Experience/thoughts about burying/demolishing an inground concrete pool?

[ohaya]

Hi,

[I hope that posting this query here is ok....]

We have had our pool (originally built by Anthony-Sylvan) for quite awhile. We originally had it built when our kids were middle school age, but they are all grown up now and are no longer living with us, so basically it is just myself and my wife living in our home, and the pool is a lot of work to maintain (cleaning leaves out, clean the Polaris cleaner filter, check chemistry, etc.) and both my wife and myself are much less mobile (surgeries - I have to use a cane most of the time and am not that steady on uneven ground), so we have been thinking of burying the pool. We have been thinking about this for a number of years, but a number of people we know (who don't own pools!) including friends and some realtors have told us not to do it (again, they don't own pools so they don't know anything about maintaining a pool).

Our pool is about 22' x 42' free form, with an aggregate deck around the pool and we have some concrete/aggregate steps (like 3 steps) coming off the deck on one corner (there is a small swale between the back of our house and those stairs, which we need to walk up to get to the pool deck).

We live in the Northern Virginia area, and our normal "season" is about between May through September, and in the spring/summer we have to do cleaning every day (leaves, etc.) and then we use a solid cover with water tubes when we get the pool closed for the winter, but, even in winter there is need for maintenance because we to keep draining the pool cover.

So I was would really get feedback about this from people who have actually had it done, or who have thought about doing it, or have looked into doing it?

Thanks!

Jim

 

[ajw22]

Check what regulations you have in your jurisdiction about filling in pools.

We have had people here who discovered a filled in buried pool in a home they bought and dug it out and brought it back to life.

 

[Bperry]

In some states you have to disclose it as part of a home sale as well as get a permit to do it professionally. My sister bought a house with a filled in pool. I don’t remember the details but they had some kind of water intrusion issue related to it near the foundation of the house. (The pool was super close to the house.

Might be better to sell the house and move into one without a pool. Pools are super popular with home buyers right now.

 

[ohaya]

Bperry,

That (water intrusion) is the kind of "unknown" and "unintended consequence" that I am most worried about. Also, I forgot to mention that in the area we are in, all houses use septic systems, rather than public sewer, so each home has septic tank (in our case 2 of them) in the ground and septic fields, and I don't know how that will affect/impact the process of burying the pool.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[PoolGate]

Bperry brings up a good point, have you thought about moving? I am in MD and I cannot imagine retiring to this area it is simply too expensive to live in. Selling your NOVA house would let you move almost anywhere and live significantly cheaper. Pools will be a benefit when you sell right now. If you at all have toyed with the idea of moving I would hold off on burying the pool until that decision is made.

 

[Bperry]

Bperry,

That (water intrusion) is the kind of "unknown" and "unintended consequence" that I am most worried about. Also, I forgot to mention that in the area we are in, all houses use septic systems, rather than public sewer, so each home has septic tank (in our case 2 of them) in the ground and septic fields, and I don't know how that will affect/impact the process of burying the pool.

Thanks,
Jim

If I had more info. I’d share but I never understood what the issue really was. They just had cracks in the stucco exterior that ran up from the foundation. They ended up adding on to the kitchen to expand it which meant modifying the foundation in that area anyway. Maybe the expense of fixing it just morphed into a kitchen remodel.

If it’s a gunite pool, generally they will break off the upper portion of the shell below the ground enough to be buried. Then drill holes in the bottom of the shell so water can pass through and not cause a swamp. I’m not sure I’ve seen a case where they didn’t then fill the pool with junk cement and other waste to fill the hole, which can then sometimes cause sinking in that areas later.

I did see one video where they hired a crew to remove all of the pool with a wrecking ball and skid loader. That would be the best way to do it and the most courteous to future owners, but likely the most expensive.

 

[Bperry]

I will add that I find it hard to believe that I find it hard to believe that burying the pool caused some kind of water intrusion, but who knows. It’s more likely that the reason it got buried in the first place was that the pool had a problem leak or sunk which caused some damage and was too experience to repair and so they buried it instead and added some stucco over the damage to the house, then sold it.

 

[ohaya]

If I had more info. I’d share but I never understood what the issue really was. They just had cracks in the stucco exterior that ran up from the foundation. They ended up adding on to the kitchen to expand it which meant modifying the foundation in that area anyway. Maybe the expense of fixing it just morphed into a kitchen remodel.

If it’s a gunite pool, generally they will break off the upper portion of the shell below the ground enough to be buried. Then drill holes in the bottom of the shell so water can pass through and not cause a swamp. I’m not sure I’ve seen a case where they didn’t then fill the pool with junk cement and other waste to fill the hole, which can then sometimes cause sinking in that areas later.

I did see one video where they hired a crew to remove all of the pool with a wrecking ball and skid loader. That would be the best way to do it and the most courteous to future owners, but likely the most expensive.

I've started talking to some potential contractors...

Breaking up the concrete (and the deck) and removing all of it, then backfilling the pool with dirt is called a "full removal" (vs. putting the broken concrete into the pool and then backfilling, which is called a "partial removal").

There is another thing called "engineered backfill" where when they backfill a qualified engineer monitors (and measures) the backfill process. I think (I am trying to verify still) that with a "full removal with engineered backfill" the area where the pool was is considered "buildable".

Each option costs more ....

One other aspect that I'm encountering, which I hadn't thought about is that when they built the pool, they made some changes to the grade around the pool, esp. on one end, so that end has a steep (45 degrees) slope now, so I am trying to find out, if/when we do a removal, if they will be able to restore the grade to something less steep.


Again, this is the kind of thing I hadn't thought about, when I started thinking about this... "unintended consequences" ... My wife is kind of upset at this point... I think that she "assumed" that after the removal, the area would be back to original, but I'm not 100% sure if that is actually 100% possible.

Jim

 

[Bperry]

I've started talking to some potential contractors...

Breaking up the concrete (and the deck) and removing all of it, then backfilling the pool with dirt is called a "full removal" (vs. putting the broken concrete into the pool and then backfilling, which is called a "partial removal").

There is another thing called "engineered backfill" where when they backfill a qualified engineer monitors (and measures) the backfill process. I think (I am trying to verify still) that with a "full removal with engineered backfill" the area where the pool was is considered "buildable".

Each option costs more ....

One other aspect that I'm encountering, which I hadn't thought about is that when they built the pool, they made some changes to the grade around the pool, esp. on one end, so that end has a steep (45 degrees) slope now, so I am trying to find out, if/when we do a removal, if they will be able to restore the grade to something less steep.


Again, this is the kind of thing I hadn't thought about, when I started thinking about this... "unintended consequences" ... My wife is kind of upset at this point... I think that she "assumed" that after the removal, the area would be back to original, but I'm not 100% sure if that is actually 100% possible.

Jim

Assuming anything is the worst way to get what you want from someone else’s work. Grading the yard is a different thing.

 

[kimkats]

"unintended consequences"

Yeah this will be harder than just throwing dirt in the hole. I am glad you seem to be finding some people to do the work AND they seem as if they know what they will be doing!

the area would be back to original, but I'm not 100% sure if that is actually 100% possible.

OH any thing can be done if your wallet is fat enough..................just saying.

I feel for you wife as I am sure this is overwhelming. It was hard enough taking apart our above ground pool when it rusted through.

Keep us in the loop on what you end up doing.