Hello all, I need some serious help. I am currently tilling up leveling and compacting my yard to put up our 18×48 coleman vista series 2 pool. We don't want to go the sand route under it because our backyard isn't very easily accessible with a wheelbarrow. We were hoping to go with insulation foam but not sure which one. We don't have the owens corning available in our area so we can't use that. I'm hoping to spend the least amount with a good profit. I was hoping to do at least a 1in foam. Please help sos lol
Need help figuring out what foam to put under 18 by 48 coleman vista series 2
- Thread starter samanthawhitehead87
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,789
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Welcome to TFP! 
Any luck yet finding a budget-friendly foam to try other than XPS insulation panels or Gorilla pads?
Pool Care Basics
Any luck yet finding a budget-friendly foam to try other than XPS insulation panels or Gorilla pads?Pool Care Basics
I used 1/2 inch Styrofoam insulation board. wouldn't do it again. edges polluted the yard for a couple years and the bottom texture doesn't matter to me. but I probably wouldn't even use the right foam. these pools are way tougher than regular liner pools. they can get holes, but nothing like vinyl liners. just a gorilla pad next time for me.
No luck yet, was contemplating doing the harbor freight anti fatigue mats but my store doesn't have enough of them. We broke ground yesterday and are in the process of leveling the yard to be perfect and noticed we don't have many rocks at all so are thinking maybe just a tarp will be sufficient. Will it be OK to put on a tarp? Should I get a heavy duty one. We also will be using pavers under the legs of course.Welcome to TFP!
Pool Care Basics
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,789
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
A tarp is fine in some cases. It all really boils down to two things: 1 - What kind of feel do you want under the pool on your feet. 2 - Liner protection from potential sticks, jagged rocks, and/or aggressive weeds. As long as you are satisfied with addressing those issues you should be fine.
Go to any home improvement store (lowes, home depot, menards) and look for the expanded foam, NOT the small foam bead type foam. Owens corning is a brand of xps, not the trype. Johns manville and others make it as well. Thickness wise, i cant say what size to get, but its recommended to get gorilla tape and triple tape the seams.
For some reason, I'm assuming it's like this everywhere because of inflation, our xps boards start at around $40, and we don't have a home depot or lowes even remotely close to us and gas is $6.80 a gallon so it's gonna cost a arm and a leg to buy the boards lol. I'm thinking we might just switch it up and put weed mat down and then a heavy duty tarp. I don't really care about feel under our feet, just care about the pool liner not getting messed up. This is the biggest above ground pool I've had and I know it is HEAVY. I guess it just boils down to me being nervous something is gonna go wrong since we've already put in a lot of hard work.
Hello, I used the insulation foam panels, 4X8 under my 15' pool. Although the soft floor is nice, after 1st season my liner started to form ridges on the floor. It has made vacuuming very difficult and has gotten worse since I installed it 5 years ago. I will not be using the foam boards again, unless someone comes up with a better solution.
For what it is worth. I installed:
1) 1-3 inches of sand to level the area. If I did it again I would use 3/8" gravel
2) 1/2 inch thick styrofoam boards (the white beaded stuff) - XPS was not available at the time
3) One layer of normal duct tape along along all joints on the insulation
4) I trimmed the insulation after the pool was filled.
In about a year, I have had absolutely no problems, can't find a seam in the insulation and it feels great under foot.
1) 1-3 inches of sand to level the area. If I did it again I would use 3/8" gravel
2) 1/2 inch thick styrofoam boards (the white beaded stuff) - XPS was not available at the time
3) One layer of normal duct tape along along all joints on the insulation
4) I trimmed the insulation after the pool was filled.
In about a year, I have had absolutely no problems, can't find a seam in the insulation and it feels great under foot.
I’m on season 3 and I have experienced the same. It’s also not nearly as soft as it was.
I have mine set up on blacktop. A previous owner of my house had a wheelchair van and completely blacktopped the backyard for turnaround space. It's not a big yard. I have a layer of masonry sand, then a heavy tarp anchored into the blacktop, then I have a layer of old carpet that we tore out of our house 7 years ago(and it's still intact), then I have foam floor mats, the kind that connect like puzzle pieces. I have some that I've been using under our pools for 9 years, and some new ones. Over time, they flatten a bit, too and I just replace the ones that need replacing. In the end, it is more expensive to use the floor mats, but last longer than insulation boards. We tried the insulation boards and they flattened in one season. They still would have worked, but I love a really soft pool floor and prefer the mats.