Dưới đây là một vài hình ảnh mô tả quá trình xây dựng một hồ bơi – kết hợp spa, với công nghệ dùng túi nhựa dẻo chứa nước và hệ thống làm nóng nước bằng năng lượng mặt trời.

Chỉ với vài tấm coffra cong tạo thành, một túi nhựa dẻo (đặc chế) để chứa nước – có vai trò chống thấm và thay thế lớp men màu – vài phụ kiện chế tạo sẵn làm bể sục, spa, miệng hút, miệng thổi… bạn đã có ngay một hồ bơi vừa ý trong sân vườn của mình. Toàn bộ thời gian xây dựng ước chừng độ khoảng từ 3-4 ngày… | Below are a few photos showing the major steps with building an inground pool from a kit. Let’s see photos of the process…

Every building project starts with a plan and in this case, lots of marking paint and wooden stakes.

Excavation begins. Here my friend Joel is digging the trench from the pool site to the corner of the house, where the plumbing will connect to the pump and filter, etc.

Once rough excavation is complete, the frame is assembled so that everything can be re-measured and fine excavation can take place. Both new technology (rotating laser level with a laser reader on a stick) and old technology (masonry line and other varous string levels, etc.) were used to keep things nice and level.

Once the walls are perfectly level and stairs etc. are connected, the concrete collar is poured around the entire perimeter of the pool walls to anchor them in place against the virgin soil. Care was taken to not remove too much soil, as backfilling beneath the walls is not an option. Instead, pieces of flagstone scrap were used where soil was excavated a little too much at the base of the walls.

The ready-mix cement delivery man notified me that he had 1-2 sq. yards of concrete left over after pouring the collar, so I used the remainder in the very bottom of the pool, a common practice. Nocice the absence of any main drain, not needed in pools these days at all, an entrapment hazard even with dual main drains (2 kids sitting on the bottom), and just something else that can break.

Once all of the measuring and hand digging and picking of the fine excavation step is complete, the cement bottom is mixed and poured, a little at a time. I used an 8 cubic foot electric mixer and dumped 1000 the cement in place. I took DIY pools’ recommendation of 7 parts sand to 1 part portland cement, with enough water added to make it strong but still spreadable/screedable. No fancy expensive mix necessary for this step.

I worried a lot about the liner installation. It went in on a cold day at first (50 degrees) and it was very difficult to work with. After a call to customer support, waited for a 60 degree or higher day.

The next day was 67-70 degrees and the liner went in much easier. There are a couple of very small wrinkles in the inside corner of the kidney but you have to be under water with goggles on to even see them.

Once a foot of water was in the bottom from a garden hose due to it’s low pressure against the liner, the local fire company was hired to come out and fill the pool. I did this because I have well water and did not want to risk having issues with my well.

Either while the water is filling or immediately after, the pool can be backfilled. This is a precautionary measure that many pool installers do not take, as many will fill the pool last, but it keeps an even pressure against the walls once the water is filling.

Backfill complete, final grading and seeding complete. I stopped here, as the initial installation was in October 2006 and I wanted to wait until spring to pour the concrete decking to allow the surrounding backfilled ground additional time to settle.

Spring 2007, and time to get to work again. Here the concrete forms are in place for the concrete to be 2 3/4 inches lower than the rest of the decking where the brick coping will go.

Concrete in progress. After getting the concrete roughly into place, the first step is to screed the concrete with a 2×4. We had several lengths of 2×4′s ready to go for various widths between the inner and outer concrete forms. This is not as hard as it looks.

The deck is more than half done, and what you see has been screeded and bull floated, nothing more. If you plan to do stamped concrete, you must eliminate all bull float lines or they will show up in the final product.

Stamped concrete in progress. A powder dye is broadcast over the concrete once the concrete water has evaporated off of the surface. (5 slump) Then stamps are used to create the contours of a natural surface, such as the slate pattern that I’m using.

The concrete has set and now the brick coping installation is in progress.

I installed solar panels onto the barn roof that’s about 80 feet from the pump. Not a problem for the Hayward 1.5 SuperPump. The solar panels are roughly 40% of the square footage of the pool surface but still heat it at least 10-15 degrees, and when just heating the Saratoga Whitewave spill-over spa (500 gallons or so), the spa can be heated from 80 degrees to 105 in about 2 hours, depending on the sunlight and time of day.

(Source: mypoolkit.com)