Off by 3"

[crs481]

I just put up a 14' round above ground pool that is about 42" deep. We layed down 8 7/16" osb ply wood, then layed down on top of that 1/2" insulfoam and taped it together to creat a 16' x 16' area for the pool and then cover it with a 16' x 20' tarp. After filling the pool up about maybe half way I noticed that I am about 3" lower on one side. What should I do? Is there a quick fix? Will it be okay or will it collapse?


Thanks,
Chris

 

[Casey]

Welcome.

You should redo the pool. 3" is too much out of level to not do anything. Add children to this pool and yes, it could collapse. Why take the chance?

 

[crs481]

Thanks. It looks like I will have to drain, level that section out, and put it back up again. I heard that 1" is the max a pool can be unlevel. Is that true?

 

[jblizzle]

We recommend leveling within 1", which seems to be the industry standard. Outside of that, the risk is yours.

 

[mac.dblues]

I just put up a 14' round above ground pool that is about 42" deep. We layed down 8 7/16" osb ply wood, then layed down on top of that 1/2" insulfoam and taped it together to creat a 16' x 16' area for the pool and then cover it with a 16' x 20' tarp. After filling the pool up about maybe half way I noticed that I am about 3" lower on one side. What should I do? Is there a quick fix? Will it be okay or will it collapse?


Thanks,
Chris

Thanks. It looks like I will have to drain, level that section out, and put it back up again. I heard that 1" is the max a pool can be unlevel. Is that true?

You're doing the right thing leveling it properly. You will have not only a safe pool, but a much more visibly pleasing pool. AND the pride of knowing you did it and did it right. It's a lot of hard work but lots of us have done it ourselves on TFP Forum. Just to give you an idea of how off 3" is in your 14' pool... That kind of slope on my 20' pool would be closer to 5" out of level.

 

[crs481]

Since I have the pool on top of 1/2" insulfoam on top of 7/16 osb would it work to slid another piece of plywood under the osb boards on the unlevel side or should I just add some dirt under the unlevel boards?

 

[jblizzle]

Ideally you should lower the high side by 3" into undisturbed soil.

 

[duckcmmndr]

Ideally you should lower the high side by 3" into undisturbed soil.

This....it's never good to fill in under the low side. You are just making a bad situation worse.

Start from the low point and dig the rest of it down level. It's not easy...but that is the way to do it.

There are tons of threads on here explaining in detail how it's done. My pool is an 18' and it was off 6-7".

 

[crs481]

That looks really nice but unfortunately I can't dig down into the ground. This is a rental that is why I laid down the osb and the insulfoam. It looked level until water was in it. That's why I am wondering is I can just slid some plywood under the osb on the lower side to bring it up a couple inches or just add more dirt bel own the osb

 

[mac.dblues]

It will take 6 more levels of 1/2" OSB to accomplish what you are thinking of doing. That isn't a good idea. You could raise the low end with mason sand or screenings but you will have to contain them or they will wash out and you will be out of level again. Most people on here recommend screenings. I used sand inside a frame of landscape timbers and have no issue. Either way, you need to make sure the sand or screenings are properly compacted or the pool will compact it and be out of level again.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[Casey]

If you can ruin and kill the grass of the rental, you can dig a hole and before you leave the rental, order dirt and spread the grass seed. If not, I would recommend you not tear your landlord's yard up if you think it will anger them. Dead grass is just as unsightly as a 3" deep, 18' circle. Before you continue, you should ask your landlord if you can put the pool in before you invest a lot of sweat and money.

 

[crs481]

Landlord lives next door and gave permission for the pool. I just wasn't wanting to dig up the yard. Kind of thinking about having someone else come out and take care of this for me as I fear I will only make it worse

 

[mac.dblues]

It's really not that difficult of a project. Just quite a bit of hard manual labor.

 

[Casey]

Ok. I was misunderstanding your issue then. If you can't DIY, hire someone to help.

 

[gotsno]

It will take 6 more levels of 1/2" OSB to accomplish what you are thinking of doing. That isn't a good idea. You could raise the low end with mason sand or screenings but you will have to contain them or they will wash out and you will be out of level again. Most people on here recommend screenings. I used sand inside a frame of landscape timbers and have no issue. Either way, you need to make sure the sand or screenings are properly compacted or the pool will compact it and be out of level again.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

I like that idea. Nice!

 

[crs481]

Has anyone used peat moss? I had a few people tell me to use that.

 

[laceygirl]

Has anyone used peat moss? I had a few people tell me to use that.

Why? Peat moss is for gardens... Its an organic compound that's a soil conditioner.... You don't want anything that can break down, which is what peat moss does....

So no, don't use it....

 

[Casey]

You can not fill in the low spots with ANY dirt or dirt like material! You have to cut away the high spots! If you want to fill in, you will need to do so with Screenings and or Crush n Run/crusher and use a plate compactor. But, you rent and therefore, you can't. There is no way around this. Either level the pool yourself, hire it out or don't do it. 3" is unacceptably out of level and can potentially be dangerous... along with using fill.

I know you do not want to hear this but none of our answers will change to you not cutting into the earth to level the pool site. It's not as easy as Intex wants you to believe with laying down the tarp and filling the pool.