NC Rural Pool Build/ Clay Soil/ 45 min from major city/ HELP

[Dalehughes3]

Hi,

I hope this message finds you all well.

My wife and I were in the market to purchase a pool within the next year and were starting to do our research.

We live in Northern Granville county, about 45 min from Durham, Nc and we're trying to feel out our options on builders.

I have a couple concerns that I would like to chat with you all about. We are in a pasture atop a hill. About 6" below surface is solid clay. We have do not have any water draining issues or standing water, but I'm getting so much information and scare stories that I have no idea what to and what not to believe with regards to clay soil. Also, we have about a 1-2 ft down slope, in a small portion of the potential pool location.

Initially, we liked the price point of a liner pool, but cannot argue with the extended longevity and maintenance cost reduction with a fiberglass. However, with your experience, do you believe a fiberglass would do well in that type of soil?

Lastly who would you all recommend as a PB that would be willing or able to serve my area? I feel I will be hesitant with picking a PB as so the drive won't be too difficult for them, and greatly hinder their ability to complete the job on schedule or fix things as needed in the end.

Our price point is about 40-45k and were looking for a mountain lake style medium sized pool around 14 x 30ish.


ANY advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much,

Dale

 

[jimmythegreek]

if you have expanding type clay you are prob better of with a steel/polymer wall and vermiculite bottom, or a concrete pool. usually see fiberglass where theres good drainage, not to say you couldnt overdig add stone (more than usual on glass install) and pitch the water out with drainage pipe downhill if you have the ability to. your budget should allow you to get a nice pool that size, find ppl in your immediate area with pools and ask who they used and if they recommend them thats best way unless someone here is in ur area with a recommendation

 

[kwhite]

Hi Dale!

We are in Youngsville and currently having a vinyl liner pool built by Destiny Pool Builders. I know they do fiberglass pools as well. They are out of Youngsville and I can’t say enough about them! Jon, the owner is amazing to work with. Feel free to message me. Good luck!

Kristen

 

[VinceL]

We are located in Newton, NC about 1 hour NW of Charlotte. Like you, we have red clay. We had to install our pool on sloped ground in order to allow enough space in our backyard for a repair area (if ever needed) for our septic drainage field.

I definitely wanted a fiberglass pool, but I had concerns about the clay and, being on a slope, drainage. Our pool was installed in 2012, and we have had no issues (keeping my fingers crossed as I type this ).

Two things that I had the PB do to help with my concerns. I had them use gravel as opposed to their usual sand for under and around the pool. And, I had them install a well point next to the deep end of the pool. The well point is a large diameter pipe (I believe ours is 10 or 12 inches) that goes down lower than the bottom of the pool. If you take the cover off the top of well point and shine a flashlight down the pipe, you can see if any water is accumulating and possible creating pressure on the pool shell. Knock on wood, we haven't had any water problems.

Below is a picture from the installation where you can see the slope we had to deal with and the retaining wall that had to be built. And, you can see our wonderful red clay.

 

[Dalehughes3]

Thanks all for your input. I edited my post to clarify that we don't have any standing water and that it all drains fine.

I struggle with the fact that liner pools are sensitive to puncture and chemical fading. I don't want to have to replace a liner 10 years down the road.

 

[sktn77a]

Good luck getting 10 years out of a liner (I think about 7 is the average). We're in Chapel Hill and have the dreaded NC red clay. I know plenty of people around here with fiberglass and cement pools with no problems. Our pool builder did a good job with our recent renovation and I would recommend him for a new inground gunite/shotcrete build (East Coast Pool Finishers in Oak Ridge, NC).

 

[ponygirl]

Even though we are on a slope which enables fast drainage for our clay soil, we had the PB backfill the entire pool with crushed gravel just to make sure we'd have the best drainage possible. Our neighbors used a different PB and have a flat lot in our neighborhood. They backfilled with their excavated clay soil and put in a sump pump. They had so many issues when hurricane Matthew came through and dumped all that rain. Liner started to float, side started to cave in. It was a mess.

 

[Dalehughes3]

Thanks for the advice. Good to know.