To all those who have partial or mostly buried AGP.

[Drayken]

Yes, we are VERY late in our planning, since it is mid-April, but we want to put in a pool for this summer. We have a ranch style house, but a walkout basement, so you can get an idea of the slope we have. I would guess we need to go about 3 ft into the high side. So only one side would be buried. Actually, it would look like it was "set into" the side of the slope.

I was thinking I would need to build a good retaining wall. And leave a gap from that, to the pool, but I have see many pics of people burying their pools, so I am thinking I could build a cheap, but effective retaining wall out of railroad ties, about 4 inches from the wall of the pool, then just fill in that gap with dirt, once the pool is set up.

Ok, now for the questions:

1) Do you think I would even need a retaining wall, for a 3ft slope? (Lets say 4ft at most) Of just dig out the dirt, install pool, then fill in. (I am afraid of the pressure the dirt would put on the pool.

2) Did you guys coat the outside of the pool with anything? Or line it somehow? Or do you simply have dirt against the side of the pool wall?

3) I am VERY nervous about doing this, if it voids the pool warranty. I am planning on paying about $3800 for the pool (package deal) and would hate to have no warranty with it. (this is alos the reason I am not going SWG yet, since they said that would void it also.) Any thoughts? Do some companies still warranty if you partly bury?

 

[Drayken]

Also, the pool we are looking at, has Resin top and bottom rails, but steel uprights and walls. Will that be a poor choice, since they are steel?

 

[heikejohn]

We put in a 3 1/2 ft retaining wall with railroad ties, about 3 - 4 feet away from the pool. That gap was covered with a deck, all the way to the railing. Our deck is on 2 sides. All along the long side of the oval & one short side between pool and house. The other 2 sides of the pool are sticking out into open space.
The retaining wall is a MUST HAVE in my eyes. If you have a lot of rain, the whole dirt pile could slide into your pool and push in the side.

 

[teapot]

Seconded, I used to have some pictures of a no retaining wall pool (sheet steel) that looked like it had been hit in the side by a vehicle after the earth bank moved. We straigtened it out but is was never quite the same again, Very very bad plan to save a few dollars.

 

[Drayken]

I think I would feel much better if I put a retaining wall also. I only asked because I have seen some builds on this site, where it doesn't look like they used wall at all, just dug a hole, put in the pool, then filled back in.

I have no idea if/when we will ever build a deck onto the pool, so I hate the idea of leaving a big gap between the retaining wall and the pool. It will look bad, and be a hazard. (people could fall in between)

And do you think the steel sidewalls and uprights will be a problem? I could upgrade to resin uprights, but the toprails are ugly on that model, lol, and I would assume the steel wall would go way before steel uprights.

Here is a pic, to give a better idea of how I need to set the pool "into" the hill.

 

[teapot]

Don't think there is any real reason for a gap but there is the need for a retaining wall. Good luck with the project.

 

[Drayken]

Don't think there is any real reason for a gap but there is the need for a retaining wall. Good luck with the project.

So just build a retaining wall, then have them install the pool about 4-6 inches from the wall, then once the pool is filled, I would backfill the 4-6 inch gap?

 

[portfisher]

Here is a picture of a pool we repaired that did not have a retaining wall around the high side. The high side was approximately 45 ". Need I say more! [attachment=0:1jw0go10]Pool Collapse 2009 002.jpg[/attachment:1jw0go10]

 

[kjcole]

You may have trouble building the retaining wall first and then asking your installers to snug the pool 4 inches from it. Don't forget the dimensions of the side supports on some pools. Probably a better idea is to cut back deeper into the hill and temporarily retain it so the installers have room to work. Then install the wall where you want it and backfill with proper aggregate for drainage. That way you can also install a drainage system (aggregate, perforated pipe, etc) behind the wall (before backfilling) to reduce hydrostatic pressure. That's what I did, but I also built a deck completely around the pool that hides the gap. Even so, I've seen a number of pools with a close retaining wall that look neat and functional.