Week Fifteen
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 outside pool. Now we have removed the steps, but we are still inside the pool. The walls are about 3’6” tall. When the pool is finished there are ‘benches’ around the pool to stand on, but right now we have nothing. Zilch. Zippo. The wall seems awfully tall. The nice man in the DVD (James the Pool – Head of Everything at Endless Pools) gets in and out of the pool effortlessly, but we can’t remember how. We look at the wall. Guy tries first and gets stuck half way up. I give him a leg up and he’s out. I try backwards and get stuck half way up. Then I try frontwards, end up sprawled on the surround and roll off on to the base outside the pool. This cannot, in any circumstances, be called elegant. But at least I’m out! We decide James the Pool must be 7’4” tall, or there’s a knack we haven’t discovered yet…. We unwrap the liner and put it loosely in the pool to warm up ready for tomorrow.
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 outside pool. Now we have removed the steps, but we are still inside the pool. The walls are about 3’6” tall. When the pool is finished there are ‘benches’ around the pool to stand on, but right now we have nothing. Zilch. Zippo. The wall seems awfully tall. The nice man in the DVD (James the Pool – Head of Everything at Endless Pools) gets in and out of the pool effortlessly, but we can’t remember how. We look at the wall. Guy tries first and gets stuck half way up. I give him a leg up and he’s out. I try backwards and get stuck half way up. Then I try frontwards, end up sprawled on the surround and roll off on to the base outside the pool. This cannot, in any circumstances, be called elegant. But at least I’m out! We decide James the Pool must be 7’4” tall, or there’s a knack we haven’t discovered yet…. We unwrap the liner and put it loosely in the pool to warm up ready for tomorrow.
On Tuesday evening I am HUGELY excited about putting the liner in – it will actually Look Like A Pool! There’s a really neat way of doing the liner – you shove a vacuum hose through one hole inside the walls, seal all the other holes, add the liner and turn the vacuum on. This then sucks the liner back against the walls and you can see if it fits without having to add water. Neat or what? I strap all the holes with gaffer tape, add the hose and then we pop the liner in.
Again, this looks stunningly easy on the DVD and, again, IT IS!!! WOO HOO!!! There’s a beading on the edge, and it just slots in…. We fit it all the way round, turn on the vacuum and watch it do it’s stuff. We decide we’re about 1” out and so we unslot it, move it and slot it back in again. IT'S DONE!!! One very smooth liner, no hassle, and a fantastic smell of rubber as well. We inhale, admire and then try to get out of the pool again. James is definitely 7’4” tall.
The next stage is to put the metal benches in – and the propulsion unit, which is heavy. Guy and I decide it would be sensible to see if we can lift the propulsion unit between us without either (a) straining anything or (b) risking ripping the liner if we drop it. We lift, we decide we need help – and think of Darren the Digger. It is while we are peering at the propulsion unit at waist height that we spot something – it has been quite noticeably bent out of shape at the back. As we haven’t moved the thing since it arrived, this must have been at the hands of Pickfords (The Careful Movers). I don’t think it will fit as it is and, as the whole kit cost about £10k, I am loath to whack it with a hammer. We decide we can’t arrange for Darren to come if we can’t put it in, Guy goes home, and I moodily go indoors to phone the US and see if it’s ok to bend it back into place. I phone, it’s fine to ‘persuade’ it back to shape, so I try persuading. My ‘persuading’ eventually involves a block of wood, a towel - and a whack with a hammer. It works – nicely straightened back plate, all ready to be installed.
On Wednesday I put a hosepipe in the pool and START FILLING IT WITH WATER WOO HOO! Only to a depth of about 6”, but it’s water, nonetheless. And I phone Darren who says he would be delighted to come and help lift the unit on Thursday evening.
On Wednesday I put a hosepipe in the pool and START FILLING IT WITH WATER WOO HOO! Only to a depth of about 6”, but it’s water, nonetheless. And I phone Darren who says he would be delighted to come and help lift the unit on Thursday evening.
On Thursday morning I excitedly tell Jo at work that there is 6” of water in the pool. ‘Did you put it in or is there a leak?’ she asks. Oh ye of little faith…..
Before Darren arrives in the evening, Guy and I do the preparation work on the benches – adding the fin shaped pieces to the corners, and getting the side benches ready.
Darren duly arrives, peels off his shoes and socks, rolls up his trousers and climbs into the pool. Without even complaining that The Water Is Cold. Guy and I lift from outside the pool, Darren holds the unit on the edge, I climb into the pool too, we both lift – and hey presto, one unit in the pool!
Darren leaps out effortlessly (he’s obviously also 7’4” tall) and I do a slightly more elegant escape at a corner. Darren leaves us to it and we put in the remaining benches – which all fit together beautifully. This is really quite amazing. After all the hassle and problems, the pool is just a dream to fit. Like IKEA flat packs but better. We get all the benches in and fixed, and put the hosepipe back in.
Before Darren arrives in the evening, Guy and I do the preparation work on the benches – adding the fin shaped pieces to the corners, and getting the side benches ready.
Darren duly arrives, peels off his shoes and socks, rolls up his trousers and climbs into the pool. Without even complaining that The Water Is Cold. Guy and I lift from outside the pool, Darren holds the unit on the edge, I climb into the pool too, we both lift – and hey presto, one unit in the pool!
Darren leaps out effortlessly (he’s obviously also 7’4” tall) and I do a slightly more elegant escape at a corner. Darren leaves us to it and we put in the remaining benches – which all fit together beautifully. This is really quite amazing. After all the hassle and problems, the pool is just a dream to fit. Like IKEA flat packs but better. We get all the benches in and fixed, and put the hosepipe back in.
Then, just because we haven’t done enough for one evening, we fling floorboards down in what will be the equipment room – so that we can get them stained and varnished before we need to PUT THE EQUIPMENT IN AT THE WEEKEND WOO HOO!
On Friday evening the water is a couple of inches over the benches so I hop in to add the corner covers. JEEZ THIS WATER IS COLD!! The corners slot in beautifully and are screwed in. I continue filling the water to just under the spaces needed for the plumbing. Whoever gets in the pool next (and somebody will need to) will have to be prepared to FREEZE TO DEATH. The water will be about mid thigh height….. and cold! One major bonus of having added the benches is that I can now climb out elegantly. Or as elegantly as it gets, anyway.
Guy arrives on Saturday morning and I explain about the Very Cold Water. He coughs impressively and mutters something about a bad chest… so it’s me that climbs in. Actually, I quite like the water this cold (it’s Very Invigorating) and am wondering whether the heater isn’t an unnecessary addition…..
We do all the pool front connections which, again, go like a dream, and we put the skimmer in.
We also fit the hydraulic hoses and I explain the dynamics of the hydraulic system to Guy. It’s so well explained on the DVD that even I understand it and, by the time I’ve finished, so does Guy. I am secretly quite chuffed that I actually understand how this pool works!
Wyn arrives to do more electrical stuff and, as there isn’t enough room for all three of us to work in the equipment room, Guy and I do more of the landscaping outside…. By the time Wyn has finished, we have a box on the wall, several cables and A DOUBLE SOCKET WOO HOO! Again, Progress!
On Saturday evening Guy is still coughing well, so we sit at opposite ends of the sofa and watch the plumbing bit on the DVD. James the Pool is most endearing – he gets glue on his fingers, says his knees creak and knocks things over. This is Most Comforting – he’s a Normal Person!
On Sunday Guy and I play with the plumbing and we have the DVD rigged up in the cabin because I am not sure I know what I’m doing. I just knew we’d hit a snag sooner or later! First bit – fine. Second bit – on DVD it very clearly says ‘screw this in here’. No screw thread on the bit we have to screw in to. And it doesn’t look like a slip fitting either. (That’s me pretending I know what a slip fitting is). We watch it again. It should definitely screw. It definitely doesn’t. Endless Pools have a ‘weekend installation helpline’. I can phone it. Except it’s 11am in the UK, and probably only 5am (on a Sunday) in the US. So I don’t phone it. We think maybe we can start from the other end, and we look at all the equipment to be plumbed in. There’s a filter and a pump and a heater. This time I get REALLY scared because I REALLY don’t know what I’m doing. We decide to get the local ‘Spa and Sauna’ man to come and do the plumbing, and I am suddenly much calmer, having made a decision. I phone the ‘Spa and Sauna man’. Very nice chap, he’d love to come and do it, problem sorted. Except he can’t come before the end of September. BUGGER. He says it’s really very simple and he’s sure I can do it. He clearly has more confidence in my abilities than I do…. So now it’s pouring with rain, we’re stumped on the plumbing, and we can’t do anything outside. Only one thing to do – abandon the pool!
After a quick lunch we go off to see the latest Harry Potter film. Which is excellent, although I do find myself admiring the floorboards in Dumbledore’s study…
Later (at a more reasonable hour for the US) I phone the weekend helpline and speak to Keith who is incredibly reassuring and, yes, we can just glue it and, yes, it will be fine. Phew. By now it is 7pm and I am not about to start fiddling with the plumbing, so I have a large sloe gin instead.
Hours worked this week: All of them. Actually, it hasn’t been too strenous (apart from Saturday which was a long day starting with varnishing floorboards at 7am) and real progress has been made. Frustrating Sunday.
Achieved: Liner in, benches in, propulsion unit in, water in, 'through wall plumbing' done, ‘Go Faster’ button sorted, electricity connected to cabin, equipment room floored. Phew – I hadn’t realised we’d done quite so much!
Casualties: Some good bruises, very cold feet in the water.
New Friends: Madeleine at the Clock Shop who is now reading the previous fourteen back instalments of this saga, and Bryan on Ebay from whom I have bought ten plastic ducks…
Purchases and Pressies: Ten plastic ducks (see above). Essential for Grand Opening. (If it ever happens….)
Update on sitting room: LOADS of boxes emptied, can see floor again!
Update on stupid cat: There was a bit of black felt left over from under the liner, so I folded it up and lobbed it onto one of the boxes in the sitting room. Cat (BB – the One Who Attacks Humans) has decided it is Just The Best Place Ever To Sleep. This despite the fact that there is a bed, three sofas, a cat bed and a warm furry thing in a sunny windowsill. See – I said he was Thick.
Wine consumed: A bottle on Saturday (it was very hot) and an exceedingly large sloe gin on Sunday evening after the frustration with the plumbing. Bad news on the sloe gin front – the local supermarket is discontinuing it! I bought the last two bottles on clearance. Mum saw it too in a different branch, and also bought the last two bottles on clearance. Excellent! I have FOUR bottles to drink….
Plan for next week: Plumbing (I can do this, I can do this, I can do this) and electrics. We should be SWIMMING by next Sunday….. (the crucial word there is ‘should’….)
Later (at a more reasonable hour for the US) I phone the weekend helpline and speak to Keith who is incredibly reassuring and, yes, we can just glue it and, yes, it will be fine. Phew. By now it is 7pm and I am not about to start fiddling with the plumbing, so I have a large sloe gin instead.
Hours worked this week: All of them. Actually, it hasn’t been too strenous (apart from Saturday which was a long day starting with varnishing floorboards at 7am) and real progress has been made. Frustrating Sunday.
Achieved: Liner in, benches in, propulsion unit in, water in, 'through wall plumbing' done, ‘Go Faster’ button sorted, electricity connected to cabin, equipment room floored. Phew – I hadn’t realised we’d done quite so much!
Casualties: Some good bruises, very cold feet in the water.
New Friends: Madeleine at the Clock Shop who is now reading the previous fourteen back instalments of this saga, and Bryan on Ebay from whom I have bought ten plastic ducks…
Purchases and Pressies: Ten plastic ducks (see above). Essential for Grand Opening. (If it ever happens….)
Update on sitting room: LOADS of boxes emptied, can see floor again!
Update on stupid cat: There was a bit of black felt left over from under the liner, so I folded it up and lobbed it onto one of the boxes in the sitting room. Cat (BB – the One Who Attacks Humans) has decided it is Just The Best Place Ever To Sleep. This despite the fact that there is a bed, three sofas, a cat bed and a warm furry thing in a sunny windowsill. See – I said he was Thick.
Wine consumed: A bottle on Saturday (it was very hot) and an exceedingly large sloe gin on Sunday evening after the frustration with the plumbing. Bad news on the sloe gin front – the local supermarket is discontinuing it! I bought the last two bottles on clearance. Mum saw it too in a different branch, and also bought the last two bottles on clearance. Excellent! I have FOUR bottles to drink….
Plan for next week: Plumbing (I can do this, I can do this, I can do this) and electrics. We should be SWIMMING by next Sunday….. (the crucial word there is ‘should’….)
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