Hello, I'm new to this site. I found it when searching online for information on leveling the ground for a pool. We recently purchased a used Intex Ultra Frame 16' x 48" pool. We had a smaller pool a few years ago, but gave it to some friends because our teenagers never used it. Our younger kids are getting old enough to swim now, so that's why we purchased this pool.
We really only had one decent option for the pool location, and that's in the center of our fenced-in backyard. The soil is very sandy here. Over the past couple of summers our kids have used it as a sand pit for a play area. After purchasing this pool I removed the top layer of grass from the surrounding area to make a 17-18' circle. This area, unfortunately, is next to a couple of trees, so the number of roots is insane. I've removed as many as I could in the process of leveling the ground, but I know there's more buried beneath the surface. I also don't have the ground perfectly level. There's about a 1.5"-2" drop over that 18' distance. I've read on other sites that this is acceptable, as long as I'm putting sand down on top of the ground. I had 3 cubic yards of mason sand delivered this morning and I'm planning on using that to finish the leveling. I've also seen some people suggest putting rigid foam insulation down on the ground to increase comfort and provide a weed/root barrier.
I used a hand tamper last night to tamp down the existing ground as best as I could, and I'm planning on doing that with the mason sand as well. Probably will be leveling it, then wetting it down, then tamping it, then re-wetting it, then tamping it again. Just want to make sure we have a solid base for the pool. The high sand content of our ground has me a little concerned.
Does what I've outlined sound like a decent approach for this pool? Should I be doing anything additional to ward off roots? How important is it to use foam insulation along with the sand? If I use both, should I put the insulation above or beneath the sand?
We really only had one decent option for the pool location, and that's in the center of our fenced-in backyard. The soil is very sandy here. Over the past couple of summers our kids have used it as a sand pit for a play area. After purchasing this pool I removed the top layer of grass from the surrounding area to make a 17-18' circle. This area, unfortunately, is next to a couple of trees, so the number of roots is insane. I've removed as many as I could in the process of leveling the ground, but I know there's more buried beneath the surface. I also don't have the ground perfectly level. There's about a 1.5"-2" drop over that 18' distance. I've read on other sites that this is acceptable, as long as I'm putting sand down on top of the ground. I had 3 cubic yards of mason sand delivered this morning and I'm planning on using that to finish the leveling. I've also seen some people suggest putting rigid foam insulation down on the ground to increase comfort and provide a weed/root barrier.
I used a hand tamper last night to tamp down the existing ground as best as I could, and I'm planning on doing that with the mason sand as well. Probably will be leveling it, then wetting it down, then tamping it, then re-wetting it, then tamping it again. Just want to make sure we have a solid base for the pool. The high sand content of our ground has me a little concerned.
Does what I've outlined sound like a decent approach for this pool? Should I be doing anything additional to ward off roots? How important is it to use foam insulation along with the sand? If I use both, should I put the insulation above or beneath the sand?
