I need lots of help with design and placement

[Brett S]

Unfortunately my 15’ intex pool rusted out and needed to be taken down. I want to replace it with something bigger and better and I’d also like to plan to build a deck around part of the pool as well. I’m really struggling to figure out what size pool would be best, as well as figuring out what the deck should look like.

I’m planning to go with an intex XTR pool with a 52” depth and I’d like to go as large as possible. The ones I’m considering are the 32x16x52 or 24x12x52 rectangular and the 24x52 round. I really like the 32x16x52 best, but I’m a bit afraid that it might be too much for my yard. The 24x12x52 might fit in the yard better but in the end that’s not really considerably bigger than the 15’ round pool I had and with the 12’ sides I’m afraid that it may even feel smaller. The 24’ round pool is an option too, but again I feel like it might be a bit too big for my yard.

Here are some pictures of the yard:



And here is a drawing of the back yard:


Right now I’m thinking that maybe a multi level deck would be good, starting at ground level outside the porch and working up to the pool level with the deck.

Something like one of these:

24’ round

32x16 rectangular

But I’m not sure where I would divide the deck to make different levels and I’m not sure that it would really be big enough to warrant different levels. I’m afraid that instead of looking like two or three levels it will just look like oversized stairs.

I would appreciate any and all suggestions about pool size and position as well as deck design

 

[ajw22]

@kimkats should be by soon to help with your design.

 

[AusPhil]

If i could have fitted the 16x32 in my yard i would have but i was limited to a 12x24. going back your use case from the original thread the 16x32 seems ideal and it seems to fit well based on the drawing

 

[kimkats]

I will work on this this afternoon! This will be fun!

Kim

 

[Brett S]

I will work on this this afternoon! This will be fun!

Kim

Lol, I’m glad you think it will be fun. I find it rather daunting and overwhelming. But I certainly appreciate any suggestions and advice that you have

 

[kimkats]

I am sorry I did not get to this before now.



So here is my thinking:
-extend the deck to the end of the pool. This deck will be very close to the top of the pool. This will allow you to attach the ladder there as well. The main reason for the bigger deck there is for people to sit there and watch and enjoy the pool and the people in it. You want to be able to have a couple of chairs and a small table (NO glass!) up there.

-see the green lines? those are the steps. Again it allows people to sit and enjoy the yard and deck.

-the deck by that wonderful porch-I am thinking concrete or pavers. You can do it in wood but that is going to be a pain to keep the boards replaced as they rot and such from being so close to the ground not to mention the fighting with the weeds that will try to grow through it.

These ideas will work with the round or the rectangle pool. Just use the same thinking.

Kim

 

[Brett S]

@kimkats thank you so much for your thoughts. I spent the afternoon removing the rest of the stuff from the old pool and painting lines in my back yard. Based on your suggestions, here is what I’ve come up with:





So here are my thoughts in no particular order. This is based on the 16’x32’ pool. I think it can definitely fit in my back yard, but by the time I get the pool and the deck in the yard it will pretty much *be* my back yard. There won’t really be any room for anything else. I think that I’m OK with that though. I really didn’t use my back yard for much beyond swimming anyway.

The lower deck area (although like you suggested, I’ll probably make it out of pavers) will be about 24’x13.5’. I feel like this is a pretty good size and I could probably even get some furniture on it if I wanted to.

However as I have it painted out the upper deck area will only be about 8’x16’, and the steps to the upper deck will need to come out of that, so the effective size will be somewhat smaller. I question whether this will be big enough. I feel like it’s almost kind of in an awkward middle sort of size. It’s certainly big enough for entry to the pool, and if that’s all it’s being used for then it really could probably be even smaller. But I don’t think it’s big enough for any furniture or lounging on that section of the deck. I could move the pool left or right a bit to make it 6’x’16’ or as big as 10’x16’ or maybe even as much as 12‘x16’, but I’m not sure if that really buys me anything.




Right now I have the pool about 6.5’ from the house, which puts it about 13’ from the fence. I think the space between the pool and the house kind of becomes wasted space, so I wanted to make it as small as possible, but still be big enough that the pool wasn’t right up against the house and to make sure that there was room to walk around the pool for maintenance and such. I’ll probably remove the grass in that area and just cover it with mulch (Or possibly pavers).

I could play with this a bit and move the pool closer to the fence, but I’m not sure that there’s any real benefit to doing that. Moving it closer to the fence also moves it closer to that crape myrtle, which will put leaves and flowers in the pool.

So seeing all this, what do you guys think? I think these are my pressing questions right now...

Is the pool too big for the yard?

Is the lower deck area at 24’x13.5’ big enough?

Is the upper deck area at 16’x8’ big enough? Or too big?

Is 6.5’ between the house and the pool enough?

Anything else that I’m not thinking of that I should be?

Thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions. I just found out that my parents are coming to visit at the end of February, so I’ll be able to force them into manual labor to help build this. I’ll keep staring at my painted lines for another few days and as long as no one has any strong objections I’ll probably order the pool later this week to make sure it’s here in time for my parents to help put it all together.

 

[kimkats]

Is the lower deck area at 24’x13.5’ big enough?
I think it will be.........use some rope the size of table you think you will use there to see how you feel about the size then.

Is the upper deck area at 16’x8’ big enough? Or too big?
The 8' is not wide enough............push the pool to the left (looking at the house) and let the upper deck follow it. You could also bump the deck out to the right at the same time. That will give you a good sized deck up there. We LOVE to sit by the pool and eat or just chat.

Is 6.5’ between the house and the pool enough?
That is something you will need to check into. Check your local codes and see what they say. Every area is so different so lets see what your area says to be on the safe side.

I put my thoughts in purple above. I would do the whole area between the pool/deck with pavers to take away the worry of mowing damage and such.

I agree in to taking it much closer to the back of the yard due to the trees. Good thinking there!

Kim

 

[Brett S]

Thanks again @kimkats . I’ll plan to move the pool a bit to the left to increase the upper deck size. I went ahead and ordered the pool yesterday I ordered from savemoreonpoolsupplies through walmart.com and on the product page it was showing a 2 day delivery time. I knew the pool would be sent via freight, so I figured two days was probably not feasible, but when I actually went to check out it was showing a delivery window between Feb 12th and March 20th. The March 20th date scared me because my help will be here at the end of the month and I wanted to be sure the pool was here by then.

I talked to the folks at savemoreonpoolsupplies and they seemed quite helpful and knowledgable. They assured me that it shouldn’t take much more than a week for the pool to get here and they even managed to get the pool shipped yesterday afternoon, only a few hours after I placed the order. And amazingly the freight carrier is showing a delivery day of 2/13. Even if it doesn’t get here on Thursday it should arrive well before the end of the month. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get this 561 pound box from the end of my driveway where the freight carrier leaves it into my back yard (or maybe into my garage until I’m ready to put up the pool).

I guess now that there’s a pool on order that it’s time for me to start an official build thread for this project.

Thanks again for your help

 

[Newdude]

Is the pool too big for the yard?

One way of looking at it is : would you rather be mowing/fertilizing/weeding that space, or floating on it with a tasty beverage ?

 

[kimkats]

If you slip the driver a buck or 10 they might help you move it. If not then you can move it a piece at a time.

Kim

 

[Newdude]

Now all I have to do is figure out how to get this 561 pound box from the end of my driveway where the freight carrier leaves it into my back yard

Harbor Freight has hand trucks in the $50 range and it would be somewhat manageable to move with 2 people. They also have many other dolleys etc.

 

[Brett S]

Harbor Freight has hand trucks in the $50 range and it would be somewhat manageable to move with 2 people. They also have many other dolleys etc.

That‘s a good idea. I actually have a little hand truck and I was thinking that this would be way too much for it, but I just looked at it and apparently it has a 800lb carrying capacity.

 

[Newdude]

I garauntee that in FL you have at least one neighbor that likes 6 packs. In Utah, maybe notsomuch, but FL will be no problem.