Summer Escapes Pro Series 15' x 42" First Time Build

[nazran]

Good Morning. I picked up a Summer Escapes Pro Series 15' x 42" this weekend for $219 (Reg $299). I wanted to document my site build so you can see/comment on what I am doing wrong or right. I am currently in Day 3 of the build but I will go back to Day 1 for my first post.

I live in Euless TX which is just west of the DFW airport. I am lucky in that I have deep topsoil and sandy red dirt/clay as opposed to the sticky dark clay a lot of metroplex people have. My yard is St Augustine. My backyard is heavily traffic'd by three children (ages 10,6,2) so I have compacted soil with some weeds.

First 4 Photos: The current swing set that is falling apart.

I have long suspected that prior to the old swing set that was already there in 2005 when we purchased the house that another round AGP had been on the same site. The swing set sits in what I would loosely describe as a dinner plate/shallow bowl about 20 ft across. Looking back at Google Earth imagery I can tell that in the early 2000's a circular above ground pool did exist. My kids have aided in the depression by wearing down the sod at the two swing sites.

Next Photos Swingset Down

Thanks for reading !

 

[nazran]

Day 1 Continued.
I finished up day 1 by setting up my 2x4 and level, then using that to start digging up sod around the circle. (Yes I am transplanting some of the good sod to other spots in my yard that need it.)

I picked up a 2"x4"x2' and drove it in to my center point of the pool. I attached an 8' 2"x4" to the post and then started sod removal. My circle will end up being 16'6" in diameter. I probably should have gone to 17' but

Day 2
I had to go to work but wife and kids did their best to bust up more sod for me to transplant.

"I'm giving her all she's got Captain!"

When I got home from work I continued and got all of the sod I wanted out. I left it last night with only a couple of spots left that had crabgrass.

 

[nazran]

Day 3
Here is where we are this morning. When I get home tonight I will remove the last bit of crabgrass (if wife and kids do not get it).

After all of the crabgrass is gone I am going to drive the center 2x4 further in to the ground. Then start pushing the dirt around until it is level.

At this point is where I probably need to get some opinions. Money is always tight and I need to know how we all (tfp community) feel about my next couple of steps as it pertains to working in my budget.

1. I suspect when I am done with first leveling that I will have dug about 3" to 4" down.
2. I plan on buying a 10x10 tamper at lowes and compacting the sandy topsoil to compact as good as possible.
3. Lightly wet compact and then repeat tamping while checking level multiple times

At this point can I get away with NOT bringing in sand to place on top of the topsoil? I priced 4x8' 1/2" extruded foam board from Lowes at $10 a sheet. Can I lay this on top of the topsoil with cutouts for pavers? The sand was not expensive in itself but delivery was very expensive and I dont own a truck to pick it up.

Thanks in advance.

 

[cramar]

If it's in the budget a sod remover will make short work of that site, most tool rental places should have them and they'll go thru that sod in about 5 minutes and leave a nice relatively even surface, then you just need to fine tune leveling.

Just a suggestion.

 

[nazran]

Hi I thought about that but I actually needed to transplant the sod to another location in my yard that is bare so that is what I did... tough work for the out of shape.

 

[nazran]

2. I plan on buying a 10x10 tamper at lowes and compacting the sandy topsoil to compact as good as possible.
3. Lightly wet compact and then repeat tamping while checking level multiple times

Hand Tamper $38 @ Lowes...
or
20" Plate Compactor Rental 4hrs $48 @ Home Depot

I suspect the plate compactor would do a really good job.

 

[CB]

Good start.Your "subcontractors"are doing a heck of a job,since the "General contractor" demolished their "Training Facility"and had an off site obligation today.All in all their moral doesn't seem to be suffering from the "hardships" they have had to endure .Pool.......Swing set.......tough choice :lol: I wish life were still that simple:-D Won't be long until your swimming.

 

[nazran]

Thunderstorms tonight... see about it tomorrow I guess.

 

[nazran]

Day 4...
HUGE Thunderstorms, Hail... no work...

Day 5
Dried out nicely. I have most obvious rocks, twigs, sod out. What remains are blades of grass and larger hard dry compacted soil. I made my first real pass with board to move dirt and start level process. Really the whole area is level to about 1".

I went to Lowes tonight. Got concentrated Round up and saturated the area. Purchased a 16'x20' HD tarp as well.

 

[Casey]

I have to tell you, I loved seeing your lil Princess hanging off that shovel!

 

[nazran]

Thanks! She is a princess most of the time her little footprints always seem to show up right after I pass the board across the dirt!

 

[nazran]

Ok where did I leave off...

Friday night Day 6. Rented a 20" plate compactor from Home Depot. I compacted the topsoil I had moved around from digging and sod removal. I made about 10 passes in circles. What immediately came to light was maybe I should have gone with a 14" plate compactor. I felt as if the larger one was too heavy. As I moved around in circles the right side would dig about 1/2 " in to the soil. So I ended up with grooves.

I realized how lumpy the plate compactor made the surface... some places 2" to 3" off level. So in the interest of time I got 30 bags of topsoil and spread out. After recompacting for 2 hours I ended up with a better variation of about 1/2" total.

 

[nazran]

Day 7 Saturday Morning...

I woke up in a bad mood... I felt like I knew I was doing it all wrong because of not using sand. However that choice was made. It was time to start burying the 12" x 12" pavers for the footings. I unpacked the frame and put it together. Then laid the pavers out.

I don't have a picture for that...

4 hours of plate compacting compacted the top soil to a depth of about 3 inches. It was like slicing cold butter. I was able for the most part to cut the pavers in checking level as best as I could. I left about 1/2" above soil level.

I also realized... I hadn't made my circle large enough. I am not sure where i messed that up but word to the wise... MEASURE TWICE

At this point it was 90 degrees and about 50$ humidity and little wind... plus a storm was rolling in. I put my tools up and covered everything I could to wait out what really was nothing more than a sprinkle.

 

[nazran]

Day 7 continued. After the brief rain I noticed how much my sore muscles were starting to get to me. I took 4 ibuprofen and 2 tramadol. At this point I notice my frustration level and care-o-meter starting to wane. I am a big guy at 300 lbs and this may have been a job that i am not quite in shape for... but I pressed on and was determined to finish and start filling at night.

next order of business was to tape together foam insulation to put down. My initial design was to cut out the paver area from the stone but as I said my frustration and care-o-meter was way up there. So we didn't go that route.

I taped it all up (both sides of seams... ran out of gorilla tape though) I then put down HD tarp over this and reassembled frame (no pictures of this process)

I decided to cut just the holes for the legs to the pavers. I don't think this affected the stability in any way. This image is of me cutting tarp and extra foam away. Very hot, very tired, second guessing galore in my head. just wanting level and stability.

I fixed most of the dips and raises in the frame by adjusting the legs. It doesn't look that bad after.

 

[nazran]

Day 7 Continued.

My wife made us some dinner and it was about 6pm. I assembled the ladder. (While it feels strong enough to carry my weight it is a bit wobbly. I put cut pool noodles around the pool side feet. Put it it and turned on the water. Got in to remove wrinkles... I soon had company. Yes she is naked. Yes she may have tinkled. Did I care? no.

Romo was unimpressed by all of this.

We filled from 7p to 10p.

 

[TXMom]

Hey neighbor! I'm in Mansfield.

Great pics. Love the inside design of that liner! I have a Summer Escapes pool that is going on it's third year.

 

[Vette]

Looks good, great install! I love the pool noodle in the pool with the quarter inch of water

Hope you've been reading pool school

 

[connie]

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet the frustration will fall away once you are in the pool or watching your beautiful sub contractors laugh the day away.

 

[nazran]

Day 7 continued.

I noticed a few legs at less than stellar angles and through some manipulation I was able to direct them to more or less straight up and down. Well we went inside around 8 after I got a majority of the wrinkles out. I showered and fell asleep by 9pm. My wife for about 3 hours and turned water off.

Day 8

I was not expecting to get up at 6am but my boys apparently were. They were fighting about something in their room and I got up curious to see where pool was this morning. It was about 1/2 full and 74 degrees. However a cool front had come through and the outside temp was 69 and clear skies. Sunny day incoming expected high 80!

I turned water on and came back out and checked it several times.

By 10 AM we had reached skimmer. Turned on pump. Very quiet pump. Return water louder than pump. Temp was still 74 degrees. I was reading Pool School most of morning. I missed the BBB for some reason until after I had purchased pool chemicals. I opted for the HTH 6 way test kit (which I realize is not what is recommended but I have to remember my budget. ) and HTH starter kit and the minus and plus chemicals.

I tested water and Chlorine was .5 which I suppose is from city water supply. PH was on the high end of the scale 8.2. TA was in normal range and I believe the hardness was a little on low side. I used 1/2 a shock and swim at 11am and retested at 2pm and Chlorine was 1ppm and PH had come down to 7.8. Good enough for me! Water was 76 which was pretty chilly.

First Swim!

We swam from 2pm to 6pm. Water temp went to 80 by 6pm. We had a good time. I was pleased. The kids said it was way better than the swing set. Someone fell asleep though snacking on cheetos before dinner was served. She will wake up hungry!

Final level was decent I though. No more than .5" all the way around.

 

[nazran]

Final Thoughts

I am really pleased with pool. My only complaint is the ladder. While I feel comfortable it can hold my weight, it is very unstable and wobbly. I want to upgrade that ladder to a larger one with wide steps, rails, and a gate for my kid' (Youngest one really) safety. Taking the ladder far away from pool or storage shed will be the routine now. She is snot strong enough to lift it.

She also wants to climb on outside of pool using the leg belt as a way to climb... (not sure what I am gonna do for that).

Also the cat is curious about the pool. He jumped up on the ledge and walked around several times. Hope I don't find a cat floating in there one day

I have plans for creating a 'swim up bar' on one side where people could possibly have a ledge to place a cold beverage. Should be easy enough to do with a couple of 4"x4" and some sort of counter top. I need to create a paver walk way and landing for the pool ladder.

I think I am going to have to landscape around the bottom of pool. Currently water that splashes over lands on the tarp and foam lip and then sits against underside of pool and maybe even could get under pool bottom until it evaporates. Not sure if that is good Idea. I was thinking I might just get some landscaping boarder and fill to edge of pool a topsoil/mulch to help absorb splashed out water. I also have to figure out possible drainage issues for Texas sized thunderstorms.