New Pool Vermiculite/pool Krete questions

[GuyRedman]

I have been reading the many well written posts for a while but cannot find one that answers the questions I have so here they are: after doing a trial run with the pool krete I have noticed it never seems to harden, is this common? how do you keep the rain from washing away your progress with the pool krete before you finish( or do you have to do all the pool krete and apply the liner ASAP)? Can you pour the floor in the shallow end, bottom of the hopper, and slope from deep to shallow in a pea gravel type concrete off the truck and do the hopper walls in pool krete? Any help would be greatly appeciated.

My neighbor and I are both building 18x36 vinyl pools together and we're kind of at a loss right now. One thing we have going for us is he is a concrete contractor but we have no experience with this----Yet!!

 

[JasonLion]

It is common for pool krete to take many days to get really solid. Unfortunately, I have no idea how soon you can put in the liner.

 

[GuyRedman]

It's nice to here I'm not out in left field, I just checked the test area we did yesterday and it looks like it's starting to firm up. One additional problem is one of the walls has started to break off and fall down in the deep end, I'm sure this is related to the almost week of on and off rain in this area. What's the best way to fix this before applying the pool krete to get back to a good base?

 

[waste]

Welcome to TFP!!

These are the questions I needed when writing the DIY series

What we would do, if rain was coming after we troweled for a day is put a tarp over the fresh verm. (if it was going to rain before we started troweling, we'd tarp the floor so that the rain didn't soak the floor - all we'd have to do is pump off the water, pull the tarp and trowel.).

I, at a first glance, kind of like the idea of 'hybrid-ing' the bottom - the flat surfaces and hopper walls are verm, for water flow- through/ hydrostat and the slope is 'crete', which would be easier/ more familiar for your neighbor. The only issue I can think of is the time the truck would be there (the trucks include 1 hour to pour it's 'fruits' and it might take you longer than that, resulting in a surcharge. However, your friend is probably more of an expert than I, in pouring concrete and may be able to better judge (or have a good relation with the ready mix company, so they would give him a little leeway ).

I hope I've addressed your questions - if I didn't, ask me again (and use small words, so that I understand the question :lol: )

 

[GuyRedman]

Ted, You'll be glad to know it was your DIY series that actually brought me to TFP. I have followed the articles and greatly appreciate the time you to to spell out some of the things that we were second guessing ourselves on. The biggest problem facing us right now is the hopper sidewalls have broken off and are falling in on his pool. What's the best way to fix this? The best idea we can come up with is digging out all the loose clay soil and pack in CA6 and pool krete over the surface. Will this work or is there a better way?

Thanks, Guy.

 

[waste]

Hey Guy I am very happy to hear that I've helped you and brought you into the 'TFP Family'!

You've got the right idea Any loose or unstable dirt should be removed and filled in with a low compaction material and/ or compacted - you may end up having to go a little thicker on the vermiculite but an unsound subfloor will turn around and bite you in the end