Filling In A 32k gallon pool

[deplane]

Our pool has gotten to the point where we no longer want to fool with maintaining it. Over 20 years old. The pool liner went bad last winter and we hemmed and hauled repairing it this summer vs. filling it in. We own a 2nd house at the lake and spend most of our time there in the summer. We live in Syracuse New York and the pool season is short anyway.

My question is what is the best way to fill in the pool myself. I have been brainstorming ideas and have gotten a few estimates. Between 3k and 10k to fill it in. The pool is 10 feet deep to the rim in the deep end and 3 ft deep in the shallow end. If I break up the concrete walk surrounding the pool using a rented excavator I could likely partially fill in the deep end and part of the shallow end using the walkway. I can find cheap red clay bricks in my area, for example, I found 5 pallets of pavers for 500 dollars and there are other deals to be had, seems leftover bricks are cheap but difficult to move. Would bricks be a good fill material or would I be better off with tallow (the leftover by-product of screening topsoil) which is $5 dollars a yard plus delivery then I'd have to rent an excavator to move it to the pool? Then fill the last 18 inches with topsoil which is 25 dollars a yard plus delivery or about 300 dollars a 5-yard dump truckload. Renting an excavator is about 1k per week.

Writing out my question seemed to answer my own questions but what do you think.

thanks
Allen

 

[markayash]

Just an idea when we had our driveway redone we had a sink hole so they buried the old busted up concrete. May see if you can find a driveway company that had concrete to get rid of?
When he did ours he dumped concrete then added a layer of dirt and packed it then more concrete. That was 7 or 8 years ago and its solid.

 

[mknauss]

Be sure to enquire at your municipality building department or other agency on their requirements. Compaction in layers when adding the fill will be necessary or you will have a sinkhole. Using large debris as you are stating is likely not a good idea.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Get a permit. If it's on your deed you will need one to sell one day. You have to take the walls out. Easy to rip out with am excavator. A scrapper will take the steel. Dirt is easy, call a local septic guy tell him you need fill. Free dirt is the easiest thing to get, delivered free too

 

[deplane]

Be sure to enquire at your municipality building department or other agency on their requirements. Compaction in layers when adding the fill will be necessary or you will have a sinkhole. Using large debris as you are stating is likely not a good idea.

The sidewalk around the pool would be broken up into small pieces using a jackhammer attachment for the excavator, this is common practice when filling in pools according to all the youtube videos I've watched. But I have been concerned about creating a sinkhole situation as I plan to build a sunroom on top of the former pool site.

Thanks for your input and advice.

 

[deplane]

Get a permit. If it's on your deed you will need one to sell one day. You have to take the walls out. Easy to rip out with am excavator. A scrapper will take the steel. Dirt is easy, call a local septic guy tell him you need fill. Free dirt is the easiest thing to get, delivered free too

I had not thought of a septic guy, maybe a good idea, we live near a city with large municipal water and sewer public works but many of the surrounding areas still use septic tanks. I'll have to check that out

 

[deplane]

Get a permit. If it's on your deed you will need one to sell one day. You have to take the walls out. Easy to rip out with am excavator. A scrapper will take the steel. Dirt is easy, call a local septic guy tell him you need fill. Free dirt is the easiest thing to get, delivered free too

it was a vinyl-lined pool and the concrete walls and bottom are very thin they won't be a problem at all. I'll have to visit the zoning office I suppose and see what their requirements are, I'll need about 8 dump truck loads of material to fill in the pool and the trucks won't be able to dump it in the pool so I'll have to make about 250 trips to the back yard using an excavator with a 1/4 yard bucket.

 

[deplane]

Just an idea when we had our driveway redone we had a sink hole so they buried the old busted up concrete. May see if you can find a driveway company that had concrete to get rid of?
When he did ours he dumped concrete then added a layer of dirt and packed it then more concrete. That was 7 or 8 years ago and its solid.

good advice but we're in the frozen tundra up north and 90% of all driveways are asphalt and not concrete as concrete drives crack and crumble in this part of the world. Hard fill seems to be scarce in this part of the world.

 

[klanel]

My mother had her liner pool filled in and just filled it in with dirt, leaving the pool in place. It looked like a pool with dirt in it. Still had the decking, coping and looked bad. I have no idea of what that cost and where she lived there was no need for permits.

My great uncle also had their liner pool filled in but they removed everything, walls, steps, plumbing, decking and electrical. They used dirt from their farm to fill and had the workers compact after every 4 inches of fill. And I was told, it cost just over $3600. That is south west of Atlanta. Do not know if they got any permits. If it were me, I'd remove every piece of the pool prior to filling. I have never liked the idea of burying things even if it can't be seen.

 

[markayash]

We have had a few folks here find buried pools and get them working again

 

[klanel]

We have had a few folks here find buried pools and get them working again

My mother sold that house and I wondered if the new owners might want to revive it.

 

[Tcadwall0]

If you are going to build over top of it, you may want an engineer to weigh in. I am pretty sure that many local govt's won't allow you to build over a filled in pool - there may be ways around it. But if this is your plan you really want to do your homework before pulling the trigger.

 

[deplane]

We have had a few folks here find buried pools and get them working again

yeah I was reading those posts. maybe someone will dig mine out someday

 

[deplane]

If you are going to build over top of it, you may want an engineer to weigh in. I am pretty sure that many local govt's won't allow you to build over a filled in pool - there may be ways around it. But if this is your plan you really want to do your homework before pulling the trigger.

the pool is not on the survey on file at the Zoning office, so if I wait a few years no one will be the wiser but yeah I was thinking the same thing. Just a shed really with screened walls and a roof, not living quarters.

 

[deplane]

My mother had her liner pool filled in and just filled it in with dirt, leaving the pool in place. It looked like a pool with dirt in it. Still had the decking, coping and looked bad. I have no idea of what that cost and where she lived there was no need for permits.

My great uncle also had their liner pool filled in but they removed everything, walls, steps, plumbing, decking and electrical. They used dirt from their farm to fill and had the workers compact after every 4 inches of fill. And I was told, it cost just over $3600. That is south west of Atlanta. Do not know if they got any permits. If it were me, I'd remove every piece of the pool prior to filling. I have never liked the idea of burying things even if it can't be seen.

yeah I'm trying to keep the cost around 3 grand or less. See if I can find some free or low cost fill

 

[klanel]

yeah I'm trying to keep the cost around 3 grand or less. See if I can find some free or low cost fill

The one my great uncle filled in was about 2 years ago. When they told me the price I asked if they couldn't find some dirt on the farm and they said that was with dirt off the farm. Maybe you could get your name and address to some trucking companies that might be looking for somewhere to get rid of dirt?

 

[jimmythegreek]

This should be no issue for cheap. Fond am excavator with a small machine or a large mini. No issue I've ripped out pools with a 12k pound machine. Day rate should be 750ish. Get a guy with a full size skidsteer he will have half yard bucket. Same day rate applies. Free fill is easy to find. You would have to let this settle for 2 years if it's not compacted as you fill it. The machine guys would know where to get free fill too. Craigslist and Facebook marketplace are loaded with owner operators looking for work