Diy inground wall "wiggle" room

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C

ckwinters

0
May 29, 2018
68
Carlisle, PA
We are installing our steel walls and after three days of trying to get things perfectly aligned becoming very frustrated. So, if the 41 ft wall is over by one half to one inch will it be an issue with the liner or will it stretch that last .5 inch? Also our swimout is one inch short which I'm thinking would not be a big deal but we'll have one wall that is slightly crooked. I'm sure PBs know what measurements are close enough but we don't want to find out when the liner goes in that we miscalculated.
Did I mention how frustrating it is trying to put walls up when it keeps raining and raining! Clay soil + rain = super glue
 
It is actual length of the wall. One panel had a ding and some slight creep has made us about 5/8 inch long on one wall. The cozy cove unit is actually 7' 11" rather than 8' which makes us slightly short on one wall. I think a PB would split the differences and call it good but even though I've read the liner will stretch slightly it's making us nervous. Our diagonal measurement are about 1/2 inch off due to these other shifts.
 
Just to cover the basics

When checking your dimensions make sure you are using your stamped drawings they sent you in your email kit. It was in the email packet they sent you after you signed off and paid. I noticed what they have on the website and what they actually send you have slightly different measurements.

Also, your drawings will tell you where to check measurements. In my case I had to take a diagonal measurement to check square. My drawing detailed exactly where to take that measurement.

I would make sure you don't have any mud or debris in you panel joints and everything is level and plumb. If you have double and triple checked then I would split the difference and call it good. Being off a little won't hurt. You can also confirm that with hydra pool support if in doubt.
 
Re: Diy inground wall "wiggle" room

you are kind of explaining it wrong i had to read your post a few times to try and follow. I see in ur signature this is an L pool. So only one wall is 41ft long and this is the wall that is short the inch or long the inch? There is no way to easily add an inch, so you are going to have to short that wall an inch, you cant do anything different without making rest of pool out of square. You dont have to square the pool from the #s and spots they gave you, inside the main square you can pull #s from any panel joints to the SAME panel joints elsewhere and check square. You want to check square at THE BOTTOM of the panels where they meet the dirt, the top doesnt matter til you are ready for concrete that is last you just get them plumbed close with a level and then pull string and true them up. You want to have the longest straight walls in each wall section be plumbed using the last 2 outside turnbuckles, then pull a tight string (i use drop ceiling jetline its like dental floss) and then make walls meet that string, do this top and bottom of walls and you are done. In ur case you are gonna have to have the top and bottom short walls out a half inch on both sides to make it work but it will be fine. There is alot of wiggle room on the liner it will fit an inch out easily.

did they say why the swim out is only 7'11" that seems strange.

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the other thing that you should have done is gotten 3/4 clean gravel and put a skim coat and compacted it into the clay. when it rains w clay the silt comes off very easily and sits like muck, that is the worst supporting soil material. just make sure to buy more rebar than they gave you 3/8" and cut alot of short lengths and pin EVERYTHING. I pinned every hole in panels and 2 in each deadman. then use 2x4s and make cross bracing to lay at bottom of walls so when you pour it doesnt slide on you, its worth the little time and money to know its right once the concrete dries you are outta luck on moving anything except a little adjustment on the wall tops
 
Thanks guys for all the info...we are trying to muscle thru the bad weather cause the rain is slowly eating the walls. Rains are supposed to let up on Saturday but I don't think the concrete truck is going to want to get too close to the pool edge, the ground is saturated. I bought some broken open shingles for cheap from Lowe's to drop on the ground so we can work easier.
About measuring the bottom of the panels....trying to measure in the deep end is interesting to say the least. I'm 5'2" and the walls are slippery! Husband is 5'7" so not alot of help there :D This really takes a sense of humor when we finish at 9 pm covered in mud.
 
Re: Diy inground wall "wiggle" room

jimmythegreek said:
You dont have to square the pool from the #s and spots they gave you
Click to expand...

Jimmy, I don't 100% agree with this advise. Reading through lots of your posts you are a seasoned contractor with lots of knowledge. You carry a good bit of experience under your belt. Also, basic handyman skills would apply to simple shaped pools. However, they put those measurements in there for a reason. If something doesn't fit down the line it could come down to that measurement not being right. Getting outside of a rectangle/L shaped pool I would think those measurements become important.

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ckwinters said:
Thanks guys for all the info...we are trying to muscle thru the bad weather cause the rain is slowly eating the walls. Rains are supposed to let up on Saturday but I don't think the concrete truck is going to want to get too close to the pool edge, the ground is saturated. I bought some broken open shingles for cheap from Lowe's to drop on the ground so we can work easier.
About measuring the bottom of the panels....trying to measure in the deep end is interesting to say the least. I'm 5'2" and the walls are slippery! Husband is 5'7" so not alot of help there :D This really takes a sense of humor when we finish at 9 pm covered in mud.
Click to expand...

I am 6'2" and I still had to use a 4' ladder to adequately reach in my deep end walls.
 
PoolGuyCT- You are so right. That was actually not our first instinct because our house sits just slightly angled on our property. When we first started contemplating a pool we marked out lines in the grass then realized it was not square with the house. It made a 5 foot difference on one end once we squared to the house.

Downpours again yesterday afternoon so we didn't get the issue resolved yet. Today I'll get a measurement on the bottom of the cozy cove, I had only measured the top and it was getting too dark to keep going. If we seriously wanted to get that side true we could make some type of spacer but I think I can live with one inch short on a side. Forecast is showing storms until next Wednesday so it looks like we'll try to do the collar pour on Friday if the company can get us in.
 
MClifford u may have not understood or I may have explained wrong my apologies. In a rectangle pool which a L is it's juat 2 together in the main part of pool the kit will have seams in a steel wall. I can put up 3 sides of it and pick anywhere in the seams that are equal to each other and square from there. The #s they give u are for reference and help getting the long and short walls straight. If u have string line down ur walls and are super close to straight u can check anywhere. For instance on mine it's a 14x30. I had deep end short wall and the 2 long walls up. I left shallow short wall out to bring micro excavator into pool to refine my slopes for hopper. I squared pool using a few cross measurements from panel seams. I pinned those walls once squared w machine in the hole and finished the short wall like a glove. If u cross measure multiple spots u are square juat as if u went corner to corner w their #s. On this pool an L w an inch missing on a long wall they gotta eat it somewhere so each short wall should end up 1/2" out of true right angle square they will never see it over the length of 16ft or whatever short side is
 

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If you set panels on concrete pads & haven’t poured collar yet.. a dozen or so wacky with a sledge hammer will slide the walls square..

& jimmy da’greek is on the money.. corner to corner..

That old a squared plus b squared equals c squared..

Pythagoras was one slick dude & must have been related to jimmydagreeek.
 
Yeah Ray pathagoris was my grandfather back in the day. The Greeks don't do much right anymore but the old schoolers knew their stuff. We stole ideas from ur peeps too I'll admit it :)


Keep us posted on ur progress and some pics. I'm still intrigued by the 1" short on the swim out
 
This is where we are at...concrete collar is coming on Saturday and a friend is bringing two buggies. My calculations are 10 yards of concrete for the collar. Still no light niches so we'll have to block off that area from getting concrete. This week we have to get boards in front of the steps and cozy cove and couple other things to get ready for the pour on Saturday.
I really want to do the equipment pad if we can get it ready in time but don't think we can get gravel by then. What are your thoughts on pouring the pad without the gravel base?
Biggest headache to come is cleaning up the deep end dig. We guesstimated on the corners and that is leaving a mess of hand digging at the corners.
Maybe it is the arch of the cozy cove that makes it come up a bit short. We are no longer long on the one side and with pulling and tugging we are .5 inch short at the corner by the cozy cove. 20180806_064021 (1).jpg
 
I would overnight or 2 day a pair of niches from anywhere and get them in, you really want the concrete to be unified to tie it all together. they stick out about a foot so if your gonna block it off spend some time on the form. What I did is bring a micro excavator into the pool by leaving a section of walls out and made a ramp. I got bad clay and had washouts and issues thru my whole build and after I got collar poured I lost most of my back wall to erosion under the wall. I ended up using about 30 bags of concrete to build up and support the panels as I was doing the vermiculite. It looks good so far, I would suggest shaping the deep end hopper right before you are gonna do your floor, I had to reshape mine lightly a few times with dirt caving in. And you can pour the pad w just dirt underneath it, theres no weight on it you can even buy 4-5 bags of gravel from homedepot and spread it thin and hand tamp it. If the ground is undisturbed just hand tamp it well and pour it you wont have an issue
 
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