Dual Purpose Pool

[Vwdude]

How's it going from TX! I have a fairly unusual project brewing that I could use some input about.

I am looking into and researching a DIY situation. I have the construction background and and frame of mind to do something pretty cool. Here's the situation.

I am an avid skateboarder, and have been given the go ahead from the wife to build myself a skate pool in my backyard! Awesome I know, but here's the kicker. I can only do it if I can make it a swimmer also. Which complicates a fairly simple rebar, concrete, and pool coping skate pool.

I can handle the plumbing and all that no problem... But do I want to. The situation is my wife would like to swim in it the 6 months of summer we have down here and skate it the rest of the year.

So the difficulty is can I keep the chemicals right and just have one of those electric robot pool robots handle my cleaning? Or should I just make momma happy and effectively double the cost of this project? If i go the full on swimmer route I will go for the polished hydrazzo plaster since i know it can be dry for a long period of time and hold up.

A lot to think about! I appreciate your thoughts

 

[Isaac-1]

What part of Houston do you live in?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I think I need to question that any pool that's *in* the ground can safely be left empty for months on end? Your water table is pretty high, isn't it? That bathtub can sure have the potential to float out of the ground if the water underneath it is too high.

 

[Isaac-1]

This is why I was asking what part of Houston, the chances of high water table is a lot greater on the south and east side of Houston vs say most of the Woodlands

 

[kimkats]

I am in to watch this one. What a different idea..........I hope it works!

 

[Vwdude]

Hey! Thanks for all the responses!

I have thought about this also. I live 15 minutes south of pearland near rosharon TX. My plan is to level off my property and build up a 30 X 50 X 4 or 5 ft pad so the deepend of this thing is only 3' below grade. The rest is all above. I think this would solve the floating problem.

My biggest issue is how to plumb it to be a swimmer the cheapest way. Or if I could just not plumb it at all and have some alternative means of cleaning. Like a big above ground pool system, or one of this electric pool robot deals likens stated above, for the short time it's full every year.

 

[Isaac-1]

I take it from this thread you are new to the Houston area? Your part of the Texas gulf coast on annual average gets more rainfall than evaporation will remove. Meaning if you leave a pool unplumbed and empty it will fill up with water over time. Normally for a swimming pool you don't really need a bottom drain as they provide minimal additional circulation, however for what you are constructing I would certainly include one. As to the other plumbing, don't skimp too much on returns or skimmers as too few of these cause circulation dead spots which can allow algae to start growing and cause all sorts of headaches, plus PVC plumbing is cheap compared to all the other expenses of owning and building a pool.

As for as your idea of building up a mound to put your pool on, you really need to consult with a soil engineer, particularly in the area where you live as you would not be building on the most solid base to begin with.

ps you can see here:

Precipitation Evaporation | Texas Water Development Board

That in your area average annual rainfall exceeds average annual evaporation by about 10 inchs

 

[Vwdude]

Right I definitely have no doubts that at some point water will enter the pool when empty. I was figuring on having a sump pump to drop in there if I'm getting ready to skate it.

 

[JayBauman]

I think you'll have different problems than you may expect. We have a lot of "gumbo" soil in the Houston area. The likelihood of your shell popping out of the ground when empty is probably small. However, when the gumbo shrinks/expands/shifts as the ground saturates and dries out, you set yourself up for a cracked shell when there is no water weight to counterbalance the stress points. Once your shell cracks, then you'll have a permanent skating park. On the plus side, you won't have to pump out the excess water when it rains...gravity will take care of that for you!

For this same reason, most (all?) houses built in Houston over the last 15-20 years are now built on post-tension floating concrete slabs instead of footers. Architects and engineers have not been able to design robust solutions that withstand the shifting soil. So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. As the soil shifts, the house is free to move a bit, too. However, the entire house & foundation moves as a single entity, so the sagging foundations and cracked walls are vastly minimized.