Crews continue to peel back the many layers of marcite. To the casual observer – work in week two was very similar to that of week one. Lots of chipping and removal of material. Some thoughts:
- Wow – there was a lot of material built up in our pool! Crews are discarding material from about 55 years worth of periodic marcite maintenance. Recall that in the past, little to no marcite was removed during renovation projects (this was standard practice at the time). As mentioned in the prior update, we’ve found chunks of layered debris more than two inches thick!
- On that note – we’re evaluating whether the depth markings on the pool deck need to be reviewed. No joke – there may be a noticeable difference in some areas.
- Rest assured that sloping on the staircases will no longer be an issue. With most of the marcite removed, the stairs are flat with well-defined edges.
In addition to overseeing the project on a daily basis, B&G kicked off a couple of related projects:
- We rented a fire hydrant water meter from Livonia DPW and performed preliminary testing on Saturday (September 17th). This hose will be used as a supplemental water source for the refill. Unfortunately, while we were able to connect the hydrant meter, we found that the fire hose (600 feet – generously donated by a friend of the club, David Dodge) has an incompatible type of fitting for what’s on the meter. Two failed attempts later, we’re still trying to find the right adapter.
- B&G has designed and is now testing a 2nd iteration of 3D-printed gutter grates to replace broken sections. The grates we presently use in our gutters are discontinued and unavailable for purchase. Rather than replace large sections with a new grate style (that wouldn’t match), we are experimenting with 3D-printed replacements. The material should be mechanically durable and UV-resistant – more on this to come.
On Monday (September 19th), B&G met with the contractor to discuss some concerns and clarify job details:
- The cost impact for the added demolition labor (as mentioned in the prior article) was reviewed and will remain well below the discussed cap.
- All four staircase railing anchors in the pool will be replaced. Existing bonding wires will be re-used.
- The debris that entered the main drains during the demolition (a concern point of ours) will be thoroughly vacuumed. The drain pipes will then be plugged with air bladders for the remainder of the demolition (including water blast) to prevent further issues.
- Both floor pans and the covers for the main drains will be replaced.
- Gutter grates will be temporarily removed, and all gutters will be vacuumed to remove debris.
- Stair edges will be rebuilt as needed.
- Brand new mounting rings will be installed for all ten underwater pool lights.
- According to the contractor, it’s entirely possible (with proper maintenance) that the new finish may last 20 years before a project of this scale is needed again.
- We’re still working out some last-minute details for the swim lane tile and targets. A change in the pricing has potentially brought the topic of lane marker width back to the table.
We also reviewed the anticipated schedule from now until project completion:
- The water blast portion of demolition is scheduled to start on Wednesday (September 21st), with the bulk of the work scheduled to take place Thursday through Sunday.
- Tile and concrete preparation work is scheduled to start on Monday. This should take about a week.
- Plastering should take two days. If this schedule holds, work should wrap up early in the week of October 3rd. Recall that once work is completed and the pool is refilled, we run the pool for 30 days. Therefore, pool winterization is anticipated to be pushed back to about one week after Halloween.
Day 6
Demolition continued. Unfortunately, we had recurring issues with contractors tripping circuit breakers and GFCIs, resulting in the loss of some footage.
We also took the opportunity to take some photos on Monday evening.
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Friday/Saturday
No crew was on site on Friday or Saturday this week.
Looking Forward
Week three should produce some interesting footage as water blasting begins. We’ve (hopefully) fixed the issues related to the loss of time-lapse footage by marking the critical receptacles as ‘do not use’.
