HELP please. Despite leveling ground, pavers have cracked.

[lastevns]

So this so sucks.

I am filling my pool. It's about 3/4 full and suddenly I see two of my pavers crack under their respective pool legs. I'll include photos.

Do I stop filling and drain the pool to replace these pavers or do I fill it and run the risk the legs will disengage completely from the pavers? If they do the legs will drop by about 1 5/8" now. Who knows about the future. I have hard packed earth that was tilled and leveled and sand was added.

This has me super worried but I really don't want to lose the already $100 investment in water. Any wise advice would be appreciated.

 

[Dirk]

@kimkats and @Casey to the rescue!

 

[ajw22]

I have hard packed earth that was tilled and leveled and sand was added.

Pools need to be placed on undisturbed ground that can support the water weight.

Your pavers likely cracked because they started settling into the ground from the water weight.

You need to dig down for your base to undisturbed ground.

How to level above ground pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[kimkats]

GURRRRRRRR OH NO!!! The place where the pavers were put should have been dug down so the top of the pavers were level with the ground around it. It is just like @ajw22 says................the weight of the water push the legs down and snap went the paver.

You have worked SO hard to put this pool up. I am SO sorry this happened

 

[Newdude]

If you replace them, you want 4 inch pavers, not the stepping stone like 2 inchers that are really 1.75.

Not all of the ones you used crack, but enough of them do that we reccomend the fat ones.

 

[kimkats]

Good catch Dude!

 

[Newdude]

It's not to say the fat ones won't crack if they have too much settling, but with all the effort that went into the project, you want every last small advantage going for you.

Keep us posted. We're sure rooting for you.

 

[Casey]

You definitely need thicker pavers.

 

[Mdragger88]

Step 1 - get new pavers
Step 2 - put pavers IN the ground w/ their tops level w/ the rest of the leveled ground.
Sorry this happened- but u will need to drain to accomplish the above steps.

 

[Dirk]

but u will need to drain to accomplish the above steps.

Is there no way, one by one, to jack or lever the support up about 1/2", enough to slip out the old paver (cracked or new), dig out the area to accommodate a thicker paver, slip the new one under and level it with sand, and then drop the support back down? To avoid emptying the pool?

 

[lastevns]

Pools need to be placed on undisturbed ground that can support the water weight.

Your pavers likely cracked because they started settling into the ground from the water weight.

You need to dig down for your base to undisturbed ground.

How to level above ground pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang, Dang. I knew this and, after days of working on everything else, I forgot it. Well, sort of. The BF and I even talked about it. But, that was like a week ago. And, after all the prep. We forgot. I could SO kick myself. Thank you for the reminder. Since only 2 cracked, we went ahead and finished filling. Also, it seems we didn't buy think enough pavers. Yay. I recalled someone saying that the pavers they purchased were only a couple dollars at Lowes so I sent the BF to buy those that cost a couple dollars. Another D'oh! Do you think the pool will collapse on the corner with the two broken pavers? If so, we will need to drain it and start over.

 

[lastevns]

Pools need to be placed on undisturbed ground that can support the water weight.

Your pavers likely cracked because they started settling into the ground from the water weight.

You need to dig down for your base to undisturbed ground.

How to level above ground pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

*sighs* Yes, saw this from someone else. And, as I wrote, I DID know this from my research, initially, and then forgot it (trying to put up the pool around a full work day and just forgot). Plus, it seems I should have purchased better pavers.

Since only 2 cracked, we finished filling. Do you think I should drain the pool and start over? I stand to lose about $130 in water (prices go up today for summer water use). Still, I don't want the pool collapsing on that corner if the pavers move more (they never went further than the cracking you see but, could they...?)

 

[lastevns]

GURRRRRRRR OH NO!!! The place where the pavers were put should have been dug down so the top of the pavers were level with the ground around it. It is just like @ajw22 says................the weight of the water push the legs down and snap went the paver.

You have worked SO hard to put this pool up. I am SO sorry this happened

Thank you for the empathy. It was stressful enough that if the BF and I didn't really love and like each other, there might have been a break up over this. I did the research and directed him as to what to buy and so it's on me. I also forgot about the digging down part. And clearly I needed thicker pavers. My bad.

Would you suggest draining the (now full) pool and starting over? Do you think the pool will come down if I don't?

 

[lastevns]

It's not to say the fat ones won't crack if they have too much settling, but with all the effort that went into the project, you want every last small advantage going for you.

Keep us posted. We're sure rooting for you.

Yeah, I've heard somewhere, "When you're stupid, it's gotta hurt." In my case it was more working days and trying to do this after getting home. Wondering, would drain the pool and start again? I don't want the whole pool collapsing.

 

[lastevns]

You definitely need thicker pavers.

Yep. That and a better memory for the very research I looked up and then forgot. Just have to decide whether to drain and start over.

 

[lastevns]

Step 1 - get new pavers
Step 2 - put pavers IN the ground w/ their tops level w/ the rest of the leveled ground.
Sorry this happened- but u will need to drain to accomplish the above steps.

Okay. So you think I should drain and start again. Can you tell me what to expect with the pool until I can do this? (working all week and taking lunch to respond).

 

[lastevns]

Is there no way, one by one, to jack or lever the support up about 1/2", enough to slip out the old paver (cracked or new), dig out the area to accommodate a thicker paver, slip the new one under and level it with sand, and then drop the support back down? To avoid emptying the pool?

Yeah,, I have heard of people jacking up a pool but that might be more expensive and extensive than paying for another $130 of water. Do you think the pool could collapse if those 2 pavers move more? So far they've remained where they were when they cracked.

 

[Mdragger88]

The issue with the legs being higher instead of on the same level as the pool bottom is that they & the top rails are now supporting more weight than they are designed to instead of equally sharing the load with the liner bottom.
This could lead to wonky/bent rails & it also puts stress on all the seams of the liner.
I would make a plan to correct it sooner than later if u wish for the pool to have the longest life possible being as it is a temporary style pool. Some people have used pressure treated boards instead of pavers as they are less likely to crack.

A full drain may not be necessary but the pressure has to be off of the supports enough to be able to manipulate them so u have room to do your work.
*Edited to add * I don’t think it will collapse or anything in the next week or so as the pool is quite level- these pools are quite robust for being large bags of water. I can imagine that the other pavers will likely start cracking as well. All That water is heavy.
Since the ground below the pavers is the correct height this only becomes a problem if the legs begin to sink below that level (like if the ground gets really saturated) & the pool would then become unlevel .

 

[Newdude]

Wondering, would drain the pool and start again? I don't want the whole pool collapsing.

It's real easy for me to tell you that you should. I freely admit both of those facts.

 

[Dirk]

Yeah,, I have heard of people jacking up a pool but that might be more expensive and extensive than paying for another $130 of water. Do you think the pool could collapse if those 2 pavers move more? So far they've remained where they were when they cracked.

Everything I know about AG pools I wrote in post #2 above. And that's to call in my pals, 'cause they know their stuff, and they know AG! I'm an IG guy.

But I can share this. I'm in my second week of redoing a construction project that I shortcutted the first time (it uses the same pavers, coincidentally). I ignored my own advice: "Do it right, do it once." If @kimkats or @Casey say you can try jacking it up, or not to, I'd go with that.