Backfill

[toolerb50]

So after my pool was installed a couple of months ago, I immediately started the backfill process. However, before I started hauling in the dirt I put down black plastic sheeting along one side of my pool since I was adding about 12-15" of soil to follow the grade of the yard. I also put a cloth filtered drain pipe along this side of the pool. Dirt is mostly clay. Pool is aluminum and resin with 52" sidewall.

Do I need to dig out and remove the black plastic or can I sleep tight at night?

Thanks!

 

[ShawnH]

I can't offer too much advice, however, we just had our 15x30 installed last Friday. Our situation is nearly level on one long side with about 6-8 inches below grade on the other long side. I am backfilling to close to grade with the dirt pulled out and then planning on about three inches of 57 river rock - out about 30 inches from pool wall. Pretty much rained every day since the install to include heavy rain the day after. Had a small amount of sand come out...I've got the walls backfilled now with dirt so that shouldn't be a problem.

I am putting landscaping fabric down before the rocks - I backfilled dirt without.

What part of Ohio and who put your pool in? We used The Great Escape - they installed in about 3.5 hours - which equates to a good enough job. Probably about .5 inch off level, a couple wrinkles, and one post leaning slightly out and one leaning slightly in. I know above ground pools aren't perfect, however, I suppose if they spent 4 hours it might have been perfect. Clearly the motto was get in and get out. At 11:30am they were off to another job - had a water delivery truck provide the water - that guy gave more good advice than anyone else.

 

[toolerb50]

First of all, congrats on the new pool!

You might want to skip the landscape fabric under the rocks, it will eventually trap dirt and weeds will ultimately grow. At least that seems to be consensus when I researched a few landscaping forums.

I did the same with stone border and thought I’d pass along the edging I found on Amazon to keep the stone in place. Super easy to install and looks better than the black plastic found at HD or Lowe’s.

Dimex EasyFlex Aluminum Landscape... Amazon.com : Dimex EasyFlex Aluminum Landscape Edging Project Kit, Will Not Rust Like Steel, Bronze (1806BZ-24C) : Garden Border Edging : Garden & Outdoor

I’m in Northeast Ohio and had Litehouse Pools do the installation. Agree they all seem rushed but got about two months of solid swimming out of it. Unfortunately my gas heater arrived yesterday, just a few days after closing up the pool. COVID strikes again but I’ll be ready for next year!

Did Great Escape leave you with a massive pile of dirt to remove?

 

[ShawnH]

First of all, congrats on the new pool!

You might want to skip the landscape fabric under the rocks, it will eventually trap dirt and weeds will ultimately grow. At least that seems to be consensus when I researched a few landscaping forums.

I did the same with stone border and thought I’d pass along the edging I found on Amazon to keep the stone in place. Super easy to install and looks better than the black plastic found at HD or Lowe’s.

Dimex EasyFlex Aluminum Landscape... Amazon.com : Dimex EasyFlex Aluminum Landscape Edging Project Kit, Will Not Rust Like Steel, Bronze (1806BZ-24C) : Garden Border Edging : Garden & Outdoor

I’m in Northeast Ohio and had Litehouse Pools do the installation. Agree they all seem rushed but got about two months of solid swimming out of it. Unfortunately my gas heater arrived yesterday, just a few days after closing up the pool. COVID strikes again but I’ll be ready for next year!

Did Great Escape leave you with a massive pile of dirt to remove?

Thanks, yes - big pile of dirt from the Great Escape and big mount left from the gas line installation. The dirt from the pool install is tough to use as backfill since there is so much sod. All things considered, I guess the yard is worse than I hoped but better than I expected.

Wish I would of known about that edging...I am going to install what they have at Lowes, black metal edging. I hope to have much of that completed this weekend. I have not even been in the pool yet, however, I am going to heat it up once I get the edge and gravel in and at least get in a few times over the next week or 10 days - then I'm winterizing.

Didn't really think about the fabric trapping the dirt and ending up with weeds. Maybe I'll skip it - save the $40 bucks and the headache to get it done. Quickly running out of summer, however, we may have temps in the low 70's next week...