Hello All!!! Couple quick above ground pool questions..

[Gravel7]

Hi,
New to site, first post. Just found this site and am having a hard time getting back to work :lol:

Anyway, here is the story:
I have two kids that we are taking to Nanie & Papa's pool too much.....to hard to pack all the stuff, etc........(don't get me wrong, its been great but just wanted something a lot easier.) So, bought a "Costa Del Sol" 24' dia. above ground pool. I did the install myself with the help of two friends.
I work for an excavation contractor for a living, started out as a land surveyor. So I was fortunate that the ground work was very easy for me to do on my own. I had to take cut about 14" on the back side and 4" on the front of the pool area to get to a level grade. I compacted the ground with a plate compactor (big one), brought in sand, leveled it up and compacted the heck out of that. Setup a screed, etc......things were dead on, level wise. I dug in some large concrete pavers just under each of the uprights.....and off I went.
Things went well, directions were good. I bought one load of water for $300. That filled it maybe about 5/8. I am slowing filling the rest out of the hose.

I have since noticed that a couple of the uprights are leaning inward a little bit. I bet I put them up that way, nothing has settled or anything....90° out and i was dead tired at the end of it. I can (without much force at all) pull the top of the upright out to level. Is this a big deal. The pool is about 3/4 full now........
The water level is dead on all the way around the pool. When i measure from the bottom of the top rail to the water level all the way around the pool, there is no spot that is more than 1/4" different.

On the two uprights that are leaning inward a bit...the tops need to come outward about 1.5" and that would have them straight up/down. My friend stated that after 2 winters go by they will all be out of level by that much anyway.....maybe he is right?? He is speculating though.....

Do i need to care about this or should i just lighten up? My landsurveying background makes me very critical of line/grade.

Next question:
When i go around the pool and wiggle the uprights in and out, they easily move back and forth a couple inches. Is it designed that way? I just have nothing to reference. I don't know anyone else with an above ground pool.

Last question:

Before i backfill I was considering applying some roofing tar to the pool wall and uprights that will have drainage sand pushed up to them. Not much, like above stated: 14" in the back tapering to 4" in the front. I figured it couldn't hurt to add that layer of protection (the roofing tar) or maybe I would use foundation sealer because its thinner and easier to apply? I would use course drainage sand against the pool because it will not hold water against the pool, the water will easily drain through.

This is a long post. Sorry, I hope its not rude that it is my first post.

Thanks for any help!!!
Mike

 

[mcoonan]

Never heard of anyone using tar or sealer, but a friend has used spray on truckbed liner with success.

 

[Gravel7]

I went into the hardware store, looked at the different products and then decided to do nothing. I have a few yards of real nice drainage sand that i am just going to push up against the pool....so it will have a 1' wide ring of that sand around it. Water should run through that sand quickly....as long as i don't trap water against the pool I should be fine....I think. Everything looks so good right now. The idea of anything rusting drives me crazy.

Close to swimming now I am excited for my kids!!

 

[cramar]

The walls will move in/out a bit when full, it's not meant to be 100% rigid or else it would likely fail easily.

Sounds to me like your good, if you got the base level and the perimeter is close to round (it is close to round, right?) then you should be ok.
If you go around the edge and measure from the rails down to the water are you near level?

 

[Gravel7]

Yes, the water level, measured down from the rails, is quite level. I measure in 8 or so locations and they were all within a 1/4".
Looks like the reason that one upright is leaning in is that somehow something got between the concrete paver and the base plate. Like some stone dust. The plate is actually about 1/4" higher than it should be. Wish i noticed before i filled it. She seems fine though. I should post a picture of it.

The bottom tracks had spots to place nails to help get it perfectly round and keep it there. I did that and pulled the nails after the pool was filled (per the instructions).

I think I may have been winding myself up for no reason. Like i tend to do over many things all of the time

 

[cramar]

Sounds like everything is good then, 1/4 inch is a great leveling job. I'll back you up that assembling something that holds tens of thousands of pounds of water above the ground is a stressful process.
I was stressed for a couple of days when mine was full, extreme concern for the safety of my family and the families/property of the people around this pool combined with a bit of insecurity about my first pool install. Several weeks later that has passed, thankfully. My first plunge into the pool was a gigantic cannon ball that sent water everywhere, pool held up fine.

Remember also that the vertical supports are there primarily to support weight on the rail, not to the pool pool wall.
Have fun

 

[Gravel7]

Thanks Cramar.
It is stressful. It never occurred to me that it would be. As soon as i started putting the water in my brain started spinning......
The insight i've received from this TFP site has helped me soo much. Now that its been full for a few days and everything seems totally unchanged (level, upright positions, etc) I am becoming a lot more at ease. Still have yet to bail in. Raining hard here today and for the next couple days.......