Pool Floor Material!!! NEED HELP

[Caro325]

As I slowly work on buying all the things that I am going to need to install my steel wall vinyl liner inground pool (I tried hiring some one to do it for me but their pricing was ridiculous ... ), I find myself needing to order the stuff for the floor and wall. I am in North Texas (supposedly clay on the soil???), I keep reading that using pool-crete is recommended... is that the best things to use in texas soil??? if not, what is????... ALSO, the guy that is doing the concrete pool deck, said that I needed to put rebar and/or mesh in the bottom and walls of the pool (which I didn't think I had to do ) because of the composition of the soil in this area????? is that true??? Please advise.

 

[Bperry]

As I slowly work on buying all the things that I am going to need to install my steel wall vinyl liner inground pool (I tried hiring some one to do it for me but their pricing was ridiculous ... ), I find myself needing to order the stuff for the floor and wall. I am in North Texas (supposedly clay on the soil???), I keep reading that using pool-crete is recommended... is that the best things to use in texas soil??? if not, what is????... ALSO, the guy that is doing the concrete pool deck, said that I needed to put rebar and/or mesh in the bottom and walls of the pool (which I didn't think I had to do ) because of the composition of the soil in this area????? is that true??? Please advise.

Rebar for a steel wall pool? What would it do?

 

[kimkats]

Yeah no.................I have not seen rebar in a vinyl pool.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Are you doing a cement collar around the base of the steel walls to lock it into place? Perhaps he meant that a concrete collar needed rebar

Clay soils can be very expansive with changing ground water conditions. When the clay expands or contracts it can move a significant amount. This needs to be accounted for when using concrete because unsupported concrete can easily crack.

It costs money to do so but you might consider having a few core samples and soil analysis done where you plan to put the pool. A qualified geotechnical engineering firm can do the analysis and offer recommendations for how to install structures given the soil conditions. You may or may not need to amend or treat the surrounding soil. It’s up to you, but I would be very concerned about building in clay soils without doing any kind of analysis first.

 

[Caro325]

Rebar for a steel wall pool? What would it do?

he said that it needed it for it not to crack!!!... in his defense, he did said that he has never done installation of a pool.......I guess I will just watch the videos online, and follow their instructions on how to install

 

[Caro325]

Are you doing a cement collar around the base of the steel walls to lock it into place? Perhaps he meant that a concrete collar needed rebar

Clay soils can be very expansive with changing ground water conditions. When the clay expands or contracts it can move a significant amount. This needs to be accounted for when using concrete because unsupported concrete can easily crack.

It costs money to do so but you might consider having a few core samples and soil analysis done where you plan to put the pool. A qualified geotechnical engineering firm can do the analysis and offer recommendations for how to install structures given the soil conditions. You may or may not need to amend or treat the surrounding soil. It’s up to you, but I would be very concerned about building in clay soils without doing any kind of analysis first.

what???? I just wanted to put a simple inground pool in my backyard so my child had something to do during summer break .... you are saying that I need to do a soil analysis?? .

 

[Caro325]

Yeah no.................I have not seen rebar in a vinyl pool.

would there be any benefit on using it??? (not rebar, but maybe mesh???)

 

[Bperry]

would there be any benefit on using it??? (not rebar, but maybe mesh???)

I’m concerned that whoever is putting in your pool doesn’t know what they are doing. Or is this guy just the deck installer and not the pool installer? Talk to your pool installer.

FYI: there’s nothing simple about an inground pool.

Edit: I see it’s you installing the pool. How large is it? I imagine the details like this are way different for a 6k gallon pool vs a 30k gallon pool.

 

[Caro325]

I’m concerned that whoever is putting in your pool doesn’t know what they are doing. Or is this guy just the deck installer and not the pool installer? Talk to your pool installer.

FYI: there’s nothing simple about an inground pool.

Edit: I see it’s you installing the pool. How large is it? I imagine the details like this are way different for a 6k gallon pool vs a 30k gallon pool.

You are right that I don't know much ... I had hoped to be able to buy the kit and find someone local to install it, but come to find out that there are no a lot of installers in this area familiar with my type of pool ...... I already paid and took delivery of the pool and equipment, so all I can do is push forward... (and go through this site to get info and/or google/youtube every step), nothing else to do

PS: I got a 16'x32 rectangular pool.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

what???? I just wanted to put a simple inground pool in my backyard so my child had something to do during summer break .... you are saying that I need to do a soil analysis?? .

I mean, you can just dig a hole, throw up the walls, backfill the over-dig, vermiculite the bottom, stick the liner in and go … but don’t be surprised if things start falling apart in a few years.

An inground vinyl liner pool is nothing more that a giant ziplock bag full of water with a rig of structural supports and a sturdy base. If you don’t get the base right or don’t do the walls correctly, that ziplock bag is going to move and we are talking about roughly 20,000 gallon of water weighing in at 166,800lbs (or 83.4 tons). That’s no insubstantial amount of fluid.

Is getting a soil analysis done for a few hundred bucks along with a recommendation as to what treatments might be needed to stabilize the area you’re digging in worth it? I dunno, to me it is assuming you can find a geotechnical engineer willing to a one-off pool job.

Part of the cost that the “pro” is throwing at you is his guarantee that he knows what he’s doing and they are sufficiently familiar with the local soil conditions to confidently erect a structure capable of holding hundreds of thousands of pounds of water without killing or injuring anyone. You also are getting some limited assurance that if something breaks, they will do what they are obligated to do to make it right. Build it yourself, and all that liability falls squarely on you. Nothing wrong with that, but you need to do the homework to make sure the job is done right as you only have one chance to get it right. As with any project, the more time and thought and planning you put it into it upfront, the more likely it is to succeed. Good pool builders have years, maybe decades of experience to pull from, they know the pitfalls and how to fix certain problems. You only have you … and maybe some buddies willing to help out on the weekends if you throw some pizza and beers at them.

Everything is up to you. Hopefully some owner/builders who have done inground vinyl pools can chime in with their experience.

 

[dw9000]

If you are looking for floor material, as the title reads, vermiculite floor is my preference - 2 to 1 (verm to cement)

Buying, Mixing and Applying Vermiculite to the Pool Floor