5 boys and a grain bin...new AGP build DIY

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A couple pics from last night...our first group of swimmers (beside the building crew, who got in a couple times this week before equipment was connected). We do a thing called Summer Sunday Nights with our church, and hosting the group was our big goal all week. Had about 30 kids in at one point and me as the only adult swimmer...thank goodness for my lifeguard daughter perched on the old ladder with her whistle! Water was warm, but air chilly. Steam rising later as we dried off by the bonfire...fun times. We made a shallow/deep end divider rope with noodles, and my favorite thing at the end last night was when my own three youngest were having Olympic swim races on opposite sides of the rope. Most friends had to go home by 9 for early public school, but my home school doesn't start till after Labor Day, so I let them swim till 10...stars were so pretty. And besides, putting the solar cover on this thing is MUCH easier with them in the water! Gotta research building a reel for it.

We still have a LOT of finish work to do and are moving more rock today, but happy to officially open The Metal-terranean Sea with our friends last night. Mud tracking was my biggest concern with all the exposed dirt around the pool. So we threw together a pallet platform covered in artificial turf and planted some warning signs and grower fabric over the perimeter barrier dirt around the rocks. Better landscaping next year. Just excited to be swimming!! Having trouble keeping our Confer Grand Entry stairs weighted down and have a skimmer leak to caulk, but everything else is good so far. More parties ahead this week, so back to work. Thanks for all the help and support encouragement!!
 
Weights for the ladder

-empty bleach bottles filled with cement

-PVC Weights-PVC pipes filled with cement and caps glued on.

Both of these can be zip-tied or bungee corded to the steps. Just make sure you can get them off for taking the steps out to clean as needed. One of the kid's jobs can be to brush under, behind, all around the steps about one a week.

Oh my heart is SO Happy for you! It had to be wonderful to have that time with your friends and family after all of that hard work! The stars from a pool.......not much is better than that!

:kim:
 
Wow that's great! Well done :)

So do you have your test kit and you're testing the water? Algae happens fast.

Be careful with the top edge of the rings. I'm sure they're very stable with the water in now. Just don't want anyone falling on there. It's probably a hassle to build something, but I was wondering about some plastic downspout pipe with one edge cut. It might bend enough to handle the curvature since your pool is such a big circle. Just a temporary idea of some kind, or maybe a bunch of good quality pool noodles. Just a few thoughts now that you're able to enjoy it :)
 
Cover-wise, something like this from mas985, one of TFP's gurus, might be useful: DIY Solar Cover Roller

I copied it but I couldn't find the foam core pipe in that size down here in Aus. So I put a sealed length of 3/4" black poly pipe inside normal 1.5" PVC pipe which was enough to make the PVC pipe float.
 
Here's the report since I HAVE to have a "sit down job" tonight while kids swim. They gotta get the most out of this ultra-short season they have, and I gotta rest! :)

Current state of the pool:

Pump and filter are running great. Love having valves on the returns, glad we did 2, and SUPER glad my installation friend thought to put the 2 valves next to each other beside the pump. I can stand there and see the flow on both returns as I adjust them and the variable speed pump to get just what I want. And having had only Intex pools and pumps up till now, WOW is it ever cool to have the oomph of water at my fingertips. I am not a car person, but I feel like I have a Corvette or something! :)

Still adding some CYA. Otherwise, levels are all good. Water looks great. Bought cases of 12% liquid chlorine since I knew we'd need a ton at the start and until my CYA tests right. Beats grocery carts full of bleach, especially since I'm spending more time on a rake handle than doing errands. :) Amazon is my friend this month. All the shopping I've done is with my fingers...new umbrellas, PVC fountain for the return, solar lights to hang in the trees, resin screen to hide the filter (who we have named Mr. Sandman).

Edging and Stair Weights and a Vacuum Question

Needsajet...I love the idea of noodles on the edge. Might just see if Amazon will ship me a heap of those too. We've literally bought all we could find in our small city this month to cover the springs on our trampoline and to make our rope float to divide deep and shallow. I'm not actually worried about anyone getting hurt on the edge right now with no deck to jump off of (although wait till you see pics of what I let them jump off of today when no guests were present). The rubber cover under the liner and the omega tough coping over the liner seem to be working very well and holding everything tight. I need to get around to taking off the spring clamps we used on liner-setting days, but they're so darn handy for hanging goggles and such from when there's no deck. :) Thanks also for linking to the reel idea...I am very motivated to have that as our first project next season. This thing is gargantuan.

Kim, we made PVC pipe weights AND we used my bleach bottles as weights too...but we used sand wetted, not concrete. I am leaning towards just limping along for however long the kids are tough enough to swim (3 or 4 weeks?), then working harder at getting them right next season when we hopefully move them across the pool to attach to the deck. I'm not in favor of putting the sand INTO the stairs as instructions say, but have read many reviews saying that does work best. Hmmm...meanwhile, we have bags of sand sitting on the lowest step helping anchor them down.

Speaking of Amazon...I think I saw a gadget that would allow me to connect 2 standard vacuum hoses instead of ordering a super-long one. Again, Walmart clearance aisle had this season's HTH cool teal-colored tools at a discount, and my kids (and I) liked the color (and if my girl is happy while she vacuums, so much the better). So, I want to figure out how to connect 2 and make the most of the bargain instead of shelling out for a 60' hose. Has anyone done this, and is there a name for such a thing? I would love to know I am ordering the right thing.

Drainage and Yard Repair

Spread more rock today and put more dirt back where it needs to be...oh to have a mostly-green yard again. :) Here is what I decided to do for my perimeter barrier:

1) tar spread on bottom 3" of steel bin wall exterior to protect from damp soil (you would not believe how UPSET I was when 12yo and 14yo brothers painted themselves in tar that evening...I wouldn't say I was motivating them with love at that moment!!...or how LATE the whole family had to stay up to clean tar stains off the carpet after some friends dropped by to see pool and unknowingly stepped in the boys' messes and tracked it ALL OVER the floors in the semi-dark room...who knew that WD-40 removes tar from carpet? it WAS nice to have a big family to help with that mess and rather surprising how cheerfully they did it!)
2) soil "cove" built from top of tar down and out from pool about 6"
3) old Intex pool (this is the 3rd one we wore out, and they make GREAT tarps) cut and placed on top of soil "cove" and on out about 18" into yard
4) rock on top of Intex tarp

Here are some decisions I made relative to my particular landscape:

5) We are using pea gravel (which I already had around the back of my house and want to be rid of) as the invisible layer...the "high" side of my yard was about 6" above the sunken pavers, so the "trench" space to fill on that half is substantial. I decided not to waste my river rock (more expensive, easier to stand on, looks better with my house) on filling the whole thing, so used pea gravel as filler for about half the depth, then covered with river rock. I am also using pea gravel on the side of pool which will ultimately have a deck, since it won't be visible. I am concerned about pea gravel in the pool, so when one shoveler got too vigorous and let a scoop fly, I offered a dime for every pebble brought out of the water to me. Crazy how fast the rock came back out of the water. :)

6) I live in a very flat, poor drainage area. Our many rain delays this summer were good for impressing on me where the water stood on the pavers (and eventually ran under the wall). I decided to take several loader buckets of dirt back around the high side and build a small berm around the circle of rock. It's low enough to just mow with a regular pass of the riding mower, but hopefully its slope is just enough to deter water from rushing into and standing around the wall.

7) I found a stack of plastic landscape edging on the clearance shelf at Walmart, so I have 120' of it piled outside where I pass by it multiple times a day and wonder if I actually want to use it to divide the rock from my berm/grass or if I can think of something better that won't break my piggy bank. We have hundreds of bricks left from a remodel 10 years ago, but right now, I can't even fathom turning them into an edging. I am too tired! Besides, they might make a great sidewalk through the yard one day instead, since I hope to not use pallets and tarps forever, ha ha :)

Off to cover the Sea for the night and then take a stab at posting pics again. Thank you so much for all the encouragement. This site has been great.
 
I did end up putting sand INSIDE them. I did not want to but it worked best. I have a deck where the steps are and have the ladder "holders" screwed to the deck so that helps hold them also.

Hose connectors..............I have a long hose with TWO gray short (3 feet???? not sure) pieces connected to it. The gray pieces come in short lengths and are made to connect to each other. They went right onto the big, blue hose. You CAN also just use the gray pieces if you want to take it apart every time you use it or when you want to for some reason. I just keep mine all together and laying on the stone around the back side of my pool.

I am linking to this just to show you what my gray hoses pieces look like:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Automatic-Swimming-Pool-Cleaner-Vacuum-Auto-Inground-Hover-Climb-Wall-33ft-Hose/35046729

LOL on the dime a rock! Fun and money at the same time!

In the trench around the pool you can put drainage hose.........you know the black plastic hose with holes on the top to help move the water that way-------------> Not sure on the price though :(

OH the tar babies :shock: I bet they still have tar stuck on them somewhere! BOYS! You are lucky to have lived through that one!!!!
:kim:
 

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Another option for the edge- pipe insulation. Look just like noodles but are already cut down the length. Some have peel and stick adhesive. Frome home depot or lowes. Awesome job you have done.
 
Several years ago I built a boat and used pool noodles to add floatation to the hull. I paid a dollar each for them at Walmart. My wife said people looked at her like she was crazy when she bought 100 of them. Sure was a lot cheaper than buying that two part poly foam and a lot less messy to deal with.
 
stairs going out the front door.jpg
Stairs (which we LOVE) were too big to go out the door closest to pool, so they had to go out the front door and be carried all the way around the house and lifted over the fence. On this topic, does anyone leave their steps IN the water all winter, or is it always better to take them out in areas which get winter weather?

our hurried hillbilly decking.jpg
While they struggled with stairs, I gathered teenagers and asked them to pave the bare dirt between house and pool with some pallets and clearance-aisle artificial turf...definitely a hillbilly set-up for now, but did an adequate job of keeping dirt out of the pool. We always put a foot-rinsing bucket at the base of steps, too, since kids are in and out constantly tracking in grass. Hopefully my someday-deck will cut down on that.

tar and dirt work at base.jpg
This shows the tar spread on bottom of wall and the dirt being dragged up to it to slope rain away from pool. I didn't take a picture of the tar-painted boys (they actually drew smiley faces on each other's shirts...if only I had relented in my frustration and taken a picture) or the horrible foot paths all over the living room. I am glad the tar is on the bin, but I made them bury it as fast as possible the next day!

Summer Sunday Night crew.jpg
This is our Summer Sunday Night party, officially opening the pool to friends. You can see the rock around pool and small ring of dirt mounded up to it (and covered in light green grower fabric to discourage foot traffic) on the left/east/high side of the pool. The unfinished exposed dirt on the right/west/low side of the pool had to wait for Monday. The deck will someday go there. If possible, in time for my 3rd child's high school graduation party next May!

tarp around perimeter.jpg
This is my youngest laying down pieces of our old Intex pool on top of the dirt "cove" we placed up against the tar-covered bottom of the wall. This side of the pool had a large trench dug for the PVC going to the second return and is a complete mess of exposed dirt. One step at a time. At least the trench is full now! Because I decided to build the dirt hill on the opposite side and place some large flower pots to discourage traffic, I will probably let them put the basketball goal on this side for the rest of the summer as soon as I can put out some more tarp to keep their feet out of the dirt when they have to retrieve missed shots.
 
Olympic swimmers late night.jpg
These are my 3 not-so-little-anymore kids who stayed up late to have Olympic swimming races under the stars on opposite sides of our very fun pool-noodle rope divider.

my Olympic racer.jpg
This one was very happy to borrow her big sister's competitive swimming cap the next day. :)

our geronimo girl.jpg
She was also very happy to try our temporary diving platform after finishing a morning of dirt and rock moving.

summer or school.jpg
The big sister was happy to celebrate pool opening since the pool where she lifeguards closed the week before for the school year. I must say, working on this pool project is much more fun when we can take breaks to hop in instead of just imagining in 100 degrees that someday we'll have clear water!

upside down swimmers.jpg
They were depth testing...upside down! The goal all along had been to get the deep side low enough for big sister to do a handstand without having her toes come out of the water. Thanks to our many flood-and-pumping sessions, we didn't quite go deep enough. Her toes do stick out. The walls just washed down too many times, and that last time I had to dig it out, I decided I didn't care to measure anymore. When we put the liner in and realized we had WAY MORE left over the sides than we ever anticipated, my first words were, "rats, I could've dug a foot deeper!" But it's just about perfect for now. And someday, if we have to change the liner and we do it over, I can always take more out.
 
Katie! If you do not "fix" your siggy I am going a way to do it for you!!!!! It should say "Best, hardest working mom with the best kids and friends in the world!"

Has hubby been in yet?

LOVE all of the pics and smiles! LOL on the jumping bucket! CUTE and purrfect!

:kim:
 

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