I think the answer to this is "Yes" and I should just follow the instructions, but it would save me a bunch of time and money if it's not.
My hard-side, 21' x 54" pool arrived today, and I'm planning to self-install it. I would be happy to pay someone to do it, but I haven't been able to find anyone I'd trust with it, and I've seen a lot of horror stories about failed installs due to installers not really knowing what they're doing. So I'm stuck with a self-install.
Due to past issues with moles in the yard, I plan to put rigid foam underneath the pool. Locally, that foam is available in 1" thick R-5 4x8 sheets at around $30 per sheet. So $300-$400 for a 1-inch thick foam under my 21' diameter pool.
I'm doing a J-hook liner. The instructions clearly want 3" of sand plus the 4" high foam cove.
How should I handle this install?
- 1-inch foam on the ground, 2-inches of sand on top of the foam, then the gorilla pad? And hope the moles, if they return, won't go past the foam?
- 2-inches of sand on bottom, then 1-inch foam, then gorilla pad? (This is what I suspect I will do...)
- 1-inch of foam, then gorilla pad, no sand.... which would deviate from the instructions by 2".
- 2 layers of 1-inch foam... deviating from instructions, but only by 1".
My concern is that only having 1" of foam instead of 3" of sand as instructed will pull the wall down as it fills up, instead of stretching. (Sidenote: I'm in south Louisiana, so it's gonna be hot on the day I install the liner.)
Thanks!
My hard-side, 21' x 54" pool arrived today, and I'm planning to self-install it. I would be happy to pay someone to do it, but I haven't been able to find anyone I'd trust with it, and I've seen a lot of horror stories about failed installs due to installers not really knowing what they're doing. So I'm stuck with a self-install.
Due to past issues with moles in the yard, I plan to put rigid foam underneath the pool. Locally, that foam is available in 1" thick R-5 4x8 sheets at around $30 per sheet. So $300-$400 for a 1-inch thick foam under my 21' diameter pool.
I'm doing a J-hook liner. The instructions clearly want 3" of sand plus the 4" high foam cove.
How should I handle this install?
- 1-inch foam on the ground, 2-inches of sand on top of the foam, then the gorilla pad? And hope the moles, if they return, won't go past the foam?
- 2-inches of sand on bottom, then 1-inch foam, then gorilla pad? (This is what I suspect I will do...)
- 1-inch of foam, then gorilla pad, no sand.... which would deviate from the instructions by 2".
- 2 layers of 1-inch foam... deviating from instructions, but only by 1".
My concern is that only having 1" of foam instead of 3" of sand as instructed will pull the wall down as it fills up, instead of stretching. (Sidenote: I'm in south Louisiana, so it's gonna be hot on the day I install the liner.)
Thanks!
Let's see if 
