DIY Build in Arkansas- Off to a rocky start

[Hojo76]

My only concern with losing the main drains is that we are pretty much full sun all the time. Like, relentless, brutal Sun with no shade, which is really why we need the pool. Our liner is very dark also. I assumed having main drains would circulate the water better and keep it cooler. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am happy to simplify if it doesn't affect the comfort level of the pool, but I know it is impossible to add them back later. Just want to make sure I understand the benefits first and that there isn't a better solution for our situation (having to concrete the entire slope and hopper because of the lack of shelf.)

I will try to post a picture later of the yard showing the grade to the porch.

Jimmythegreek- We should still have a couple of months to work before it gets cold. It never gets REALLY cold here, but I know some things are easier to do in warmer weather. Are you most concerned about concrete or the liner or something else?

PoolguyinCT- What I am calling "the shelf" would be the virgin ground that should be the surface the pool walls are set on. We only have that in the shallow end now.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Hojo76]

The pic of the shallow end with grass at the bottom is with the camera on the porch floor.

 

[mknauss]

Normal pool operations rarely use the main drain for much, if any, suction as we all want to skim the surface of leaves and also run the pump at the lowest rpm possible to save electrical cost. So not having a main drain is not detrimental.

Could there be a slight temperature gradation from warm on surface to a couple degrees cooler on bottom? Sure. My pool does that. But once you swim in it for more than a few minutes it is fully mixed.

You could put a pool return at about 2/3rds down the wall into the deep end. Just be sure to home run it back to the pad so you can close it off in case it messes with your skimming action.

 

[kimkats]

I am going to suggest the same thing Marty did..........a return towards the bottom to help mix things up.

 

[mclifford]

My pool gets full sun for a good majority of the day. When I designed my pool I left the main drain out on purpose. I can see a slight temperature difference, but after you swim for a little bit you can't notice the difference.

My pool is crystal clear. Some days if you look at it just right you think there is no water in there. Also, when I am the first person to dive in the pool when it is very calm I have gotten the feeling that I am jumping into an open hole its so clear.

 

[LouieYarbro]

Hojo, we're in Conway and breaking ground next week. Best of luck. We're doing DIY as well, with a few exceptions. Excavation, and help with the concrete bottom, and pad pour. Gonna be an exciting fall.

 

[jimmythegreek]

you dont need the drains dont kill urself to get them in. add another return down low on the wall above the concrete collar and point it down, it will do MORE than the drains will ever do for circulation.

now looking at your pics I will say I would not have placed the pool there. I think you made a booboo on that part. the pool is too close to the house you cant do much w grade now against porch decking. You said you were going to put a wall at deep end, but you can clearly see you have a good grade change down the sides as well. technically your porch is the low spot in that area, and I get that you wanna connect pool and porch. I would have pushed pool out a ways so you could have built it up and made a walkway from porch to pool decking that ramps up to it to take some of the grade change. your gonna need walls down the sides too you will see as you get further w the build. problem is the house is on both sides of shallow end so you cant just re-grade the area. I see 2 options. either do walls til you get about halfway down pool and the grade flattens, or level the whole area between house and pick up a retaining wall at both corners and go around ur pool deck with them having them end at your foundation. Either way you need a gameplan for where the rain/groundwater will go. if the yard is lower in front of house the best option is to run underground pipe around the house w proper pitch and let it daylight somewhere else. water will always find the low areas so either way you need to address this. the angles on the new pics give me a whole new perspective on ur dig. The excavator left you with quite a mess you have ALOT of concrete and forms to make and pour, just be careful and check and double check your elevations before you pour anything. Hopefully you have a laser or transit check everywhere the panels will sit in shallow end and dont forget to add for concrete decking thickness so you know where it will all end up. some gravel under the panels rly helps with leveling them. if your shallow end is on plane you could assemble those panels and stairs and square them up and level them and use that as a guideline going forward towards deep end. at some point you gotta get a baseline so you can pour your floor in deep end hopper and work up from there making a shelf and hopper walls

 

[PoolguyinCT]

My only concern with losing the main drains is that we are pretty much full sun all the time. Like, relentless, brutal Sun with no shade, which is really why we need the pool. Our liner is very dark also. I assumed having main drains would circulate the water better and keep it cooler. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am happy to simplify if it doesn't affect the comfort level of the pool, but I know it is impossible to add them back later. Just want to make sure I understand the benefits first and that there isn't a better solution for our situation (having to concrete the entire slope and hopper because of the lack of shelf.)

I will try to post a picture later of the yard showing the grade to the porch.

Jimmythegreek- We should still have a couple of months to work before it gets cold. It never gets REALLY cold here, but I know some things are easier to do in warmer weather. Are you most concerned about concrete or the liner or something else?

PoolguyinCT- What I am calling "the shelf" would be the virgin ground that should be the surface the pool walls are set on. We only have that in the shallow end now.

Thanks for all the advice!

You can pour concrete pads with your builder level on your trowel - start high & wiggle trowle down with tote Poole in it. Then set your panels on the pads.

 

[Hojo76]

you dont need the drains dont kill urself to get them in. add another return down low on the wall above the concrete collar and point it down, it will do MORE than the drains will ever do for circulation.

now looking at your pics I will say I would not have placed the pool there. I think you made a booboo on that part. the pool is too close to the house you cant do much w grade now against porch decking. You said you were going to put a wall at deep end, but you can clearly see you have a good grade change down the sides as well. technically your porch is the low spot in that area, and I get that you wanna connect pool and porch. I would have pushed pool out a ways so you could have built it up and made a walkway from porch to pool decking that ramps up to it to take some of the grade change. your gonna need walls down the sides too you will see as you get further w the build. problem is the house is on both sides of shallow end so you cant just re-grade the area. I see 2 options. either do walls til you get about halfway down pool and the grade flattens, or level the whole area between house and pick up a retaining wall at both corners and go around ur pool deck with them having them end at your foundation. Either way you need a gameplan for where the rain/groundwater will go. if the yard is lower in front of house the best option is to run underground pipe around the house w proper pitch and let it daylight somewhere else. water will always find the low areas so either way you need to address this. the angles on the new pics give me a whole new perspective on ur dig. The excavator left you with quite a mess you have ALOT of concrete and forms to make and pour, just be careful and check and double check your elevations before you pour anything. Hopefully you have a laser or transit check everywhere the panels will sit in shallow end and dont forget to add for concrete decking thickness so you know where it will all end up. some gravel under the panels rly helps with leveling them. if your shallow end is on plane you could assemble those panels and stairs and square them up and level them and use that as a guideline going forward towards deep end. at some point you gotta get a baseline so you can pour your floor in deep end hopper and work up from there making a shelf and hopper walls

Well, that is discouraging. We had two PBs come out and say that it was the "perfect spot" for a pool. We are planning on putting in drainage around the house and pool. We don't really have a problem with water because the land is very hilly and dries out quickly. The front of the house faces a good downhill slope. The dirt from the excavation is covering the existing grade by as much as a foot in some places. We will be grading the yard back out when we get to that point. The steps will be 6.5 feet from the porch. We don't have to connect the pool and porch. It's just on the eventual wish list. We do have a transit. We were thinking that we were going to have to work out from steps and shallow walls, so that helps.

That begs the question of how much higher does the top of the deck need to be than the porch, in y'alls opinion?

We will proceed without main drains and figure out the plumbing of the new return later and how that will be incorporated along with the waterfall. Thanks everyone!

- - - Updated - - -

You can pour concrete pads with your builder level on your trowel - start high & wiggle trowle down with tote Poole in it. Then set your panels on the pads.

That is a great idea! Thank you!

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Your welcome

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Your welcome

Place them at the panel joints & where your gut sees fit.