This may just be me, I'm sure I'll have some who disagree and others who agree. But here's what I learned.
I first built my AG pool in July, 2016 and had to rebuild it in August, 2019. Because of something I learned, and never ever... NEVER IN MY LIFE WILL I EVER AGAIN build an AG pool directly on the earth. To prepare to install a very nice 24' AG pool - as a family of four we worked over a day trying to get the ground level. After all it was on a very gentle slope, not like the side of a hill or anything. We dug, and smoothed, dug and smoothed. Used a 2x6 board about 14 feet long, with a 3' level secured to the top of it to move as a radius to ensure we were level, just like the videos showed. We got it level, then moved in about 2 inches of sand over that dirt and smoothed and leveled the sand with the same device. Proceeded to build the pool and daggone it if it didn't come out about 1 to 1.5 inches out of level. That was 2016. But late summer 2018 it was over 4 inches out of level. Not good and we swam carefully that summer, slightly afraid it could bust wide open!
So after a very wet spring and early summer of 2019 we tore it down. I did the math to build a 16-sided wood frame with ground treated 2x8 wood decking boards, a diameter of 27' for the 24' foot pool. Carefully cut them and angled them to form the frame, leveled the top of each to the very 1st one that was installed securely into the ground. Checked and re-checked all way around, then struck a line with a sharpie that was 1.5 inches from the top of each board so that too would be a level line. It made it very easy for a team of 4 concrete guys to come in and pour and smooth a concrete slab right to that level line, and it took them about 90 minutes -that's all! It varies between 4 and 6 inches deep all the way around. I even had them come back later with a concrete drill, and drill me a hole on outside of the pool, to drop the main pipe for a permanent basketball pole.
So that's what we did - tore that pool down. Built a 27' concrete pad for it. And it turned out to be just about exactly 1 concrete truck full for this load, which made the price a little cheaper. I'm pretty sure I got a good deal on the concrete - it was about $3800 for the load and the work (It could be $5K in some places). I am so, so glad we decided to do this. The pool is 100% level to a millimeter. The 16 side supports are 100% level up and down. We did put down 2 pads underneath the pool to soften the bottom.
It's about 5 more days before I open the pool for 2020. So very, very excited as I know this will be 100% level, and will remain level for the next 30+ years. So - if you're thinking about building an above ground pool - go for it! But if you're spending more than $1500 for a nice one I'd protect and take the stress out of my investment and put it on level concrete. As mentioned, I never in my life would build an above ground pool directly on the earth.
I first built my AG pool in July, 2016 and had to rebuild it in August, 2019. Because of something I learned, and never ever... NEVER IN MY LIFE WILL I EVER AGAIN build an AG pool directly on the earth. To prepare to install a very nice 24' AG pool - as a family of four we worked over a day trying to get the ground level. After all it was on a very gentle slope, not like the side of a hill or anything. We dug, and smoothed, dug and smoothed. Used a 2x6 board about 14 feet long, with a 3' level secured to the top of it to move as a radius to ensure we were level, just like the videos showed. We got it level, then moved in about 2 inches of sand over that dirt and smoothed and leveled the sand with the same device. Proceeded to build the pool and daggone it if it didn't come out about 1 to 1.5 inches out of level. That was 2016. But late summer 2018 it was over 4 inches out of level. Not good and we swam carefully that summer, slightly afraid it could bust wide open!
So after a very wet spring and early summer of 2019 we tore it down. I did the math to build a 16-sided wood frame with ground treated 2x8 wood decking boards, a diameter of 27' for the 24' foot pool. Carefully cut them and angled them to form the frame, leveled the top of each to the very 1st one that was installed securely into the ground. Checked and re-checked all way around, then struck a line with a sharpie that was 1.5 inches from the top of each board so that too would be a level line. It made it very easy for a team of 4 concrete guys to come in and pour and smooth a concrete slab right to that level line, and it took them about 90 minutes -that's all! It varies between 4 and 6 inches deep all the way around. I even had them come back later with a concrete drill, and drill me a hole on outside of the pool, to drop the main pipe for a permanent basketball pole.
So that's what we did - tore that pool down. Built a 27' concrete pad for it. And it turned out to be just about exactly 1 concrete truck full for this load, which made the price a little cheaper. I'm pretty sure I got a good deal on the concrete - it was about $3800 for the load and the work (It could be $5K in some places). I am so, so glad we decided to do this. The pool is 100% level to a millimeter. The 16 side supports are 100% level up and down. We did put down 2 pads underneath the pool to soften the bottom.
It's about 5 more days before I open the pool for 2020. So very, very excited as I know this will be 100% level, and will remain level for the next 30+ years. So - if you're thinking about building an above ground pool - go for it! But if you're spending more than $1500 for a nice one I'd protect and take the stress out of my investment and put it on level concrete. As mentioned, I never in my life would build an above ground pool directly on the earth.
