The Design Vision
How long did the project take you to complete?
In 2019, my wife and I honeymooned in Bora Bora, and we stayed in one of the classic overwater bungalows with its own plunge pool. Being the nerd that I am, I had taken a bunch of reference photos of that pool with an eye toward building a clone of it into an unused hillside in our backyard.
I usually travel heavily for work, but when COVID swept the globe and travel shut down in early 2020, I found myself with a lot of time at home. What better time to tackle the pool project I'd been concepting for a year!
I started digging the hillside out by hand in April 2020, and we took our first swim a few days after Christmas, so Version 1.0 of the pool took almost exactly eight months.
This was my first time building a pool, so I wasn't entirely happy with the first "draft" of the swim spa at that point. Namely, the interior finish wasn't up to snuff with what I'd envisioned, so I drained it after New Year's to redo the interior. Along with that, I ended up reworking some of the plumping to be more efficient, replaced the electric spa pack heater with a large gas one, and added a brighter light. That was another three months of work.
All in, then, the project took me almost a year, and we've been enjoying the pool every day or night since March 2021.
But again, this was my first time building a pool, and I undertook the project entirely alone and by hand. So anyone with more experience or helping hands could easily complete the same project in a matter of a few months!
What made you decide to go with ICF to design your spa/pool?
I've been interested in ICF systems ever since I came across a video of the technology in 2010, and I've been looking for an excuse to use them ever since. The benefits are obvious---no time wasted erecting and removing forms, minimal to no material waste, incredible structural integrity and insulation properties, and ease of use for DIYers. They really are like building with adult Lego blocks, and the Quad-Lock system in particular gives you immense freedom when designing your project. The various panel thicknesses and tie widths make possible just about anything you can envision.
I also can't overstate how amazing the insulating properties of ICFs are. On the first day that we used our pool, we set the temp up to 100 degrees to swim. When we finished, we covered the pool with a custom foam cover I had built and turned off the heater. That night, the temperature dropped into the low twenties, so I expected the water temperature to have dropped precipitously in the morning. Nope: 97 degrees. Incredible.
What obstacles did you have during the project?
Credit to the Quad-Lock system---I didn't encounter a single issue during the actual structural build of the pool. But outside the actual ICF build, where do I even start?! Again, I don't recommend building a pool entirely by yourself! It's a huge undertaking even if it's a relatively small pool. Pool construction is truly the Mt. Everest of DIY projects in my opinion. The price of failure is high, and it involves every trade save perhaps roofing! Design, permitting, excavation, structural, concrete, plumbing, electrical, gas, waterproofing, tile, masonry, painting; you name it, you're going to be working with it to complete your build. I made and learned from a thousand little mistakes along the way.
My brother-in-law loves to tell the story of the concrete pour day. I'd ordered up a load of concrete and a concrete pump, and having never ordered a pump before, I assumed the price included the actual pumping service as well. Not so much. When the truck showed up, the driver looked me up and down and said "where's your crew?" Obviously, I didn't have one. Thankfully, with ICFs, it was easy enough to rest the concrete hose on top of the forms, drag it across slowly, and pour continuously, but I sure would have liked a few more people helping that day. Suffice to say, moving a concrete hose around alone is a great workout.
I also can't overstate how amazing the insulating properties of ICFs are
Where did you learn to install Quad-Lock? Was it through our online training program?
I watched every available YouTube video and read all of the Quad-Lock literature available through the online program. As easy as the system is, it only gets easier if you really learn the ins and outs of the process and product. I spent a lot of time absorbing the details and doing my best to understand the intention and reasoning behind each design choice made by Quad-Lock in concepting the system. This made my design-to-build workflow smooth and free of waste.
What other finishes did you use for the spa/pool, including the decision to switch to the mosaic tile finish?
For the exterior of the pool, I used Brickwebb imitation brick to mimic the brick finish of our house and some of our hardscaping.
I initially wanted to do the interior of the pool in mosaic tile, but by the time I reached that step, I'd been working on the pool for seven months. I was ready to be done and was slightly over budget.
Cont'd..
So Version 1.0 ended up with SiderCrete Powerbase for structure, Sider-Proof plaster over top, and a waterline run of glass tile.
As the months passed, though, I wasn't 100% happy with my application of the plaster, and my budget concerns had faded with time enjoying the pool, so I forged ahead with tackling the mosaic.
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This ended up being an entire project in and of itself, since I had to redo 11 jet housings, the skimmer, and two returns, and install new coping pavers to account for the increased wall thickness with the tile finish.
The entire pool got two layers of Laticrete HydroBan with Latasil at all penetrations for waterproofing. I installed the mosaic using Laticrete Glass Tile Adhesive Lite and finished it with Litokol Starlike EVO Epoxy Grout in the Grigio Seta color.
Cont'd..
The final finish is a mosaic from Oasis Tile, "Brilliant Blue Glossy Glass."
Credits:
Photos and videos credit: Cooper Carter