Episode#30: We Might Be Trailer Trash But We Had A Pool

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If you were in the ready mix concrete business in 1999 and you operated the business like you should have, you made good money that year. The market remained strong and demand continued to grow throughout the year, prices held firm and the year end bottom line reflected a nice corporate profit. In May of 1998 I was promoted to Vice President of Operations and now as a member of the management staff I was eligible for a profit bonus and the bonus that year was a very nice bump. I knew to never plan on a bonus and go into debt expecting it each year as they were never a sure thing, so we put some in savings, planned a family vacation, and had a swimming pool put in. 

After the tornado hit Jarrell Texas in May of 1997 that took the life of 27 people, I bought and had an underground storm cellar installed. The next year I had concrete poured for sidewalks around the house, a driveway pad and I built the carport shown here. The picture below was taken in the fall of 1999.


I did a lot of research on pools and pool types and in early 2000 decided on a fiberglass pool for several reasons. They were much cheaper at almost half the price, required substantially less chemicals to treat the water, and they could be installed a lot quicker than a regular gunite pool. In the photo below you can see the before picture and layout from the back yard patio beyond the storm cellar door which includes the surrounding pool deck that will extend about 6' on three sides of  the pool with a 25' deck on the south side which was the shallow end. The pool I bought was a diving pool that was 17' wide, 35' long and 8' deep.



The backhoe had the hole dug in no time and the two loads of cushion sand were in place very quickly that day. The pool shell did not weigh much at all and the install crew used a sign company crane truck to pick it up and set it in the hole in the ground. The water capacity was just over 22,000 gallons and it filled surprisingly fast with a water hose from the back yard hose bib and was full by the end of the next day.



The next day the forms were in place and the trucks arrive on time the concrete was placed and suddenly our pool is taking shape and looking good. After a couple of hours the concrete begins to get its initial set, the place and finish crew will use a water hose and spray nozzle to spray off the cement paste from the trowel finished top to expose the pea gravel and the surface would look nice and more importantly will not be slick when walking on it with wet feet.



The picture below is a few days later and the pool installation is complete including the ladder and the diving board. In the photo below you can see the exposed pea gravel deck surface described above. Also here is Grandpa working as the life guard for my two boys who were 7 and 10 years old at the time. 


The last step of this pool project was to secure it from dogs and our little 6 year old neighbor girl who was always welcome but did not want her in the pool without us knowing about it as well as any other unwanted critters on the move in the area. My Dad and I installed this privacy fence which was installed on all four sides. The problem was how surprisingly hot it was inside the fence if you were out just sitting in a lawn chair. The wooden fence stopped the south breeze from circulating in the pool area so I built an ornamental iron fence with a matching iron gate and replaced that south fence section and it was so much better then.


The pool served several purposes after we installed it. First and foremost, the boys were always glad to be at home and to have friends come over to swim. It was a nice addition to our home and was not as much trouble as I feared it would be. I am glad we had the resources to have this done, and we definitely enjoyed it especially during those long hot summers of north central Texas, but discovered that I do not want another one.

Epilog -

When I decided on the fiberglass pool, it was primarily because of the sales pitch I got regarding the reduced chemicals usage required to maintain the pH level and water clarity. Surprisingly the sales pitch statements were true and accurate. During the installation I bought 6 one gallon jugs of muriatic acid for treating the water and when we moved from this place 7 years later I still had two gallons left.



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