The dirt disappeared

After months of walking around mountains of dirt, it was time to backfill over the completed plumbing and get reaquainted with the yard. It brought back fond memories of digging it out in the first place and the distinct feeling that it would never be done and that I had made a big mistake!
I took a few last pictures of the plumbing before I covered it. It is amazing how much plumbing went into this thing.
I built a border around the equipment because it had to be placed a little lower than the grade of the yard for the pumps to operate properly.
I set mortar around a form that I made that will be where the topside controller will be placed. It needed to be a good fit so that the tile will fit around it snuggly. I ran rigid conduit to put the cord from the controller to the control unit by the equipment just so it will be protected.
I ordered the concrete cap for around the top of the spa, and we picked out tile that has the look of stone that will be a very exciting effect.

Placing the equipment

I finished priming and gluing all of the pvc plumbing for the spa a couple of weeks ago. I had "Dry fitted" most of the plumbing around the spa, then I took all of the pieces apart to prime and glue them for real.
When I first calculated the size of the hole I needed to dig I didn't want to dig it any bigger than I had to for obvious reasons. I allowed just enough room for the plumbing around the spa and not much room to work, so I got into some pretty interesting positions trying to get some leverage to glue the pipes together. I actually got smart and bought some inexpensive gloves to use to do the priming and gluing. I really missed getting that glue and purple stuff all over me like I usually do!
I will eventually report on how many hundreds (Thats right, hundreds) of feet of 1, 1 1/2, 2 and 2 1/2 inch pvc pipe that are in that hole, not to mention the dozens of fittings! It is too bad that all of this sculpture is going to be buried, but I guess I'll always have the pictures.
I put a lot of thought into the order that I had to put the pipes in, and the most efficient route for them to take to maximize the water flow to and from the equipment. Now I had to design the placement of the equipment on the slab that I poured to maximize its efficiency and fit all the plumbing to and from the equipment.
The pumps had to be placed so their intakes were below the filled water line for them to prime properly. Pumps need to have the most efficient flow to them because they are better suckers than pushers (Technical terms I've picked up along the way).
Every item of equipment needs to be able to be isolated for servicing, so ball valves are used so I don't have to drain the spa to service something.
The air line from the blower to the spa jets has a loop to keep condensation from going back into the blower.
I had to carefully plan where the lines from the spa came in from the spa and connected to the equipment. Its one of those things that looks so simple and right if its done correctly, but took so long to figure out!
I haven't made any of the electrical connections yet. In fact, I haven't even run the service to the equipment location yet. I think I'm afraid. But I'm not really concerned about it right now.
The days are short now and there is no time during the week to do anything in the daylight. But I've ordered the waterproofing materials and we're looking at wall caps and tile.
The next step is to fill the areas around the interior housings in the spa and do the waterproofing.

Got pipes?

The next step was to paint a product called Dryloc on the outside walls and waterfall front where moisture might be an issue.
The inside gets a couple of coats of a high tech product that waterproofs the blocks by seeping into the pourous concrete and creating a flexible waterproof membrane that I can tile over.
But first it was time to cut some pvc and dry fit the plumbing for the various functions of the spa.
Everything went according to the plan I made. I'm missing some fittings that I had to order online, but generally it went pretty well. It is amazing how many feet of pipe are going into this hole. I'll do the calculations and get back to you!

Forming the waterfall

I made a couple of braces to make sure the waterfall manifold was level before I made the forms that would hold the concrete in the shape I had designed for the top of the waterfall.
Once again I underestimated how much concrete this top portion would take, and quickly sent Tommy to get 3 more 60 lb. bags to add to the 3 I already had. That turned out to be enough. I also had half bag of mortar handy to fill in the gaps I knew would show up when I took off the forms.
Once again, I learned a few things in my process. Inexpensive 3/8" plywood is not thick enough to use as a form. It buckled and warped-but I made it work. Concrete with little rocks is harder to finish on a vertical shape than just mortar. Again, I made it work but it was a lot of work. I don't really know how to get concrete in all of the areas inside of a form. I thought I did, but I don't.
So here I am, 5 months after I marked the location of the spa on the grass, with the basic structure done. I'm very excited and I've started thinking about tile options.
Lots of work still to go, and the days are getting shorter, but it's looking pretty good.
I didn't plan it, but it's kinda cool that I accomplished something like this on my dad's 100th birthday. Happy birthday, Pop!

Spa side controller

The spa side controller could have gone anywhere convenient to use from the spa. I want to put it in the first block up in the waterfall wall because it will ne easy to use, easy to get to if it needs repairing, and out of the way of whatever cover I put on the spa.
I used a notched block with the center plenum already cut down which will accomodate the control.
I made a couple of blocks so I could partially fill the block and still leave enough space to easily install the controller from the top after I put in the tile.
I'll have to drill a hole for the cord from the controller to the control unit to finish off this detail.

Mortaring in the skimmer

I've been thinking about how to make sure the mortar that holds in and surrounds the skimmer gets into every nook and cranny if I make a form to hold it in place while I pour in the mortar. I figured out that I had to be able to place the skimmer in the form from the top because it was too big to fit through a hole in the form because of the flange. I even cut a notch in the opening to account for a small tab that kept me from sliding the skimmer straight down into the form. Instead, I would slide the skimmer down into the form about an inch from the face, then push it flush against the form over the tab. But unfortunately I did not think about how I would get the form off after the mortar was poured.
I had to break the form with my fingers to remove it, otherwise I would have disrupted the setting mortar and the position of the skimmer. But when I broke the form, the skimmer and the mortar moved anyway! I had a problem.
I must have worked that mortar and repositioned the skimmer for an hour to get it positioned correctly. Now I would have to hold the skimmer in place while the mortar set up to where it wouldn't move. I had to make sure it was level horizontally and vertically while maintaining 3/8" spacing from the wall for the future placement of the tile. I held and put pressure on it for over an hour, but it worked.

THE TOP ROW

The only blocks left after the top row are going to be used to build the waterfall. But first, my goal was to have the basic structure (five rows-191 blocks-75 bags of mortar-2 1/2 yards of concrete-235' of rebar) finished by the first day of school.
There weren't any jet housings in this row, which fittingly made the top the easiest and fastest. Just like I had hoped, I finally got a little better at this!
I had to add some rebar to the existing verticals in the north end to support the waterfall structure, but that again was not hard after what I had already done.
Two days before school started, I had reached my goal. It has started to really look like a spa, and the addition of the waterfall wall will complete the structure.

Working on the fourth row

The fourth row has rebar in it according to the plans that call for horizontal steel every 16". I also had to ground the equipment to this level of rebar, as well as a ground to the steel pole that supports the avocado tree that is within 5' of the spa.
Five more spa jet housings went into this row the same way as the fourth row, plus the rebar.
I put in the top blocks for the steps, which made it easier to get in and out of the spa. I had to fill these blocks with mortar before I placed them. I don't know how much they weighed, but I was glad to finish them.
I filled the 114 cells in the seating area and outside walls before I gave the seating area a flat top coat that challenged my concrete finishing ability.

Finishing up the 3rd row

Things started to go a little faster once I finished the first 2 rows. I put mortar around the light niche and built the 3rd row quickly compared to the first 2. I had to take my time when it came to placing the spa jet housings through the third wall blocks. I put silicone around the housings inside of the blocks after I leveled each one, then secured hose clamps over the silicone against the blocks so the housings wouldn't move when I filled the block cells with mortar.
I put in the first level of the steps with this row and filled the 46 cells with mortar.

Installing the light

I like to do the math in my head while I'm working. So far, after finishing setting the second row blocks that completes the seating area, I've placed 114 of the 191 total blocks (the seating requires more blocks than the perimeter), and I've used 48, 92 lb bags of mortar! That's over 4,400 lbs of mortar that I've moved from the garage to the back yard, down the dirt steps and into the mixing trough. No wonder I've lost weight this summer!
I advertised "Free dirt" on Craig's List and had a gentleman come and take the extra dirt, which freed up space to move the remaining blocks to the back yard. It also gave the space I needed for some more digging!
There have been a few things that I did not count on, but after digging the entire hole without any real problems (other than the hole itself) I got a little surprise trenching for the light conduit. It seems there was another house on our site before our house was built, which was obviously removed, except for the footing, which I of course found! I decided to tunnel underneath it after an attempt to knock it out was unsuccessful. I'm hoping the plumbing lines can go on top and still be buried an acceptable depth.
I placed the light and ran the conduit to where the electrical panel will be in preparation for the next inspection.
I'm starting on the 3rd row just like the first 2 by placing the corners first. I've found that marking the approximate location with a Sharpie helps me to space the blocks correctly, so I don't get to the corner block and not have enough room for the mortar.
My goal is to have all of the blocks placed by the time school starts. It should really look like something by then, and the heaviest of the work should be done.
You may recognize the woman in the picture. She is busy washing the dirt off of the plants and wondering if this thing will be done in our lifetime!
I love seeing your comments. Thanks.

Starting Row 2

Back at it after 10 days in Maui to let my hands recover from the mortar exposure and surprisingly sharp concrete blocks, the last construction step on the first row was to fill all the block cells with mortar and tie in a row of rebar in the middle of the long side seats.
Bringing the 90 lb. bags of mortar down into the spa wears me out. That and mixing each bag one at a time makes me sleep well at night, except that I sometimes feel like a cement mixer backed over me in the morning. Interestingly enough, most of the time the only thing that loosens me up and makes me feel better is to start in again.
It took 12 bags of mortar to fill the 82 block cells. I don't think a mixer would really help because I would not be able to get it down into the hole, so I would still have to shovel the mortar down into the blocks, plus I'd have to have it for a few days.
I'm now using gloves that are really a big help when I work with the mortar. There are many times when I need to manipulate the mortar with my hands and fingers, so the gloves come in very handy.
When I finished the first row I stopped to take an inventory of what had been accomplished in these first two thirds of summer.
1. I made and repeatedly revised the drawings for the permit application and construction process.
2. I dug out and knocked the dirt off of the St. Augustine grass in the project area, then disposed of it (That stuff is heavy!)
3. I dug the hole with Tommy's help (10' x 12' x 3 1/2'-12 yards of dirt one shovel at a time). 2 and a half more feet and it could be a grave!
4. I built and placed the slab forms.
5. I cut, bent, placed and tied the required rebar. Thanks Dave for the rebar cutter and bender!
6. I poured the slab. Thanks again, Dave!
7. I bored 22, 3" holes in the concrete blocks. I broke both wrists (Just kidding!)
8. I mortaed in place 57, 35 lb. blocks (That's right, I weighted them).
9. I made countless trips to the Home Depot, including 2 to get blocks and mortar before I had the sense to have the rest delivered.
10. I cut and placed 11 spa lines through the blocks. Thanks John for the chop saw!
11. I dreamed it was done. I was wrong.
The second row has as many blocks as the first row and needs to be precise because it is the seating area, but it should go faster than row 1.
Each row begins the same by placing and leveling the corner blocks , then setting a string line and building the outer row of blocks. The only detail in this row is the placing of the light.
Back with you soon!