We recently had a 3m x 7m pool built in our back yard and we are loving it! We had received many quotes and thank everyone who gave us a quote on this project but we finally decided to use our friend Luis Cardena. You can find him by email at Luis Cardena.
Many thanks to Luis and his crew for a great job and completed on time! When he originally quoted us 4 weeks to build the pool, he then shortened it to 3 weeks to have the construction part completed and then allowed us a full week to have the pool cure before adding water which fit perfectly with our plans as we had guests arriving 31 days after the pool was started!
While I started out with the best intentions and wanted to document everything they did while building the pool, I missed some days! Evan & Noah had a blast ‘helping’ the workers every chance they got. Whether it was moving rocks, mixing cement, or digging for water!
The pool started out being a 3m x 6m long pool, but as they were digging we changed our minds and added another meter to the length. We chose Luis to do this project as he had some great ideas and his price was very competitive. One of the great ideas was instead of painting the pool, he mixed the paint color right into the final coat of cement and so far this has worked out beautifully. The texture that is given makes it look just like the ocean floor (okay maybe not the Yucatan’s ocean but the Mediterranean for sure!). The flo0r is a slightly lighter color than the walls, which gives the illusion of sand swirled on the bottom.
We were away during some of the construction on a holiday in Cancun but Luis knew that we wanted to know how the pool was going, so he actually had pictures taked daily and sent to us! It was fabulous:)
Day 1-3
- Luis’s workers started digging out rough area and the sand began piling up! It really is amazing when they start this project and the sand is flying away!
Day 4-7
- Work continued on as they started putting in the side and end walls as they were still digging
Day 8-16
- Finishing the walls and getting the depth of the pool to 1.5m
Day 17-21
- Finish the walls, mix the concrete with the paint mix for the finish coat
Day 22-28
- Pool sat empty while they completed digging the well, put on the finishing touches and got ready to fill.
Filling the pool!
Ok, this was not as good as we expected, but true to his word Luis brought in two trucks carrying 30,000 liters of water to fill the pool on the day he promised. We had a slight issue with the well water as they had just finished digging it out that morning, and it was still very cloudy and sand filled. After two weeks we emptied the pool and filled it again with the well and everything went great. As the water was added, we added Acido in Polvo, and Shock to the water and it was very clear. It has now been 3 weeks since we re-filled the pool with the well water and the water is still looking great. We are maintaining it by following the instructions from the people at the Pool store on 78 in Progreso and are very happy! 3 Tablespoons of Chloro every night seem to be doing the job, 6 when it rains or there has been a lot of people in the pool.
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Hi there – your pool looks really great! I know nothing about pool building so am doing as much research as I can on construction and maintenance – and even on temporary pools to beat the heat. Thanks for publishing this. I’m very curious about trucking in the water while your well was being dug… was that difficult or expensive to arrange? (If you have the time to reply feel free to use my email address if you don’t want to reply-as-comment here.) Thanks again!
We were very lucky, Luis had promised us our pool would have water in it on that day and true to his word – he had it delivered. The well water was not working out very good for us on the first try, and we thought it was a reaction with the paint. The only way for him to tell for sure was to truck in the water. He called and a 10,000 litre truck arrived within 15 minutes (maybe sooner), and when the water was perfectly clear, he ordered another 20,000 litre truck which was another 20 minutes or so before it arrived and filled the rest of the pool. Three weeks after that initial fill we emptied the pool and refilled it with our well water and everything was great.
I am not sure what the cost to the water was… Luis knew a guy and he appeared!
how much was the total cost for the pool and well? thanks : )
Hi, pool costs vary so much in the area due to local factors. If you would like a quote on a pool, please follow the link in the article to Luis Cardena. Most builders will need to look at your yard and location to factor in how much it will cost per meter and then will give you a price. We know that sometimes in some areas as they are digging, they reach the water table after only a meter of digging which can drastically affect the price of the pool. It is much more difficult to dig out the pool and build it if it is below ground if it is covered in water. I would recommend that you get 3-4 quotes on the job and then choose whomever you are most comfortable with. Look at previous jobs if you can. When we were getting quotes we discovered that anyone you mentioned building a pool to, had someone who built pools and wanted to give you a price.
If you are in the Progreso or Merida area, I would definitely recommend Luis!