Over My Head with this Pool!

[Retrodiana]

Hello All,
I am trying to make a flat pad for the pool I bought, a 32'x16'x52" Intex, and it may be Over My Head. The house was built a year ago and the lot was stripped and filled with a mild slope where I'm making the pad. Do I have to eliminate all the fill?

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! You need to dig down to firm, level ground. How much fill is it?

 

[Retrodiana]

Thanks! It varies between a foot to 2 feet. There is a lot of wood and rock that's coming up. I was thinking of putting crushed rock over it, then sand...

 

[zea3]

Some members have built a box 6-8" deep big enough to hold the pool and filling it with runs of crusher or decomposed granite that have been tamped down. They level the interior of the box and use that as the pad to support the pool. It will be important that the ground under the pool pad be as stable as you can get as thousands of gallons of water will compress the ground under it far better than any mechanical tamping will, so any voids under the pool will turn up over time and may require you to re-level the pool.
Sand alone will not provide a stable base. Sand is used for padding on top of a stable base, and you may need to divert rain run off away from the pool to prevent the sand from washing away.

 

[Retrodiana]

Thanks! That sounds like what I need to do.