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The Gunite King
The Gunite King
- An interview with Brett Hull, Co-owner of Del Val Pools in Turnersville, NJ
Q: Rumor has it you’re nicknamed the “Gunite King.” Where does that come from?
A: I always say I have the best job at Del Val Pools. I get to work with gunite all day long creating an oasis from a hole dug in the ground. It’s a funny cycle. My brother works with the customer in designing the pool. He meets with them and understands the vision they have and crafts it into a set of plans which are transferred to me. It’s all about taking a client’s dream and making it a reality – bringing it to life. Plans look great on paper. Everything looks great on paper, but then there’s that part of the process where we bring in an excavator and start digging. That part isn’t pretty. There’s dirt everywhere and a gaping hole in a yard, and there’s a Murphy’s law in the construction of swimming pools. That law says the day after we dig, it must rain…never fails. So, by the time I come around, the backyard can look like a mud hole, but I see it differently. I see what it can become, and that’s where gunite becomes my best friend. With gunite, I have complete control of the process when it comes to shaping, and I have the flexibility to make changes on the spot – and yes, that happens a lot once the homeowner starts to see a shape form … because they start to see what I saw from the beginning.
Q: What do you mean by flexibility?
A: So gunite is a dry mix of sand and cement and is pneumatically forced through a pressurized hose at around 650-725 psi. At the end is a nozzle where I can control the amount of the water in the mix which allows me to control the viscosity. Depending on where I’m shooting the gunite, I want some areas thicker than others. For example, I need my pool walls to be at least eight inches, and my pool floor to be more than ten inches. There’s even an area known as the pool beam which has to be more than twelve inches thick. The controls also allow me to start and stop which is a huge advantage as opposed to a large typical cement dump. I’m big on the finish end. I want a unique shape – something that when seen as a finished product it is emblem of what we at Del Val can do. I also want a finish that is smooth and conveys elegance. I get teased when I talk of pool elegance, but I’m very serious about how the finished product must turn out. We have a set of quality check points with the gunite spray process. If at any point, there’s a deviation from the process, gunite allows us to stop and take corrective measures. It’s fast curing, which is a huge plus, but I can control that process too. In the end, I want a perfect shape – preferably unique - with a 28 day compressed strength exceeding 4,000 psi and preferably closer to 5,000 psi. Gunite construction is an art, and yet also a very exact science.
Q: Why gunite? There are other ways to build a swimming pool.
A: Most definitely so – and we build them. However, Del Val is known for being the best in gunite construction in the tri state area. That doesn’t happen by accident. That happens when you work hand in hand with your customer’s vision and you over deliver – meaning you exceed your customer’s expectations, and you do that by listening and ensuring all the little things are accomplished as well as the big things. Gunite is definitely the most durable of the different types of pool construction, but it’s also the most creative. Maybe a customer wants a pool shaped a like mountain pond, or maybe a natural spring fed from an elevated waterfall, or even shaped like a custom logo – we’ve done them. We just built a pool shaped like a triangle in an extremely tight space – all in keeping with our client’s vision… but to get that custom, that unique, then I need to construct with gunite. Pool contractors can build forms and pack in rebar every ten inches on center all day long. That’s the industry standard, but when it comes to applying the gunite, that’s where the artistry comes in – and that’s why I am called the Gunite King.
