Pool Build 2016

[crokett]

We sold our house last year and built a new one. In March I took down a 27' dia round pool and moved it home. The rebuild has finally started. Graded out for the pool yesterday. We will start putting it back up this coming weekend. The only issue with the pool is there's more rust than I want around the skimmer opening. I guess there was a leak. If I want to add a piece of sheet metal to reinforce that, will construction adhesive be enough or should I plan to rivet it? There will be new gaskets, etc around the skimmer and I might just end up replacing it. I'm going to replace the return.

 

[Jamison04]

Sheet metal and rivets would be best. Then tape all around the edges with several layers of duct tape or gorilla tape. Also would be a good idea to take a wire brush and go over any rust and then spray over the areas with a rust inhibitor or something like rustoleum.
If you decide to replace the skimmer they sometime or most often come with a new return as well. I know the Hayward I ordered off amazon came with a new return, vacuum plate, ad well as the gaskets. Hope the install goes smooth and is uneventful!

 

[crokett]

Thanks,

Another question - should the pool wall be set on the dirt then the sand spread inside, or should I spread the sand and tamp it, then set the pool wall on the sand? I think it should be the former, since the tamped dirt will make for a much firmer footing.

 

[Jamison04]

Pool needs to sit on undisturbed soil with each post sitting on a concrete patio paver , which is also flush with the ground, no backfilling. Then once the ground is leveled you can bring sand into the center before putting up the wall. Then once the wall is up you will spread the sand base out and make the cove or install foam cove once you have the sand leveled off.

 

[crokett]

That's what I thought, and it's how I did the old one. When we took this one down the wall was sitting on sand. It's a different type so I just wondered. Thanks.

 

[crokett]

Another 2 questions

First, are all skimmers created equal? The skimmer that came with the pool is a Hayward. The faceplate is cracked so I will replace that and get new gaskets. Since I will be riveting some new sheet steel over the existing opening and having to cut a new one, and I need to replace at least the faceplate I'm wondering if a wide mouth skimmer would give better performance? Will a standard vac cover plate fit a widemouth?

Second, Bonding. The original installation instructions that came with the pool do not mention bonding. When I took the pool down to move it, there was no bonding wire. The pool is all metal - wall, legs, etc. Is it enough to run a bonding wire around the pool and attach it to say every 4th leg? Since the legs are metal and touching the wall would I still need to bond the wall? I was planning on using a copper nipple in-line to bond the water.

 

[Jamison04]

Skimmer are pretty universal in size across the board. You either have a standard size or a widemouth. The widemouth will allow more floating debris passing by to enter the skimmer. Yes the vacuum plate will fit. A widemouth is a regular size skimmer box with an additional flared 'mouth' screwed to it that makes it have a larger opening. I ordered a new skimmer for our 'new' used pool on amazon. Hayward widemouth and it came with everything needed including gaskets, vacuum plate, and a return fitting. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002KMIK26/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1466652057&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=hayward+skimmer&dpPl=1&dpID=31-2cMXpUnL&ref=plSrch

Bonding and aboveground properly can be tricky and there are many different ways to do so. Hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge on it will be answer that question.

 

[crokett]

The pool is open. I got the pump started Saturday. I'm still balancing the water but everybody got to swim Saturday afternoon. I grabbed this pic before the top rails and seat covers went on. Some irony, I pushed to have it open this weekend, and it rained yesterday and is still raining this morning. when it stops raining I'll get another pic with the top rails and seat covers installed. I dodged rain drops to get those on yesterday. I also have to do a lot of landscaping.