Best way to level a large area?

[JeepHead]

The contractor was a no-show that day after confirming with him the night before, and taking a vacation day. It made me so mad that I was determined I wasn't going to reply on anyone else to finish this $%@! pool. So, after months of work doing basically everything myself, the pool is in the process of filling up now. I did have to wait until I could get several people there at once to help get the wall into the track. I tried putting the wall up myself using a contraption to hang the pool from my FEL but was only able to unroll the pool around the perimeter and wasn't able to get it into the track, just stood up in place. Once I was able to get several people there to help me get it into the track, I was ready to rock and roll the rest of the way. This was a tough project and on I wouldn't really want to do again but with that said, I learned a lot and the next one would be worlds easier.

She snapped this pic before I taped all the joints up and did other final odds & ends. There is Gorilla pad under the foam board. This helps protect the liner from anything I missed in the sand as well as prevents a squishy bottom under the liner. It really makes for a nice pool bottom.

Now onto the deck and the Tiki bar.

 

[CoyPatton]

The last above ground pool liner I did, I put down I think it was 3 layers of fan insulation on top of a layer of plastic, on top of sand, which was on top of plastic. While the previous liner was nit done by me, I was told it was about 5 years old. I was told it was nut grass that was through the bottom of the liner. Once the old liner was removed, it was on bare ground, no plastic, no sand just sorta leveled ground.

 

[2manyrocks]

With the contractor acting like that, it may have been a blessing that the didn't show up, foul up the job and still want to be paid.

 

[JeepHead]

The last above ground pool liner I did, I put down I think it was 3 layers of fan insulation on top of a layer of plastic, on top of sand, which was on top of plastic. While the previous liner was nit done by me, I was told it was about 5 years old. I was told it was nut grass that was through the bottom of the liner. Once the old liner was removed, it was on bare ground, no plastic, no sand just sorta leveled ground.

I have heard a lot about the nut grass coming through liners. I put a layer of gravel down followed by about 4" of sand that I compacted down very tight. Then I used the Gorilla pad which is "supposed" to help with nut grass, or other things that could potentially penetrate the liner. Then the fanfold on top of that. The pool is a saltwater rated pool with a 60 year warranty. If I get 20 years out of it, I will be happy. If I have to replace the liner in 10 years, I will be okay with that, too.

 

[JeepHead]

With the contractor acting like that, it may have been a blessing that the didn't show up, foul up the job and still want to be paid.

I was skeptical of that installer from the beginning. He was a 1/4 of the price of the other installers but when I talked to him on the phone, I could tell he was knowledgeable on pool installs - but he sounded like a thug crack head. When he was a no-show, that lit a fire under my arse and decided I was not gonna waste a vacation day and just got busy on the install. I had to teach the better half how to even use a measuring tape because there were some things it took 2 people to do, and that was one of them. Digging and leveling all the buttresses by myself was quite the chore. It was an immense amount of work in itself between all the digging, leveling, shooting elevation, up, down, up, down etc. I think I wore out 3 pair of cheap knee pads before I spent the money on some quality ones. I feel like a broken old man at this point and 90% of my body has weathered several extreme sun burns over the last few weeks. But I have one heck of a great tan now and ready for the pool. It sure was a great feeling yesterday afternoon as the pool was filling and I was just able to lay in the cool water and cool down. Might of only been a few inches but it sure was better than the 95 degree temps I have been dealing with the last several weeks working directly in the hot sun.

 

[jonsstihl]

now head over to "troublefreepool" to figure out how to maintain it without breaking the bank. Its quite simple, make sure you keep enough chlorine in it at all times.

 

[JeepHead]

now head over to "troublefreepool" to figure out how to maintain it without breaking the bank. Its quite simple, make sure you keep enough chlorine in it at all times.

Thanks! This is my 3rd pool so I'm good there. I own a power washing business so sodium hypochlorite is one thing in abundance at my home but, this is a salt water pool.

 

[paulsharvey]

Thanks! This is my 3rd pool so I'm good there. I own a power washing business so sodium hypochlorite is one thing in abundance at my home but, this is a salt water pool.

Our last pool was salt water, and I was always annoyed that it just never seemed to keep up. New place, no salt water, and i realize just how much more chlorine i really am using...

 

[jonsstihl]

for salt pools your stabiliser should be much higher around 70 to 90 and the Chlorine will end up higher as well because of the higher CYA but it will help your salt cell keep up with the loss of chlorine due to the sun. your system may have been undersized for the size of your pool as well.

1-3PPM of chlorine is a myth invented by the pool industry to keep you going to the pool store.

the salt system isn't to save any money, it's to save the trouble of hauling all that chlorine. Salt pools still have chlorine it is just generated by the salt cell and the salt in the water. You can put liquid chlorine in a salt pool no problem.

 

[JeepHead]

for salt pools your stabiliser should be much higher around 70 to 90 and the Chlorine will end up higher as well because of the higher CYA but it will help your salt cell keep up with the loss of chlorine due to the sun. your system may have been undersized for the size of your pool as well.

1-3PPM of chlorine is a myth invented by the pool industry to keep you going to the pool store.

the salt system isn't to save any money, it's to save the trouble of hauling all that chlorine. Salt pools still have chlorine it is just generated by the salt cell and the salt in the water. You can put liquid chlorine in a salt pool no problem.

This is our second salt water pool. Both of my sisters have salt water pools, too. Yes, you can put SH in salt pools as well. Salt water pools just make the chlorine and pump it in.. We chose the pump system ourselves verses it coming in a "kit". Same with the liner. We designed this pool to handle the size and hopefully for better longevity. Thanks for your input. Some people would not know these things and I myself had to learn the hard way.