Field Notes
How pool work is sequenced, and why the order matters. Written for homeowners who want to understand what they're buying, and for anyone trying to work out why their last renovation didn't hold.
Renovation
How a pool renovation is sequencedStart here
Every stage from drain day to startup, in order, with the reason each one sits where it does.
Why waterline tile pops off or breaks
The shortcuts behind waterline tile that pops off or breaks, from spot bonding to thinset left in the sun, and what to ask a builder before it happens to yours.
Waterproofing versus bond coat
Two different products at two different points in the job. What each one does and what happens when they get confused.
Pebble and quartz in Florida
How pebble and quartz interiors age under Florida sun and chemistry, why quartz is the commercial standard, and how a finish gets exposed without an acid wash.
New construction
Soil conditions before you dig
Utilities, soil, the water table, and what sand does under something that weighs what a pool weighs. Plus what "engineered" actually means.
What the inspection before shotcrete checks
Layout, steel, bonding, dewatering and the plumbing under pressure, and why nothing is shot until it passes.
The thirty days after shotcrete
What the shell is doing while it cures, what has to wait, what keeps moving in the meantime, and what happens when a builder does not wait.
Owning a pool on the Space Coast
Hydrostatic pressure: what to look out for
What holds an empty shell down, and why a pool should never be drained in a storm.
The first week after plaster
What is happening while a new interior cures, what you should and should not do that week, and what a startup gone wrong looks like.
Salt air, and what it does to equipment
Beachside pools age differently. What corrodes first, why beachfront is worst, and the simple things an owner can do about it.
Reading this because something went wrong?
Luke walks failed renovations regularly and will tell you straight whether it needs fixing or redoing.