Hello everyone, been reading the forums here in the past month.
Long story short, bought a house in the middle of summer last year. The house had an in-ground pool. I say "had" since the bank that owned the house had the pool removed and filled in literally 3 months before we closed. Only about a month before we looked at the home.
Well, I didn't do much with the spot that was left last year except for removing the waist high weeds that grew to be nice to my neighbors. Needless to say the company that filled in the pool did a crappy job as they cut out part of the wrought-iron fence (and it is real, heavy, wrought iron, not the newer hollow steel stuff), then proceeded to drive in truckloads of gravel and dirt to fill it in (and in the process creating a culvert between mine and my neighbors property) as well screwing up the red brick paved parking slip on the right side of the house and totally tearing up 80% of the backyard in the process.
Per another neighbor, it seems as if they just broke up the decking and such and dumped everything into the pool. they then filled it in with gravel and put down minimal topsoil. Needless to say in the past year it has settled at least 8 inches to a foot where the deep end of the original pool was and when it rains that area retains water. it also is a soft mud when it does dry up some, so it is not solid at all. When totally dry it seems solid enough, but I am still concerned.
Now, in the past month we added a 8ft x 10ft x 39" deep 8-10 person spa to the back patio. Got it up and running and everyone is enjoying it so far. But, with 5 kids, a "hot tub" is quite a bit different for them than a pool is (they are 2 years old, 8, 11, 12 and 15 so they spread out age-wise), so the local hardware superstore had a sale and I picked up a 15ft x 42" Intek EZ Pool. Was a great deal in that it had a filter, under mat, cover and even a ladder. Should be plenty for this year for the kids I figure and I am getting quite comfortable maintaining the chemical balance in the spa, so I figure a pool should be a similar challenge.
Well, the big point of contention is what we are going to ultimately do with the area the in-ground pool original sat. I am thinking I would like to put an above-ground pool where the in-ground pool was (using the new Intex I just got initially and then going with a 22" Ultra-Frame next year, or going all out with a full permanent above ground) and then using pavers to make a full patio out of the rest of the area the original in-ground pool was since we lost the patio directly off the house due to the spa.
Now, for multiple reasons I would like to use the original "deep end" of the old in-ground area for the new above ground pool. I figure if anything a 15' x 42" above ground would work wonders to help compact that area as I am concerned if I don't do anything like that and just backfill in that area, I will be dealing with settling there every year for the next 3-5 years. That is something that would just Tick be off to no end every time I had to redo something because it settled some more.
I guess my question is, is it safe to put the new Intex pool on the spot where the "deep end" was? should I try to fill in that area first? Is there any concern that the company that filled in the pool didn't do it properly and I have a potential legal situation to have them redo that area so that it is done properly?
I mean, if I am ultimately better off just filling in the "deep end" and dealing with settling every year for the next few years, I guess I will just have to, and in that case I would put the new above ground pool on the other end for now.
Any and all input on this subject would be appreciated, as I can't find anything on the 'net that deals with this kind of situation.
Thanks,
Dennis
Long story short, bought a house in the middle of summer last year. The house had an in-ground pool. I say "had" since the bank that owned the house had the pool removed and filled in literally 3 months before we closed. Only about a month before we looked at the home.
Well, I didn't do much with the spot that was left last year except for removing the waist high weeds that grew to be nice to my neighbors. Needless to say the company that filled in the pool did a crappy job as they cut out part of the wrought-iron fence (and it is real, heavy, wrought iron, not the newer hollow steel stuff), then proceeded to drive in truckloads of gravel and dirt to fill it in (and in the process creating a culvert between mine and my neighbors property) as well screwing up the red brick paved parking slip on the right side of the house and totally tearing up 80% of the backyard in the process.
Per another neighbor, it seems as if they just broke up the decking and such and dumped everything into the pool. they then filled it in with gravel and put down minimal topsoil. Needless to say in the past year it has settled at least 8 inches to a foot where the deep end of the original pool was and when it rains that area retains water. it also is a soft mud when it does dry up some, so it is not solid at all. When totally dry it seems solid enough, but I am still concerned.
Now, in the past month we added a 8ft x 10ft x 39" deep 8-10 person spa to the back patio. Got it up and running and everyone is enjoying it so far. But, with 5 kids, a "hot tub" is quite a bit different for them than a pool is (they are 2 years old, 8, 11, 12 and 15 so they spread out age-wise), so the local hardware superstore had a sale and I picked up a 15ft x 42" Intek EZ Pool. Was a great deal in that it had a filter, under mat, cover and even a ladder. Should be plenty for this year for the kids I figure and I am getting quite comfortable maintaining the chemical balance in the spa, so I figure a pool should be a similar challenge.
Well, the big point of contention is what we are going to ultimately do with the area the in-ground pool original sat. I am thinking I would like to put an above-ground pool where the in-ground pool was (using the new Intex I just got initially and then going with a 22" Ultra-Frame next year, or going all out with a full permanent above ground) and then using pavers to make a full patio out of the rest of the area the original in-ground pool was since we lost the patio directly off the house due to the spa.
Now, for multiple reasons I would like to use the original "deep end" of the old in-ground area for the new above ground pool. I figure if anything a 15' x 42" above ground would work wonders to help compact that area as I am concerned if I don't do anything like that and just backfill in that area, I will be dealing with settling there every year for the next 3-5 years. That is something that would just Tick be off to no end every time I had to redo something because it settled some more.
I guess my question is, is it safe to put the new Intex pool on the spot where the "deep end" was? should I try to fill in that area first? Is there any concern that the company that filled in the pool didn't do it properly and I have a potential legal situation to have them redo that area so that it is done properly?
I mean, if I am ultimately better off just filling in the "deep end" and dealing with settling every year for the next few years, I guess I will just have to, and in that case I would put the new above ground pool on the other end for now.
Any and all input on this subject would be appreciated, as I can't find anything on the 'net that deals with this kind of situation.
Thanks,
Dennis
