Need a Structural Engineer - Concrete Wall

[Brad_Blazer]

How about a 52" above ground pool with the bottom dug out another foot?

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I'm not totally against a regular above ground pool,
I just have a plan based around having a concrete pool.
I intend to eventually enclose it as an indoor pool.
Sort of a sunroom off the back of the house.
And then build a deck on one side facing the tree line.
Under the deck would be just enough room to park my boat trailer.

Of course this won't all happen at once, but rather in stages.
So I have plenty of time to plan it all out.

Pooh Bear

 

[flusher]

I want to build an above ground square concrete tank.
24 feet x 24 feet filled with water 5 feet deep.
I want to pour a slab and build walls on the slab.
How thick should the slab be. And what about reinforcement.
I realize that I would probably be better off to erect
forms and pour the walls as a monolithic casting.
But I have a different idea for the walls.
Concrete block walls using 8 inch block to form the interior wall.
Then another exterior wall with a space between the two walls.
The blocks would be filled with concrete and the space
would also be filled with concrete. All pinned to the slab.
How wide should the space between the walls be.

I saw this same design in a book about 30 years ago.
It was for an inground swimming pool.
And the space between walls was 4 inches.
But I want to build it above ground.
And I need to know how thick the space should be.

I can't seem to find an above ground pool
that is at least 5 feet deep. So I will build one.

Thanks for any and all advice.
You're also welcome to tell me I have fluff for brains.
But I already know that part.

Pooh Bear

I went through a similar trade study last year when I decided to build an above-ground koi tank (4' x 8' x 4' deep). Checked out the concrete option and the concrete block alternative. Too much heavy lifting for an old man like me and sealing these kinds of water tanks can be a problem.

I finally decided to pour a 4-inch thick concrete slab and build the tank out of 2x8s and 1-inch plywood. Bought one of those Firestone EPDM rubber liners like folks use for landscape ponds. For me framing is a lot easier and more enjoyable than concrete or masonry work.

 

[Red55]

Flusher- nice job

Pooh Bear-
When you mentioned about turning it into an inside pool I remembered what a neighbor did- they bought a fiberglass pool. Which if I remember correctly (according to manufacturers) doesn't "really" need any structural support. Only limitation is width and distance from plant. Another neighbor by my parents put in a concrete pool in the 60's and after the first winter they had to tunnel around the perimeter of the pool- frost was heaving the walls -Ed

 

[morpheus]

Pooh, I have had an indoor pool for water exercise. I had a back injury and put in a gunite pool to swim against a current. I am not exactly sure what you are planning but I will tell you of somethings I did right and some I did wrong. I had a 8x20 gunite pool with a wall at 4ft for a spa which was 8x4 with jets at different depths and the seat was at differnet depths. I had a spa before and this was a waste of money, because we didn't use it. The pool at one end had a jet that you swam-in-place. This was a good idea. The way this worked was the jet was powered by a 4hp pump with a 6 inch supply and 6 inch return. The jet was made by a company in Germany, Speck Pumps Get Smart Get Speck . This thing worked good but it could have been better. If you look at the jet the return is in the perimeter of the piece that is embedded in the concrete. This is to say that the jet blows and suckes the water at the same place. For the most part this works fine but occasionaly the stream you swim against would just quite due to currents that would be generated in the pool. I believe that the best way would be to return the water to the pump by imbedding return pipes covered by swimming pool drain covers in the wall opposite the jet at the bottom of the wall. I am not sure about exactally what you are going to do with the pool, but to do exercises in a pool the best way is to use an aqua-belt and do it in water that is deeper than 5 feet. I had the depth of the pool at the end with the jet at a 7foot depth. This allowed me to do exercises, wearing a floation belt and not touching the floor of the pool. I bought book about water exercises and this helped me rehab my back. If you are going to do exercises you will probably have to have it covered. Living just north of Houston,Texas, I built a building around the pool. It was 16 x28 with sliding doors in each end and windows down each side. I kept the windows closed in the winter,of course and in the summer, I opend the sliding doors and this kept the temperature comfortable. The windows let the sunshine in and it warmed the concrete around the pool. I had a solar cover on cut to the size of the pool to keep the heat and the humidity in. This actually kept the humidity down. Becareful about building the building next to the house. My building was a stand alone and the humidity was controllable. I had a full size natural gas heater and it would keep the pool at a comfortalble temperature. If I can be of help let me know. Morpheus

 

[Pooh_Bear]

The best thing I can do is get in water
about as deep as up past my shoulders
and walk back and forth one side to the other.
The water needs to be right at 5 feet deep for this.

Cooling off after a long hot day would be nice too.

I have seen small tanks made out of wood.
Lowes had them in the garden area to keep water plants in.
Some were as big as 8x8 and 2 feet deep.

My pool will be connected to the house by our back deck.
The deck will be extended to wrap around one corner.
The back of the house faces south. The new deck will face east.

Pooh Bear

 

[jgrieve]

I hope you dont mind a different idea but, Ive seen an above ground pool made from steel grain bin rings. I would think you could set concrete pads a in a circle (with a transit) , set the steel on the pads , have a sand floor , and purchase a pool liner and be swimming instead of sweating in the sun. I used to have a commercial above ground pool and it was constructed in much the same way.

 

[MossRoad]

You can get custom made vinyl liners made to fit almost any size. Also, many folks dig out the bottom of their above ground pools and make them deeper. There are several companies that make deeper liners that are made just for this type of application. For what you want to do, I think it is going to cost more to do it yourself than a commercially made pool kit with everything included. Also, a permanent structure like a concrete pool may significantly increase your property taxes and insurance while an above ground pool will usually not, so don't forget to add those costs into the total price of ownership.

 

[HappyCPE]

OK, I'm not an engineer, but I do build stuff.
There are a lot of good suggestions here, but rather than do the double-wall stuff [which I don't think is needed - see the first sentence of my post, above] you could use Ivany block, which gets filled with concrete. Here's a link:
Features
It has been around a while; its use is something like the plastic foam forms that are popular today but it has a much longer track record.

 

[Nat]

Pooh, I built and installed pools for about 20 years then gave the business to my son who still does it. I guess that's my resume so I do know pools. I will try really hard to talk you out of building a pool of block and concrete. The material cost will be more that what you can buy a pool for and will be a lot more work and it will never work as good. I would find a pool dealer and explain what you want and see if he will sell you the parts. Notice I said parts, there is no such thing as a "pool kit". I always bought all the parts and most of the time I had 2 or 3 suppliers, so don't think you can pick up a box that contains a pool kit. With a steel wall and a vynil liner pool you cand have worry free skimmers and drains and returns, and an easy clean surface. Bolck and concrete are very hard to clean and a great place for algae to start growing, and it's also very hard to get a water tight joing between cement block and PVC pipe fittings. The strength of block is great when the load is straight down, but it doesn't work as well with side loads.
Then there is the cost to value side of it. No pool will add a great deal of value to a home but it will add some. That said I,ve never seen a cement block pool that didn't lower the value of a home.
I hope you take this as help from a friend, not as nit picking, cause that is the way it is meant. I have asked for your help on things to see in Chattanoga and you went out of yuor way to help and that is what I'm trying to do also.
If you want me to, Tell me exactly what you want in a PM as far as size and shape and depth, and I'll design you one, and make a parts list for you, and see if any of my old supliers will sell them directly to you and also tell you how to put it in, won't cost you a penny, but I'd think long and hard before I built one out of block and concrete. It can be done, but I've never seen it done that the owner didn't wish he had just had someone come in and build a conventional pool. HTH, later, Nat