Landscaping issue - What would you do?

[Brett S]

I just put in an intex 32x16 pool and I have decided to put river rock around it. Most of it is going to be pretty easy as the pool is pretty much at grade:


I’ll just fill in between the edger and the pool, and I’m going to stuff some pool noodles under the pool to help keep rocks from working their way under the liner.

However, one side of the pool is about 4 or 5 inches below grade:



This goes right up to the house and I’m planning to fill the whole space between the house and the pool with the river rock.


But I’m not quite sure what to do with the area that’s below grade. Initially I was thinking I would just fill it all with rock, so that area would have 5 or 6 inches of rock, but the whole surface would be level. But that also means that the pool legs would be covered with rock and I’m not sure if that would be a problem.
The other option I’m considering would be to use some of the left over pavers that I used on the porch to built a mini retaining wall sort of thing and have a low section near the pool and a high section near the house.

Any thoughts or suggestions for me?

 

[PoolGate]

Lol yeah i went with River Rock. It looks great the first season until garbage collects in all the cracks. It's more upkeep that you'd think.

 

[RobertFlagg]

I am no expert, but I would not want the possibility of rocks to creep under the liner. I like the pool noodle concept but would be worried over time that it would disintegrate. I would build a little retaining wall that continues from your deck all the way around the pool and back-fill the rock on the other side of it. Another thing to consider is drainage. My kids always played ruff in the pool and there was constant water flowing over the edge. All that water has to go somewhere, and preferably away from the base of the pool. Just my suggestions, good luck, and looks great.

 

[kimkats]

I am going to think on this some while I wash all of this nasty pollen off my car.........@poolgate did you leave the rock there? What do you think would work better?

 

[Brett S]

Well, for better or worse I’m pretty committed to river rocks and pool noodles at this point

I did like the river rocks as they tend to be rounder and less sharp, so if one or to do manage to work their way under the liner I feel like they would be less likely to cause a puncture.

My other option was mulch, but someone pointed out in another thread that mulch can retain moisture, which could encourage the pool legs to rust. And frankly, mulch isn’t a no maintenance type thing either.

I’m starting on the sides of the pool that are at grade and I’ll work around to the side that I’m not sure what to do with.

 

[ajw22]

Even with river rock don't ley it keep water or moisture near your pool supports or it will promote rust. You have to let the metal supports breathe and dry.

 

[kimkats]

Looks good so far!

 

[PoolGate]

I am going to think on this some while I wash all of this nasty pollen off my car.........@poolgate did you leave the rock there? What do you think would work better?

I blow it out a lot with a leaf blower. It's all still there. I wish I had gone with smaller stone even a smaller River Rock but we used the large stuff.