Advice needed on Leveling with Sand

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D

DrC

0
May 9, 2007
87
Ohio
One of my friends is preparing to install at 18 foot ABG pool. He has removed the sod and top soil from the location. After checking for level, he has found out that the high section cannot be lowered any further as it was previously (Years Ago) a driveway and garage location. The dirt is packed very well in this location, it stalls a roto tiller when trying to loosen it.

Can he make this his lowest grade by building the other areas up to level with masonary sand? This would make the sand depth 2 inches over the packed hard ground and a little over 4 inches in some other locations. Will having a 4 inch depth of sand in some locations around the perimeter of the pool cause it to wash out?

He will be using a pad between the vinyl liner and the sand with a preformed cove system if that makes any difference.
 
Your base is THE most important thing to start with - bad base will leave you with a high potential for damage or collapsed pool. You cannot get a good base for leveling with sand. Sand will shift and the pool will be out of level. Sand should only be used for the cushion layer. Either get some hard pack like class 5 (what they use for parking lots) and use a plate compactor or roller or get what Matt calls "crusher run" or screenings to level the area. The part that the rail sits on is what needs to have the most stable and solid base
 
We had the same problem when the contracting pool company came in to install our ABG pool. It is a 27 ft round and there was only one area in the back yard we could put it at because of tree's and stump removal would have been costly. So we put it closer to our original deck and going to build another deck off of it to cover half way around the pool. While the pool company was out, we found out that there was a stump in the ground that had to be removed and we could not go down further. So with that said, and it being the highest point already in our back yard, the lower point was built up with 57 stone. They built it up and ran over it to pack it down in the ground and also built a hole and trench from the area that the stump was and filled it with the 57 stone to have any standing water to run off to the back side of the pool and into the back yard. They put down professional grade plastic and then the sand over that. They are a professional company that came highly recommended with me doing many many calls to other companies around to "check" this company out. I also did a BBB call to make sure there were no complaints on this contracting company. They have had to build other ABG pools this way cause of similar problems and have had no problems with this way of installation at times. In fact, they gave me their longest standing customer that had to have his ABG pool built this way to have further information and peace of mind. This guy has had his ABG pool this way for 9 years now with no issues what so ever. The contracting pool company guarantee their work and it was in writing. So far, 2 months later, no problems. So this it is something that your friend can think about and might be a good idea for him to contact a contracting company to ask them their take on it. It was well worth the extra $300 I had to put in for rock to be hauled to my home cause it ended up saving me about another $1000 in tree removal and stump removal. And of course I am not a professional, just a first time pool owner but thought this might somewhat helpful for your friend.
 
I also had no choice but to build up the area where my pool will go. It was recommended that I use limestone sand. You may recognize by another name, but I recognized it as the material that I have always seen used as the footings for retaining walls. it is easy to use, packs well and is rock hard once set. it also holds alot of weight.

take a look at it here: sand info

hope it helps you and I hope it works as that is what I have put down....and I would hate to do this twice.

TPG
 
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