Home Depot pink is 15psi and the product line goes up from there. It's used under concrete all the time. The weight of the pool will not compress the foam and it can help stabilize the sand underneath.
Can you put a pool on a 12-inches of sand playset site? Pool prep...
- Thread starter KayDub23
- Start date
The compacted sand has been there for 4 yrs. THEN you put the almost concrete stuff on top of it. With the ties around the sand to hold it in THEN the foam over that.................I THINK you will be fine. You will HAVE to use good cement blocks under the legs to help keep them from sinking into the sand.
My pool is sitting on sand with rocks, lots of rocks under it. It is all kept in by cement blocks all around it. It was here when we moved in so I am not sure how deep the rocks are compared to sand. We have been here 15 yrs so............
Kim
My pool is sitting on sand with rocks, lots of rocks under it. It is all kept in by cement blocks all around it. It was here when we moved in so I am not sure how deep the rocks are compared to sand. We have been here 15 yrs so............
Kim
- May 23, 2015
- 25,764
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I agree with @kimkats , I think this getting way “over-engineered”. As long as you have the legs on wide concrete blocks (you could even get fancy and pour your own if you wanted), then the pool will be fine.
If I could have one thing on the wish list of items, it would be proper drainage around the pool perimeter, ie, French drain. It sounds like your backyard is basically a wetland and so the water table is very near the surface. Heavy rains are going to cause water to come up from under the pool and so controlling that to a small degree will help. Obviously a large storm is going to bring in more water than you can probably handle with a drain but thems’ is the breaks when your backyard is naturally a wetland.
If I could have one thing on the wish list of items, it would be proper drainage around the pool perimeter, ie, French drain. It sounds like your backyard is basically a wetland and so the water table is very near the surface. Heavy rains are going to cause water to come up from under the pool and so controlling that to a small degree will help. Obviously a large storm is going to bring in more water than you can probably handle with a drain but thems’ is the breaks when your backyard is naturally a wetland.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who chimed in. We are going to go with the foam board under the liner and pavers under the supports. As the rainy season has ended we will likley work over the summer to put a french drain at the end where the water table is higher, just to be safe. Will keep you all posted.
I agree with Kim as well. I would put a pool on top of that without any worry's. The key is that the sand must remain contained. If over time the sand starts washing out through or under the the railroad ties then you could have a problem. As long as it is contained it will be perfect. I would not want the legs just on pavers on top of the sand. If it were me, and this is what I just did on my new 15x30 AG pool, I would recommend you dig down through the sand to virgin soil and then build back up with concrete, or solid concrete blocks to make a base for each of the legs. At a minimum I would get down 8 inches and then stack two solid 4" concrete cap blocks. Moving water or splashing water could cause thin pavers to settle over time. by getting below where the water moves you should be good to go.
Of course...went up in less than 1 hour (not counting unpacking everything). Looks good so far, but will likely take forever to fill 
Those concrete blocks need to be wider than the legs that sit on them. The portion of the legs that extend beyond the width of the block may collapse when the pool is full.
Edit: Like this one: Bent Intex Ultraframe leg
Edit: Like this one: Bent Intex Ultraframe leg
Last edited:
- May 23, 2015
- 25,764
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I’ve got to agree with @zea3 I would not fill that pool until you have corrected the issue with the legs. The full extent of the legs need to be supported or else those steel tubes will bend like twigs. Remember, if (when) some one canon balls into the pool, the entire shock wave of the canon ball is going to hit the pool walls. That’s can be easily hundreds of pounds of force. Those legs are going to move forward and backward as well as side to side from the movement of the pool water. They will collapse like sticks if the bending moment gets too high.