Welcome back, Ryan & Amy

The Sandbar

Day 61 of your build. The shell is in the ground and curing — the hardest, least glamorous week of the whole project is behind you.

On scheduleStage 6 of 15 · Gunite & cure

--days--hrs--min

Estimated first swimFriday, September 18 · We’ll tighten this date after tile.

Approved 3D renderingUpload the approved project rendering

Your design16′ × 34′ · Raised spa · Sun shelf with bubblers

Contract signedJune 2

Build startedJune 15

Days in build61

Photos shared47

Next milestoneTile & coping

Tuesday, August 4

What’s happening right now

Updated Tuesday, August 4 at 10:42 AM

No crew in your backyard today

And that’s exactly what should be happening. Your gunite shell was placed Friday. Concrete gains most of its strength in the first seven days, and nothing else can be built on it until it gets there. Working the shell early is how pools crack later — so we wait, and we water it.

Cure progress — day 4 of 7Finishes Friday, August 7

Still moving today — just not in your yard

7:10 AM — Adam watered the shell

Second of two daily soakings. He’ll be back at 4 PM. Takes about five minutes each time.

Your coping left the quarry yard

Ivory travertine, 214 pieces, on a truck out of Round Rock, TX. Lands here Thursday morning.

Electrical permit approved

Jackson County signed off Monday afternoon. That clears the way for equipment set the week of the 17th.

Next boots in your backyardThursday, August 6 · 7:30–9:00 AM

Coping delivery and dry layout with Adam’s crew. Moderate noise for about two hours. Please leave the side gate unlocked.

Confirmed

The next three weeks

What’s coming, and how sure we are

Thu Aug 67:30–9:00 AM

Coping delivery & dry layout

Two hours, moderate noise, gate access needed.

Confirmed

Mon Aug 10Full day

Tile & coping installation begins

Roughly four days of hand-set work. This is when it starts looking like a pool.

Likely

Week of Aug 172–3 days

Equipment set, electrical & gas

Pad built, pumps and heater mounted, IntelliCenter wired.

Planning

Week of Aug 243–4 days

Decking & drainage

Shellstone in a French pattern, plus the grading around it.

Planning

How to read confidence: Confirmed means a crew is booked. Likely means it’s on the board and on track. Planning means we’re holding the window, but weather or inspections can still move it.

Your call · Due Friday

Pick the grout behind your waterline tile.

Small decision, big visual difference. Once tile starts Monday it’s locked in, so this is the moment.

Amelia’s takeWith your Coastal Glass tile I’d go Pearl Gray. Bright white looks crisp for a season, then every bit of mineral staining shows. Pearl hides the Gulf Coast water and still reads clean.

Front-end preview: connect this action to the project database before customer launch.

From your team

The story of your build

9 updates · 47 photos so far

Latest update

Friday, August 1 · Week 9New

Milestone · The shell is in

Gunite day. Your pool became a solid object.

Nine yards of concrete went in through a hose at about 100 mph, and eleven guys shaped it by hand in a single continuous pour. Steps, benches, the spa dam wall and your sun shelf were carved and floated before lunch.

✓ DoneShell placed, shaped and finished

→ NextSeven-day cure, then tile and coping

$ Cost impactNone — pour came in on estimate

Project mediaShooting the deep end · 7:48 AM

Project mediaSpa dam wall carved by hand

Project media2:11 walkthrough from Adam

Why we do it this way — the one-shot pourA pool shell has to be monolithic. If the crew stops, the concrete already placed begins to set and creates a cold joint. We stage everything the night before and nobody leaves until the last square foot is floated.

Start to first swim

Where you are in the build

Stage count, not calendar time

✓

Design & contract

✓

Engineering & permits

✓

Selections & ordering

✓

Layout & excavation

✓

Steel, plumbing & inspection

Gunite & cureYou are here

Tile & coping

Equipment, electrical & gas

Deck & drainage

Screen, fence & safety

Interior finish & fill

Startup & water care

Final inspection & punch list

Pool School & handover

Warranty & service

No surprises

Your money, plainly

Contract total$148,600

Paid to date$104,020

Remaining$44,580

Contract signingPaid June 2

$22,290Paid

Excavation startPaid July 14

$37,150Paid

Gunite completePaid August 1

$44,580Paid

Tile & coping startDue Monday, August 10

$29,720Next

Final — at water fillEstimated mid-September

$14,860Upcoming

✓

Two change orders, both signed: added spa jets (+$1,840, June 28) and upgraded to a variable-speed pump (+$2,110, July 9). Nothing has been added without your signature.

What you chose

Waterline tileCoastal Glass · Aqua Mix

CopingIvory travertine · bullnose

DeckingShellstone · French pattern

Interior finishMini pebble · Blue Granite

Your paperwork

Pool-speak decoder

When a crew says something you don’t recognize, look it up here instead of nodding politely.

GuniteGUN-ite

Concrete sprayed at high pressure to form the structural shell of your pool.

CureKYOOR

The days after the pour when concrete gains strength. Watering keeps it from drying too fast and cracking.

CopingCOPE-ing

The finished stone cap around the top edge of the pool. Yours is ivory travertine.

Bond beamBOND beem

The thickened top ring of the shell that everything else sits on.

RebarREE-bar

Steel bar tied into a cage inside the shell so the concrete works in tension too.

Rough-inRUFF-in

Running plumbing and conduit before anything covers it up.

BondingBOND-ing

An electrical safety grid that ties every conductive part of the pool together.

SkimmerSKIM-er

The mouth at the waterline that pulls surface debris toward the filter.

Dam wallDAM wall

The wall between spa and pool that water spills over.

StartupSTART-up

The first 30 days of chemistry and brushing after fill, which sets how your finish ages.

After first swim

This portal doesn’t go dark when the water goes in.

On handover day it switches over: startup chemistry logs, your Pool School recording, every manual and warranty in one place, and a service request button that reaches the same people who built it.

Startup care logPool School replayWarranty vaultEquipment manualsService requests