sigh...backfill?

[ctxcrossx]

I just had a pool installed about 3 weeks ago. I'm currently trying to figure out the best way to deal with the area around the pool. Should I backfill or not? I've read a million different things and there is no consensus. It sounds like it may be a good idea to backfill a couple of inches to prevent the sand from washing out, especially since this area can get fairly wet at times.

If it's not a good idea to backfill the area, how do I set it up to add some gravel to the area? Should I dig out the perimeter of the pool a little bit first and then add gravel to the level of the pool?

I do have a few yards of stone dust (the installer barely used any of what I bought for the base :grrrr: ). Can I use that for the backfill? or would that scratch up the sides of the pool?

Thanks in advance!

Chris

 

[duraleigh]

Hey, Chris,

I can't tell what kind of slope you have from the pics. It is ALWAYS a good idea to provide a path for water to drain away from the pool. Perhaps you could bury a 4" corrugated pipe around the perimeter to provide drainage and then backfill on top of or outside of that. Again, it depends on your slope and where you would be able to take the water to.

 

[cramar]

If you scroll down to the last pic in my thread you can see my solution - cedar chips. They are relatively inexpensive and are great for absorbing rain. One side of my pool is about 1" below grade and the other is about 8", 1 cubic yard of cedar chips filled a 1' radius around my pool. The chips in our area are available in bulk at landscaping stores and this doesn't put a lot of weight against the outside of the pool, I think they look nice, they will probably have to be topped up every couple of years.

one-man-one-pool-and-one-deck-agp-pics-t37172.html

 

[dmanb2b]

I used plain old white marble chips, but any smaller decorative stone would do...backfilled about 2-3 inches depth around the pool perimeter mainly to prevent washout.

 

[ctxcrossx]

Thank you for all of the great replies! I suppose my main question is if I should dig out any of the dirt around the pool before I put in chips/stone/etc. Right now the ground is just about level with the bottom of the pool. If I put down a couple inches of stone, it will look like a mound around the pool. I could dig out a couple inches of dirt and then put down the material, but would that be a bad idea? Would that cause the pool to be weaker structurally? The couple pools around me have stone level with the bottom of the pool, so I imagine they go a couple inches below the level of the pool.

Any thoughts on which direction would be best to go?

Thanks!

Chris

 

[dmanb2b]

I wouldn't...and 2-3" evenly spread will not look like a mound :lol: Our has been in place 3 years now...spray it with round-up in late spring and that's it. Digging around the pool increases risk for sand or the liner to pop out from underneath.

Sorry for the old pic and I do not have any close-up pics, but you can get an idea of what mine looks like below...it's not amazing, but it keeps the area around the pool from gettin' all muddy