EXCAVATION - STEEL - GUNITE

Excavation and forming are the first construction phases for 'most' Residential and Commercial projects.

By the Excavation phase:

• Blueprints/ Shop drawings have been approved
• SSG has called in "Dig-Safe".
• All permits have been posted.
• Trucking and Dirt drops have been coordinated.
• The final location of the pool is approved.
• Layout location approved.
• Finish elevation is determined and approved.
• The pool is excavated.
• The floor profile is hand shaped.
• Crushed stone for floor drainage if needed.
• Pool perimeter form work is constructed.

To view pictures of the excavation and forming process, please click here to visit our photo gallery.

Expect the structural steel phase to take from one to two days depending on the size of your pool, and if there is additional steel work required for a raised spa or fountain.

Throughout the gunite shell is a grid of #3 or #4 steel reinforcement rods tied form 6" to 12" on center. This steel cage is the strength that holds the pool structure together.

You can also expect to see the floor plumbing starting to take shape prior to this phase of construction.

To view pictures of the structural steel process, please click here to visit our photo gallery.

Dry process shotcrete (i.e. Gunite) is a method of applying concrete to a structure. It is commonly used to build or reinforce:

Gunite has been used since the early 1900's with excellent success.

Gunite is a mixture of cement and sand sprayed onto contoured and supported surfaces to build a pool. Gunite is mixed and pumped to the site dry, and water is added separately at the nozzle. Plaster or pebble is usually applied over the gunite. Experience is the key to successful proper placement.

Gunite is superior in strength to poured concrete or wet shotcrete for several reasons:

1. Only the amount of water necessary for hydration is added at the nozzle to make gunite.
2. Hydration and curing can be referred to as drying but it does technically not dry. It 's a exothermic reaction and the reason we cool the shell with water for 7 days.
3. There is not the excess water found in conventional concrete during placement.
4. Slowing down the cure process by cooling with water greatly increases strength.
5. Max. strength is reached in about 28 days
6. Excess water occupies space; when cured small voids are left.
7. Dry mix gunite is more dense then poured concrete.
   (It takes about 1 and a half yards of gunite to Volumetrically equal 1 yard conventional concrete.)
8. Denseness = superior strength.

Using our in house crew and superior mix, the gunite is placed flawlessly. South Shore Gunite has invested over $2,000,000.°° in volumetric batching and placement equipment to insure the strongest, and highest quality gunite application.

Our in-house gunite crew is lead by Donny Miller who has over 30 years of placement experience, and we require that all our nozzlemen are Dry-Mix Process Certified; ACI - Nozzleman Certification - Dry Mix.

The ACI - American Concrete Institute, and ASA - American Shotcrete Association certification programs benchmark the knowledge and skill of a concrete applications specialist who has mastered the techniques of properly placing gunite.

"Realize it or not.... the gunite shell is the single most important phase of construction as tiles, plaster, pumps, filtration equipment, and decking will eventually come and go, the gunite shell can last for many generations."

To view pictures of the gunite process, please click here to visit our photo gallery.