Get Ready for Your New Pool Construction!

The success of Indian Summer Pool & Spa is predicated on customer referrals, so your satisfaction at every step of construction is very important to us. That’s why we put together this overview of the construction process - to help you understand the various phases that your pool will go through during its construction.

 

Here’s what happens BEFORE we begin construction:

 

DESIGN: Once your designer turns your pool design in to our office, it could take up to a few days to be entered and checked through accounting and the construction division to make sure all items are as they should be. To avoid delays, please make sure we have a copy of your Homeowners Association or Architectural Review Board approval. Also we need the legal land description for the proper application process to proceed. These may be needed by your county for permits to be issued.

 

PERMIT: If you decide to have us to prepare your pool permit application, it will be prepared with the appropriate attachments and be delivered to your municipality or county for processing. Where your permit is issued determines how long it will take to get it back. (Your designer will contact you when the permit comes back to our office.)

 

If you decide to get your permit and save the additional permit fee for this service, we will provide you a drawing suitable for your area’s governmental requirements. You will couple that with your pertinent application and legal description and will take it to the Local Building dept. office to have it processed yourself.

 

To schedule a one-on-one consultation or for more information

 

SCHEDULE: Once your permit is granted and in our office, we’ll prepare the schedule for starting your pool. We will contact you with a tentative start date so you can ensure everything on your end is ready for us to begin your pool. Please remember that we can give you estimated dates throughout the construction phases; however, the forecasts and weather patterns can and will change. It’s the nature of our industry; we are hugely dependent on the weather, delays, and other problems, so we can only give our best estimates on what we hope to happen in your backyard, and when.

 

PHONE CALLS: We do most of our communicating with you via email, and over the phone occasionally via texting if you so choose to allow that communication medium. Please let us know which number(s) works best for you. If phone texting isn’t your thing, just let us know how best to communicate with you other than that.

 

CHANGES: If at any time you request changes to your swimming pool, deck, equipment, etc., it sometimes might need to go through a formal revision through your county or municipality. There are exceptions, but complying with the letter of the law is best as failure to do so might cause a potential failure on the next inspection if plans do not match up. There will be a cost for work being changed and for the cost of obtaining the permit revision on a change order if it’s necessary. In addition, any changes may result in some level of delay to the schedule.

 

PRE-CONSTRUCTION SITE SURVEY: Before starting the construction of your pool, we will schedule a pre-construction site survey. If you’d like you can be present, while our site supervisor performs the survey and reviews the plans your designer has created for you. We’ll inspect your yard to ensure no modifications to the design are required. We’ll paint a layout of your pool in the yard and place an Indian Summer Pool & Spa sign in your yard to help our crews find your job site easily.

 

OTHER ITEMS: If there are any issues that must be addressed prior to beginning your pool, you will be contacted by a representative from our company within a few days of the pre-construction site survey. Before a new pool project is released into production, any issues that come up during the review and/or site survey must be adequately addressed, and your municipality must issue a permit to Indian Summer Pool & Spa before any work is started.

 

PAYMENTS: Please review your contract to make sure you understand when payments are due. Most of our contracts have draws due at the completion of Layout and Dig, Shotcrete, Tile and Coping, Interior Finish install and decking install of your pool. As you review your contract document, you will notice at the end of the document there’s a payment schedule. This schedule is to help remind you that at the end of those certain phases, a payment is due. Again, please check your contract to see when your payments are due. Payment is required in accordance with the contract in order to avoid delays in the construction of your pool.

 

The CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

Once your pool project has been released into production, there is a sequential order of phases that our pools move through during the construction process, as follows:

 

1. Layout and Dig (payment due)

Average time depends on scope of work, weather and other delays: 2-4 days.

• If you haven’t done so already, please notify your insurance company that you are getting a swimming pool.
• Before laying out and digging your pool, sprinkler systems and underground utilities in the pool deck or equipment area must be temporarily dug up and any obstructions to access removed. After the work is complete, the items will need to be relocated. If the access requires permission from a neighbor, this will also have to be obtained by you prior to the arrival for work.
• In this first phase of construction, the basic shape of your pool’s shell is painted on the ground in your yard, the hole is dug, and excess dirt is removed. The hole will be slightly larger and deeper than the finished pool, as the pool shell wall and bottom will take up some of this area.

 

For your safety, and to avoid delays due to dirt cave-in, please have your entire family stay away from the edge of your pool once it has been dug.

 

2. Pre-Plumbing / Interior Plumbing Installation (payment due)

Average time depends on scope of work, weather and other delays:: 1- 3 days.

• It’s now time for the installation of all interior/underground plumbing. We will dig trenches as necessary to lay pipe from your pool to the pool equipment and place high-grade NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) approved “Schedule 40” PVC pipe and fittings in place. For the time being, they will be “stubbed / roughed out,” for hookup to equipment completion after the majority of the pool construction phases are complete.
• Any pipes for water features such as sprays, fountains, or rock falls will be installed, along with pool return lines and skimmer(s). While our tile crews install the actual skimmer, our start-up crews will install heads for any water features in your design during later construction.
• We and or the electricians will also run the conduit used for your pool’s lighting system. In accordance with your municipality, there may also be a series of inspections. There can be open ditches with pipes in them if an open-ditch inspection is needed; please stay clearly away to avoid endangering yourself or damaging the plumbing. Once the inspection passes, we will fill in the ditches.

 

3. Steel Installation

Average time depends on scope of work, weather and other delays:: 1- 4 days.

• After your pool has been dug, we will line the hole with steel rebar to add the strength required for your pool’s Shotcrete shell. The electrician will attach a ground wire to this steel for later use in grounding your pool equipment for meeting code and safety requirements.
• After installing the steel rebar, we will notify your municipality that the job is ready for a steel-and-ground inspection. An inspector will review your pool plans and inspect the job site to make sure everything is up to code. Depending on your municipality, multiple inspections on different days could be required. Once Indian Summer Pool & Spa has been notified that the inspection has passed, we then schedule the Shotcrete phase.

 

Again, for your safety and to avoid delays due to dirt cave-in, please stay away from the edge of your pool. If the dirt gives way or you slip and fall, you could land on the steel and injure yourself severely.

 

4. Shotcrete Install (payment due)

• Average time depends on scope of work, weather and other delays:: 1- 3 days.
• Average time from layout to shell depending on weather: about 2 - 3 weeks. Little work other than the surrounding areas rough grading will take place over the next few weeks as we allow the Shotcrete on the shell to properly cure.
• Our crews will pneumatically apply the concrete that makes up your pool’s shell and steps. If your pool design includes any swim-outs, fountains, tanning ledges or a Shotcrete spa, those elements will be part of this phase as well.

 

Please spray water over your shell once a day for the first few weeks to help to ensure the concrete cures correctly.

 

5. Post-Shotcrete Cleanup

• Average time depends on scope of work, weather and other delays: 1- 3 days.
• Our crews will remove the forms used to shape your pool, fill in the area around the pool shell, and provide the initial grade for the deck area around your pool.

 

6. Plumbing Rough Out (payment due)

Average time depending on inspections/weather: 2 to 5 days.

• We and or the electrician will install lights and light fibers if your pool has fiber-optic lighting. Our plumbing crews will install your pool pump, filter, and gas heater (if part of your pool design),
• The Electrician and gas installer will do necessary hookups to install your pool pump, filter, and gas heater into the local system(s).
• Each plumbing / electrical / gas inspection may need to be scheduled on separate days. Note that weather can cause multiple inspection delays.

 

7. Tile and Coping (payment due)

Average time depends on scope of work, weather and other delays: 7 to 14 days.

• Our tile crews will install your pool’s waterline tile and skimmer(s). Additional work may also be performed during this phase if rock / faux rock is used in your pool’s design.
• If a change of tile occurs and we have already received the tile order, please expect a 25% restocking fee and $100 change order fee, which is passed on from the tile distributors. This will delay your job by a few weeks.
• If your pool design includes a rock waterfall that is inside the pool, this can be installed after the tile has been installed and can be done prior to the deck phase.
• If your pool design requires a retaining wall at the edge of any part of your deck, this will be constructed at this time. If your design includes a turn-down wall, it will be poured as part of the deck fabrication.
  

 

8. Electric

Average time depends on scope of work and delays: 1 to 3 days.

 

Our electric crews will run the conduit for the main electric supply used by your pool equipment. They will also install lighting and any wiring necessary for your pool. This step often occurs in parallel to “tile and coping” and/or “deck installation.”

 

9. Deck Installation

Average time depends on scope of work and delays: 1 to 5 days.

Poured concrete with a rock, paver, or aggregate finish.

• Your pool design may include various types of decks, with different tasks to be accomplished for each type. Additionally, each municipality has its own requirements for deck inspections, including termite treatments, forming inspections, etc. If your pool design requires a retaining wall at the edge of any part of your deck, we will install it before constructing your deck.
  
• Our crews will form the shape of your deck and any planter areas, then run any drains included in your pool’s design. Any steel required by your municipality will be set and connected to the ground wire attached to your shell’s steel.
  
• After the deck is formed, we will notify your municipality so they can inspect the deck (if required by your municipality).
  
• Once any inspections have been passed, we will schedule the pouring of your deck’s concrete. Once the concrete has been poured, we will apply your chosen rock or tile finish to the concrete deck.
  
• If the design includes a waterfall on the deck area, it cannot be installed until after the deck area has been poured.

 

10. Safety Protection Inspection

(Must pass before we can add the interior finish.)

 

• Before applying the interior finish to your pool and filling it with water, you must have alarms and/or barrier fences in place, in accordance with building codes set forth by your municipality. If barrier protection for your property includes gates, they must be self-closing and self-latching, with latches located at least 54" above the ground. Gates must also open outward, away from the pool area.
• We will inspect the pool area to ensure the barrier protection is up to code. Please bring any problems you noted during the construction process to our attention at this time. We want to ensure your pool meets our standards and your satisfaction, and will enter any required corrective actions in our tracking system as soon as possible.

 

11. Interior Finish (payment due)

Average time depending on finish: 2 to 3 days.

 

The final payment and all change orders are due at this time, per the contract. Without prior arrangements, if payment is not made, we must pull off the job and your pool will not be completed.

• In this stage, we apply your pool’s finish and fill the pool with water. If you come home while the pool is filling with water, let the water continue to run until it is halfway up on the tile before turning it off. (Otherwise, you may get a permanent bathtub ring on the pool finish.)
• You may notice some blotchiness, discoloration, and over all unevenness in the amount of aggregate in the finish; this is all common and expected. Your finish is curing and will take on many different looks in the coming weeks/months.

 

12. Start-Up (Payment Due)

• After the pool is full of water, one of our technicians will put chemicals in the water to help achieve the best possible finish for your pool. We will install any special features such as spray heads, fountains, or computer controls at this time.
• On your pool deck, you will find all your pool accessories, including a brush and pole. Please use the brush and pole to brush down the entire pool, steps, and benches twice a day. This procedure is vital to insure that the finish cures properly. The more often you brush your pool, the better your finish will look in the long run. The Pebble Tec aggregate finish will need brushing for at least ten days, and Standard Quartz for close to thirty days.
• Within a few days of the initial start-up, one of our technicians will return to neutralize the acid, continue the start-up, and clean the pool and filter. Before you can legally use your pool, we must schedule the final inspection. An inspector from your municipality will ensure that the pool is operating properly and safe for use. This inspection will include barrier protection, so you must be at home to allow the inspection of alarms on doors and windows. It is not legal for you to use your pool before it passes its final inspection.

 

Please contact us as soon as the start-up process begins to schedule your pool school date and time.

 

We are often asked if pool schools can be scheduled on weekends; regrettably, we do not offer this. Pool schools are scheduled during the work week from Monday through Friday. Please schedule at least 45 minutes for us to adequately teach you about your pool.

 

13. Clean-Up

During this phase, we remove any trash that was created during the construction of your pool and also complete the final grade of your yard.

 

14. Pool School

• In this step, one of our technicians will show you how to use the features of your pool and equipment, and how to care for and maintain your pool. They will also make sure any unfinished or incorrect items are entered into our database and scheduled for correction. Please contact our Service department as soon as the start-up process starts to set up an appointment for your personalized Pool School.
• Do not delay your pool school for any reason, as you can cause serious damage to the finish and/or equipment. If you delay your pool school, responsibility for damage will be yours.
• Poolmanual.com is an excellent resource for pool owners. It’s a great tool for questions you might have after hours or on weekends.

 

15. Final Inspection

• In this phase, an inspector from your municipality will inspect your pool area to ensure it is safe to use and everything has been properly completed. We try to work with you to make this as trouble-free as possible, but unfortunately we are not able to schedule an exact time for the municipality inspectors to be there.
• There may be multiple final inspections, and sometimes not all can be completed on the same day. Please make sure the permit is posted until we tell you it’s okay to take it down. (It’s always a good idea to keep the hard copy and all inspections for your records.)

 

We’re very proud of our product and our company operations, and strive to be the most professional company in the industry. Please let us know how we can be of service to you at any time. We’re thankful for your business and want you to be satisfied with our products and services. If you have any questions at all, please call us at 1866-Pool-Help and let us help you

 

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