Self Leveling compound - is there such a thing?

[Mollyj]

After battling with weird wet weather and possibly having to re do our liner this week, I keep thinking there has to be a better product to use under the base of a vinyl liner. How about a rubberised or silicone self leveling compound that goes on top of the leveled dirt and makes a perfect seal? Surely that would be better than putting down sand that could possibly wash out, takes ages to get level and although it's cheap, it's pretty labour intensive.

So many things are made out of silicone now and a lot of them are pretty cheap, surely the cove could be made out of it? I can't be the only person to have thought about this can I?

 

[kimkats]

I know several people have put down housing foam board insulation for this reason. It gives a smooth surface for the liner to sit on. It does need to be triple taped to make sure it does not shift or in any way allow the liner to go into the area between the boards. It is very soft on the feet as well. I did not do it but sure wish I had. Maybe when I have to replace my liner I will do it!

Kim

 

[duraleigh]

"Self-leveling" is not all it seems. The practicality of working with any form of self-leveling thing I have tried (caulk; floor patch) indicates to me it just doesn't work out for large areas.

BTW, "Screenings" ( rock dust and gravel not more than about 3/8") is quite a bit better than sand. Most quarries here in the US carry that product.

 

[Mollyj]

I didn't think it was going to be easy - nothing worthwhile rarely is Thanks Kim Kats, I don't know if you remember me saying that I'd used old heavy duty floor tiles under my old little intex pool, that gave such a lovely feel. I'm wishing I'd done it for this one and gone with a foam cove - time spent on the base is time well spent.

Thanks duraleigh, we've got really really good clay soil here - I had to use a hammer and chisel to dig the footings for the pool base after the Dingo machine went home. That was tough work. We used builders fatty sand which was recommended to us by the pool company, I'm still not sure it was the right stuff. It didn't help that two days after I'd got it all levelled before the liner install we had another lot of rain and I had to totally re do the floor. I'm still kicking myself for not waiting longer and getting the foam cove - too darned impatient to get the pool liner and water in. I sure am paying for it now.

 

[chayne]

i am going to be using anti fatigue mats under my pool this year. i have been gathering them from harbor freight each time they are on sale. i am getting them for 5.99 for a pack of 4 right now. since i got a harbor freight gift card for Christmas i will be going up there this weekend and gettting my last 8 packages. hopefully it will be a nice weekend and i can lay them all out and cut out around my pavers.

 

[Miniman]

Hello Chayne

I am very interested to see how the fatigue mats do
I use them in my workshop,also from Harbor Freight,and they are great.
I really enjoy seeing your progress and cant wait to get started on my redo.

 

[Caco]

I used 6mm (quarter inch) eva foam camping bedrolls under my smaller pool, which sat on a concrete slab
I should have shelled out for the specific tape to tape them together, as duct tape didnt work too well
I was really impressed, the cold did not come through from the concrete and it felt good underfoot
These worked out a lot cheaper than the flat sided anti fatigue mats for me, at about a third of the cost