I currently have a 30 ft above ground pool, but am thinking about getting rid of it. I bought it used and set it up myself 5 years ago. The main problem with it is water temperature. I live in northeast Ohio. It's in direct sunlight. I use a solar cover (major pain in the butt) and homemade solar heater with 300 ft of black PVC pipe, both of which help, but we typically can't start using the pool until the third week of June and then by the first week of Sept it is too cold again. A conventional above ground pool heater would not do much on a pool of this size. I am on well water and adding water to this pool (due to its size) is always a challenge if I use flocculant and have to "vacuum to waste to clear up the water.
We recently visited a relative who had a small inground pool put it in...it's kind of something in between a large hot tub and a small pool. About 9ft x 17 ft and 4.5 deep on one end. It is heated with natural gas. Something like this would fit our lifestyle better and we can take our kids to a real pool when they really want to swim laps.
Here is my plan to build it. Just brainstorming for now. Let me know what you think:
Size approx 9ft x 17 ft x 4.5 ft deep (and 2 ft deep on shallow end).
Concrete block construction with 8"x16" blocks, built ABOVE GROUND (this works better for me because of the elevation of my backyard and I can use the existing deck that I already built).
"Surface bonded" construction, no mortar between the joints. Rebar and grouting in every hole, and some horizontal rebar as well. The walls would have a few "bump outs" (not sure what they're called) where two blocks are turned 90 degrees on the bottom course, then built up to be like a reinforcement column. I've done this before on foundation walls.
Floor would be 4" thick concrete with mesh reinforcement, rigid foam underneath. Inside would be coated with hydraulic cement that is made for waterproofing pools.
Outside would have rigid foam insulation against the block with mesh and stucco coating on the outside.
Homemade folding insulated cover and solar cover. Heater would be electric heat pump and wood fired heat exchanger (I have access to unlimited firewood for free).
I am hoping for something that could be used 9 months out of the year, instead of the current 3 months.
I am thinking that building it above ground would be easier, cheaper, and avoid many of the problems that DIY in-ground pools have.
I have previously re-built the concrete foundation wall of a 2,000 sq ft bank barn and poured a 10ft x 16 ft slab by myself (with a rented mixer). I found it to be a lot cheaper to buy the aggregate, sand, and cement separately and mix them myself, compared to buy pre-mixed bags.
We recently visited a relative who had a small inground pool put it in...it's kind of something in between a large hot tub and a small pool. About 9ft x 17 ft and 4.5 deep on one end. It is heated with natural gas. Something like this would fit our lifestyle better and we can take our kids to a real pool when they really want to swim laps.
Here is my plan to build it. Just brainstorming for now. Let me know what you think:
Size approx 9ft x 17 ft x 4.5 ft deep (and 2 ft deep on shallow end).
Concrete block construction with 8"x16" blocks, built ABOVE GROUND (this works better for me because of the elevation of my backyard and I can use the existing deck that I already built).
"Surface bonded" construction, no mortar between the joints. Rebar and grouting in every hole, and some horizontal rebar as well. The walls would have a few "bump outs" (not sure what they're called) where two blocks are turned 90 degrees on the bottom course, then built up to be like a reinforcement column. I've done this before on foundation walls.
Floor would be 4" thick concrete with mesh reinforcement, rigid foam underneath. Inside would be coated with hydraulic cement that is made for waterproofing pools.
Outside would have rigid foam insulation against the block with mesh and stucco coating on the outside.
Homemade folding insulated cover and solar cover. Heater would be electric heat pump and wood fired heat exchanger (I have access to unlimited firewood for free).
I am hoping for something that could be used 9 months out of the year, instead of the current 3 months.
I am thinking that building it above ground would be easier, cheaper, and avoid many of the problems that DIY in-ground pools have.
I have previously re-built the concrete foundation wall of a 2,000 sq ft bank barn and poured a 10ft x 16 ft slab by myself (with a rented mixer). I found it to be a lot cheaper to buy the aggregate, sand, and cement separately and mix them myself, compared to buy pre-mixed bags.
