Good afternoon everyone,

Just like to start out by saying that this forum has been an absolute lifesaver when it has come to the care of our pool I put up last summer. The BBB method is awsome.

This thread is going to cover my backyard build as I change it from boring to awsome.

Last summer I bought our first pool. It was an Intex 16' x 48" Round ultra frame. It worked out very well and once I found this site and upgraded the terrible pump/filter that came with the pool I had SPARKALLYPOOLITIS!!!!!



Well this year the family and I decided we need a bigger pool so I bought the 24' x 52" Intex Round ultra frame to replace the 16' x 48". Below are some pictures of the pool we had last summer with some modification I did to the plumbing and skimmer.








When it rains the ground gets so muddy next to the patio that you can't even step into the backyard. Late last summer I started to build a pergola and deck off of the back patio. I have never built anything like this before to this scale. I have not finished this project yet because it started to get to cold here. Below are some pictures of this project. Once the weather starts to get warmer i will be finishing the deck and start to work on the new pool area.









I will be updateing this thread as my build progresses.

Thanks.

Congrats from a fellow Central Tx person Mark

Pool and atrium look WONDERFUL

Great looking pool.

OK everyone,

Here is the start of my upgrade. I have taken down the pool and started my prject. The picture below shows the sand pad I made for the 16' x 48" round pool. The size of the sand pad was 18' round. You can see the size difference between the 16' and the frame work setup for the 24' pool. Before the sand was layed down, I killed the grass and put down a weed blocker. I have started to kill the grass out to the orange painted line and will be adding more weed blocker before I put down more sand. I will be building a ground level wooden deck around the pool to keep the side poles from pushing out to far as the weight of the water is pressed on the sides of the pool. You will be able to walk around the pool on the deck on help keep the grass and dirt out of the pool.



Stay tuned for more.

looks good

So..........For 2012 the plan is to knock down the fence and annex the neighbor's backyard to go Olympic size then! Nice deck.

Thanks for the comment on the deck.

Actually the plan is to get one of those Margaritaville frozen concoction makers!!!

I have started to plan out the plumbing for the pool. The pool will be all hard plumbed. I really hate the hoses. No matter how you set them up they just look horrible. Last night I started to plumb the pump to the sand filter. I have seen so many nice pool equipment pads on this site and thought to myself I can make my above ground set up look just like inground set ups. One thing I have noticed on many pads is the addition of water spigets added to the set up. Not sure exactly what they could be used for but if they are put in by pros then there must be a reason. (Will need to find out later) so i decided to add 1 to mine. With the help of the various sites and this one I have figured out how to add standard PVC pipe the NON standard set up Intex uses. I will explain the process I used. As everyone know that owns an Intex pool is the fact that the threads used are not standard so NO standard threaded pipe fitting will directly connect to the Intex equipment.

1. Intex has an adapter part number 10849. The adapter has 2 sections of different sizes so different size hoses can be connected. The section I used for the connection is the middle section.
2. I cut off the smaller section and used a Dremal to open up the opening to allow more water flow. The middle section will alow a 1.5" ID hose to connect to it. I used 1.5" ID braided PVC hose from Lowes about 4" long.
3. The next item used for my adaptation is a short piece of 1.25" PVC pipe about 3' long. Once I put the hose on the adapter used a pan full of boiling water to heat up the other end of the hose to allow the 1.25" pvc pipe to slide in the other end of the hose. You could just try and force the pipe in the hose but heating up the hose is much easier.
4. Now that I have the Intex adapter connected to the 1.25" PVC pipe useing the braided PVC hose I used 2 pipe clamps the secure the connection.
The next item used is a 1.25" to 1.5" slip bushing. The bushing allows me to use 1.5" PVC pipe through out the process. The only spots in my plumbing that will not be 1.5" is at the adapters.

I made the same adapter for both ends of my plumbing.

I will not have to use any unions because the way that Intex has set up there equipment the adapters thread onto the eqipment like unions.
Check out the pictures below.





I will continue to add the this thread as my progress contiues.

OK,

I have started on my deck around my pool. The Intex 24' x 52" has 24 sideds. I calculated the angles and lenght of all the sides used to create the trapazoid that makes up just one side of the pool. The deck will consist of 24 trapazoids connected together. Each trapazoid will have 4, 2" x 6" x 12" pounded into the ground and mounted to the inside of the trapazoid for support. check out the pictures below.











I will continue updating as progress is made.

Hi everyone,

Now that the kids have started soccer the progress has been a little slow. I have finished all of the 24 individual sections around the pool and started the equipment pad. I still have some more braceing to do on the equipment pad. The wind blows to that side of the yard so the skimmer will work great at that location. Before I start to lay the decking down I need to finish the foundation for the pool. The deck around the pool is level but the ground is not so there are a few gaps between the ground and a few sections of the deck. My house sits on the lowest lot in our subdivision and I get all of the water runoff from the neighboring lots. I will be adding some backing boards in the sections that have the gaps to help hold the sand in place from the rageing river that runs through my backyard when it rains. More weed barrier will be added and then more sand. While the sand is being added I will be wetting and compacting the sand to form a nice strong level base. The level of the sand will be about 4" from the top of the 2" x 6" used for the framing of the deck. Regular level, line level and a laser level was used to build the deck so the pool will be level once it is setup. I shound not have any issues.

A few pictures of the progress.





Enjoy!!

Hi everyone,

I have made some more progress on my backyard. Below are some more pictures of the build. I will post a little bit about each picture.



First section of decking installed.


SAM the building inspector.


In each of the 24 sections the grass will be killed and mulch will be added under the decking.


A few sections completed and the equipment pad.


The equipment pad.


View from back corner of yard.


The rest of the decking material ready to be installed.


Finished the deck.


Another view.


Equipment pad.

I will post more as the project progresses.

Hi everyone.

I was busy this weekend.

I GOT THE POOL UP!!!

Below are some pictures of the pool and plumbing.














Now its time for the electrical.
Will post more.

Enjoy

Nice work

Great looking Pergola! Did you free build it, find some plans, or buy a kit? We are looking to add one or something like one to our new deck.

excellent mark! i knew it would be great looking. fantastic work!

Thanks for the comment. the Pergola and deck was a free build, No plans. The Pergola is 16' x 14' and the whole deck is 28' x 16'.

Thanks for the comment. How did your deck and slide hold out during this last winter? I bet the G-kids are waiting for the pool to open and hit the slide. I will be adding a deck that will be level with the top of the pool and I will be stealing your idea of the slide.

the deck and slide held up fine over the winter even though we had some pretty cold weather at times. BTW, i'm hoping to steal a few ideas from you as well like the skimmer and the original plumbing that you did. also i liked the way you made the flower border around the bottom of the pool with the sand. it looked really good! its great to share ideas with everyone!

Nice installation.

Fantastic install. I am very interested in how you determined the size of each trapazoid section of deck to make a circle around the pool. Thanks!