Do-it-Yourself: Build an Inground Swimming Pool

I installed the step and middle seat rebar. These took about 3 hours longer than I thought they should have.

I've made the decision to trim the wall rebar to 2 inches above the bond beam. I'll use this rebar to tie into the deck slab that will surround the pool. Since darkness set in by the time I got around to trimming the wall rebar, I tried to use the 42-inch bolt cutters to snip it to the right height. I figured my neighbors might get upset if I took out the sawsall or cut-off saw. I added 3-foot of 1-inch pipe to the cutter handles to get more leverage. I was able to cut about 20 bars before my elbows felt like they were going to pop out - you have to see it to understand how big this set-up was...

Plan B for the evening was to cut and bend hooks for the bond beam. I cut 3-foot pieces and then bent each one into a 9-inch 90-degree "L". I'll tie these to the vertical wall rebar at the correct height for the bond beam rebar.