Above Ground Pool Location Question

[CharlieBurt]

This round concrete slab is 14 ft surrounded by a little over 2ft of old wood, the 16ft round pool will come past concrete and legs would be on surrounding wood. I bought a 16ft round mat to put beneath the pool I just don't know if there will be any problems sitting it here. It's the only place I have to put it. I don't know if the weight distribution will be a problem as support legs will have to be on the 1inch wood boards with 14ft of pool sitting on round concrete slab. 16 x 48 Summer Waves above ground.

 

[adirondak5]

I guess this is awaiting approval, that's what it says, as I don't see my question but just the image of where I was wanting to put it.

What was your question ?

 

[kimkats]

Is the wood solid and not showing any signs of rot? If so then they will work.

Next question is if the slab is level within 1/2". That is the MOST important question for above ground pools. If it is then you are good to go.

Kim

 

[CharlieBurt]

Is the wood solid and not showing any signs of rot? If so then they will work.

Next question is if the slab is level within 1/2". That is the MOST important question for above ground pools. If it is then you are good to go.

Kim

The slab appears to be quite level, the wood is pretty old, didn't want to start filling it and boards crack/break. I didn't know about weight distribution on support legs. As you see in the picture one of the boards on left side has broken. And you probably answered what I fugured, that I'd need to replace the boards on the outside.

 

[RonsPlc]

Instead of replacing the boards, I would look into removing them and filling the area with crush-run.
The broken board on the left, and the area on the right of your picture where there is a plant growing next to the cement pad is telling me that it is quite hollow beneath the boards.
I would not trust it to hold the weight of a pool.
Keep in mind that your pool will be holding about 45000 pounds of water. You want something substantial supporting it.

 

[CharlieBurt]

Ouch that sounds expensive. There are 3 boards around 8 inches width each running around concrete slab. Are there other options ?

 

[CharlieBurt]

those boards are 1 x 8 I believe. Wonder if 2 x 8’s would be sturdy enough

 

[frogabog]

Yes to what Ron said. Those boards won't hold the weight of the pool legs. You will need solid ground under each leg, and I'd recommend solid ground all around. If the pool is 16', that means your legs will need additional room beyond the 16'.

I'd do away with the boards entirely, get some fill dirt and level out the outside of the pad. You'll want pavers or wood under the legs, but dirt/sand under the liner is fine. Make sure your pavers/wood is flush with the pad/ground.

 

[CharlieBurt]

Thanks folks I just got a fenced backyard with no entry access to bring in dirt. Have one ground spot but it would need leveling somewhat. A messed up situation

 

[frogabog]

Is a 14' pool not an option?

You could buy sand or other media in bags... Sounds expensive though. A wheelbarrow through the house does not sound like a good idea...

Can you remove a portion of the fence for access to the yard?

The other spot might be cheaper even if it's a bit of work to get it level. Most of us have to do that anyway. If you go with that option, remember to dig down rather than build up. Use a 4' level on a long 2x4 for leveling.

 

[CharlieBurt]

My wife got me in this predicament, she bought and wanted the pool haha. The round concrete is 14ft round and even a 14ft pools legs would extend to the boards around concrete. Our northern fence belongs to our neighbors so that’s not an option. The ground at front of concrete is about level with concrete but about a foot lower towards back and sides of concrete. She says just figure it out haha yeah easy said. She got the pool on clearance sale for a little of nothing. So 16 x 48 Summer Waves for $90 and I’d wind up spending a small fortune to get it set up right. ??

 

[frogabog]

Ha! Wheelbarrow through the house filled with dirt then!

jk... bad idea. $90 is a great price for that pool, so yeah I get it. IDK how much sand you'd need to fill in the exterior of the pad, but play sand isn't that expensive and can be carried through the house. Cheapest that I can see is .5 cu foot at Walmart for $2.50/bag. That's equal to a 50 pound bag. Bear in mind that you'll also need wood/pavers for the legs so that will reduce the amount of sand you'll need a little but of course you'll have to buy those too.

 

[CAVEMANN]

I just set up a new INTEX 12 x 24 this summer, I didn't have the luxury of a concrete pad, so I had 6 yards of sand brought in and framed and spread it, I embedded patio pavers where the legs will set. As long as the concrete and the boards are level with each other and the wood is sound you should be golden, my INTEX instructions said to use 2 x12 under the legs, I had the pavers left over from something, so I used them.

 

[Wobblerlorri]

I have a 14' x 48" Bestway pool we set up earlier in the year. We leveled it by hand. It's settled some so it's not perfectly level any more, but hand leveling a 16' space (in your case 18') is absolutely doable. Get wifey out there with a shovel to help!

 

[CharlieBurt]

I can't tell how thick the concrete is but guessing all the wood needs removing and extending and leveling by around 3 ft all around the 14ft oval concrete. That would make an 17ft oval area for a 16ft round pool. Sound right?

 

[CAVEMANN]

That would be 18 inches to achieve 17 feet, but I can tell you from experience that if you can afford allow plenty of area around your filter & pump, get a sand filter so cartridges don't keep you broke, they can be clean some, but you never get it all out, also invest in some sort of surface skimmer.

 

[CharlieBurt]

Think I found another location that appears big enough and pretty level. The grass needs cutting tho. I laid a level on a 2x4 with half on concrete and the rest on grass it looks like the grass section is at best 1/4-1/2 inch higher. About 1/3 of the pool would have to extend onto grass. So would this work with almost 2/3 on concrete and the rest on grass. Oh and that’s not a garage but just storage section in a house behind our main house.

 

[kimkats]

You are going to have to remove the grass and go from there. Once you remove the grass you might find that area is lower and that is NOT good as we say to dig down instead of build up to level a pool. The reason being is the build up will almost always compress resulting in an unlevel pool

 

[CharlieBurt]

tks for reply and let me say, I don't need anything absolutely or even real near perfect and only my 5' 6" wife will be using this. Just nothing resembling an absolute stupid setup. It came a flood here last night and the ground in picture is hard as a rock this morning. Like I had posted , it's within a half inch of being level with concrete with the grass needing mowing, she has a mat that she ordered to go underneath pool and it may level out pretty even when water is added and I don't necessarily just have to have it 48 inches deep, I can go at least 6 inches less. I can deal with less than perfection. I play jazz guitar and I'm far from perfect but close enough to work...

 

[Wobblerlorri]

It's not a case of cosmetics, leveling a pool is a safety consideration.

First of all, you have to remove the grass to keep it from growing through the bottom of the pool. You don't want to go through leveling and setting it up just to have it ruined by grass.

Next, leveling it as much as possible keeps the pool stable. You're talking about some 64000 lbs of water pressing against the sides of your pool. If it's out of level by more than 2 inches, it's a disaster waiting to happen. There are videos on the site as well as in YouTube showing AGPs failing catastrophically.

Don't let your pool be one of them, especially not with your wife in it. Level a site for your pool.