Sarah and Guy Build a Swimming Pool

So this is it.  After 17 complete weeks of hard labour, stress, worry, expense and fretting, the Grand Switch On.  Except first I have a teensy problem.  During Sunday night a 40’ tree has blown down. On to the new path by the shed.  It missed the shed by about a foot.  BLOODY HELL!  My nerves are, again, in shreds, and, just to help, I seem to be starting some sort of bug.  This means that when Sarah and Vincent arrive it is not ‘hello, how lovely to see you, how’s things?’ but more ‘You won’t believe what’s happened how are you with a chain saw?’  (My apologies again, Sarah and Vincent…) Guy arrives and, with four of us at it, the tree doesn’t take long to shift, although it is after lunch before we get to the Grand Switch On. Vincent and I fill the motor with hydraulic fluid, check all the lines and … we’re ready.  I flick the switch and BANG!  Not, in fact, the electrics exploding, but Vincent, such a wag, saying BANG! for a lau...

On Monday evening I screech home from work and set to work on the plumbing – I fix the pump, filter and heater in position and then start gluing all the plumbing bits together. It looks good!!  Guy arrives and makes suitable admiring noises, we tighten everything up (hand tight, like the DVD says, so as not to crack the fittings) and put more water in the pool.  All seems fine! Guy starts on his walk home, I go to do something else and then about half an hour later go back into the cabin to check.  DRIP, DRIP, DRIP.  In THREE PLACES!  One of them is not so much a drip as a torrent….  I phone Guy, who comes straight back and we both peer at the THREE offending joints.  Blunkett sits outside the cabin and points out to anyone who’ll listen that she Hasn’t Actually Had Any Dinner Yet.  By now it is getting dark, we use Wyn’s arc light, and we can’t see what’s wrong.  Apart from the fact that it’s leaking.  At which point I give up....

On Monday, encouraged by comforting words from Keith, I tackle the plumbing.  Fun or what?  Within an hour I have all the connections, all the bits in between and, what’s more, IT LOOKS LIKE THE PICTURE!  I am very chuffed with myself.  Guy turns up to help and is suitably stunned that it is all done.  However, this is dry plumbing – now I have to take it all apart and glue it together.  Space is limited, and it occurs to me that if I do that, Wyn the Wire won’t be able to wire up the heater or the pump.  I phone Wyn who agrees to come round on Tuesday evening and do the necessary wiring, and then I can glue the plumbing together. On Tuesday I book Wednesday as a half day’s holiday from work in order to glue the plumbing.  But – Wyn can’t come.  I can’t plumb without the electrics being in place, I can’t put the cover over the pool without the plumbing in place, and I can’t (I don’t think) fill it with water without the cover.  Bugger...

Progress!  On Monday night Guy and I put the metal tracks onto the wooden pool surround – this is for the roller cover to roll along.  It fits on beautifully and is screwed on with no problem at all.  We are not used to such an easy life! Then we clear all the debris from inside the pit (that’s a LOT of debris – mostly wood and sawdust) and prepare to put down the felt which will be under the liner.  It gets glued to the floor with spray adhesive, and cut to size.  The spray adhesive is BLUE and it’s like that joke string that kids spray out of cans.  This is FUN!  The felt goes down beautifully, and before long we are standing in our socks on an expanse of thick soft black felt.  Pieces of polystyrene are glued into the corners to round them off, and we’re done for the day – easy or what? Except we do have one problem.  Up until now we’ve had a set of small steps inside the pool walls – climb up steps, swing leg over, stand on base outs...

On Monday I phone Gareth the Wood early to see if he can make the plugs that Dave the Miller has not provided.  The answer is no.  Excellent.  8.15am on a Monday morning and already Tuesday is going pear shaped.  I phone Dave the Miller’s mobile.  Turned off.  I phone Dave the Miller’s office.  Answerphone.  I leave an answer and begin to worry that he has gone on holiday…. But he does phone back and, yes, he can make the plugs as long as I can pick them up in the evening.  No problem, had planned an easy night before picking Guy up from the coach – he comes back TODAY!!!   On my way home from work I go to order a CLOCK.  Not just any old clock, but a HUGE CLOCK which says ‘Waterloo’ on it…. I’ve wanted one ever since I moved to Waterloo but could never think of anywhere to put it – now I have a huge cabin and it needs a clock.  Clock shop shut.  I drive home, oil wood (again), clean Guy’s car, drive my car to Guy’s ...

This week feels a bit like it’s going to be a ‘nothing happening’ week because the surround needs to happen next and Gareth the Wood is away at Butlins….  On Monday I set to work staining the ceiling.  Again.  I know that it took 3 ½ hours on Saturday, so Karen at work (thank you again Karen) does my late turn at the office for me and I whiz home to get cracking.  It doesn’t seem to take so long as the first coat (soaks in less) but then I am somewhat thwarted by Dave the Miller turning up with the new surround corners.  Which is fine, but he does rather like to natter…. 45 minutes later he finally trundles off, and I get back to the staining….  However, the good news is that he ADMIRES the cabin and says we’re doing A Good Job.  Praise indeed! On Tuesday the last coat of stain goes on – HOORAY!  And a second coat on the stable door end wall and the window wall.  I ceremonially dump my cheap trousers and T shirt because they are now enti...

As Guy flies off to Spain on Thursday, we decide we will finish the ceiling tongue and groove on Monday/Tuesday and have a quiet night on Wednesday – romantic meal, last night together, candles, bottle of wine – all that stuff. The Monday and Tuesday bit works fine.  We tongue and groove till we are heartily sick of it – it’s a BIG ceiling.  Slight hitch on Monday when the remaining wood is delivered – meant to be cut to size, but actually not cut to size.  Still, we set up the mitre saw with a new lump of wood at the right place, and cut all 96 pieces ourselves…. On Tuesday we finish the last bit of the ceiling and I realise we also need to put in the ‘liner hanger’ before the surround (due to be delivered Wednesday) can be fitted on Friday.  Not to worry, we agree we’ll do it Wednesday before our Romantic Meal. On Wednesday the wood is delivered for the surround (looks lovely – needs four coats of oil before Friday, so plan to do one later) and we fit the li...

I had forgotten just how stiff it is possible to get Doing Things.  Due to my rather enforced three week rest, my exertions on Sunday (up a ladder Tongue and Grooving) make me as stiff as a board on Monday.    However, I have some VERY interesting phone calls:  Woodmerchant and Woodmillman are now speaking to each other and the surround will ARRIVE ON TUESDAY; Haulage company have remembered I exist and pool WILL ARRIVE ON THURSDAY WOO HOO.  That just leaves us Thursday night to put the walls up before Gareth the Wood comes to fix the surround on Friday. I am exceedingly optimistic and believe the nice man on the DVD who says it will only take an hour.  Guy is less convinced.  We put the base coat of woodstain on the new walls.  It’s a gorgeous honey colour.  And no, I can’t really take the credit for the colour as the choices were: ghastly yellow, honey, dark, darker, very dark and darkest.   Kind of chose itself, really… S...

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are wiped out with my wretched unwellness, so they don’t count.  I am off work and not eating, so am pretty damned feeble.  Still, it’s good for the waistline! On Thursday Guy comes round in the evening to put Jablite in the walls ready for tongue and grooving.  I have stomach spasms now so spend the evening bent double saying ‘you’ve missed a bit’ which I am sure is Most Helpful.  The pit base bitumen doesn’t get any air circulating on it, and the forecast is for more rain, so the blower and dehumidifier are back to help dry the base out.  As we don’t want to stand on the pit base, Guy balances precariously on planks across the top of it.  I must admit a lot of my thoughts lately have been heading towards ‘why did I make the pool partially inground?’.  I’m sure it’ll be Lovely When It’s Finished although I may well be heading for a nervous breakdown in the process…. Messy stuff to cut, Jablite.  We don’t want it...