My first AGP build

[cramar]

Ha, gut check time. Seriously, I know your stress, everything going thru your head was going thru mine as well, when I filled up my pool all I could do was mentally run thru all the steps I did to see if I missed anything. The weight of water going in that thing was stressful, I got up a few times in the middle of the night with a flashlight to make sure all was well.
From your posts I think your doing exactly as you should be, sounds to me like you educated yourself and are right on track.

I waited until the water was probably a foot or so (maybe less) from the skimmer hole before cutting and inserting, this will avoid the possibility of liner stretch. I reached over the side of my pool and it wasn't easy to screw everything together but the water was far to cold to get in the pool - obviously just take care not to slip and ding the liner with the screwdriver.
My skimmer came with a single "rubber gasket" that was basically a V groove over the pool frame, no silicone, just that gasket and the plastic front/back that is screwed together.

One thing that was nerve racking and exhilarating all at once, when I was finally done and the water was reasonably warm enough to enter, I did the biggest cannon ball I could, man I sent water everywhere...and everything held. After 1 summer I appreciate much better the strength that 60' of corrugated steel has.

 

[copotay]

Tks Cramar that's what mine is too a V-type gasket and yes that might be a great idea to lean over the side I haven't duck hunted in years and don't have my waiters anymore.

 

[copotay]

Up to date, got the water near the strainer and cut the liner, whew, nerve racking, put the pump now started the deck, got half way on the 2 x 6 deck boards as of last night, almost finished.

 

[cramar]

Looking good!!
By any chance are you doing all this yourself, your project is so much like the one I did last year so I know the work your doing, I can also say that your gonna be really satisfied once your done!!

 

[linen]

I agree it looks great! Keep the pictures coming (I have a deck to build in my future). A question...why are the corners sunk and the center support posts are on floating piers?

 

[Highlandreef]

I was wondering the same until I realized he is in la, chances are the ground will never freeze so I would think it won't shift much but since not from that area not really sure?

 

[copotay]

Here are the finished pictures of the deck minus the rail for the step, now its just a few touch up things like finishing the remainder around the pool with the gravel and stone boarder like we did under the deck, figured it was easier to spread the gravel, lay the stone boarder, and spread the limestone base before the deck was up. I also have the water a few inches from all the way up and have not ran the pump yet check for leaks etc. I had to do the intex mods for the pump because the intex sand filter is not standard fittings, so I will see how that goes when I crank her up. Me and the wife or dead tired after this past week. We had the ground pretty much prepped before the pool came in and glad we did. We officially started with the triple leveling last Sunday and I screwed my last board on the deck yesterday afternoon at 5:30 pm. Now its time to go back to regular work tomorrow, looking so forward to it. We really need another week just to rest!!!

Tks for the comments really appreciate it.

Cramar, yes it was just me, my wife, and sometimes my 13 year old boy, and tks for the pics of your build because it helped me along the way alot.

Linen: I concreted the corner posts, as Highlandreef said, because here in southern Louisiana our ground never freezes and the only reason I did not cement the center supports is because it was easier to use the deck blocks with the 2 x 8 instead of digging 9 more post holes with my post hole digger. The deck is 16 feet wide and around 12 feet long on one side and 14 feet on the other. And I had to make the rails by hand screwing in each baluster. The lights on the posts are solar 4 x 4 led cap lights from Home Depot. I will be letting the treated pine wood dry a bit before staining, oh and thats another decision, what color!!!, lol. The screws on the deck are from Lowes 3 1/2 inch deck screws with the star head not phillips, wonderful invention, the star head added to a decking screw, nearly impossible to strip like the phillip heads I used in the past. They are expensive though $30.00 for 5 lbs and it took me 10 pds to do that size deck. The Carriage bolts are 6 inch 3/8 in size and I had to buy a 12 dollar long drill bit to go through the 4 x 4 then through the 2 x 6.

Without this forum and the many helpful members I would have had a difficult time not knowing what to expect or where to go sometimes. I hope some of my experiences can help others with their build or addons because again I will say until you go through it there is nothing like it. Being 47 years old I never ran across some of the things I had to do although I have built decks before, not that high or round on one end, and I never put up a pool although over my life our family had some that had been installed by professionals years ago. Here are the pics

 

[cramar]

Wow, nice job man, you put that deck and pool up in great time
I know full well how tired you are, you should be proud of yourself, you've clearly done a great job.
Now bring on the sun!

 

[copotay]

Oh yeah bring the sun, now to enjoy the fruits of our labor, tks

 

[copotay]

Finally got to enjoy the pool, weather was perfect and the water was not to bad once you got in.

 

[linen]

Looks great copotay

 

[copotay]

Tks linen

 

[supertune]

I hope some of my experiences can help others with their build or addons because again I will say until you go through it there is nothing like it. Being 47 years old I never ran across some of the things I had to do although I have built decks before, not that high or round on one end, and I never put up a pool although over my life our family had some that had been installed by professionals years ago. Here are the pics

Nice!
Yes, your pic's help me a lot!
I'm digging now to install my 21' Princeton.
At 52, digging to bury 18" inches with a 6 ft deep center will be on my DIY list of never doing it again! (hanging ceiling drywall is another one on the list)
Again, great job! I'll be looking at the deck building come this winter, I don't think the summer weather will let me do it...too hot, will just want to swim when we get it get up!

Chuck

 

[racerboy6996]

great build.. looks very nice

 

[copotay]

Tks racerboy6996, and supertune I would agree with you there on the heat, thats why I decided to get it done as early as possible before our heat and humidity would have really slowed me down. And wow, digging to bury 18" inches with a 6 ft deep center, man thats alot of dirt moving it with a shovel, are u thinking about renting a machine to maybe rough out the hole first, like a baby trackhoe, I have used them before and they are pretty easy to learn and you can rent it with a smooth blade, (no teeth). I made three rounds to get it level, and only went 6 inches deep on the high side, the other side I just basically dug out the grass and levelled about 2 inches, then applied layer upon layer of roundup. In fact I applied roundup (weed killer) to the grass in a 23 foot circle about 5 months ago so it would be dead before digging. One man one shovel, oh and one wife wheelbarrowing the dirt out, it took me about two days to get it right before putting in the pavers. I had a problem with a real old manual transit that I was using to level, I could not get it to show level 360 degrees and did not trust it, so I got my hands on a laser transit that got me to within 3 mm of level. I also double checked it with the board and 4 foot level. The water tells the tale once the pool is full, it was right on mark. I did not use this machine for the job because I did not have to go that deep but this is one I used before and if you need any help with the build just let me know and I will try to answer your question to the best of my knowledge and own experience, now remember I am still an amateur at this.

 

[bullet20]

hey iam right down the road from u. :-D new iberia

 

[copotay]

Cool, I think there are few more of us south Louisianians on here too

 

[bullet20]

Cool, I think there are few more of us south Louisianians on here too

there a couple.
I found this site last year or so,a i have been needed it,it has been the best thing that happen to save $ and under standing the pool tech.I listen to this good guy on here and has been a big help useing the BBB SWG system.
Last year on after start up i had water clear all summer and only bought mratic acid to keep ph down and not much also a lil salt loss from back washing.
Good luck.

 

[copotay]

Tks good luck to you too, and I will definitely agree with you there, so many helpful contributors making pool ownership enjoyable instead of a headache.

 

[Top98Percent]

Looks great.

How's the top ledge on that Venture? Pretty sturdy?