I've put up my Intex Ultraframe 12'x24' above ground pool and everything works great (in large part due to the kind people on this forum). We are filling the backyard with chipped pea gravel which we'd love to come as close to the pool as possible (the pool is in a wood frame that's holding sand I leveled the ground with). I was thinking I'll get this foam tubing that's used for insulating wires (think black pool noodles) and run it around the pool so the pebbles to touch the pool... but that's getting pretty pricy. Is there a cheaper alternative people use that still looks good?
How to keep pebbles from puncturing liner?
- Thread starter Dynastol
- Start date
What about black garden bed edging? The flexible plastic stuff you dig down a bit and it sits up as the edge?
Maddie
Maddie
I'm not quite sure what you have going on here. You built a wood frame around the base of the pool and filled that with sand to provide a level surface. Now you are filling the area outside the wood frame with 3/8" crushed stone (aka fractured pea gravel, aka chipped pea gravel, aka staymat) and you want that stone to come up to the edge of the pool as close as possible.
Where is the wood frame in this situation. Wouldn't that in and of itself hold back the stone? Are you trying to put the stone on top of the sand - that is just inviting a mess to happen. Is the wood frame somehow flush with the ground? Is there any reason in particular you are going with 3/8" crushed as opposed to "regular" pea gravel? "Regular" pea gravel is round(ish) and much nicer in above ground visual situations.
If you are set on using something like a foam tube, don't bother with something like pipe insulation which gets pricey (it has to be hollow, it has to be slit, it has to have that adhesive strip)
Look for industrial foam, from someplace like Granger or McMaster Carr
McMaster-Carr - Look for foam cords (not tubes)
I'll look into that - thank you so much, Maddie!What about black garden bed edging? The flexible plastic stuff you dig down a bit and it sits up as the edge?
Maddie
Hey Dave, yes, it's exactly the situation you are pointing out is inviting a mess to happen: I want to cover the sand. I'm thinking now maybe I'll just get wood chips? The reason I was looking at 3/8" crushed is that we are getting a truck load of that delivered anyway to do the back yard, so that seemed like an easy option...
How much sand are you talking about? How wide is the sand area around the pool?
If you have only a few inches of sand until you get to the wood curb, maybe gravel loc, stone glue, landscape binder, or whatever it is called in your neck of the woods, may be an answer.
Heck, it would work if you had 100' of sand, it is just that it starts to get expensive.
Use it on the exposed sand to solidify it and stop it from tracking everywhere. I would keep it off of the pool material.
What about black garden bed edging? The flexible plastic stuff you dig down a bit and it sits up as the edge?
Maddie
I used this around my Intex - worked great. I would NOT recommend mulch - it floats when it rains and doesn’t stay where you put it.