Documenting my AGP install - Newb trying to not screw up

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H

hitech_hillbilly

Active member
Mar 7, 2021
35
NW Arkansas
Pool Size
21
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Never messed with pools before and our yard is challenge due to the location of our utilities and septic drain field.

The pool we got is a 21' Boreal that appears to be made by Cornelius. The directions are pretty lackluster. Ordered it from the pool factory. They shipped it within a week but the shipping company is sloow. Been in transit almost two weeks now so I'm hoping it's not damaged.

The location we're putting the pool sloped about 7-8 inches. Quite a few roots to deal with too. Most of those roots are from a tree we cut down. Our soil is pretty rocky too. Digging here is not easy.

I thought I'd do it by hand but it was too slow. So I rented a small stand up skid steer and got to work.

I tried the board and level method and it got me within 2" level. I'm using a transit from here on out. I'm about 1-1.5" low on one side so i got some crushed paving base and built my ring to support the walls. Ended up building up the high side about an inch and the low side about 2-3 inches. Once the pool gets here I'll lay it out and cut in and level the landscaping blocks. I'll put two on the low end to get them back to the dirt.

My thought is that the blocks will hold the posts and the crushed base will support the lower wall channel.

Then I'll level it off with sand on the inside. I'll have an overlapping liner so if it's a little deeper in the middle I don't think it would hurt anything.

I have an armor pad to put down over the sand and Styrofoam coves coming with the pool. Are these armor sheets worth it? Or do they just cause winless?

Here's where I'm at so far. I'll be transferring and in the evenings this week. If anyone sees something wrong please speak up!

I put a gradual taper on the base where it's the tallest to help keep it sturdy and used water and a tamper to pack it dow.
 
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Building up the low side is generally not a good idea as the weight of the pool can cause shifting. It’s really hard to compact the surface enough to prevent that. How are you going to compact the crusher, so that you can make sure you are level all around, especially since you used different amounts for different spots? Or are you depending on the pool to do that?
 
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You should get a plate compactor and get that compacted. That pool is going to weigh several TONS!!!! For every gallon of water it's going to add 8lbs. An 8k g pool will run 64,000 lbs. This is no joke! Get the compactor and compact the crusher base in 3" lifts.
 
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I second what Kelly and Casey said. I made a mistake with my Intex by building up the low end a couple inches (our slope was a lot worse than yours). The first summer it was all fun and dandy. Last summer, the legs and pavers shifted a bit (like Kelly mentioned) and I was worried. It went from being a half-inch off level (when installed summer 2019) to 2 inches off-level last summer after the shifting. Since I knew I was getting rid of the Intex this spring and would be getting a new above ground pool, I didn’t drain and mess with it last summer and I closed and left it up all winter. With your nice brand new pool (or ANY pool for that matter...whether an Intex-type pool or a more permanent one), don’t do this lol.

Fortunately, my pool was fine (and just sold and is being drained as we speak to prepare for the new pool! 🥳 ), but that does NOT mean that someone else will have the same fate. I’m having the ground work corrected and the installation of my new pool (also from the pool factory....woohoo!!!!) professionally installed later this month. Please do this right the first time! If you feel in over your head, hire someone to do the ground work for you. It shouldn’t cost much since you got a huge head start considering how sloped your yard was to begin with. My slope was around 2 feet at the highest point, so I feel your pain. Just make sure it’s done right the first time!! Trust me on this lol
 
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I appreciate the concerns. Trust me it has given me a lot of anxiety but I'm feeling better about it now.

I set the paver blocks in all the way down to the dirt through the crushed base. I had to dig into the dirt on 7 of the 14. The rest are on the dirt. A couple have a quarter to half an inch of paver base between them and the dirt.

The crushed base isn't as deep as the pictures make it look. Only 2-2.5 inch at the deepest. Most was only an inch deep. I also added a lot more to keep the rise nice and easy.

So the pavers will still be sitting on undisturbed soil while the walls will be supported by the crushed base.

I tamped the heck out of it. Wetting it down as I went. It's just as sturdy as putting the pavers directly in the dirt like the instructions said. I also talked to the poolfactory.com and they said it was ok to raise it an inch or two. He said it just has to be done sometimes and told me the important thing is that it's level. And it is very level. Maybe 1/4" out of level if that, all the way around.

Here are some pictures. I don't know why some are rotated. The website is doing it and I can't find any way to rotate it correct.

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This was taken before i reshaped the slope and tamped it back in. There are some piles left from cutting in the pavers. I'm going to throw some concrete on this slope and cover with large rock to prevent rain deteriorating it.
 
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I didn't get pictures of the inside. But i leveled it with sand, put down the armor felt, and finished with 1" polystyrene foam. Still have to put the wall foam and wall cove down and then I'll be ready for the liner.

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Ignore the missing tape. We ran out and have to go get another roll.

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Looks great!!!! Sorry if I came across as rude, I just didn’t want you to make the same mistake I did, especially with a brand new beautiful pool! Now that I see the photos, it looks totally different than my situation with the old Intex. You’re doing a great job!
Are you building a retaining wall?
 
thefloatqueen said:
Looks great!!!! Sorry if I came across as rude, I just didn’t want you to make the same mistake I did, especially with a brand new beautiful pool! Now that I see the photos, it looks totally different than my situation with the old Intex. You’re doing a great job!
Are you building a retaining wall?
Click to expand...
On the upper side I had a few ideas and talked it over with the pool factory. I'm going to put down plastic in that channel between the pool and the dirt. I'll tape it to the pool and then put in some foam wrapped drain tiles around the high side and cover it all up with large clean river gravel.

Tpf recommended roofing tar paper. It is cheaper but I'm afraid it won't conform enough and tear.

Hopefully that makes sense. I'll take pictures of it.

My current dilemma is I measured the foam a little short and i have about a 1.5 to 2 inch gap between the wall and the foam. The foam cove will cover it but it won't be supported below it. So I'm planning on packing sand down in there to give the cove support.
 
Hopefully you shut the water off. Turn it back on in the morning.
 
Wow......that is the exact same pool we just bought.

Looks awesome. Our vendor suggested using the crusher fines as a base and a felt pad on top.

I see you are using rigid foam board as a base? you have foam on the walls and a cove as well....looks great is the wall insulation for heat reasons?

How is the quality of the pool? Looks good to me.
 
67mike said:
Wow......that is the exact same pool we just bought.

Looks awesome. Our vendor suggested using the crusher fines as a base and a felt pad on top.

I see you are using rigid foam board as a base? you have foam on the walls and a cove as well....looks great is the wall insulation for heat reasons?

How is the quality of the pool? Looks good to me.
Click to expand...

(edited for clarity and added picture)

I think you'll be happy with it.

My only complaints are the instructions are terrible and I really wish it was 54" deep.

I added the wall foam thinking it would be good for protecting the liner and to help hold heat a bit. I'm not sure how much it'll help either because it's pretty thin.

The gap between the bottom tracks need to be larger than the instructions show. They showed a 1/2 inch gap but it really needed to be 3/4 to 1 inch. Just make sure your Radius measurement goes to the center of the track for the wall to start and stop points to line up perfectly. Instructions weren't clear on that at all. (see picture)

Also the plastic liner strips won't fit over where the walls overlap. I had to notch the strip. And then I added a few pieces of duct tape to protect the liner from the metal top track. Maybe I'm missing something but it all seemed pretty risky to tear the liner. Seems like there could be a better way.

I only went with the foam floor because of roots. I figure between the sand, felt guard, and 1" foam it should be protected well. Also the sand I got ended up having a lot of junk in it like mulch because it was piled up next to a mulch pile where I got it from.

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