I need advice on leveling my ground.

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nate81

nate81

0
May 20, 2013
192
Raleigh, NC
This is my second year setting up my intex pool...last year i was off an inch or maybe two as far as leveling went....i want to perfect it this year, i intend on leaving it up permanently (until the pool itself fails) since i live in warm and sunny North Carolina. The problem is this....i have found i am completely incapable of leveling earth. lol Take a look at the attached photos to see what i've got so far.

I have the pavers dug subsurface and then intend on laying the foam boards on top. Last year i had the pavers atop the earth and it was stretching the liner a bit.

How to get i get perfect level betwee the 16 pavers?

picture 1
picture 2

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well first off, that long board looks like it has a bow in it. That will never work.
Man, leveling ground is hard work, and you have to have the right equipment and "know how" to do a good job of it, so you are not in the "cant level substrate" boat alone.

The only real way to know if you're level is to use a laser level. You can rent them for a reasonable price.

Is that sand you are using? That needs to be flat and level to begin with. The foundation and base are absolutely the most important.
The way to do that is to tamp it with a tamper and then squeege any hight spolts off. The check level again over and over and over and keep knocking high spots down.
Same scenario if you are working with dirt.
You set your pavers on paver sand then level the pavers with the laser level too.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/73855-Our-L-A-(Lower-Arkansas)-pool-install



Here is a pretty good thread with some pics to help describe the process. Hopefully
 
I picked through a dozen or more 2x4's to get that one.

Thats not sand, thats my soil....its very compact because the pool sat on it last year lol

I will read that thread, thank you.

edit: when you say laser level...what are you talking about exactly? could you send a link to one please?
 
nate81 said:
richard,

this water level definitely looks like something i can build. but whats the proper technique to using it? Do i pick one paver...and keep one pole on it, while i rotate the other pole around clockwise leveling each as i go?

-nathan
Click to expand...
Water seeks its own level. Whatever one end reads, the other should read the same. Set the pole on the lowest one, take a reading on your scale, move to the next and see how much it needs to go down. Eventually, no matter where you set each upright, they should both read the same. I think once you start building it, you'll see how it works. Just make sure the scales start at exactly the same distance from the bottom end. http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Water-Level
 
Hi Nate,
a laser level is a gadget and emits a laser beam.

There is another part of set and its a very long (5 or 6 ft or longer) ruler. (dont know exactly what its called) On the ruler is a laser detector and this laser detector slides up and down on the ruler. The detector may or not have a digital readout on it. When you get pretty close to level, the digital reaout will tell you how far out of level you are.. (the detector beeps too).

SO, take the long ruler to the low spot and adjust the detector up or down. When the detector detects teh laser beam, it starts beeping .. beep, beep, beep,
WHen you are perfectly level the beep becomes continous. Tighten the detector to the ruler when it continuous beeps.
This will be your starting point.

you can move the long ruler to all the different concrete blocs and adjust them until they are all the same level

I see Richard turned you on to the water level also. That also works very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=necQ_D1ZYO8




nate81 said:
I picked through a dozen or more 2x4's to get that one.

Thats not sand, thats my soil....its very compact because the pool sat on it last year lol

I will read that thread, thank you.

edit: when you say laser level...what are you talking about exactly? could you send a link to one please?
Click to expand...
 
I just checked my ground to confirm it is level from last year. It was out about 1.5" last year. I rented a self leveling laser for 40 dollars for the day to get it close to perfect. It's work but the only way to go!
 
Well, someone it seems from one end to t he other, i'm about 2" off...thats a looooooooooooot of digging, i need to remove all the dirt in the center. I think i may outsource, anyone here recoomend someone in the central/ raleigh North carolina area that would do this for me?

i dug out so much last year and never got it fully level, it seemed the more i dug the more i had to dig to get it level and i can see it happening again this year, I can do lots of things, but this is clearly not one of them.
 

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.edit*.. didn't realize you wanted to level the pavers..

the only thing i can recommend is a laser level that you set in the center and it spins throwing the beam of light out in all directions.. you'd see what is high or low on the ends that way.. that would probably be the easiest way.. maybe Home Depot can rent you one.. make sure to wear the special red glasses when you do it though..
 
I've cheated this year.... I dug up my whole front yard, nearly killed my back...lol, and it's terribly uneven, I am going to build a huge wooden frame around my pool so I only have to get the frame level, then level the inside of the frame... :) I'm filling the gaps with polished stones... I was going to use artificial turf, but honestly it was way too much work...

I'm using railway sleepers to do the frame, they will also be the support base, for the U shaped legs my pool has... My pool is rectangle but I've stolen this idea from a guy with a round pool....

Levelling sux, and I feel your pain.... Hope it all comes together for you.....
 
laceygirl said:
I've cheated this year.... I dug up my whole front yard, nearly killed my back...lol, and it's terribly uneven, I am going to build a huge wooden frame around my pool so I only have to get the frame level, then level the inside of the frame... :) I'm filling the gaps with polished stones... I was going to use artificial turf, but honestly it was way too much work...

I'm using railway sleepers to do the frame, they will also be the support base, for the U shaped legs my pool has... My pool is rectangle but I've stolen this idea from a guy with a round pool....

Levelling sux, and I feel your pain.... Hope it all comes together for you.....
Click to expand...



Thank you lacegirl! this is killing me, i'm super bummed....i dug sooooo much last year and it ended up being just 'good enough'...i wanted it perfect this year, and im only making it worse. I really need a pro!
 
another idea off the top of my head that is in line with what i originally posted but deleted.. it would be slightly different in your case but it should still work.. with our pool we put a 2x2 stake in the ground at the center of the circle.. put a sturdy nail in the top of it sticking up.. then you get a 2x4 just over half the diameter of your circle and drill a hole near the end through the long edge.. this sits over top of the nail.. then you 'plow' the high parts off your circle as you go around with your level on top of the board.. makes a pretty level circle and it's what we did.. I went around with the level angling the slightest bit up toward the outside so it would be more of an angling up as you go toward the outside of the pool on all sides.. I didn't want the middle to wind up higher.. so as you go around you have to take out more and more until you have no more low spots.. in your case you would measure the height of the lowest paver and that would be your level mark.. better yet just pound the 2x2 into the ground until it's even with the rest of your ground.. then you can mark on the end of the board that is near the pavers where each paver should be.. the lowest paver will be the one you go by and then lower the rest to match that mark... just an idea..
 
Ok, sorry...i have another question.

So say the red paver is my lowest....do i simply leave one end of my homemade water level ont that one...and rotate the other end to the other pavers leveling them as i go....while leaving the red paver alone? and this will magically make all 16 pavers the same exact height??

pool.jpg
 
I am actually wondering the same thing. I just went and did the water level too. I think we are in the same boat man lol.


nate81 said:
Ok, sorry...i have another question.

So say the red paver is my lowest....do i simply leave one end of my homemade water level ont that one...and rotate the other end to the other pavers leveling them as i go....while leaving the red paver alone? and this will magically make all 16 pavers the same exact height??

View attachment 29780
Click to expand...
 
I saw one video where he measured from the top of the stick and marked it, this guy measured up from the bottom and stapled a yard stick.....it makes sense to mark from the bottom up to me, and thats how i did mine, is that correct?
 
nate81 said:
I saw one video where he measured from the top of the stick and marked it, this guy measured up from the bottom and stapled a yard stick.....it makes sense to mark from the bottom up to me, and thats how i did mine, is that correct?
Click to expand...
I don't think it really matters. what you're looking for is the difference in heights so you know how much to dig out. When you're done. you should be able to stand one end on any paver you want and move the other anywhere else and always get the exact same reading.
 

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