A drama in seven Acts.
Act I - The Pond Unveiled
Even when we first moved into San Simeon in winter of 2007, they told us the swimming pool water was old. "They" was some guy who runs a swimming pool maintenance and remodel outfit.
We kept feeding the water chlorine.
Several pool maintenance employees later, many years of old time savvy service from Cliff (blessings upon his soul), a couple of years of new savvy pool service from Thad, a total of thirteen years later, we decided to drain the cement pond.
The trouble with swimming pool water is that the cumulative effect of chlorine renders the chemistry harder and harder to manage (no pun intended). In addition to calcium and other particulates, there is an acid that builds up, the dreaded cyanuric acid, so you have to add more, and even more, and even ridiculously more chlorine to kill algae. That's about as much as I know. We had one guy come out to measure the particulates and our water rang the bell at 2,321 ppm. Normal range is 400-800, but he told us he had measured some pool water several times higher than ours.
I wanted to procrastinate, but Thad and Shari convinced me it was a good time to drain and refill.
It took five hours on February 15th for a sump pump to drain the pool into the gully to our north. That's where some palo verde trees grow that serve as a visual barrier. Some unpleasant folks recently built a remarkably ugly, two-story billboard house to our north. Its master bedroom balcony has a narrow opening through which to spy upon the east part of our pool. Not that they would see much: maybe chest high as we go up to the pool steps. Still, I want those trees to grow even taller and more dense.
I had no idea our cement pond was so big, or that 25,000 gallons occupied such a vast space. I had not appreciated how steep are the slopes of the cement shape that defines the pool. The water's buoyancy masks the steepness, particularly of the three steep, narrow steps that we use to gracefully enter the pool.
Act II - The Pond Wrecked
We decided to flush the swimming pool and thought, "Why not wreck it while it's empty?"
We hired an experienced wrecking crew equipped with pneumatic jackhammers the size of electric drills. Warned of the noise and dust, we notified neighbors and covered everything we could with tarps and sheets.
The crew showed up early, around seven in a cold morning, and started making noise at about quarter to eight. Our pool is larger than most, so it took them about five hours to chip away everything that covered the inside of the pool.
Unbelievably, after hours of punishing work, they took off for the next wrecking job that same day.
Act III - The Pond Tiled
We love the result: a primitive look of creatively mottled patterns of black and white.
The subtle impression reminds us of the zebra skin wallpaper we uncovered behind the toilet tank in the guest bedroom. Two tanks; different sizes; same values.
We thought we were ready to fill the big tank up with fresh water, then realized something was missing: a border. We needed to install a line of tiles around the rim as a sort of contrasting frame for the rustic black and white look.
I couldn't reach high enough at the deep end, so we hired Joab, a master swimming pool tile setter. Over two days, he prepared the surface and nailed the flexible boards on which the tiles can rest as the thinset hardens. The next day he buttered and set the tiles in thinset, then grouted. It wasn't long before the mortar and grout hardened and Joab removed the boards. A job well done.
Finally, we are almost done with the remodel. Spring is in the air and we have ordered a new solar cover. All we need do is add water.
Act IV - Pebble Technology
. . . so . . . yeah . . . we didn't stay with the primitive look. Turns out we had bought into a package deal and the best was yet to come.
It takes a small and experienced army to refinish a swimming pool. Preparations begin early. Title and pool deck are taped and covered over. Two lines are strung in a cross over the huge hole in the ground. The line that feeds the pebble technology slop and all electrical extension cords are draped over the suspension lines. Men wear metal clogs that go "Click! Click" as they walk over and spread the dark cement sludge.
Cement plaster and pebbles come in sacks carried in a mixer truck with a large hopper fed by a man wearing a handkerchief as a mask. It is mixed with water in the correct proportions and pumped through a long flexible hose. The fluid mix spurts and splashes out like thick water from a fire hose.
A small army of men spread the mixture, smooth it, brush it, then smooth it even more and gently water to expose a polished surface of embedded pebbles. Voilà! Tahoe blue. To hasten the hardening process and minimize slump on the steps and sides, a blow torch is used to dry the pebble technology slop.
We kept Nazar the Wonder Dog inside.
You couldn't pay me enough to work this hard or this skillfully. This crew was done in about four hours. They pumped out the water from the bottom, cleaned up, then, like the wrecking crew that jack-hammered and hauled away the old plaster, they left for the another job that same day.
Act V - The Pond Washed
Cement, as we know, is caustic. So what better to wash the finish than acid? Seems like a good idea, especially if you are not the one that has to do it.
The small army of plasterers left the pool to dry overnight. The next afternoon, two men and a Pima Pool and Plastering truck showed up. The jefe, a middle aged man, spoke a few words of English. Very kind, very reassuring, and quite incomprehensible. My Spanish was of little use because he machine-gunned the Sonoran dialect.
The assistant spoke no English and wore a mask. The jefe sprayed acid wash over the plaster as the assistant brushed off excess cement. A most unpleasant job. We stayed inside to watch.
I only figured out what the jefe had been assuring me after they had set up and started work. Thick hoses sucked the toxic mixture from the bottom of the pool into hazmat tanks in back of the truck
As with previous crews, they finished efficiently and cleaned up, ready for the next job late that same afternoon.
The jefe left our garden hose running in the bottom of the pool. Apparently, the pond was ready for water.
Act VI - The Pond's New Plaster
The trick, we learned after the acid wash, is to fill the pool from the bottom continuously. Splashing water from the top or turning off the water for a few hours is likely to result in marks or rings in the still curing cement plaster. Those marks and rings can only be removed with another acid wash. Not desirable.
It took two hours less than forty-eight to fill the pond up to the middle of its tile border. Meanwhile, we celebrated and admired the pebble tech finish. Shari took the opportunity to do some touch-up on the concrete deck that surrounds the pond, spots that would be hard to reach once the pool was filled with water.
Act VII - The Pond Fulfilled & Finale
Our cement pond slowly filled-up over two days.
We learned all sorts of things about new pool plaster. Like waiting a fortnight before using our Hayward pool cleaner. That little device, attached to a hose connected to the pool filtration pump intake, wanders around the pool bottom and sides sucking up debris. Trouble is, its wheels can mark up the still curing plaster. It's not something I would have worried about. A day later the plaster was more than hard enough to walk on; but what do I know?
Then there is the job of brushing the entire pool surface — well, at least its bottom — three times a day for two weeks. That loosens up and cleans off small particles of surface cement which, suspended in the water, get sucked to the filter pump intake. And the pump has to stay on 24/7.
I probably averaged one brush a day over a week and a half. It's hard work, plus it's been raining. Even so, the pool not only looks great, it works. As the winter of 2020 morphs into spring, it's time for a swim and a barbecue.
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