Tulsa Pools : Best Pools

Cody Albright: Welcome to the Dive Time Show. I’m your host Cody Albright, and here with always with me is my lovely co-host Rachel.

Rachel: Rachel.

Cody Albright: My beautiful wife. Together we are owners of Sierra Pools And Spas of Tulsa. You can find us online at www.sierrapoolsandspas.com or give us a call at 918-884-8427. If you weren’t listening the last five seconds, I’ll repeat that. Sierrapoolsandspas.com or give us a shout at 918-884-8427. Today we’re going to be talking about all about Tulsa Gunite pools. Rachel, tell us about some Tulsa Gunite pools.

Rachel: Well, specifically, we’re going to be talking about in-ground pools because that is what we specialize in here at Sierra Pools and Spas of Tulsa. As the name implies, an in-ground pool is set into the ground.

Cody Albright: It’s not above the ground Tulsa Pools?

Rachel: It’s not above the ground.

Cody Albright: It’s in the ground.

Rachel: It’s in the ground. In-ground pool.

Cody Albright: Oh my goodness. Who would imagine?

Rachel: A hole is dug and it is finished, usually with concrete.

Cody Albright: Can I tell a quick story?

Rachel: Yes.

Cody Albright: Okay. I was in, I think this was fifth grade. Now, as my little mind works, and I wasn’t around pools a whole lot when I was younger, but my friend said he had an in-ground pool and I really thought he was like … you’d walk in a basement and it was underground.

Rachel: Like underground?

Cody Albright: Like underground pool.

Rachel: That’d be cool.

Cody Albright: I know.

Rachel: That’d be awesome.

Cody Albright: I had some great thoughts about that.

Rachel: Like a tavern.

Cody Albright: I don’t know why Tulsa Pools  I thought that, but my little mind imagined. Okay. I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Rachel: No, this is just in the ground so it’s not underground, but it’s in the ground. A hole is dug and it is finished, usually with concrete. There are vinyl and fiberglass pools, but we do not specialize in those. We don’t really recommend those. They’re not as long-lasting as a Gunite pool. Just different … more upkeep on a vinyl or fiberglass pool. We specialize in concrete Gunite in-ground pools. When post people think of an in-ground pool, they usually think of a concrete one. This is supported by a statistic from the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals, that says 65 to 70% of in-ground pools build each year are made of concrete.

Cody Albright: I wonder why?

Rachel: It’s not hard to know why. They are structurally the most sound pools. You’re not gonna have to worry about leaks. You’re not gonna have to worry about the thing popping up out of the ground.

Cody Albright: You’re not gonna have to worry about your dog scratching out your liner and causing a hole and having to replace that.

Rachel: Yeah. If you want to build a pool that lasts, you want to make it out of concrete. There’s two different ways to apply the concrete in a Gunite pool. There’s Gunite and there’s shotcrete. They’re very, very similar and the only difference really is how they are applied. Both Gunite and shotcrete are cementitious materials. They’re made out of cement, a mix of cement, sediment, and usually sand or some kind of rocky material. Gunite is the more wildly used of the two materials, but they’re really both considered equally strong materials. There’s really no difference in the strength. It’s just the mixing process that really differentiates them.

Cody Albright: Please do explain, what’s the difference between Gunite and shotcrete?

Rachel: When applying Gunite, the installer uses a hose that mixes the material with water as it sprays out. The mix is dry, the Gunite cement mix is dry, and when it’s sprayed through the hose it’s mixed with water as it’s being sprayed out. Shotcrete is a wet mix that’s delivered through the hose. That is literally the only difference. One is a dry mix, mixed with water as it’s being sprayed. One is a wet mix being sprayed.

Cody Albright: No added ingredients or flavors, it’s just …

Rachel: Nope. There’s no difference. It’s just the way that it’s applied Tulsa Pools.

Cody Albright: Just the way it’s applied. Okay.

Rachel: Really, here in this area, there’s really not a shotcrete provider. We use Gunite for that reason. Really, that’s the only reason. They’re both equally strong, so if in the future shotcrete became the popular thing around here, we might switch, but for now it’s Gunite. We use Gunite. To build a Gunite pool, there’s some construction processes that we have to go through. First of all, we have to lay out the pool form. This is done using form [boards 00:04:53], which are basically malleable wood boards that we can form to any shape of your pool. Then, after that, once those are set, the excavation will begin. We’ll dig the big hole for the pool.

Cody Albright: Dig out a hole. Dig that hole  Tulsa Pools.

Rachel: Yep. Then, after that, we will do the steel bars or the rebar. This goes around the sides and the bottom of the excavation to create a mold for the pool’s shape and it reinforces the concrete. Excuse me. This means that we can pretty much create any shape of pool that you want because we can form it in any way that we want. The walls and floor of a Gunite pool should be about nine inches thick and the top of the sides of the pool, called the bond beam, should be about 12 inches thick and extended down about 18 inches. Does that sound right, project manager?

Cody Albright: Yes, sounds about good.

Rachel: Yeah. Once the Gunite cures, we will apply plaster over it. Plaster is similar in make-up to Gunite, so the material’s bond pretty easily to each other. This is the finish that goes on the Gunite pool. Not only do we do in-ground pools, but a great addition to any in-ground pool is an in-ground-

Cody Albright: Drum roll.

Rachel: -Spa.

Cody Albright: Whoa, yeah.

Rachel: There is a difference between a spa and a hot tub. Did you know that Tulsa Pools?

Cody Albright: I did, but let’s tell the listener what the difference is here.

Rachel: A hot tub is going to refer to the classic, above-ground, round, wooden tub, that is outfitted with benches and may or may not have jets for stirring up the water. When you think of a hot tub, you think of like that above-ground giant, wooden thing or like the … you can get the inflatable ones now that you can put literally anywhere, like you can put them in your living room, which I think is pretty cool.

Cody Albright: That’d be kind of cool.

Rachel: That’s the hot tub. A spa is any in-ground vessel that has built-in benches for seating and jets to agitate the water, and relax and soothe tired muscles. That’s what a spa is. We build spas. These are in-ground “hot tubs” that provide relaxation and just a nice soothing area to relax.

Cody Albright: You worked all day, you got some sore muscles, and you just want to relax so you just go to your spa and turn your jets on, and it’s just a great relaxation to enjoy.

Rachel: Yes.

Cody Albright: You can’t regret it.

Rachel: Definitely. Here’s a fun stat. There are more than 7.3 million hot tubs in operation in the US, according to a study conducted by Pool and Spa Marketing. A typical spa is heated to about 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the APSP. That is the preferred temp.

Cody Albright: That’s hot.

Rachel: That is hot. It feels real nice.

Cody Albright: I don’t know if I could han- I don’t like it that hot. You would.

Rachel: It feels nice.

Cody Albright: I probably wouldn’t. I’d probably be sweating.

Rachel: Yeah.

Cody Albright: I like it cool Tulsa Pools.

Rachel: Many spas, they’ll be installed at the same time as your swimming pool. Usually we just include those in the price of the pool. They’re all together in the same … So when we write up a contract or a bid for you and you want a spa, it’s not gonna be a separate thing, it’ll all be as one. Like a pool, the spa’s circulation system is usually located away from the spa itself. That’s one of the reasons in-ground spas are part of the swimming pool project, it’s less expensive and easier to dig up your yard once to bury the necessary piping instead of doing that at a later time. In-ground spas have a low profile look that many people prefer, especially if you’re building a nice in-ground pool. You don’t really want to have some awkward, above-ground hot tub sitting out in your yard. It’s much nicer, aesthetically pleasing, to have your in-ground concrete spa just connected to your pool.

Another thing that you can add instead of just a spa would be a swim spa. A swim spa is equipped to move water to produce a counter-current against which you can swim. This is great for anybody who wants to exercise. They just want a little space to exercise. This is great for a smaller backyard, too. Basically, it’s a smaller, narrower pool, and you can use it for aerobic exercise, jogging, and hydrotherapy. There’s lots of great exercise and therapeutic benefits to having a swim spa. The typical swim spa is about 14 or 15 feet long and it’s about six or seven feet wide, and usually about three to six feet deep. Again, their compact size just means you can install them anywhere Tulsa Pools.

Cody Albright: You know what my favorite thing is, is when it’s below freezing outside and you can see your breath. You can get in the pool if you have a heater and cooling unit, but just something about it being below freezing and turning your spa on and just jumping in. The outside air’s cold so your head’s kinda cold above the water. Yeah, it’s just real … still is fun.

Rachel: Also, it’s cool in the snow.

Cody Albright: Yeah. Then you get out and then you challenge your friends or whatever.

Rachel: You go inside … Oh, no, no, no.

Cody Albright: Then you run around.

Rachel: No, that’s how you get pneumonia. I wouldn’t recommend that. I was gonna say you go inside and drink some hot cocoa.

Cody Albright: Or you bring that out to the spa with you.

Rachel: Yeah, yeah. Either one.

Cody Albright: You know, with your outdoor kitchen. Maybe you don’t have to far. You don’t have to go inside dripping wet, you can just make all that in your outdoor kitchen.

Rachel: Yeah. That is some information for you on … all about your Tulsa Gunite pools and kind of what the excavation … or what the construction process, excuse me, entails, and a little bit about spas there too for you.

Cody Albright: Does that rap us up for today? I guess that does. Awesome. All right Tulsa Pools.

Thank you for joining us, listening to us today, wherever you are. We’ll rap it up here. As always, I’m Cody.

Rachel: And I’m Rachel.

Cody Albright: We’ll see you next time. Goodbye.