Build thread? 27' round salt water AGP

BowserWowser

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
105
Virginia Beach, VA
Pool Size
17000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
The time has come! Here's our back yard "before" shots. No chance we're doing this ourselves; everything is being done by paid professionals (you know, with liability insurance and stuff!).

This is from our main back door to the patio. That pile of stuff covered with a tarp is the pool :p
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From our other back door:
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We just had the tall vinyl fence installed a few weeks ago, which is why there are random blocks and boards along the bottom. It doesn't reach the ground, and the dogs at the house behind us have been digging!
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Looking good so far!

We foiled the dog next door who kept trying to dig under our fence by lining the fence with edging that you insert into the ground, and large white beach pebbles. We put the edging about 8 inches out from the fence, and then filled up the gap with the pebbles. Looks nice and while he still barks and runs the fence, after hitting rock a few times he stopped trying to dig under!
 
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Looking good so far!

We foiled the dog next door who kept trying to dig under our fence by lining the fence with edging that you insert into the ground, and large white beach pebbles. We put the edging about 8 inches out from the fence, and then filled up the gap with the pebbles. Looks nice and while he still barks and runs the fence, after hitting rock a few times he stopped trying to dig under!
A dog got through today and was in our yard! Luckily, no incidents with our dog. Our ground is such hard clay that it's tough to bury things. We're working on a concrete block row across the bottom to fill the gaps, but it's slow going because of the clay and now the heat. For now, just concrete blocks set along the base of the fence temporarily.
 
STILL WAITING 😭

Yesterday was dry, so they stopped by today, but they said the ground was still too wet (not surprised since we get standing water in our back yard when it rains a lot, and it rained a good 4 days in a row late last week).

Meanwhile, I've ordered salt and stabilizer. Now I'm on the hunt for liquid chlorine...
 

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We cut off the hose overnight because the pool guy said the liner is really tight on the far side, so we really need the sun to help it relax as it fills. The hose is running for now, but the sun isn't being very cooperative, so we'll see how it goes today. Weather doesn't look great for the next few days...
 
Aaaand we had to take a step backwards. The installer didn't like how tight the liner was. They pumped out the little bit of water that was in there, took the liner down, and propped the walls up with shovels. Now we wait for Mother Nature to give us a couple solid sunny days to make the liner more cooperative.

Meanwhile, we can try to attack the moles/shrews and mole crickets that were apparently having a blast in the sand...

As much as it stinks to have to keep waiting, I am SO glad we didn't try to install ourselves!!
 
Watch the wall carefully. I’d brace the heck out of it. A good wind can cause tons of damage.
 
Watch the wall carefully. I’d brace the heck out of it. A good wind can cause tons of damage.
It's braced with steel rods on the bottom outside and with multiple shovels braced against the top from the inside. We actually had a pretty good storm blow through, and I was watching it like a hawk, but it barely swayed. I was very impressed (and relieved)!

They're going to try to get the liner back up tomorrow. Fingers crossed...
 
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Liner is in again, and we have a few inches of water. The way our yard and house and trees are, we only get a few hours of direct sun on the liner each day, so I feel like it's going to take FOREVER to fill! The walls are bowing in almost all the way around, but water is off for now until the installers come back tomorrow. I know bowing is normal - I just don't know how much is normal vs when to freak out! It's not supposed to get below 75 degrees even overnight for the next few days, so we at least have that on our side (we think part of the struggle the first time is that it cooled off down to the low 60s overnight, so it would take longer for the liner to warm up and get nice and pliable again).
 
i left my water on the whole time while filling, and it took forever. Your pool is so much larger - I personally don’t think you are going to gain enough depth overnight to cause issues, if the liner is properly placed.
 
Okay, I feel like this is never going to be completed...we had some drama this week 😅

The electricians came to run the outlet for the pool. The two dolts that were sent to do the work were apparently completely clueless. First, they cut our internet line while digging even though it was VERY clearly marked AND I'd pointed it out to them when they arrived. Then, when I came out from my office around lunch time, I noticed they were digging the trench SUPER close to the pool wall/upright supports. They were gone for lunch, but I didn't feel good about it so snapped a pic and sent to my installer. He rushed over and (electricians had returned in the meantime) FLIPPED OUT. They dug so close and even angled under the concrete blocks under the uprights. Some of the sand under the liner was displaced, the wall track had slightly shifted...installer said we were actually lucky the pool wasn't filled yet because it probably would have collapsed.

After everyone worked furiously to fill in the trench and tamp the dirt down, electricians left (smart move - installers were absolutely livid). The installers were able to get everything to a point they were comfortable with (they had considered draining and taking down the liner again to make sure everything was structurally sound) - they meticulously removed dirt from the wall tracks, checked the leveling, smoothed out the sand...they also discovered the electricians had removed an upright to bond the copper wire to the metal screw, but they didn't put the upright back on correctly and even managed to make an extra screw hole in the top.

It was a mess. And super chaotic because I had another contractor at our house at the same time doing a crawl space inspection, and then the Verizon tech came to run a temporary above-ground line to get our internet back up - at one point, I think we had 6 various contractors all in our back yard at once. And it's not a very big back yard!

Between all that and today, the electrician company sent a different crew who dug a "beautiful trench" (pool installer's words) a good 3 feet away from the pool walls. City inspector came and approved the trench work and pool outlet post, so electricians came back and filled it in. Pool is now filled to the point the installer wanted it to reach before he installs the skimmer and equipment.

And my husband and I started building the steps today.

At this rate, I think the pool may be ready for swimming just in time for us to leave on our family vacation on the 15th 😂
 
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Wow, you weren’t kidding!

Oh The Drama GIF by MOODMAN
 
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