Old pool under new pool?

[mariane]

I have a friend who wants to put up a new 16x32 rectangle AGP Intex pool in an area of her yard. She and her husband just discovered an old buried IGP underneath. They can't tell the size of the old pool and are trying to find out from the previous owner more information regarding the IGP. They just bought the property this past spring and have no intentions of restoring the IGP.

How long does the ground in the buried pool have to be in place for it to be considered "undisturbed" ground?
We are trying to figure out their options.

 

[GSD_fanatic]

7-10 years if just dirt.

 

[sktn77a]

Just filling in pools is not legal in most areas. Talk to you local building inspection office.

 

[Nikilyn]

Just filling in pools is not legal in most areas. Talk to you local building inspection office.

Why isn't it legal?

 

[zea3]

Why isn't it legal?

There is a correct way to fill in a pool so it doesn't create a hazard by collecting stagnant water or popping out of the ground. Also some people dump a lot of junk and garbage into the pool and then cover it with dirt. This can lead to injury when someone tries to excavate the area for whatever reason or if someone tries to build on top of unstable ground.

@mariane This would be my concern in your friend's case. It doesn't matter how long its been buried if the bottom is full of junk that can shift and settle once about 15K gallons weighing 127K lbs is placed on top of it. Sometimes a professional will break up the coping and bond beam and dump it into the pool, and jackhammer out the floor, or at least punch a few holes in it. Sometimes people diy and fill the pool with old patio furniture, pool equipment, tree trunks and limbs, and anything else they want gone. Putting that much weight on top of junk fill will cause voids under the dirt to collapse.

 

[mariane]

I have forwarded this thread to my friends.
Thank you all for your input. It is definitely a major concern and your incite is very much appreciated.

 

[Rich D]

We are trying to figure out their options.

That is a tough one. I would suggest when speaking with previous owner to get the name of the company that did the work to fill in the pool and contact that company to see if they have any records of doing the Fill in correctly. It requires a fair amount of fill to do this so it it usually not something your typical homeowner can do correctly. Even if they hired a "Professional" to do the work there are many "Professionals" out there that will cut corners at every bend to save a buck and this is especially true in the pool industry.

No matter what information they find there will always some risk involved in placing a pool on disturbed ground.
I would suggest getting a estimate from a engineering firm to do some boring samples of the area and see if that is a price they can live with to ensure there new pool wont sink. The other option of course is to dig out all disturb material and replace it correctly by compacting in lifts if it is suitable or replacing it with suitable material and compacting that in lifts.

Of course if they are determined to put in the pool and the boring show unsuitable conditions then they would need to excavate anyway. My suspicion (lack of trust in anybody to anything correctly) would be that the boring will show unsuitable conditions so I personally would simply get a few quotes on excavating the area and filling it back in with compacted structural material. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯