Rehab project in New Brunswick, Canada

Hi all,

I've been lurking around this site for a couple of years now, finally getting around to rebuilding the pool that came with the house we bought 3 years ago. The original pool is an inground 16x32, when we moved in there was no liner, walls were out of alignment and the hopper walls had cracked and were partly collapsed. I knew it was going to be a new pool project, wasn't much to be saved except the walls themselves.

So... started digging and found that they did pour a concrete collar... I've been breaking concrete now for a few weeks in my evenings and weekends. They also poured a 4" thick concrete slab at the bottom of the hopper and in the shallow end. They had 2-6" of vermiculite and cement over top of the concrete slabs.

I bought some additional walls from a person who had taken their pool out, my plan is now to make this an 18'x40' with an 8'6" deep end. Original deep end was a little under 8' with a very steep slope from shallow to deep end.

Ground is clay with lots of water seeping, and the deep end will slowly fill with water to the top of the hopper... not sure if it's all groundwater, but there is lots of groundwater. I know that the clay and water are a big problem, so I've dug a sump and drained the hopper bottom into the sump. That's about where I'm at right now... about half of the walls are now removed and de-collared. Still working on the remainder of the walls now... well, it's good exercise at least.

I do have one question that I haven't quite solved yet... one of the hopper walls was overdug because of a big rock that was protruding. And we also dug a channel through the hopper wall on the opposite side to install a sump. The sump is definitely necessary in my conditions with clay, water and a 4' deep frost penetration in the winter months. My question is, how do I repair those overdug areas on the hopper walls before setting the new steel walls in place?

Here are some pics...

Hand digging the walls.... it was backfilled with sand, so it was relatively easy to dig out. No room for an excavator, fence on one side and garage on the other. Pics are not in order.















 
I have another question for everyone... the sump I installed is a 16" diameter pipe as seen in the pictures above... it's oversize for sure, but it was easily obtained from a friend. I'm now wondering how I will cover it up. It's positioned to be in the middle of my concrete deck around the pool. I'm handy enough to figure this out, and I could weld up a nice strong steel cover, or even a reducing section to make the hole in the walkway more manageable.

Does anyone have any good leads on something like skimmer cover and matching ring that I could set into the concrete deck to provide an access cover? I'd like to keep it at least 10" because I have a rather large pump in there right now and it would be nice to use the pump that I already own.

Thanks,
Duane
 
We have the round version of the PourALid on our pool and it's a very good product.

I don't have a suggestion for the overdig question but hopefully someone can address that for you.

Welcome to the forum!!
 
I didn't get any replies about how to fill holes in the hopper wall before adding vermiculite mix... so I used concrete... about 9 bags to mostly fill the void where the rock came out and shore up the remainder of the wall so it wouldn't cave in any further. A little hard to see, but it's at the far left side of the deep end wall.

 


- - - Updated - - -

Backhoe operator dug way too far on the length while cleaning out the last bit of dirt... pool is now 18x42... was easier to make it bigger than to try to fill in the missing soil. I have lots of extra walls, and the liner isn't ordered yet... so it seemed like the logical thing to do. Oh boy... it's looking pretty huge now!

 
If all else is still ok, then that's cool on the size increase!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
We've got the room for the length... so I'm good with it... less grass to mow! :) bottom of the deep end hopper is now 13' long :) kids will have no problem diving in this one!

That's REALLY good on the length of the deep end. The bad accidents occur on the upsloping area, not the deep part. Although most accidents are when people fall ON the diving board (just not the more serious ones).
 
Got the sump all plumbed up properly... used a pitless adapter to keep everything below the frost line... I will keep this sump operational year round. The pump has a float switch and it is working very nicely... the ground water will not rise above the drainage stone in the bottom of the hopper. The pump is sitting in the lower half of a plastic 5gal pail with holes drilled in it... this will keep the crushed stone out of the pump.

The 3" ABS pipe is where all the deck drains will lead to, and eventually the outdoor shower too.





- - - Updated - - -

... and the walls are going in now... since I had to increase the size to 18x42, the panels didn't add up to the correct length, but I had extra panels and made some two foot sections... I think this qualifies for a DIY pool now :) I also made my own braces out of 1/4" thick angle... I know they will rust eventually, but it will take a long time for them to fail.







 
One panel left to go! Concrete pump and truck are scheduled for Monday morning to pour the collar. It's getting late in the season now... no hopes of swimming this year, but you can bet it will be open early next spring! :)

I'm using 2" Flex PVC for all the underground plumbing... I know flex vs. solid PVC pipe is a heated argument, but I'm using flex up here in the Great White North. :)

Any opinions on embedding the flex right into the concrete collar? I know it would be harder (actually impossible) to fix a leak, but it would also be protected from abrasion by vibration if it's locked into the concrete.

I'm going to wait and pour the concrete deck next spring... that should be ideal to allow the fill to settle around the walls. My only concern is the bullnose aluminum coping that will be holding the liner over the winter without the concrete to hold it in place... I think it should be ok though. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.






 
Another weekend... a bit further along...

Some more panel mods for the final panel... I bought a used set of pool walls to add to my existing pool... needed to close up the skimmer opening...





Last panel is now in place... all panels are levelled, plumb and square now... as close as I can get them anyway... I found a difference of 1/2" in the long sides of the pool when compared to each other... I adjusted that with my last corner brace. All walls are perfectly straight and plumb, but it is out of square by a tiny amount... can't change it now... walls are too heavy. Concrete truck and pump arrive tomorrow to pour the collar.



Equipment pad is ready (4'x8')... still need to dig for the pipes though...



poolside plumbing is complete..



 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.