Can you go shallower with an AGP?

[msgtdan]

I have two little girls, 3 & 5, who love the pool we have. It's a ring pool that we've not filled full so that it comes just to the shoulders of the 3 year old. I'm looking at getting a used metal sided pool at the end of this season and setting it up next year. I've done some research and know I'll have to get a new liner. This would be a DIY project and I have access to dirt moving equipment. What I'm wondering is there some way I could build up a shallow section in the pool? We're looking at about 24' round and will have to level some more yard for the larger pool. I was thinking of making a shallow section about 4' wide from one side of the pool. I'm concerned about the fill up against the sidewall on the inside, could it be countered with fill on the outside. Or does it need to be? Has anyone done this? Any suggestions would be helpful, including don't do it, but please explain why. If it's feasible what's the best way to transition to the deeper water? The difference in depth would be 12 - 16". I was thinking a slope of about 30 deg. I've got several if's and or's in mind for the whole thing, but I'll wait for some responses first.

Thanks

 

[Suziqzer]

I've not heard of anyone doing this before and having a 4 yr old when we put in our pool I was concerned about depth too. We bought it too late in the season to swim the first year, so he wasn't in the pool until right after his 5th birthday.

We went ahead and bought a normal sized used pool and got a regular liner to fit. The water is 48 inches deep and we bought him a life vest that he has used in the pool the past two seasons. He is now 6 & he can touch on his tippy toes. He enjoys going without his life jacket when allowed and abides by our rules w/o complaint of when he can be w/o it and when he cannot. Any fuss and he's out of the pool for the day... we don't argue about pool safety at my house.

We initially thought we would build some kind of platform that he could stand on but never got it done. He was happy enough just being in the pool and didn't care that he couldn't touch. All of my friends kids come w/their own vests or arm floaties and we have plenty of rafts and toys to keep them entertained. Trust me .. they'll learn to get around quickly even w/o touching!

I almost feel like a small area like you're talking about with a slope would pose more danger for kids than the worth of it. They can easily slide down a slope, my best friends little boy did that at a hotel pool, luckily they were watching him closely. It would also be outgrown more quickly than you realize and they will appreciate having the same depth all the way around when they are a little older and want to set up a game of volleyball. In a few years they won't remember they couldn't touch when you first got the pool.

Those are just my thoughts... I'll be interested in hearing what others have to say too.

 

[pepsiholic]

All the little children in my neighborhood love to come to my house to swim. My water is about 48 inches deep and several of the cannot touch either. The rule here is if you can't swim and can't touch you MUST wear floaties or a lifevest. The second number one rule is NO ONE is allowed in the pool unless their parent or I are out there with them.

To me a slope does sound a little dangerous due to the slippage factor. Kids grow quickly and if they learn to swim at an early age they will appriciate the pool being a little deeper. Heck, I'm only 5 ft and the water is a little over 4 ft. My personal opinion is to teach proper pool safety, no mater how much they might not like it.

 

[msgtdan]

I'm thinking the angle of the slope, and I'm open to suggestions on it, would have influence on slippage. That's why I suggested 30 rather than 45 degrees, it might need to be less. We've been going to swim lessons and both girls are doing well but aren't free swimming yet. I know they'll grow quickly that's why I was looking at a small area being shallower than the rest. In the current pool I sit or kneel with them to play and teach. I know they enjoy both being able to touch and free floating. They aren't allowed in the pool unless an adult or their older brothers is at or in the pool. If it was only them using the pool I'd just lower the water level, and put an over the wall skimmer with a port through the wall and convert that port to another return when they got older. I may still end up doing that.

I'd still like to hear about the physical feasibility of creating a shallow area in an above ground pool. I know that with an expandable liner an AGP can be dug out for a deep area, but that doesn't seem to stress the side wall or wall/track joint. For the dug out pools how is the slope covered? I would think sand would shift to the bottom, so is foam used? If the separation between deep and shallow is more of a stair step how do you form the liner to it?

 

[frogabog]

Seriously, the best thing to do is mandate life vests. Your girls will enjoy the water just as much as without them. All my kids have worn life vests in the pools till they can touch the bottom. When we installed the 15x48 last spring my daughter was able to touch the bottom w/tippy toes but still frequently chose to wear her life vest because it was easier. Floating and bobbing around in them is actually quite fun. I wore a life vest most of my childhood because I spent more time on the water than off for many years (boat), and lots and lots of time swimming off the stern tethered by a line in my life vest. Good stuff!

Alternatively, you could try what one other member here did for her little ones with an Intex metal frame pool which was to cut new ports for the suction and return lines that are lower in the pool, thus allowing her to fill it with less water. Come time to raise the water level, Intex makes plunger valves that could be installed and closed off.

 

[zea3]

I'd still like to hear about the physical feasibility of creating a shallow area in an above ground pool. I know that with an expandable liner an AGP can be dug out for a deep area, but that doesn't seem to stress the side wall or wall/track joint. For the dug out pools how is the slope covered? I would think sand would shift to the bottom, so is foam used? If the separation between deep and shallow is more of a stair step how do you form the liner to it?

The pools that are dug out are round pools that are dished out all the way around or oval pools where a deep end hopper is dug out like they are for in-ground pools. The floor is stabilized with compacted sand (and the liner is installed promptly) or vermiculite. You would probably need a custom liner to prevent excess liner bunching and wrinkling after installation.

If you decide to make a shallow end and 2-3 years later want the pool back to the original depth it would require buying a new liner and taking out the excess dirt. A better solution may be lowering the level of the water, or putting in an intex 15' x 36" metal frame pool as a transition between a kiddie pool and a more permanent above ground pool.

 

[TRH]

Three words. Speedo Swim Vest! I can't say enough good things about them!

Your kids are going to grow quickly, so you'll want the depth before you know it!

We started with an Intex inflatable ring pool when my nephew was 3/almost 4. That first year, in that pool he used the blow up arm band things until almost the end of summer when my sister found the Speedo swim vest.

The next year we got the Intext metal frame pool, 24ft X 4 ft deep. He was 4 almost 5 that summer and by the mid August was swimming without it!

The summer he was 5 almost 6 he started swimming underwater. And now that he's 6 almost 7 he a little fish!

I attribute it all to him having that Speedo swim vest to start with!