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Building a Gunite Cement Swimming Pool

Bob is joined by Tom McNealy of Blue Haven Pools as the crew forms, sprays, and shapes a gunite cement pool. McNealy explains that the excavation was simple, but the crew found some groundwater at the bottom that must be removed with a line that is run and remains in the crushed stone at the base. McNealy shows how the form is established first by the two by fours that are driven and set with outriggers to establish the shape and hold back the soil. The crew then runs steeltex or paper-backed steel mesh to define the walls and floor and hold back the earth. The batch trucks bring the gunite -- a mix of cement and sand -- and pump it through a hose where the sprayer mixes it with water at the nozzle. The walls and the floor have six inches of gunite blown at them. The crew has about 30 minutes to form, shape, and smooth the cement before it sets. The steps and the swim out are sprayed in as a pile then cut and smoothed by hand.
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Building a Gunite Cement Swimming Pool

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" All right -- has been underway for awhile Tom McNealy is here from blue haven pools and -- it is it just won't affect your builder in the world right directly in California and they called it a little of the country and you're based here in Naples Florida right so. Building pools in in Florida must be -- right. Not necessarily that the applicant pools do you build most common wealth we build a lot of different types of -- in the building and the difficulty -- and yet -- Well our excavation started here this morning and so we got here in time to see the machine take out the first few shovel some pretty straightforward right. What conditions you did did you find here we hit some water but it was very all the way down the bottom groundwater groundwater so it wasn't very complicated. And the soil condition. -- standing good in that yet know when we were first starting putting down our footings and and -- monster -- remarking that a lot of this lot actually probably. Came from the spoils of digging out canals in the area right so it. We noticed that most of buildings going soft -- conditions but I know if you go up a little towards it. There's -- reason that it. Right that's correct the digging gets bad there. So once they had the the hole excavated what's the first thing that they've done well we buried at that would -- deadline which is -- half -- hundred thankful. Which stays there has holes. And that's when this that stays right down the bottom where that where the crushed stone that's right that's correct and that ways important -- controlled groundwater groundwater and could be controlled. By putting a pump on that all right is that the biggest enemy for an excavation like this is if you got a high water table. Yes and then all of a sudden you're trying to get -- government will be to get the water rising on its very very OK then once they had that set up. They put in all these vertical two by four's around the perimeter correct. It would today for."

" That's correct that creates the shape of the pool. -- laid -- out from inside. Through these down and put out -- on so it stays steady right and then put reforma. Which is the shape of the pool -- not been pretty impressed there's euphoria that kind on this all day and my stuff. All the expert. It's decree to shape in the workshop blueprint right here and then we didn't quite -- this'll -- attached what is this is what's called -- effect it's that paper backed mash them and is used to create the fact that. Because we can't in Florida we can't shoot up against that use the dirt as a form -- against the dirt as to all right when you when you say shoot you mean. But the -- that's going to be coming in humans are good why can't you just go up against the sides well the when you dig a pool. That way we had to depend on. No payments right and we have gained instant market so we just over -- and use the steel deck decree issued a federal."

" The gunite crews arrived here right after lunch correct and every time what's the first thing we have to get done well they set the trucks -- the batch truck and the compressor -- what's the difference. What -- precariously guy which. Which is sand and cement. For next dry. And shot through the -- so the sand and cement doesn't receive any water until it goes to correct. They had the gunman that cement right as the water. More or less thing on which part of we shooting -- Right at the nozzle. Okay. So the -- of water that he puts into the mix varies from place to place him. Correct what part of the pool he's spraying up shooting the war room floor OK. More or less -- less water if you're shooting vertically where I go snap to what thickness do they want to build these. Outside walls and the walls and the floor. Are designed to be successes that. So top how much setup time is there between the time that it comes -- a nozzle and sticks to the saddest thing. Time that is too hard work it -- about. Half an hour someone that. Depending on whether or so you need enough men on this job so that while one of them is. Donated shooting them. The material. Others are in their forming and shaping. That's very. And as you were saying earlier this kind of a modified kidney form so that there. Are a number of odd shapes and bumps right. But of course they just follow. Put it -- putting in successes and then I just follow the form the contours of the format. And then I noticed that they had gone through big pile of it over here in the corner no wonder what that was going to Vila. Great but then that's what they used to create the steps of steps and the swim out both. Shot in as a big long. And then formed by hand way and there's no need to put any additional rebar or wire reinforcing into this lump that's correct OK."

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