Hell or high water

The last day (Sunday) of the four day weekend dawns. The pool frame is set but still there's a ton of things to be done before we can start to fill the pool with water.
Come hell or high water, few things will stop this family from finishing what we set our minds to perform.
Even the kids have helped out as much as they can. Taking care of each other during these days not "bothering" us, allowing us to work as many hours as possible.

Early bird as I am I went out while the rest of the pack was still having their beauty sleep. The first task was to cover all joints and bolt heads with a special cover tape. This is to prevent these to shine through the liner.

Apparently I made for good entertainment when the rest of the people had breakfast and watched me work.
The ladies then set off to fine tune the floor of the pool, leveling it out as much as possible.

Rear view

At the same time we guys were busy making the frame of the pool air tight.
This is because when fitting the liner one will be using a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air between the metal sheets and the liner thus forcing the liner into place,

Duct tape is useful for almost anything

Once the pool floor was immaculate then it was time to bring out the felt/carpet that is to be laid out in order to make the floor of the pool seem softer and also hiding any imperfections.

The carpet comes in a huge roll of the same width as the pool is in its widest spot.

 So the carpet needs to be cut into shape to fit the pool.
Again the ladies are doing an excellent job and we guys are...well being supportive..:)

Bottoms up

Now we've passed the point of no return and the pool just has to be finished.
We just can't leave it at this stage. We have no clue how difficult/easy it would be to lay the liner.
It's heavy, that I can tell you. It comes packed in such way that you start from one side and then gradually spread it out to a specified point on the opposite side.

This was one of the moments that we've dreaded but much to our surprise the liner was rather simple to lay.

The liner "snaps" into the plastic rail on top of the pool thus hanging there.
Then using an ordinary vacuum cleaner, stuck between the metal sheet and the liner it "sucks" the liner towards the metal sheets. This allows you to shape and drag the liner into place.

Mermaids on dry land

Once satisfied with the placement of the liner it was time to let in the water.
Somewhat surreal feeling to start filling the pool. So many hours have been poured into this and yet this is the first time one actually starts to grasp that it's pool we're building.

Once the water was some 15-20cm up we stopped the vacuum cleaner. By now the weight of the water will drag down the liner, keeping it straight and tight,

Continuing to fill the water to some 40 cm, which is has high we can take it before starting to fill back the soil.

Leaving us with a spanking brand new view from the dining table on the terrace and a very satisfied son. He's one of the loudest yea sayers of this project.

Happy customer

This weekend has been a roller coaster for our mood. Starting with missing sheets, remedied by Miamipool and one of their unsung heroes to us cranking up the gear yet another notch and then finally actually being able to wrap it up.

Sure there's tons of things to be done, like setting up the pump, filter and heater...but that's to come.

Even though it has been tough work, I don't think we've had this much fun together building something. There was often laughter in the air and things just kept progressing.

Now a well deserved glass of wine and then most likely crash in the couch in front of the tele....

Title reference: Hell or high water/Crazy Nights/KISS