DoughBoy Pools - Can they really go in the ground?

[tlelliott]

Hello

We live on a steep slope and putting an inground pool in would be difficult and VERY expensive. We thought we could afford the excavation necessary and then save some by using an above ground pool.

We were thinking that we could bury an above ground Doughboy pool. It would have dirt all around and then we could put decking or tile around it etc. The problem is, I am getting mixed answers about whether the Doughboy is really strong enough to be buried. Doughboy advertises that you can bury it and there brochures show it buried with decking and tile all around, but I've had installers tell me this is a bad idea. They say if you ever have a problem where there is no water in the pool (like maybe to change out the liner) the walls would collapse in on the pool.

Any help on this would really help. We really wanted a pool for this season.

 

[JasonLion]

You should be able to put it one or two feet into the ground without any significant issues. The deeper you go the more pressure there can be on the walls. I wouldn't fully bury it so that it becomes an in ground pool. For that you should use a true in ground pool. There are some possible long term corrosion issues for the buried portion and various things you can do to minimize that.

 

[jaybee]

We've had a Doughboy for 6 years. It's buried 2' at deepest, tapering to all above ground at the diagonally opposite part of the oval pool. It works fine that way. Only two things; Doughboy says to not empty the water below ground level during the winter to avoid frost heaving, and when the water level is down you can't stand right up against the outside of the pool wall or the soil does want to push in a little.

 

[krcossin]

I have installed a couple AG Doughboy's that we lowered into the ground. Avoid going too deep, you need to leave a couple feet AG so the winterizing drain down water level will not go below the ground level pressure.
NOTE: doing a liner replacement in this "buried" pool will cost a whole lot more due to the excavation requirement.
{EDIT} I just noticed your in AL, I guess winterizing isn't a issue down there.

 

[b2001]

I and two neighbors have AG doughboys buried 2 feet into the ground - 6 to 8 years old. Mine is the largest at 18 feet x 36 feet. I also have a deep end in mine - to about 5 1/2 feet. I have a deck around about a third of the pool to give it the in-ground look.

My neighbor did have the issue mentioned above - he had a leak and had to replace the liner; extra costs for re-excavation were required.

 

[hlemon]

I currently have a completely buried Doughboy pool (Intrigue). No problems...yet. :-D

They are currently replacing my liner and it hasn't had water in it for about a week. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. They didn't have to dig anything up....just took out the beaded liner and are putting in another.

Has anyone had experiences where it has collapsed?

 

[JC45]

Ours is smaller 12'x28' and has been buried 2 ft in the ground for 4 years. So far everything is good.