Just completed the work this weekend. I will add a photo of where it stands right now, here is some thoughts I've had during the process, what I'd do differently, etc.
First, the pool. Bought it from Pool Factory, it is a 21 foot diameter Saltwater LX. Stainless skimmer panel, and resin components aside from the steel pool wall and steel uprights.
We spent a couple weeks working in the morning before the heat of the day, leveling out the spot for the pool. Our back yard did not seem that unlevel, but looks can be deceiving. Ended up digging down 15 inches on the high side. Guessing we ended up carting out about 8 cubic yards of rocks & dirt (in that order, I swear). Just did it by hand, using a roto-tiller to loosen up the soil so we could scoop it up into a wheelbarrow and take it to another part of the yard. It didn't seem like this would be a bad idea, I didn't think i was going to dig too much. Ha! Should have rented a bobcat. Instead, I bought two SunJoe electric tillers, because over time they dismantle themselves by throwing 4-5 inch rocks. So that is item one I'd do differently. Bobcat.
After leveling to within about half an inch or so, I smoothed out a layer of 1/4 inch gravel to make a smooth surface for the track. No pavers, I decided they'd be more trouble than they're worth. I stand by this decision. This area of our yard was a gravel driveway for a stable for years, so the ground at the pool level is as much gravel as it is dirt, and the surface is *hard*. The track went down beautifully. Would not change anything about this. The pool is within 1/8th of an inch after installation.
I brought over a bunch of family this Saturday to put up the wall. Went fine. Though for some reason I'm not 100% sure of, it seems the wall doesn't want to make a perfect circle. I really don't know exactly how that happened. Not sure what I'd change if I were doing it again, to be honest, without knowing the root cause. It's hard to see with the naked eye, but I can see it, because that's who I am. My wife thinks I'm crazy.
This is where things went off the rails a bit. And who knows, this may actually be part of why the walls are a little wonky. The liner was defective, it had two rows of five pairs of dimples. Three dimples definitely had pinholes all the way through. The rest were just dimples. But I was in the middle of the install, walls held up by stakes, twine, clamps, and humans, and we do get a little wind sometimes. Didn't feel like I could wait a week or so for a new liner. So I put in ten patches, over all the dimples, just in case. I would not do this if I could rethink that decision again. I'd have put more clamps, more twine, etc, and waited for a perfect liner. Oh well, it does not leak, so there is that.
Second screw up. We tamped down the sand, smoothed, tamped, smoothed, tamped, etc. Then put down the armor pad. Too many people inside, some of us fat dudes, and in the end that surface just wasn't -that- flat. And it definitely shows, the liner telegraphs -all- imperfections in the floor. Also, we somehow managed to flip back a six inch section of that armor pad without noticing, so of course that telegraphs right through as well. Sigh.
Third screw up. Still with the liner. I think we just got too focused on the end and went too fast. We thought the liner was centered pretty well. It was not. On one side the seam is right in the middle of the cove, on the other it's above the cove, and the whole thing is just slightly twisted. So on one side I have six or eight inches overlapping the top of the wall, and on the other side it overlaps a half inch. Just enough to see below the coping strip. And there are a few stubborn wrinkles that I could get to be perfectly vertical, but could not entirely eliminate. Sigh.
It holds water, it's perfectly level, the liner is ugly, I guess I'm overall happy -enough-. I kinda want to get a new liner and take a shot at smoothing the floor better, and getting a better fit with the liner, and no patches ... but I'm starting not to care -that- much, as long as it doesn't leak. Kids are stoked and ready to jump in. I've already taken the requisite first dunk myself, but it's unfiltered stagnant water until I get the pipes laid, and it's getting pretty dirty. I did put in a bit of stabilizer and bleach to try and hold off the inevitable algae growth. Waiting now on a part from Pool Factory for the Hayward filter system because it arrived with the filter base broken. That and I have to finish the trench from the pool to where the pump & filter are going to sit. Hoping to have water circulation going this weekend, maybe.
First, the pool. Bought it from Pool Factory, it is a 21 foot diameter Saltwater LX. Stainless skimmer panel, and resin components aside from the steel pool wall and steel uprights.
We spent a couple weeks working in the morning before the heat of the day, leveling out the spot for the pool. Our back yard did not seem that unlevel, but looks can be deceiving. Ended up digging down 15 inches on the high side. Guessing we ended up carting out about 8 cubic yards of rocks & dirt (in that order, I swear). Just did it by hand, using a roto-tiller to loosen up the soil so we could scoop it up into a wheelbarrow and take it to another part of the yard. It didn't seem like this would be a bad idea, I didn't think i was going to dig too much. Ha! Should have rented a bobcat. Instead, I bought two SunJoe electric tillers, because over time they dismantle themselves by throwing 4-5 inch rocks. So that is item one I'd do differently. Bobcat.
After leveling to within about half an inch or so, I smoothed out a layer of 1/4 inch gravel to make a smooth surface for the track. No pavers, I decided they'd be more trouble than they're worth. I stand by this decision. This area of our yard was a gravel driveway for a stable for years, so the ground at the pool level is as much gravel as it is dirt, and the surface is *hard*. The track went down beautifully. Would not change anything about this. The pool is within 1/8th of an inch after installation.
I brought over a bunch of family this Saturday to put up the wall. Went fine. Though for some reason I'm not 100% sure of, it seems the wall doesn't want to make a perfect circle. I really don't know exactly how that happened. Not sure what I'd change if I were doing it again, to be honest, without knowing the root cause. It's hard to see with the naked eye, but I can see it, because that's who I am. My wife thinks I'm crazy.
This is where things went off the rails a bit. And who knows, this may actually be part of why the walls are a little wonky. The liner was defective, it had two rows of five pairs of dimples. Three dimples definitely had pinholes all the way through. The rest were just dimples. But I was in the middle of the install, walls held up by stakes, twine, clamps, and humans, and we do get a little wind sometimes. Didn't feel like I could wait a week or so for a new liner. So I put in ten patches, over all the dimples, just in case. I would not do this if I could rethink that decision again. I'd have put more clamps, more twine, etc, and waited for a perfect liner. Oh well, it does not leak, so there is that.
Second screw up. We tamped down the sand, smoothed, tamped, smoothed, tamped, etc. Then put down the armor pad. Too many people inside, some of us fat dudes, and in the end that surface just wasn't -that- flat. And it definitely shows, the liner telegraphs -all- imperfections in the floor. Also, we somehow managed to flip back a six inch section of that armor pad without noticing, so of course that telegraphs right through as well. Sigh.
Third screw up. Still with the liner. I think we just got too focused on the end and went too fast. We thought the liner was centered pretty well. It was not. On one side the seam is right in the middle of the cove, on the other it's above the cove, and the whole thing is just slightly twisted. So on one side I have six or eight inches overlapping the top of the wall, and on the other side it overlaps a half inch. Just enough to see below the coping strip. And there are a few stubborn wrinkles that I could get to be perfectly vertical, but could not entirely eliminate. Sigh.
It holds water, it's perfectly level, the liner is ugly, I guess I'm overall happy -enough-. I kinda want to get a new liner and take a shot at smoothing the floor better, and getting a better fit with the liner, and no patches ... but I'm starting not to care -that- much, as long as it doesn't leak. Kids are stoked and ready to jump in. I've already taken the requisite first dunk myself, but it's unfiltered stagnant water until I get the pipes laid, and it's getting pretty dirty. I did put in a bit of stabilizer and bleach to try and hold off the inevitable algae growth. Waiting now on a part from Pool Factory for the Hayward filter system because it arrived with the filter base broken. That and I have to finish the trench from the pool to where the pump & filter are going to sit. Hoping to have water circulation going this weekend, maybe.
