Hoping to set up ABG today

[dhane3]

My ground is sandy. I put visqueen over leveled area and then 5 bags of moist play sand on top. Clearly isn’t enough sand. Should I just buy more sand? Or just scrap this plan and lay down 2 tarps? Ugh

 

[Wobblerlorri]

If you're wanting to set up today, I'd say use two tarps and scrap the sand. Your bottom might be a little hard, but it'll be okay.

You did kill all the grass and weeds under the visqueen first, right?

 

[dhane3]

I went and purchased more sand before I read your reply. :/ I did remove all the grass and weeds. The pool site is near a very large oak tree that shoots out baby roots. I put the visqueen down to prevent anything growing up through the liner. The sand is to protect the liner? I've been reading for days and thought this would be least expensive way to go. It is raining now so I covered the sand I already put down with a tarp. It is supposed to rain every day for the next week or maybe the rest of the summer. lol Is it ok to proceed in the rain?

 

[Donldson]

Welcome to TFP!

Since we have seen a lot of very saddening posts about this lately, I have to ask: did you carefully level the area? Quite a few people have joined looking for help after filling and finding the pool is far too off-level. They have had to drain, tear it down, re-level, put it back up and refill. So please make doubly sure you level, and make sure you do it by digging down the high spots, not filling in the low spots.

 

[dhane3]

Thanks....I leveled to the best of my ability. I used an 8' board with a level attached. Scraping the dirt down to level it. The ground was lower in the center. My husband is working 7 days a week in the Florida heat so hasn't had time to help. Since it's raining now, I can see puddles in different places. I don't know if it is serious enough to be concerned. The ground is very sandy.

 

[dhane3]

I removed the visqueen and am attempting to level again. Rain is expected this afternoon. The play sand is moist so it doesn't spread out easily. The pool is 16' diameter and I have 5 yards of sand plus the 2.5 yards stuck to the visqueen. I'm considering returning the 10 bags of sand and buying a few tarps as was suggested above. Who needs to work out when you can haul bags of sand in and out of your van? Anyone think I should keep the sand? Which method will make it easier to have a smooth liner? Does the type of tarp matter, or can I get the cheapest that Walmart carries?

 

[dhane3]

I finished leveling before it started to rain. After reading some more posts, I decided to keep the sand and spread it on the dirt before I lay down a tarp. As I scraped away dirt, more small rocks were uncovered. I’ll remove them but hope the sand will help if more come up from the weight of the pool water. I’m really, really tired of this ground prep. This is a much bigger project than I anticipated!! Hoping it will be worth it!

 

[adirondak5]

It will be worth it , good prep work makes for a well setup and safe pool . When you are all done and enjoying the pool you can take pride in your work

 

[dhane3]

Thanks for the encouragement! The foundation is done and plan on setting up the pool tomorrow.

 

[dhane3]

Thanks for all your input and encouragement everyone!
Finished setup yesterday and filled the pool. I ended up about 2" off on my leveling. I put 4 cups of 10% chlorine and 3 cups of cya in a sock (hanging from ladder) at 11:00 a.m. The pump has been running since 11:00 a.m. I don't have a good test kit yet so I picked up HTH test strips.
Results:
FC 0/0
PH 7.2-7.5
TA 80
CYA between 0 and 40

Did the CYA eat up my chlorine? How do I figure how much to add now?

edit: I just added 2 c. of chlorine.

 

[dhane3]

I added a total of 4 more cups of chlorine and I squeezed the sock a few times.

FC 2/4
PH 7.5
CYA 0