This video shows a gunite construction project involving a commercial swimming pool. The gunite application is performed, as is often the case, by a gunite contractor, operating as a subcontractor. Well before the time comes for the gunite crew to arrive and do their part, several aspects of the pool construction have already been established for the #gunitepools.

This includes all the necessary building permits, selection of designers and the main contractor, bidding process, sourcing and other details. Once the design has been established though, the pool builder will contact w/ an excavator to prepare the site. Then the designer or pool builder will install the various underground systems that have been specified for the swimming pool, such as electrical, plumbing and others. Next the reinforcing steel and rebar are installed throughout the future swimming pool area and the site is otherwise prepared for the gunite stage of the construction project.

The gunite crew may consist of machine operators, mechanics, trained nozzleman (gunite nozzle operators) and concrete gunite finishers. The gunite crew applies the concrete pool shell in the pool site by spraying mortar on the surface. In the gunite process, as opposed to the shotcrete process, a machine operator combines dry (or damp) sand and cement in proportions, such as 4:1 or 3 to 1 or other ratio of sand to cement.

The machine operator then typically loads this proportioned material (still dry) into a gunite machine (or dry-shotcrete machine). The operator controls the gunite machine, which is either powered by an air motor or a hydraulic motor, to "blow" / deliver / push / convey this dry material using the force of high levels of compressed air out of the gunite machine and into material delivery hose/gunite hose.

This gunite hose is made of rubber, is similar to a sandblasting hose and is normally in the range of 2 inches in internal diameter (ID). At the other end of the hose, a trained nozzleman is tasked with controlling the appropriate amount of water coming into the gunite nozzle he is holding to meet the the dry material, also coming into the nozzle at the same time.

As the water meets the dry material at the gunite nozzle, the nozzle man safely and skillfully must direct the high velocity sprayed material distributing it onto the #swimmingpool construction shell. The resulting wet material is akin to concrete, although it does not contain any large aggregates/rocks. The material is better described as mortar or even "gunite" because the word gunite is used to refer to the complete process just described but it is also used as a name for the material itself.

After the gunite nozzleman completes the process of applying the material throughout the site to the required specified thickness, elevation and other requirements, the next stage kicks off.

The next stage of the gunite application involves "finishing" the material with various tools. The gunite finishing crew uses gunite rods, gunite fresnos, gunite trowels, gunite floats, brooms and even shovels to complete their work. Shovels are used to scoop and remove and "rebound" material that has ricocheted off of the walls and has not stuck. This material should never be used in the pool and MUST be removed.

The crew uses the other tools to cut and shape the wet material to bring out the design of the pool features. These include the basic elements of stairs, walls but also include more complex shapes such as faux rock, artificial rockscapes, water falls, unique curvatures in the design, tunnels, grottos and the like. There is no limit to the shapes that can be created using the gunite process, which is one of the outstanding benefits that it offers compared to concrete forming and pouring or the very limiting choice of going with a vinyl pool liner.

Once the gunite finishing crew has completed their work, the gunite pool liner portion of the project is complete. The resulting gunite layer is a very impressive work of art and the gunite crew are very underrated as artists! Next, a plaster subcontractor typically comes in to apply plaster, tile and other final design elements to finish the swimming pool construction project.

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