Swimming pool installation

[Charliebrn]

Ok, anybody out there ever put in an above ground swimming pool themselves? Wife just brought home a 24' round pool kit in the van and said that she did me a favor and got another excuse for me to use my tractor. I have a gentle slope of hard clay in my back yard. Any tips are appreciated....

 

[njrqs]

Not to much tractor time for you there I don't reckon.

All you need is a level area for the pool and a sand bedding or similar under it.

Should be a piece of cake!

As for putting up the pool - Wow now that is some fun !

Cheers

PS - For more seat time you could fill the pool with the FEL bucket /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[b249]

My father in law has the same type pool in what sounds like the same situation. The guys that installed it dug it out so that it is about 5' or so in the center and about 3' or so near the sidewall. They dug it so that the top edge of the pool (and therefore the water in the pool) is level. This did leave a gap between the pool sidewall and the ground where it the soil was removed. The gap varies from about 1' to 1.5' from the side of the pool and at the deepest it is maybe 2'. There has not been any caveing in of the soil into the side of the pool as yet and it's about 3-4 years old.

I don't really know what other options would be viable in these situations (of course I havn't thought about it too much either); but the pool works great! If the weather holds I might take a barley pop over on Sunday to check the water temp.

Good luck w/ your project!

b249

 

[MossRoad]

Re: Swimming pool installation TRUE HUMOR

Yeah, I have a great story, er... experience with 24' round pools.

We got our "free" pool from someone who didn't want it anymore. We took it down and hauled it to our house. The liner was unusable, so we had to buy a new liner, $150.00. I dug out the area by hand(no tractor then). One bit of advice; never use fill. Always dig down to solid soil. If the pool is going to be installed on a sloping are, dont be tempted to take the dirt from the high side and move it to the low side. It does not work. Also, be sure to get ALL tree roots and plants out or they will either work up through the liner or decay, rot away and leave a dip in the bottom.

After we got it filled, all was fine for the first year.

Then the moles moved in. They tunnelled under the pool, making inverted mole paths everywhere. They finally poked up through the pool liner right at the edge and blew out theliner, which promptly drained the pool in about 15 minutes. 12,500 gallons of water causes some amazing damage. So make sure you have a path for the water to go away from your basement or garage just in case the liner ever bursts due to moles(side note: I killed 29 moles two years ago and over 50 last year, all within 100' of the pool. This year I've killed 6 since last weekend, Memorial Day, which is my official "Opening Day" for the mole hunting season)

So, we got another liner, $150.00 and put it in, only to find out that when the first one blew out, it made the pool egg shaped. So the liner wouldn't fit. I took it out and folder it up neatly and put it in the back of the garage, as it was getting cold and we decided to wait until spring to put it up again.

In the spring, I was weed eating near the back of the garage. What I didn't know was that there was a gap at the bottom of the garage and the string trimmer ripped a long gash into the liner that was unrepairable.

Another $150.00 liner.

Then the filter's valve cracked and "They don't make those anymore", so we had to buy a new filter. $350.00.

Then my kid developed an allergic reaction to chlorine.

So we had to drain the pool, refill it and switch to Baquacil, a non-chlorine sanitizer.

It has been fine for the last two years and we enjoy our $800.00 "free" pool quite a bit, although it was so cold last summer that we only used it about 10 times.

 

[Woody1]

Re: Swimming pool installation TRUE HUMOR

a suggestion for you for the moles. .....You wouldnt have any IF you take away the food source for them. moles eat grubs. You got grubs in your soil. Get rid of them and the moles will not show up anymore. i had them all over. Couldnt ever catch them tho. Spead some Grub'X on ground with a rotory spreader. Kept at it. No more moles tearing thru my yard. Took 4 applications 1st year, now i do one mid summer. Moles come a little way into my yard from neighbors untreated, unkept, unmowed yard, maybe a foot trail, goes no further. I think they turn around and go back the way they came. just an idea to try and help ya.

 

[skent]

A suggestion - When we put ours in, I covered the sand with the 1/2 " polystyrene(sp?) insulation they sell at Lowes. It gave me a very flat surface. Used duct tape (what else is there) to tape the 4 X 8 sheets together. We opened ours for the 6 th summer and the kids are always in it. Great exercise.

I had to dig 14' on the high side to get a level area. Not too bad with the box blade and loader.

 

[dlabrie]

I have been toying with the idea of buying an above ground pool. Has anyone ever installed one of those big blue pools that apear to have a flotation ring around the top. When you fill it the ring rises and forms the pool.
Also What are the real expenses that go along with a pool? I have this fear of spending X$ for the pool then finding out it is going to cost me twice as much to use it.
David

 

[edt]

DLABRIE
WE bought one of those pools last year about 4 feet deep boy it is easey too set up clean an area of rocks spread out a tarp that comes with it install filter and hoses and just fill. I'm on a well so it took a littel time too fill than i added shock treatmnet and chlorine through out the year just make sure they clean sand from feet before entering and i didn't have to vaccuum
kids loved it I used also
EDT
P.S. at end of year drain and put in barn getting ready too set it up again

 

[njrqs]

David

Re: pool running costs.

We moved into our place here in December 2000. Our first ever pool.

It is an in-ground saltwater. So far it has cost next to nothing to run. Much, much cheaper than I had been lead to believe.

I understand chlorine pools are cheaper to buy but dearer to run.

But boy, salt water is TOO EASY.

In the last 11 months I have spent about $60 on chemicals and salt and that is it.

Out power bill is fine as the pool is on off-peak power. Would be well under $1 per day.

Only drama here is we can' use it through winter (Who can??)

Cheers

 

[DavidInNH]

Neil,

I don't think salt water pools are very common over here. At least I've never heard of anybody with one. My Oz friends swear by them. I swam in one at a friends house in Brisbane and after the initial shock its just fine.

-david

 

[Wingnut]

David ... don't let anyone fool you about pools being expensive ... they're not!

Of course ... it depends on what your definition of expensive is, I guess.

This is my first pool ... in-ground and in-door. Had been sitting unattended for two years when I bought it.
New liner, installed - $1400
25,000 gal water, delivered - $500
New pool heater, installed - $1400
propane, per month, average - $30
spare parts for the pool heater, so far - $300
bromine, per year (for pool and hot tub) - $200
other chemicals, per year - $50
new "automatic" pool skimmer, cleaner - $300
solar blanket and reel - $200

and now we're talking about installing a solar heater system to save some of the propane - $800

oh, and by the way ... it's been out of action for 8 months ... heater again ... and I haven't managed to troubleshoot it to the extent of getting it running again ... after replacing the gas valve .... sigh!
And .... I noticed that I still need to find that doggone little leak ... have to top it up (about 200 gal) every six months or so ...

Pools are a GOOD THING! Just ask me! No wonder they are not a value-adder to propety values!

 

[njrqs]

David

Maybe there is a market there for me !!

The process seems so simple that I can't work out why they aren't used more.

Cheers

 

[MossRoad]

Re: Swimming pool installation TRUE HUMOR

I agree with you on taking away the food source, however, my problem isn't grubs. I don't have many grubs. Its earthworms. I have lots of earthworms. The mole's primary food is earthworms, and, since we drink from a well, we don't use many chemicals on our lawn. We live near a HUGE woods and get LOTs of moles. There is no way to keep them from coming in from the woods, except to trap them. Since this is a pool post, I'll stop here, with a link to my favorite mole site <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.themoleman.com/>http://www.themoleman.com/</A>

 

[knucklehead]

We got a BIG salt water pool here in Maine....as soon as it gets above 50 degrees, maybe I'll swim over to your side and visit!

 

[dlabrie]

WE bought one of those pools last year........

Ed,
How did the pool hold up? Do you think you will get many seasons out of it? Did you buy it locally or on the internet?
david

 

[njrqs]

Sure - Have a go.

I hear that the deep end is a doozy though !!!!!!

 

[bpence]

We put in an above ground 27' round about 10 years ago. It was dug into the side of a small hill behind the house, so at the time I rented a Bobcat for the day. I started alone at about 7:30 AM with the Bobcat digging the hill out and had all of the excavation done before 10:00 AM. Had two friends show up about 10:00 AM, we finish leveled the site, measured the 27' circle and located the outer posts, then we spread 4" of sand for the pool base and started assembling the outer shell. Had the liner in and smoothed and the top caps on by 4:00 PM. Had water delivered at 7:00 PM and was filtering by 9:00 PM.

A couple of tips if you do it yourself. Everything, let me repeat that, everything must be completely level. Second, take your time - don't rush - do it right the first time. Kind of like the measure twice and cut once rule. Third, keep your crew hydrated well, but limit beer until the job is done - promise and deliver a lot, but only when the day's work is done. We set all of the posts for the outer wall on cement pads. I think everyone does that.

As far as care and feeding of the pool, we use SoftSwim (baquacil) versus chlorine. In the long run (a whole season), I don't find it any more expensive, it's much (let me repeat much) easier to manage the chemical balance, and there isn't any chlorine smell around.

We love our pool. The kids say it's the best investment we've ever made (excluding them, of course).
Enjoy the pool. It's a great relaxer after a few hours on a dusty tractor.

 

[MossRoad]

One other thing. We have a well. I ran hoses from several faucets to the pool. I monitored the gauge on the well and kept adding hoses until the pressure dropped to under 30 pounds and stayed there. That way the pump wasn't cycling off and on. We filled our 12,500 gallon pool in about 16 hours.

 

[RobS]

<font color=blue>We have a well...We filled our 12,500 gallon pool in about 16 hours</font color=blue>

Brrrrrrrrrrrr /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

I hope you also have a heater! That would make for some mighty cold water coming straight out of the well. Do the guys who deliver swimming pool water have a warm water option /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MossRoad]

Yes, it was a cool 55 degrees for a few days. It warms up rather quickly. The volunteer fire departments used to deliver water for a donation. They stopped that over the last few years. Seems the rush of water can move the liner and cause a pucker or two and the insurance liabilities, etc. I don't know why people have it delivered and just don't use their own water. A good well can handle it with no problem. In the city, you are not charged that much if you do it after the months when they figure in sewage, which is usually in the winter anyway. And its not like you do it every year, just the first time you fill the pool. The water stays in it all year, even the winter. We didn't even add water to our pool last year to compensate for evaporation due to all the rain. I had to drain it down several times.

So, hey other pool owners, why do you have water delivered? I am just curious and would like to know. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif