ADVICE PLEASE: DE-Constructing an OLD pool

[FluffyRAM]

Pool

Advice needed on the best course of action please:

IN A NUTSHELL:
We know our old pool won't do another season, so we need advice on the best way to shut it down for 2-3 years until we can budget a complete rebuild.

INFO:
We bought the house, complete with pool, 2 years ago. We knew the pool was old and in need of a complete rebuild, but we MacGyver'd it through until we could budget.

Then our priorities changed.
This summer I was diagnosed with breast cancer so we're facing thousands in medical bills.
(I'm doing great and thankfully the Lord has blessed my prognosis).

We still plan to rebuild the pool, but it will be a good couple of years away yet.

CURRENT POOL SITUATION:
The vinyl liner is badly torn in several places around the top, and water gets behind.
The wood structure behind the vinyl is visibly rotten so it does need a complete rebuild, not just a liner replacement.
The concrete deck had no expansion joints and is badly cracked in places so will also need redoing.
(The actual pool specifications should be in my signature).

LAY OF THE LAND:
We live in coastal Georgia so we're in a flat sandy area in rural farming country.
The pool garden area is elevated a few feet, presumably the original dug-out dirt.
Between the pool and the road is the pump and filter, then the roadside drainage ditch (I've not measured but it's probably not quite as low as the deep end, but close).

THOUGHTS and CONSIDERATIONS:
* We get long dry spells, then it dumps a lot of rain, usually putting down 1-3".
* We're now daily losing too much water to keep the pump running without constantly topping up.
* "Just leave it"option - I guess it will become an ugly green pond and mosquito breeding ground (full of even more frogs and toads!)
* Drain it option - I guess the walls would probably collapse, but they need to be replaced.
* Cover it option - unsure of logistics or methods.
* We may be able to cut a trench through to the drainage ditch if we opt to drain it
* The goal is to eventually rebuild
* Safety while shutdown - My husband is disabled
* Budget!

Comments, suggestions, ideas all welcomed.
Thanks for reading!

 

[gwegan]

In my view the most telling part of your story is "wood structure behind the vinyl is visibly rotten.

You need a whole new pool. I would expect you might be able to save the equipment pad.

I expect draining it would have bad results, but you are going to have to have a totally new pool anyway. The cost of tearing out the deck and hauling it away will probably equal the cost of new pool excavation.

So I would drain and buy a harbor freight trash pump and pump it out once a week or so. That should hold you for a couple of years.

 

[Charlie_R]

How is this for a option?

Go ahead and completely remove the current pool.

Purchase an Intex or similar "seasonal" pool, so you have use of it while you rearrange your budget to accommodate a new build. You can use your current equipment to run the seasonal pool with only a small amount of modification.

Yes, I understand your current pool is IG. I don't think it would take much to place a seasonal in the hole from your current pool, and put a temporary wood framed deck to give you access to the temporary pool.