Fiberglass Pool Install
- Thread starter robertwest
- Start date
Robert,
It will have almost zero impact on the flow.. I would be much more concerned about using a mineral system and tabs to chlorinate your pool..
Not pretty, but it will work fine.
Thanks,
Jim R.
It will have almost zero impact on the flow.. I would be much more concerned about using a mineral system and tabs to chlorinate your pool..
Not pretty, but it will work fine.
Thanks,
Jim R.
I just had a pool installed and watched the progress noticing things that didn't seem as in the contract. For example, the contract says all plumbing would be PVC and home-runned to the pad. The PBs put in flex pipe at the main drains, then connected to PVC, then had multiple elbows to get to the pad. I thought home-runned meant like the River Pools guys' video showed (that they heat and arc bend the piping, rather than using street elbows). Am I missing something?
Jim, thanks for the reassurance on flow. As for that Nature2 system, we told the PB to put a stub in the mineral insert (as per advice from this forum). We have a 14,000 gallon fiberglass pool with no water features, and the SWG. A lot of folks on here seemed to like the Jandy system w/o minerals, so we went with that.
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
Home runned.. also refers to wiring.. it just means the pipe terminates at the "home" in this case the pad with no tees or junctions in between where it started and the pad... it can have, however, many Els or turns along the way.
I asked my PB to install a skimmer that had a throat long enough so that the basket would not land under the coping (requiring it to be cut/notched in order to fit a lid). He said he ordered a special skimmer that was "plenty long." I got home from work and found that the pool shell was cut and the skimmer installed... and it lands under the coping. We aren't putting any decking by the skimmer lid end of the pool (it will be grass to the coping). In order to miss the skimmer basket, the coping is 2" into the pool... So how is this resolved?
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We're near the end of a pool install and my wife was home watching the last of the backfill. She took a video that shows the PB pushing dirt into the backfill area, then topping it with gravel.
So, I feel like I know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask anyway... What are the implications of having a gravel/dirt/gravel "layered' backfill? Will this settle as rain soaks through? And is there a risk to the FG shell with soil sitting against it?
Thanks in advance.
So, I feel like I know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask anyway... What are the implications of having a gravel/dirt/gravel "layered' backfill? Will this settle as rain soaks through? And is there a risk to the FG shell with soil sitting against it?
Thanks in advance.
More questions on questionable PB stuff...
Our PB did not have proper-sized equipment to dig a clean pit for our FG pool install. They used a Bobcat and dug a "ramp" down into the pool area. This left a wedge of soil missing and they simply pushed some of the excavated soil over it. I noticed that after one rain it had settled a lot. I'm concerned that they didn't properly fill-and-compact layer by layer, as I've seen done elsewhere. Does the forum have any thoughts about this?
Our PB did not have proper-sized equipment to dig a clean pit for our FG pool install. They used a Bobcat and dug a "ramp" down into the pool area. This left a wedge of soil missing and they simply pushed some of the excavated soil over it. I noticed that after one rain it had settled a lot. I'm concerned that they didn't properly fill-and-compact layer by layer, as I've seen done elsewhere. Does the forum have any thoughts about this?
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Our PB really screwed up, placing our pool two feet off. The pool with coping and water-feature wall should have aligned with the back of our garage. It had to be moved, but rather than lifting it, digging, and widening the gravel base, they just widened the opposite trench by a Bobcat bucket-width (no measurements) and DRAGGED the pool sideways partially off the gravel base. When they were done, there was still not enough room for the wall, so we had to scrap it. My concern is that the pool shell is partially sitting on soil, or simply floating over an airgap where there is no gravel base built up. There is no way they could have gotten gravel down there under the base, as the water guy was there and the PB was rushing just to try and get the gravel backfill in so the water guy could get to his next fill. The molded bench on that side of the pool definitely has no gravel fully underneath it.
This also led to the need for more gravel, but as I noted in a different post, they ended up pushing a lot of soil mix into the backfill.
Do I have a liability here, or are these good PBing practices?
This also led to the need for more gravel, but as I noted in a different post, they ended up pushing a lot of soil mix into the backfill.
Do I have a liability here, or are these good PBing practices?
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Thanks to the admin for combining all of our pool install woes in this one thread. Sorry to clog the forum.
Robert,
Jandy has two units that look the same. one has a table feeder and the other has a SWCG... Sorry, I "wrongly" assumed that you had what most newbies have, which is the tab feeder... You will love the SWCG without the mineral cartridge installed..
Thanks,
Jim R.
I'm going to add one more concern...
While our pool was being filled, the PB went to his truck to eat a sandwich! Eventually, there was so much water above the backfill level that the pool was bulging out about a foot in the center of the long sides. Someone yelled to him and he ran back and frantically started the Bobcat to get more gravel in the walls. When he dumped the gravel, there was so much water pressure on the walls that they didn't straighten out. He had to use the bucket to force the gravel into the wall space to "push" the walls back into a roughly straight line. Jeez.
Could this sort of extreme torque/stretching of the shell affect the gelcoat or other? I grew up doing construction and stuff like this would never fly with my crew. Maybe this is normal in the pool business? Again, just more really sloppy work I witnessed.
While our pool was being filled, the PB went to his truck to eat a sandwich! Eventually, there was so much water above the backfill level that the pool was bulging out about a foot in the center of the long sides. Someone yelled to him and he ran back and frantically started the Bobcat to get more gravel in the walls. When he dumped the gravel, there was so much water pressure on the walls that they didn't straighten out. He had to use the bucket to force the gravel into the wall space to "push" the walls back into a roughly straight line. Jeez.
Could this sort of extreme torque/stretching of the shell affect the gelcoat or other? I grew up doing construction and stuff like this would never fly with my crew. Maybe this is normal in the pool business? Again, just more really sloppy work I witnessed.
My wife shot this video of the PB back-filling with an alternating mix of dirt and gravel...
jtburf
0
Should be compacted 3/8"s diameter gravel only all the way to the top. that dirt will filter down and leave voids.
Just my 2 cents!
John
Just my 2 cents!
John
That's what we think too. Our situation is worse than McLovitz's in that we have unknown quantities of excavated dirt layered into the backfill. We also may have a gravel-less gap under the pool when they dragged it sideways (due to placing in wrong location).
My wife and I would appreciate any forum members' feedback on how to handle this situation. We have what could be a complete disaster in the making.
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Who makes the shell? I am about to get a Viking pool installed and I was able to reach out to the manufacturer and they sent me a very detailed installation guide. It specifies very clearly what needs to be done otherwise the warranty is voided. Look at the contract you signed for verbiage regarding warranties.
As per my signature, it's a "Leisure Pools" pool shell. I would assume that if I showed the company these images and video that they would consider our warranty voided. But they do not control the installers, so our only recourse is to deal with the installer.
jtburf
0
You will not know of the void until you can swim it. then you will need to tap or thump to see if you feel or hear a void. Leisure will stand behind the product even if the installer is not up to snuff, this is because of their build process. How far did it need to be moved?
John
John
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