Diving board pad

[Sendit6]

Hello everyone - so here’s another one on the docket:

The concrete guy came by today to have a look at the area that’s been carved out for the diving board pad and ladder. He said to reach out to the excavator to see how much fill he added onto virgin dirt.

The pad size is little larger than recommended by S.R. Smith - 9’ long, 5’ wide, 12” deep.
Recommended is 8’, 4’, 6” - all the minimum recommended.

Our yard was built up on that side to make level with top of pool coping.

The excavator said that he built it up 1’.

So it was dug down 12” for the diving board pad.

The potential issue:
Concrete guy said that the pad has to go on virgin dirt or it could sink down.

I’m fairly confident that we’re down the 1’ to virgin dirt. However, if the excavator was wrong and the pad is sitting on 2-4” of fill (which is fairly well compacted, it’s hard to tell that it isn’t virgin), will that matter.

Concrete guy said the pad will weigh between 3-4k lbs., and that he’s seen it happen through the years where different pads have shifted/sunk a little or a lot due to not being on virgin or well-
compacted fill.

I would wait until until spring, however like I said I’m fairly confident we’re down to the virgin.

Btw, we’re doing synthetic grass in the yard right up to the white plastic pool coping.

I’ll follow this with pics that we saw and we’re like, “I need my yard to look like that”.

 

[Sendit6]

Not our yard, just pics we saw and see immediately drawn to the look.

The only exposed concrete will be the diving board pad and ClearDeck lid. And we may even cover those in turf as well.

 

[Newdude]

I would wait until until spring, however like I said I’m fairly confident we’re down to the virgin.

Dig 6 footers down to the no question mark. It will cost peanuts in concrete and if an area settles a little, it will stand there like a 3k to 4k lb table that won't budge by a person jumping off it.

 

[Sendit6]

So in other words, dig holes in each corner and maybe two in the middle, so the pour goes down into the holes, then fills in the formed pad, and it’s all one monolithic structure?

Any difference in digging the holes and filling them in first, like a few days before the pad pour?

 

[Newdude]

So in other words, dig holes in each corner and maybe two in the middle, so the pour goes down into the holes, then fills in the formed pad, and it’s all one monolithic structure?

That's what I'm thinking about the 2 in the middle because a 9 ft span might be a bit much if only using the corners. Then again it's a foot thick, but evenso, the concrete is dirt cheap. Maybe @AQUA~HOLICS has thoughts.

Any difference in digging the holes and filling them in first, like a few days before the pad pour?

One pour is preferable IMO otherwise it would only be attached by the rebar.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

My experience is that a Monolithic pour is superior to multiple pour methods, I’m sure methods can be used to achieve the same results, I am only experienced with Shotcrete applications and cold joints when pneumatically applied.

 

[Sendit6]

Dig 6 footers down to the no question mark. It will cost peanuts in concrete and if an area settles a little, it will stand there like a 3k to 4k lb table that won't budge by a person jumping off it.

So just dig holes with fence post digger and the concrete goes down into the holes and then fills in the pad?

No rebar anywhere? Except the jig.

 

[Sendit6]

My experience is that a Monolithic pour is superior to multiple pour methods, I’m sure methods can be used to achieve the same results, I am only experienced with Shotcrete applications and cold joints when pneumatically applied.

Help me understand why. My thinking was this:

If I dug holes in each corner and two in the middle, filled those with concrete. That would be like 6 piers in the ground under the pad, which would be poured a few days later.

How is this any different than pouring all at once?

 

[Newdude]

So just dig holes with fence post digger and the concrete goes down into the holes and then fills in the pad?

Just like that.

No rebar anywhere? Except the jig.

If the holes were dug when they got there, I'm sure they'd rebar them. Let them know of the slight change in plans if nobody else has any objections. This isn't what I do, it just seems to make sense in my head. Lol.

How is this any different than pouring all at once?

The legs would be a joint if done with 2 different pours. Pros could attach them properly with rebar but its just as easy to have a slightly bigger pour in the first place.

 

[Sendit6]

If I dig the holes and fill them with concrete, so the whole dug out floor of the pad is flush, then the pour of the pad happens a few days later, how is that my different?

And no rebar used, meaning the pad sits on the dirt, but it has piers of concrete down into the ground that it’s sitting on, how is that different that if it were all one pour?

I can’t seem to figure out what the difference is.

 

[Newdude]

I can’t seem to figure out what the difference is.

You are pouring the pad onto already cured concrete, leaving a seam of 2 pieces. The pad will adhere to the piers to some extent, but it won't be nearly as strong as a single pour with one piece.

 

[Sendit6]

So we ended up with one single pour.
The pad is almost 24” thick, and about 5’ wide. Wanted to make sure we got down to virgin dirt so nothing would sink.

Directly in front of the pad is the trough that the ClearDeck pool cover sits in. It’s a few inches behind the pool wall. So think of a T of concrete, with the horizontal part of running along the back of the deep end wall encasing trough, and the vertical part is the diving board pad.