away from the pool, we needed to raise the skimmers up by a few inches. We ended up choosing a stone mason we trusted (and who is most highly recommended by the place where we purchase our stone) who also has had experience working with two local pool builders. It is a bit of a no, no to go with someone other than a pool builder. There are many, many things that can go wrong with your pool and repairs can be costly. So we crossed our fingers and they broke ground at the end of June. Hello hot summer. Bye, bye pool to refresh in.

Here are some of the DURING shots. This project was supposed to take 4 wks and ended up taking nearly 8. Oye!

: Meet Tex. He is our replacement palm tree

: and Dean’s Father’s Day present.

: Plantar boxers have been ripped out and stairs demolished.

: Exposed aggregate gone!

: Footprint for expanded walkway/seating area around pool

: Preparing for new walkway from side patio to pool

: Flagstone is overlaid over upper patio and new stairs are put in.

: The only rain we got this summer occurred while the pool was empty.

: I was very fearful the pool would float out of the ground like a boat.

: Google it. It really happens.

: We added fencing around the entire perimeter of the pool.

: Now Juliette can run freely in the backyard.

: And Mommy does not have to worry as much.

: Construction zone a.k.a driveway

: Oklahoma flagstone (buff peach) for decking

: Chocolate lueders for the coping

: Oklahoma flagstone (mixed) for decking

: Picking out new tile and grout

: New tile installation

: Flagstone patio is complete.

: New drains- our mason spent a lot of time ensuring they would work in a torrential downpour. So far, so good.

: New railing around upper deck with locking gate to slow Juliette down

: New walkway to side yard

: Expanded seating area

: Skimmers successfully raised up.

: Replaced plugs so we can still use our volleyball net.

: Walkway to side patio

: Pool resurfacing. It is a pebble-like material: Premix Marbletite Freestone Marquis Series, color Tunisia

: Lovely sand color.

: New chaise lounges purchased from Overstock. Great deals on quality patio furniture there.

: New fountain. We would have loved for there to be less grout showing but it is much better than the previous waterfall.

: New flower box.

At the end of August, while J and I were in New England, all was finished and Dean started filling the pool. Here is where we ran into a few problems:

Pump did not work. Likely some cement got into it during the demo. Needed to replace pump ASAP.
Skimmers were not pulling. Turns out a tree branch had grown into one of the skimmer lines and a large leak became apparent once we began trouble shooting it.
Pebble looked a little mottled. This is an issue we hope goes away over time with brushing and managing our pH. Perhaps we should have gone with Pebble Tec. Hind sight is 20/20.
Fountain still leaks out the back. Looks like it is an issue with the original plumbing and something we will address next season.

I must admit I still curse this pool on a weekly basis. Keeping our chemistry in balance with new plaster has been challenging. I am always worried that we have a leak somewhere, and the frog population living around our pool has jumped from 1 frog to 10. Seriously! But we now have our own back yard oasis. We still have some landscaping to do, but overall we are pleased with the results. Sadly, we only had the chance to enjoy swimming in the pool for a month before pool season ended but we are really looking forward to next year. And the weather is nice here in Austin so you can sip margaritas on the patio nearly year round.

AFTER: