#Thegreatpoolpondconversion - 190722
we wanted to complete the great leveling this weekend (by which the #conversion got its name)
friday forecasted a 30-40% chance of t-storms for sat and sun
still we made arrangements for anthony and his steam shovel to come on sunday morning
saturday was an easy day. we did the last bit of draining
recall this is what it looked like the day we dumped the sand in
two piles of sand, a lake in the middle
and the pile on the right was literally tossed into 10” of water
it was easy in the beginning, just a two person bucket brigade
then we had to let the water seep out from under the pile and scoop it with a coffee can
on friday, after all that bailing and digging, we finally found the pool’s main drain at the deepest/lowest part of the pool floor.
got the plastic cover off and put a bunch of bricks over it - so it wouldnt ‘cave in’ or erode some time later on (neurotic paranoia).
the sunday forecast changed to ‘looks good’.
i got up at 5:30 to go for a 2 hour run (yeah maybe not the wisest move, given what was in store)
after breakfast, we get the tarp off, the rafters moved, bail the last few coffee cans full and we wait.
Vinnie (the boss) shows up right on time. Vinnie’s the star today.
first thing he notices is the pile of sand on the driveway is blocking the gate. i mentioned i was going to use a shovel last week and try to ‘move’ some of it. Not the whole 20 yards, maybe 2 or 3 (just 8,000 pounds), but i never got to it. (I really didn’t want to). Or he could go through the other gate and drive around from the back. He looks at me and says “i’ll move it”.
duh. 5 minutes and he moved all 20 yards. 54,000 pounds. Power tools.
see the pile through the rafters in the deep end?
he dumps another 4 scoops (12,000 pounds) into the middle section on the left. where you see the pipes.
then we all get in and start distributing both piles more or less evenly to the other wall.
whose idea was doing this in summer? 94 degrees, felt like 102. and we couldn’t yet deploy our new gazebo/canopy yet.
slowly and surely we get it done - all three of us maybe an hour raking, scooping, dragging and hoeing. no shoveling or lifting.
then vinnie brings in the power compactor and 20 minutes later we have a more or less even, flat, hard floor.
before he goes, i ask vinnie to move the remaining pile of sand a few feet so my wife can have her parking space back. 5 minutes and done.
less than 2 hours from start to finish, he’s off to his next adventure and we contemplate lunch.
mostly exhausted, we decide instead to cover the pile in the driveway, put the rafters back in place and cover the pool.
we peeled off the sweat drenched, dripping clothes, showered and had a necessary lunch.
good thing about covering the pool. while it didn’t rain, there was no way we were going back outside.
in fact naps awaited us both.
i felt like i’d run a half marathon
oh wait, i did
summing up:
first milestone: The ‘official’ start date of the project was some time in late may. we spent a few weeks prepping and building tools etc.
second milestone: the pool was drained and the first 20 yards of sand went in on 6/30
third milestone: the great leveling is completed.
since we made several major adjustments to our original plan, we are probably 6-8 weeks ahead of a schedule we don’t really have in the first place. we also saved ourselves a lot of intensive labor.
also, yesterday, this came out