Day 17: Today We Were Shot

As of Today, election day, we actually have a pool. I won't bore you with the "shotcrete vs. gunite" argument, you can research that on your own here if you're as bored with the election results as I am. I'll also refrain from voicing my political opinions here, but the good news is we actually have a pool. Back on topic, our pool builder only uses shotcrete, so that's what we got. The term "gunite pool" is therefore out the window for us, but I'm not sure what else to call it. At any rate, it is concrete and it has fibers in it, which supposedly makes it less likely to ever crack. If you want to research that, please do, and let me know what you find.

The process was fascinating to watch. They shoot wet concrete out of a tube and build up the walls of the pool in layers. Then, they smooth it out with amazing speed and accuracy, much like frosting a cake. It is really quite a production. The funniest part to me was watching them smooth everything out to a beautiful sheen, only to rough it up with a broom so that the plaster (MUCH later in the process) will be able to adhere to the concrete/shotcrete/gunite. The guy who will be rebuilding our wood deck came to watch a portion of the shotcrete, as he actually enjoys watching it. He actually had nothing to do at our site today, just came by to check it out.
They poured the main decking today as well. Things are really coming together. The downside is that things will more than likely start moving much more slowly from this point. We are at the point that we need to make final decisions on tile and stone. We're throwing around the idea of doing more stone decking and trying to determine what type of stone to go with. As previously mentioned, it's pretty overwhelming; the amount of decisions that have to be made.

I'll post a better pic of the completed status tomorrow...I have to go regroup in preparation of our new President.