Just got a quote for over 15K for work on my pool yard which has inspired me to find other options! I am a recent TFP member and I appreciate all I have learned here about pool chemistry etc., so hopefully you guys can help me here as well.
I have an older pool that is in need of some “deck†work. As you can see in the pictures, it has a series of stones around it that have, over many decades, settled down a few inches. There is also quite a bit of dirt around the stones and it gets into the pool frequently.
[attachment=1:21jl8lh8]IMG_0267sm.jpg[/attachment:21jl8lh8]
[attachment=0:21jl8lh8]IMG_0268sm.jpg[/attachment:21jl8lh8]
What started all this is a significant leak in the return pipe (inches a day) so the yard has to be half dug up anyway. So I asked them to quote me on putting in a new deck. They quoted 2.8K to remove old stones and discard, 1K for caulking for expansion, and 10.8K for pavers (14.2K for Bluestone). This includes re-grading, 4 inch concrete slab, 4 ¾ inch gravel. So basically 15-18K for this job. Seems high to me for 430 sq ft (thoughts?) but more importantly I can’t pay that now!
So I am leaning towards moving the old stones away, adding some dirt/gravel, putting them back, and filling in spaces between them with polymeric sand. Our house is almost 300 years old and the pool yard has a rustic look too as you can see with the barn in the picture. So the stones actually match pretty well.
First, can I really skip the concrete slab? I am in Connecticut and I have read mixed opinions on this site about whether they are needed under pavers or stones.
Minimally, how much earth do I need to excavate away here? From reading some other posts, I see that I need to add gravel and then stone dust before resetting the stones. How much of this is needed?
Finally, will polymeric sand fill in larger gaps- like 2-4 inches between some stones? This would make it easier for this approach to work since these stones are not always close together.
And any general advice/admonishment is welcome, of course!
Thanks,
RD
I have an older pool that is in need of some “deck†work. As you can see in the pictures, it has a series of stones around it that have, over many decades, settled down a few inches. There is also quite a bit of dirt around the stones and it gets into the pool frequently.
[attachment=1:21jl8lh8]IMG_0267sm.jpg[/attachment:21jl8lh8]
[attachment=0:21jl8lh8]IMG_0268sm.jpg[/attachment:21jl8lh8]
What started all this is a significant leak in the return pipe (inches a day) so the yard has to be half dug up anyway. So I asked them to quote me on putting in a new deck. They quoted 2.8K to remove old stones and discard, 1K for caulking for expansion, and 10.8K for pavers (14.2K for Bluestone). This includes re-grading, 4 inch concrete slab, 4 ¾ inch gravel. So basically 15-18K for this job. Seems high to me for 430 sq ft (thoughts?) but more importantly I can’t pay that now!
So I am leaning towards moving the old stones away, adding some dirt/gravel, putting them back, and filling in spaces between them with polymeric sand. Our house is almost 300 years old and the pool yard has a rustic look too as you can see with the barn in the picture. So the stones actually match pretty well.
First, can I really skip the concrete slab? I am in Connecticut and I have read mixed opinions on this site about whether they are needed under pavers or stones.
Minimally, how much earth do I need to excavate away here? From reading some other posts, I see that I need to add gravel and then stone dust before resetting the stones. How much of this is needed?
Finally, will polymeric sand fill in larger gaps- like 2-4 inches between some stones? This would make it easier for this approach to work since these stones are not always close together.
And any general advice/admonishment is welcome, of course!
Thanks,
RD