- THIS IS A DRAFT WORK IN PROCESS *
Fiberglass Pools
Construction
With fiberglass, 3/4" stone (no fines) is recommended for leveling the bottom and backfilling the sides.
Install a sump to deal with any water issues if they arise as well as the ability to monitor the ground water level. When you place that much stone around any structure in the ground there is always a possibility of it collecting water from surface or ground. If there are no apparent ground water issues you certainly don't need to place a pump immediately, However I would recommend at least getting a conduit from sump to pad so you can easily wire one up in the future.
Pool should not be shifted after it is set in the level gravel base. Do not let the pool be dragged if not properly placed. A little side to side sliding to settle in would be acceptable but you certainly would not want to see them lifting a side and packing stone under the edge.
When the pool is set double check the levels to make sure things are as you expect with the coping and deck. you should have a clear understanding of how it is set to confirm the pool is at the correct elevation.
It is very important to keep water at the same level as the backfill as it progresses upwards. They are sort of a balance act of wall support against each other, as they go.
When discussing the backfill just ask as a question how "how do you get the gravel all the way under the seat"? Just so they know you will be looking for it. There should be a lot of pushing and packing the stone under the seat. This of course should be done with some water already in the pool. That pool is so light that the could possibly lift it by packing stone under the seat.[1]
I would recommend getting some water in there before any backfilling is done. Just putting stone beside that pool could shift it out of place or even a worker walking by and bumping it. Hopefully you can be present at the backfill. Once the pool has some water in and stone around it I would ask them to just double check the measurement off the walk edge. If it is not parallel with the walk it will stick out like a sore thumb when the finish work is done.
Put a 4' level on the pool edges and check that all sides are level.
No machine should be within 3 ft of a fully filled and backfilled pool, even more distance when the pool is partially filled. also any machine should be a tracked unit not a wheeled machine.
Fiberglass pool manufacturers include:
- Latham
