Evolution of a Pool in Central Kentucky

[Flying Beagle]

My wife and I decided to try a pool at our home last summer after being members at a local country club for several years. Not being sure if it was something we would want to continue or not we chose a Coleman pool from Walmart on a trial basis. We have absolutely loved it and have not missed the Country Club at all. Pool School and this site have made the experience nothing but enjoyable. After almost two summers of continual use our Coleman pool is a little worse for wear with patches over the leaky windows and the Intex SWG giving up a few weeks ago. With the trial being a huge success we decided to invest in a permanent pool. We happened across a deal on marketplace that I decided to jump on. It was a 15x30 Vogue Revolution pool that was 1.5 seasons old. The pool included everything in my signature below plus a lot of chemicals, accessories, robotic cleaner, high end floats etc... I am very happy with the purchase, and being a big DIY guy look forward to my install. I plan to update this thread regularly throughout the process and will likely be asking a lot of questions of all of you experts. I look forward to this project and sharing my trials and tribulations with you all.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome, and congrats on the new pool. We'll watch for your build thread and lots of pics.

 

[bmoreswim]

Agree, we'd love to see a before picture! Nice job on your signature too!

 

[kimkats]

OH yeah! This is my kind of build! Good luck with getting the site ready for this new pool. I am guessing you already have most of it set for the old pool so only have to enlarge it for the new one. Will you be adding a deck to this one?

Kim

 

[mbuice]

Ooh, exciting, can't wait to see everything!

 

[RodRamos]

Welcome to TFP Flying Beagle. I cant wait to see the progress. Make sure you take plenty of pictures. Next Feb or March were going to be upgrading our pool aswell. We used to have a 21x56 before we found this site and it was a complete nightmare (keep reading) so we downgraded to a 12x30 (very small) thinking maybe we just could t handle the big pool. Not the case, we started having issues with the small pool as well. Turns out it wasnt the pool size, we just didnt know how to care for a pool, and the local pool store wasnt much help. After we found TFP we feel were ready to go big again, maybe an 18x56 for sure. Cant wait to see your progress.

 

[Flying Beagle]

So I started this thread back in September and haven't really done anything with it or the pool since. We had a very warm fall and were able to continue swimming in the pool into the middle of October which is pretty unusual here in central KY. I took down the seasonal Coleman pool and threw it away as the liner was pretty much shot with the leaking/patched windows. Other than draining and storing the remaining equipment I haven't really done much regarding the new pool except purchasing a nice set of wedding cake steps on Facebook marketplace for $75 bucks. Pretty good deal I thought.

Before I start with the new pool I thought I would get you up to speed on my ongoing back yard project. My wife and I purchased our home in 2012, just 2 months prior to her giving birth to our triplet daughters.

At that time the home did not have a usable, family friendly deck or backyard. In the Summer of 2015, we decided we had both the time and desire to begin to transform the backyard into a usable family space. In the summer of 2015 I began by expanding the existing 12x16 deck that was about 10' off the ground on the stair side by adding a 16x16 to the left side and a 20x16 across the front. I also re-graded the yard under the decks to promote drainage away from the basement of the house.



These decks were stepped down from each other and allowed me to build down and away from the house to get closer to the actual grade.




As you can see the yard still had a pretty good slope and there was not a good place for a swing set for the kids. In the spring of 2016 we decided to continue the work by terracing our backyard to create usable flat areas and to make the yard much more inviting.



As you can see the little ones were already hinting at their desire for a swimming pool...



So the next year I had to oblige with a bigger pool.

This small pool is what kicked off our desire to have a pool at home rather than keep going to the country club. It was so easy to use, we were in it all the time with the kids. I even made a little sand filter out of a bucket and a small sump pump to keep it clean. It worked fairly well. For the summer of 2018 we decided to drop the country club and try a seasonal pool. We continued to love it. I installed a 18' Coleman pool and upgraded to an Intex sand filter and SWG. In the spring of 2019 I added a Hayward gas pool heater. With the help of Pool School and the calculators maintaining this setup was a breeze.

 

[kimkats]

There is SO much to love about this thread!!! LOVE the pictures and the story behind it! WOW! Dad of the year for all of this hard work for the kids to have a yard with fun stuff to do in it!!!

Kim

 

[Newdude]

I started with that exact inflatable pool. I bought a new one each year for a few years. Good times were had in Ole Blue.

 

[johnnysnok]

Very nice history, looking forward to more pics and stories.

 

[carnivalday]

The GREATEST pictures! Thanks for posting them.

 

[Flotsam]

So I started this thread back in September and haven't really done anything with it or the pool since. We had a very warm fall and were able to continue swimming in the pool into the middle of October which is pretty unusual here in central KY. I took down the seasonal Coleman pool and threw it away as the liner was pretty much shot with the leaking/patched windows. Other than draining and storing the remaining equipment I haven't really done much regarding the new pool except purchasing a nice set of wedding cake steps on Facebook marketplace for $75 bucks. Pretty good deal I thought.

Before I start with the new pool I thought I would get you up to speed on my ongoing back yard project. My wife and I purchased our home in 2012, just 2 months prior to her giving birth to our triplet daughters. View attachment 125947

At that time the home did not have a usable, family friendly deck or backyard. In the Summer of 2015, we decided we had both the time and desire to begin to transform the backyard into a usable family space. In the summer of 2015 I began by expanding the existing 12x16 deck that was about 10' off the ground on the stair side by adding a 16x16 to the left side and a 20x16 across the front. I also re-graded the yard under the decks to promote drainage away from the basement of the house.

View attachment 125948

These decks were stepped down from each other and allowed me to build down and away from the house to get closer to the actual grade.

View attachment 125949
View attachment 125950

As you can see the yard still had a pretty good slope and there was not a good place for a swing set for the kids. In the spring of 2016 we decided to continue the work by terracing our backyard to create usable flat areas and to make the yard much more inviting.

View attachment 125951

As you can see the little ones were already hinting at their desire for a swimming pool...

View attachment 125952

So the next year I had to oblige with a bigger pool. View attachment 125953

This small pool is what kicked off our desire to have a pool at home rather than keep going to the country club. It was so easy to use, we were in it all the time with the kids. I even made a little sand filter out of a bucket and a small sump pump to keep it clean. It worked fairly well. For the summer of 2018 we decided to drop the country club and try a seasonal pool. We continued to love it. I installed a 18' Coleman pool and upgraded to an Intex sand filter and SWG. In the spring of 2019 I added a Hayward gas pool heater. With the help of Pool School and the calculators maintaining this setup was a breeze.

View attachment 125954
View attachment 125955View attachment 125956

With as much fill that you brought in, I'm surprised you didn't go with an in-ground.

 

[Flying Beagle]

Flotsam, We debated that, but the filled area is the only open flat ground in the back yard. We didn't want to take up that space with the pool. Also the cost difference is significant. the money we paid for a 1.5 year old used pool was significantly less than a new one and $25,000 less than an in ground of the same size. The above ground pool is going to be sunk into the ground where the seasonal pool sat with the long dimension running toward the house beside the lowest deck. It will be about 18" to 20" higher than the deck and we will build a couple of steps up to the edge. This will leave us the open space for the kids and dogs to play in the grass.
I included a photo of the pool at the start of disassembly as well as my truck loaded down with the pool and all of the equipment. I palatalized all of the parts to make it easy to store and move in the spring. Kind of looked like the Clampetts, but I got it all home safely.

 

[kimkats]

SO well done!! I like your style!

Kim

 

[Flying Beagle]

So its been a crazy couple months since my last post. All throughout the fall and winter my wife and I had debated the liner choice. As the Corona virus situation really started heating up, I told my my Wife that we had to order a liner ASAP or we may not be able to get one. Everyone else was worried about toilet paper, I was worried about not having a pool this summer. Glad I have my priorities straight. So Friday the 27th of March I ordered our liner on my lunch break from www.Linerworld.com. I was absolutely stunned to walk out of my garage Saturday morning at 9:00am and see a giant heavy box sitting in my driveway. Less than 24hrs from Chicago to Central KY, thats service... Now to get the site ready and get this thing put together.

 

[kimkats]

Hey Y'ALL he is back!!! More Trip pics and fun work for Dad!!!! Lets get that tractor working!!!

You NEED that pool! NO better time than now I say!!

Kim

 

[Flying Beagle]

A couple of years ago we bought a playhouse from a neighbor but I never liked where we put it. I also needed somewhere to pile all of the materials I was going to use to build the pool and the play house was sitting in my ideal spot so what is a dad to do? Get out a big chain and drag it down the hill into a much better location.

Now its time to start digging, but first I had to move all of the landscaping rock. That was a full day job trying to scoop it up, but keep it clean. I had placed the rock on top of weed control fabric which works great at keeping weeds out but makes it a miserable chore to try to shovel or rake it up.



I needed to excavate a little over two feet of soil from the high side where the old pool sat to get to the elevation I want to build the pool. My plan is to have it match up with the highest level of the deck so I can build out and around it without having any steps.

It didn't take long for me to decide this was a bit more of a job than my tractor was made to do. It was just not worth it to break something when I have all of the equipment I need at my disposal at work. Soooo the next Friday I just brought home what I needed for the weekend.

The girls had a great time with the big equipment, I was surprised at how quickly they picked up on the controls of the excavator.




After a hard weekends work, and 8 loads hauled off I had the pool dug out to final grade. I knew I was going to be flirting with bed rock and was really hoping that I wouldn't have to remove any to get to my final grade. I was able to dig out, with a little effort, what rock I needed to remove but fortunately almost all of the bedrock was at the perfect elevation. You know the saying, even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and again.


After excavating I filled over the uneven bedrock with a shallow layer of DGA (aka crush and run, road base etc...) to get a solid flat base.


Now a layer of weed control fabric to keep the sand base from washing down into the gravel.


Then some clean sand to keep it all in place.

Now its time to erect the pool.

 

[Newdude]

Heckuva job so far Mr Beagle. You wont be returning to this project anytime soon...... or ever. Bravo.

 

[Flying Beagle]

This past weekend my wife and I began on the pool frame. we both snuck off from work early on Friday to take advantage of the weather. We were hoping it would be warm enough to get the liner installed, but it took a lot longer than I anticipated to get the frame installed and squared.

My lovely wife wanted the pool shifted closer to the deck than what I had originally anticipated. I didn't want to move it because I knew it would be a lot of extra work, but I also agreed with her reasoning on alignment to the house and deck. She is a big fan of symmetry. Sooo back to digging I went. I had to dig about a foot and a half off of the bank on the deck side and remove some more bed rock the old fashioned way with an iron digger and shovel. It was a ton of work, but it will be worth it in the end.

By Sunday afternoon we had everything in and we were ready to put up the wall, but the temps were too cool and cloudy to try the liner, and there were storms forecast for that evening so I decided to wait on the wall. I finished leveling up the sand and installed all of the bottom track. I'm glad I waited.

A little less than an hour after I made that call the sky opened up. Had I been fooling with the wall at that time I would have had some real problems. At least the rain did a really nice job of smoothing out the sand and showing me a couple spots that I need to address grade wise.



One problem that I was not expecting was for the sand to wash and fill up the inside of the wall framing members leaving me small sinkholes at each one. I am glad this happened prior to me installing the liner, but what do you all recommend I do to prevent this from happening again? I thought about using a hose to try and wash more sand in the frames, or fill them with expandable foam. Anyone else ever had to deal with this. I have plenty of time now that we are in the midst of a ridiculous cold snap.




Suggestions Appreciated.

 

[kimkats]

so what is a dad to do? Get out a big chain and drag it down the hill into a much better location.

Got to love the tools for the BIG jobs like that!!!

The girls had a great time with the big equipment, I was surprised at how quickly they picked up on the controls of the excavator.

I LOVE those smiles!!! I bet they LOVED working with the big toys!!

I was able to dig out, with a little effort, what rock I needed to remove but fortunately almost all of the bedrock was at the perfect elevation. You know the saying, even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and again.

SWEET!! But then Mom came up with her good idea LOL Do it right so.............a digging you will go! Well done! I like her idea as well!

You dodged a bullet on the walls!!! Listen to your gut!! It sure paid off this time!!!

I am not 100% sure of what you mean about where the sand went you did not want it to go........fill what with foam?

I am also going to call in a couple of people who might have an idea or two. @ajw22 @Newdude or anyone that has any ideas to help this Dad out!!!