Initial Excavation Depth

Krsmith42 · Aug 24, 2021

Hello!Looking for some advice here from pool builders on establishing elevation. Initially I was going to make the top of the coping 3 inches above the sidewalk shown on the right. Rough pool outlines can be seen in orange and white lines about 10’ from the left side of the sidewalk. This creates about a 2-3 ft ledge on the far side of the pool where the yard slopes down. Would you lower the pool to make this ledge less drastic? I’m concerned about the resulting yard slope behind the concrete on the far side with this elevation difference.

PoolGate · Aug 24, 2021

Looks like it is a little late to be making changes now. If your low side is too high, you'll need a retaining wall. I just barely got away with no retaining wall on my build but the one corner is fairly steep. They were able to use the fill dirt from the hole to level out the grade but I also needed about 20 yards of additional fill dirt.

Krsmith42 · Aug 24, 2021

PoolGate said:
Looks like it is a little late to be making changes now. If your low side is too high, you'll need a retaining wall. I just barely got away with no retaining wall on my build but the one corner is fairly steep. They were able to use the fill dirt from the hole to level out the grade but I also needed about 20 yards of additional fill dirt.

Thanks Poolgate. It’s not too late yet, I’m not even to the final depth of my initial excavation plan. My question is whether or not I should take the depth of the hole a bit deeper than my original plan or just backfill and slope off the elevated sides.

PoolGate · Aug 24, 2021

I would not. It is much easier to build up the lower side (if it isn't too steep) rather than building up the other side. How much lower are we talking? Inches or feet? What kind of grade would be on the other side would it require a step at that point? Also think about draining. The lower the pool is, the more water that will drain into it during storms. For my build I would not be happy if they lowered the pool another foot or so. It would throw everything off. It is perfectly level with the high side now and looks natural.

duckcmmndr · Aug 24, 2021

I would work off of your existing sidewalk, this is where you will "transition" to the new pool deck from your house and you want that to be smooth without step up's or down's. I had to to the same and on the opposite side from the house I had to fill and slope. You are going to have a ton of dirt to do something with. You may also want to consider a deck drain between the existing sidewalk and the pool deck as well.

From the elevation of your existing sidewalk/patio, I would slope up 1/8" to 1/4" per foot to the side wall of the pool. If that is 10'...1.25" -2.5". That is the top of the decking directly over the wall...so then subtract the decking thickness and then the wall height and that is how deep you dig the shelf. Is the string line the wall or the edge of the 2' shelf? Do you have a transit to use?

Krsmith42 · Aug 24, 2021

Thank you both for your help I really appreciate it. The string line is just indicating my dig boundaries no elevation information. I had the same thought to use a deck drain at the transition point from the sidewalk to pool deck, at the lowest point. I do have a nice laser level with grade stick I am using so I am good there. Sounds like the plan is to save some dirt and backfill and slope the back sides. Is there a rule of thumb as to when a retaining wall is necessary?

duckcmmndr · Aug 24, 2021

The laser level with the grade stick is the only way to go!

No real rule of thumb on retaining wall. A gradual slope from your pool deck to the existing yard will look better and be cheaper than a retaining wall. You will want it shaped so you can mow it. Just build up in 2-3 inch lifts and compact in between each. From your picture it looks like we are dealing with inches not feet. It might end up being more than a foot at the back of the pool decking...but not 3 or 4 feet.

klanel · Aug 24, 2021

I dropped my pool down on the southern side which will have a retaining wall holding soil back from the deck about 28 inches. On the northern side, I will end up between 4 and 7 feet drop and will be contained with both retaining walls and a poured basement wall for the poolhouse.

Yours should be much easier to deal with. Just compromise between lowering and raising. If the wall gets too high, you may have to have a fence to meet code so you may want to factor that into the elevations you choose.