We’re Putting in a Pool

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I can’t even believe it when I say it. We’re putting in a pool. That’s a sentence I NEVER thought would come out of my mouth. Over the last few years I started thinking about how nice it would be to have one in our backyard, but it wasn’t something my husband and I were in agreement on. That was, until last summer.

Why We Decided to Put in a Pool

blow up pool

Kids’ Age

The number one factor in our decision to build a pool was the kids’ age. I know everyone has a differing opinion on this, but for us, putting a pool in when they were younger made us feel uncomfortable. But now Izzy turns 12 this month and Sam is 8. We have had them both in swimming lessons and they are very comfortable around and in water.

Another age related decision had to do with Izzy being in middle school now and wanting to hang out with her friends all the time. You know, pre-COVID. I love that she is able to go over to friends’ houses and swim with them there and that will still continue. But as she gets older, I would like to be able to keep an eye on her activities and who she is hanging out with. If she’s always somewhere else I can’t do that. Now that her house is an option for summer activities I will have more eyes on.

Location

We live in Houston and Summers are BLAZING hot. You just cannot be outside in the Summer without being in the water. It’s miserable and you get overheated in the blink of an eye. Go out to ride your bike, play ball, hit up the park? Nope, too hot. You have to wait until the sun goes down and then the mosquitoes are a problem. Getting kids enough exercise in the summer is difficult here unless they’re swimming. This became painfully obviously last Summer. They’re now both at the age where playing with toys in a playroom isn’t their thing. If they’re not active they want to play video games. All they did was play video games. I do not want to have another summer like that.

Now, our neighborhood has pools and splash pads, and we did utilize them quite often. The plus is that we don’t have to maintain a pool, but the negative is that it’s a whole ordeal getting there. There were even days where it was too hot to walk down to the pool. But when we could you get all your stuff packed up, get there, only to find it’s too busy to have a place to sit or it’s closed because a lifeguard didn’t show up. Now I know COIVD isn’t a forever thing, but add those pool restrictions on top of it, and no one is having fun at the pool if you can even get in. Ugh.

What We’re Building

So now that you know the why, let me share with you what we’re building and how it is coming along. We decided on a very simple geometric shaped pool without a spa. Since our covered patio already has a nice brick floor we didn’t want to cover it up with pool decking. Instead we are keeping the patio brick and will be adding large tiled pavers around the pool and along the side of the house for a walkway from the front gate.

geometric pool rendering

How It’s Coming Along

The first three days went very fast. Day One the entire pool was dug out.

pool being dug out
geometric pool being dug out

On Day Two they added rebar and some of the pool piping.

pool rebar

Gunite was shot on Day Three. It’s a very loud process, but very exciting because you can finally see the pool come to life. After this happens we sit and wait for it to cure for two weeks before any other work is done. And that’s where we are right now.

pool gunite

Would you look at those stairs! I’m so thrilled with how those will look.

geometric pool stairs

There’s a hole in our backyard, but I still find it hard to believe we will be swimming at home soon. I am BEYOND excited about it! We all are!! Once we get a little further along I’ll share our tile selections and all the fun stuff.

You can stay up to date on the entire process through my Instagram. Check out my Pool Highlights for more behind the scenes.

Comments

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  1. Cassie Bustamante Avatar

    OOOOH SHELLEY! This is so exciting! Yay for your family!

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      I still can’t believe it. My plans are to spend every day out there. And the great part is that the pool will be entirely covered in the shade of the house by 2:00pm so I won’t be stressing about too much sun exposure!

Meet Shelley

Hi, I’m Shelley! My belief is that with a little creativity and elbow grease, you can make your home look like a million bucks without spending it.

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