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What To Put Under Above Ground Pool To Level

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Which Type Of Sand Is Best

How to level the ground for an above ground pool

When it comes to choosing the right type of sand for your pools base, youll likely realize that you have many options to choose from. Although everyone has their own opinion about which material is best, its most common to employ either mason sand or white sand for the project.

Its true that concrete sand is an excellent choice for creating a level surface beneath an above-ground pool, but the particle size of the sand may be bigger, resulting in the chance for voids.

If youre still unsure of which sand you want to use for your swimming pool project we recommend speaking with a local expert, such as Braen Supply.

The Structure Will Be Weak And Compromised

The other significant risk with an uneven pool is the added pressure it places on particular sections of your pool liner and wall. Because the weight is not distributed evenly on all sides, it can cause the walls to buckle, twist and even break.

In a worst-case scenario, the damaged section of the wall will just give out, and your pool will be destroyed. This can send a flood of water through your yard, putting swimmers and anyone who happens to be nearby at risk of injury.

How Soon After Filling An Above Ground Pool Can You Swim

Chlorine/non-chlorine chemicals When adding chlorine or non-chlorine chemicals to shock your pool after a fill-up, wait about 24 hours or until levels are approximately 5 ppm. If you’ll only be adding liquid chlorine, it’s generally safe to swim after about 4 hours or until levels are 5 ppm or lower.

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Traditional Above Ground Pool

These are pools you typically find in your specialty pool stores and are a great option for any age range. They consist of a steel or aluminum wall, resin or metal posts and top ledge to add support, a vinyl liner and a pump and filter system. They are round or oval in shape and vary in size from 12 to 33 feet in diameter. Most of these pools are between 48 54 deep.

Pros: 1-day install, can be re-located if you ever move, pool owner can complete install with a bit of tool know-how, warranty is offered on most components, long-term solution these pools can easily last 15 20 years if well maintained, price pool kits start around $5,000 if you install it yourself, most ladders have a disconnect on the outside of the pool for child safety

Cons: Install does require some prep work to the site location, a 110v electrical connection is needed where you install the pump and filter, the vinyl liner could leak if its not properly maintained and gets a hole in it, doesnt allow for some of the water features you see with inground pools, no deep end = non- diving pool.

Above Ground Pool Installation Items

Pool Installation: What To Put Under Above Ground Pool On Grass

The following are links to various sections on our website ThePoolFactory.com where you can select pool liner installation items based off your above ground pool size.

Pool Cove is foam that easily peels and sticks to the inside base of the pool wall. The foam pool cove is 3-3/4 inches high and must be installed on top of 3 inches of sand. This will give you a total height of about 7 inches, the recommended height to support the liner and eliminate stress at the seam of the pool liner.

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Uneven Leveling Causes Damage To Your Liner

When your pool is on uneven ground, the liner is likely to have wrinkles in it. These wrinkles can be caused by ground that is:

  • Full of rocks
  • Slanted
  • Too soft

As a result, the wrinkles will cause various things to become caught on the pool liner, weakening the liner until it rips.

For example, pool vacuums commonly rip liners with wrinkles in them as they pass over them time and time again.

Liners that have ripped can be patched with a vinyl liner patch, but the patch will not be successful in the long run. This is especially true if other wrinkles still exist in your pool, resulting in the need for more patches.

Ripped liners, even after they have been patched, will likely continually leak water over time. That is why it is best just to replace a liner that has been ripped or make sure it is wrinkle-free to prevent the ripping from occurring in the first place.

How To Level Ground For A Pool

This article was co-authored by Rob Litman. Rob Litman is a Landscaper, General Contractor, and the CEO of Vitoli Inc., a landscaping, hardscaping, ecoscaping, and swimming pool design company in Los Angeles, California. With over 20 years of experience in construction, Rob specializes in energy-efficient and drought-tolerant landscaping. He holds General Building Contractor and Registered Pool/Spa Contractor Licenses. In 2007, Rob won House of the Year in Gardena, California.There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 178,726 times.

An uneven surface can weaken or damage an above ground pool, so leveling the ground before installation is essential. Remove the sod, then check for levelness to identify slopes and high spots. Always dig out high patches instead of filling in lower areas. After youve leveled the ground, rake away debris, tamp the soil, then spread and tamp a layer of sand.

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How To Install A Base For Your Above Ground Pool Liner

Many do-it-yourselfers installing an above ground swimming pool for the first time have questions regarding how to properly install a base underneath a pool liner.

This article will illustrate the correct way to do this in order to make the installation go smoother and protect the pool liner and pool wall from being damaged.

One of the biggest problems that we see is with the height of the base beneath the above ground pool liner. When the sand base is not high enough there is excess strain put on the pool liner and pool wall, and this tremendous weight of the water can easily cause the vinyl pool liner to blowout and/or the metal pool wall to be pulled down.

Pool liners are obviously not built to withstand water weight, they are simply made to line the inside of a pool to hold the water. Therefore, when installing a new swimming pool or a new above ground pool liner it is extremely important to make sure that the vinyl pool liner is supported by the proper height sand base. There should be NO AIR SPACE between the vinyl pool liner and the base that it should be resting on.

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How To Level Ground For A Pool Without Digging: 3 Easy Solutions

Level your above ground pool with this one weird trick!

Learn step-by-step how to level the ground for an above ground pool WITHOUT digging.

We cover 3 quick ways to do it and the tools youll need to get the job done.

Lets Go!

Did you know in many parts of the country you can replace an above ground pool 33 times for the price of an inground pool installation?

And if you can take care of some of the work like opening your above ground pool each season, or leveling the ground yourself before its installed, well, the cost savings go up even further!

But what if you dont want to rent or try to operate an expensive backhoe just to level the ground for your new pool?

Is there an easier way to level the ground for a new above ground pool without digging?

You bet there is. And we are going to show you how. Lets DIVE in!

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The Water Level Will Be Uneven

Installing a pool on uneven ground creates a safety hazard. Youll end up with a shallow and a deep end, which can be dangerous to smaller children if they cannot touch the bottom.

The uneven water level can also create problems for your skimmer and other cleaning equipment if they get stuck in the wrongly created shallow end youve managed to construct in your swimming pool.

Who Is This Article For

This article is primarily for people wanting to put up an inflatable pool, kiddie pool or another lower end above ground pool in their backyard. It isnt for the permanent above ground pools.

Who is this article NOT for?

As mentioned above, if you have a large or expensive above ground pool follow the advice of the manufacturer or installer because using something other than whats recommended may void your warranty.

And you dont want thousands of gallons of water rushing out of your pool because you did something wrong.

What if I have a cheap above ground pool that I want to put down on my lawn?

This is honestly the boat Im in.

I dont have an expensive above ground pooland where I live we only have about 2 months when we can use the pool so Im not going to dedicate a big portion of my yard for a permanent installation. Im not going to truck in tons of mason sand to prep a base for it.

So in my case and maybe yours too I do need something to help protect the pool liner from stuff under the pool because Im going to put the pool right on the ground and not have a compacted sand base.

Obviously this half-baked approach isnt suited for expensive pools, permanent installations or large pools.

Wherever you put your above ground pool and whatever you put under it, make sure the ground is level and free of debris before setting up your pool.

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Q: How Do I Level My Ground For A Pool Without Digging

A: If you are looking to level your ground for a pool without digging, there are several options that you can try. One option is to use a tarp and fill it with water, then hollow out the center of the tarp. Place your pool on top of this and weight down the edges so that it doesnt float away. Another possibility would be using something like Astroturf or old carpeting as an alternative to leveling ground for your above ground pool

What Sand Should I Use To Level Underneath My Pool

How to Level Ground for Easy Set Pool

When undertaking the project of installing a swimming pool many homeowners dont realize how large the project truly is.

There are a ton of factors that will impact the project, however one of the most frequent questions we get about installing a swimming pool is which sand should be used underneath it.

Before your pool can actually be installed a level surface must be created that will allow for support of the pool shell. This surface is created with sand.

Whether a pool professional or yourself will be installing your swimming pool, youll need to be aware of the different types of sand that are available, and which is the right choice for creating a level base for your pool.

Weve decided to explore the different options that are available to you and which sand you should use for your pool.

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Above Ground Pool Leveling Kit

Different installers have different tools they favor for this task. More often than not, they will have the following in their arsenal:

  • Shovel and wheelbarrow for picking up earth and other debris
  • Metal rod or stake that will serve as the marker to indicate the center of the pool
  • Carpenters level
  • Duct tape
  • String or rope
  • Spray paint or any other item that can mark the entire perimeter of your pool
  • Crushed stones, such as limestone, that can be used as the pools sub-base if needed
  • Hand tamper and garden hose to level and make the earth compact

Its a matter of preference for installers when it comes to their chosen tools for the task. What matter is, leveling should never be skipped because the longevity of your above ground pool will highly depend on it.

What To Put Under An Above Ground Pool On Grass

Before putting an above ground pool on grass you will want to make sure you kill off the grass with weed killer. Some grasses and plants are particularly hard and capable of penetrating the bottom of your pool.

After you have killed off the grass, you can then use carpet, foam tiles, a commercial under pool pad or any of the other options mentioned in this article.

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Can You Put Pea Gravel Under A Pool

What is the best thing to put under a swimming pool?

Pool Floor Padding

By far the best material to place under a swimming pool liner is Armor Shield or Gorilla Pad. These materials are breathable allowing moisture to escape and are extremely tough, keeping insects and moles from coming through and piercing the vinyl pool liner.

Can I use gravel under my pool?

Gravel itself compacts really well, and it is far greater than sand or dirt that may be used in place of it. Gravel is a permeable material, so pretty much what you are doing by using gravel around a pool is installing a french drain system around your pool also.

What kind of gravel goes under pool?

Pea gravel is most often recommended for the base of fiberglass pools. Get a tamper in there on the base material, and compact in lifts. Pea gravel gets everywhere it is too small to put around the pool. It gets knocked out of wherever you put it too easily.

Compact The Sand Down Hard

How to Level the Ground for a Swimming Pool – (Easy Way)

After youve let the sand come to rest, it needs to be compacted into a solid base for your pool. The best tool to get the job done is a lawn roller, which you can rent easily from most garden centers. Go over the entire base for your pool, and pack it down flat.

Then its time to bring out your level. Your goal here is to ensure nothing has changed and youve still got everything completely flat. If not, grab your shovel to level it out, then use the lawn roller to pack it down firm. Take your time to get this right.

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How An Above Ground Pool Is Leveled

Traditional above ground swimming pools are leveled at their bottom track. This is the track that the pools wall fits into. So, if the track is level, then so is the wall. Most do-it-yourselfers will go on YouTube and find that most videos show how to level the entire bottom area of the pool. They will show this using some makeshift long leveling tool made from two-by-four wood nailed together according to the length needed to span the radius of the pools size. They then tape a two or four-foot level to the wood so they know when its level and attach one end to a piece of wood thats hammered into the earth at the very middle of where the pool is going. At that point the long two-by-four wood can swivel in 360 degrees from the center pivot point and can be used to level the earth.

This leveling method does work to level the earth, but it is time-consuming and ultimately not very accurate in leveling whats really important to level which is the bottom track. The bottom of an above ground pool doesnt have to be level. Some will dish out the bottom of their pool so it is gradually deeper in the very center and thats cool as it may make it easier to maintain the pool later on.

Is It Ok To Put Above Ground Pool On Concrete

Many wonder if above ground pools are only used over grass, sand, or soil, and if installing it over concrete is not possible because of the risk of it getting punctured. If a concrete slab is not available, you can install your above ground pool on concrete. Above Ground Pool Installation: How to Install a Pool in a Concrete Slab Step 1: Determine the size of your pool.

If you are installing a pool in an existing concrete pool, then you will need to determine the width of the pool and the depth. The width is the distance from the bottom to the top. For example, if you have a 4 x 8 pool that has a depth of 4, then your width would be 4. The depth is how deep you want to go.

In this case, we are going to be installing our pool over a 1/2 thick slab of concrete, so our depth will be 1.5. So, our width and depth are 4 and 8, respectively. Cut the slab to size. You can use a utility knife to cut the slabs, but I prefer to do it with a circular saw. This will make it easier for me to keep track of where I am cutting.

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Above Ground Pool Liner Price

Above ground pool liners will range in pricing depending on their thickness and how they attach to the pool wall. Common liner thicknesses are 18 – 25 mil, and the liner will either overlap the pool wall or will attach to the top track of the pool .

Pricing for the pool liner ranges from $100 – $1,500 depending on thickness, type , and the size of your pool. Entry level liners will be a plain blue overlap style. Next will be printed bottom overlap liner, and then a full print overlap liner. Finally, you have beaded liners which fluctuate in price simply based on their thickness, as they come in full print options only.

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