Hard sided AGP in Garage ... looking for expert advise

[LittleDebbie]

Hi,

I've done a ton of reading over the past few months and still have questions. Hopefully some here can advise me. Thanks!
We are located in Austin TX.We are trying to find the best 12'x17'x54" hard sided AGP to install in our garage. Skipping all the whys for now...if you really want them let me know... We believe the garage foundation can handle the weight of the pool - according to our builder and verified by a PE.

The house garage is an oversized two bay that is part of our house. We built a separate detached garage that we use for the cars.
The house garage has two bays (19'Lx19'1"W) and an additional 6'19' raised (5") storage area to the left of the bays. There is access to the house via a door in this raised area. The rightmost bay has a large window (8'x5'). There are two 8' garage doors separated by about 13". There are no poles.
The pool would go lengthwise in the rightmost bay and take up a large portion of the second bay.

The plan is to enclose the pool in a 'greenhouse'. This would include a movable wall (twin walled polycarbonate proposed) that would separate the pool area of the two bays from the left side storage area and house access. Thought is to add active ventilation via some large fan(s) utilizing the window and open garage doors.
I'll try to upload a simple diagram.

Qs
Q1. Some hard sided pools have buttresses, some seem to have beams that run under. Mutually exclusive? Would we need to avoid the ones with beams underneath or could 'fill-in' around the metal beams pressure treated wood or gravel or/and sand ?

Q2. We are on a budget and have not been able to find a used oval pool that is 12'x17'. We really want oval. There are used 12'x24' available - any chance these could be assembled without some of the middle sections to achieve a smaller 12'x17' pool?


Q3. Is this totally crazy? What are we missing?

Thanks in advance. LOVING TFP !

Debbie

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

Many garage floors are poured with a slope which may make leveling difficult. Have you checked that?

 

[LittleDebbie]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the quick reply. I don't have a laser method but I udsed a 3 foot wooden ruler and it looked really close to level. I then hosed it out and the extra water just sat in the garage, I had to push it out. No real puddle areas. Think that's level enough? Seems to be such a critical factor.

 

[MikeInNH]

A couple thoughts come to mind....
-my pool has straps that go underneath from side to side for strength, I don't think round pools have this. How do you cover these straps in your setup?
-a pool could be shortened but that would take cutting of the long straight uppers and of course the sheet metal side plus you would need a liner to fit.
-the floor would have no give which could hurt if hitting the bottom, would you put foam board or something under the liner?

 

[duraleigh]

Yeah, I think that's level enough. Generally, we think that 1" out of level is max on an AGP pool. You seem to be within that.

At my last house my garage floor sloped 2.5" front to back. You had to make sure you were in "park" before you got out of the car!

 

[tim5055]

This subject has come up several times and the hardest part of the installation is making it "legal" under the national electric code. Without removing almost all the existing wiring inside the garage it is almost impossible to make it meet the code.

Once past the electrical issues, then humidity is the next hurdle. You have to come up with some system to regularly replace the air in the area so that the humidity doesn't go up so high that it starts affecting the drywall.

 

[gwegan]

You have some electrical problems.

Just off the top of my head:

54" is a permanent pool under the national electrical code. That means NO Electrical within five feet around the pool unless its in a raceway. In a garage (unless its in Chicago) that means the pool can't be within five feet of a wall containing sheathed cable ("romex"). You local building official may read the code differently but that is how I read it.

There can be no electrical less than 9 feet above water (except as below). Electrical in conduit must be 9 feet above the water. Romex must be 22 feet above the water. This restriction covers the pool area and an additional area of 3 feet beyond the pool.
You can have certain lights and fans on a GFCI circuit as low as 7.5 feet above the water. Existing lights on the walls, not overhead, that are at least 5 feet off the water are ok.

The problem is that all these heights are measured above the water of a permanent pool.

The pool will have to be bonded. Since you are inside the garage it becomes an inspectors call whether to require bonding to the homes integrated bonding buss.

These are only the issues I see under the electrical code with a quick look. However, there could be additional building code issues.

The largest problem you have is water height. That is going to cause some pause with any building official.

So before you commit to this I would go have a talk with your local building official and see what they think. Just a conversation over the counter.

I also think there could be problems with ventilation. Indoor pools have serious ventilation needs and generate a great deal of humidity. Even the Sheetrock in a finished garage will not like the humidity generated.

So that is the strict view. You might be able to negotiate with your building inspector but a 54" water off the floor doesn't give you much room.

Your pump must be at least five feet from the pool.