Paving stone strength question

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N

nzsummer

Member
Jan 3, 2022
9
New Zealand
Hi there, I stumbled across this site by chance, as I was looking for advice on setting up our 32' Intex pool - we are in New Zealand at the start of a very hot summer. I underestimated the slope in our yard and we are now waiting on a pro to come and sort that before we can do the assembly but in the mean time I am hoping to find some advice on paving stones (please excuse any errors I make as we work in metric terms :)
I have read a lot about pavers breaking and I have found some which are slightly bigger than the recommended size in the manual (they are 400mmx400mmx50mm), and have a strength rating of 40Mpa - but this means nothing to me! Can anyone tell me if this sounds solid enough?
We will be installing on flat, level soil. I will also be investing in an additional heavy duty ground tarp of 430gsm.
Ultimately we would like to deck around but want to be sure of the position first, so this year is really a test run and we will drain it at the end of the summer and look to make any changes for next year.
Any advice would be appreciated and any Kiwi's on here who might read this, please let me know if you have any tips!

Thanks in advance.
 
+1. 2 inchers are over glorified stepping stones and not suited well for load bearing.
 
Thank you everyone, appreciate the advice. I'm struggling to find anything here that is thicker than 50mm. I definitely want to have room to fit the whole foot but can someone advise me if this is width ways or if the foot needs the equivalent room to move forwards and backwards? So could I use say a 650mmx250mm block or does it have to be a square?
Thanks again. I will also explore the idea of pressure treated wood although I have no idea what that actually is. Might be time to visit the building supply store in person 😊
 
After underestimating the slope of our yard we have a landscaping team coming in to sort it out for us. My question is how much actual area do we need to have cleared for this size pool. I'm working in metric with pool dimensions of 9.75x4.88 and we have been working on preparing an area of 10mx5m. Is this going to be enough? I know the manual says to allow an additional clear space around the pool which I understand is to prevent children having objects to climb on which would help them get into the pool. But I just need to know how much area to get the landscapers to clear and prep. The last thing I want to do is have them come in and level it and then be short when it comes time to assemble. We are working with existing (high) fence on two sides.
Thanks in advance. The one upside to our very slow ground prep has been the time I've had to read through so many posts on here.
:)
 
Still looking at options and wondering if anyone has had success using metal plates under the leg supports. I may be able to get some 24 gauge sheet metal cut to size - would this work? I think it converts to about 1/4inch thick.
 

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If this is for a rectangle shaped intex then yes - the plywood is ok. Be sure the top of the board is flush with the ground level that the pool bottom is on.
The idea here is to keep the legs from sinking. The boards help to distribute the load from the legs & are a little easier to deal with than pavers. Do a search here & you should come across some threads explaining the plywood. It must be pressure treated.
If i was going to build a deck around it I would probably want pavers as they don’t rot.
Here’s a great build with pavers 👇

New AGP build - Intex 12x24

Spent last week prepping a spot for my first pool. We got an Intex 12x24 on sale over the winter after reading up on them. Hired an excavator to get us down to the solid ground and haul in and compact the choke. Finished up leveling and smoothing out the sand late last night, so no pics of...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Thank you so much. Yes, this is a rectangular pool. We have struggled to find anything here that fits the description in the manual for the timber. I just assumed pavers would be ok, but I have read so much on here about them cracking and since we need so many (24 for our pool), I don't want to get it wrong.
Plywood is easier to get but not in the 1.2" thickness specified. Is there anyone on her in New Zealand who has done something else that worked?
 
We have been slowly progressing on our pool set up. The landscapers have been and levelled the soil and placed sand on top. They say we are good to go. But the sand layer seems quite thick and so when we place the wood supports for the legs (we have pressure treated plywood) can I push these down into the sand so they are at the soil level or will that not be deep enough. Would the wood pieces end up being too low? Or will the weight of the pool flatten out the sand enough for them to meet up? This is an intex 32' rectangular pool.

Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks. So if I can get the supports to the level of the soil I will be ok? Or do I then have to dig additionally? Or is the sand too thick in this case? Probably sound pretty clueless, I have read everything I can find and then "experts" come in to do the work and tell me that it's ready and it doesn't match some of what I have read. I'm very new to this and doing it on my own, so I just want to get it right.
Thanks again.
 
You don't have to dig if the soil is undisturbed. Undisturbed soil is ground that has not been touched for years.

Disturbed soil will not support the weight and settle. Putting pool legs on sand can lead to problems. There is no guarantee if things will be good or not. You will own the problems, not the "experts".
 
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