Any quick and easy ways to level a patch of ground?

[jeffus]

I'm working on installing an above-ground pool. Almost got all the sod up and need to level the surface somewhat. I got 4&1/2 tons of sand to put under it.

Just wondering about methods to create a 'level' surface.

[sao95]

use a bobcat :wink: or a string line and concrete come-along, or just say screw it and let the pool be crooked, see if the water will collapse the side , maybe you'll get lucky and it won't, or hire a martian with a laser gun that melts everything, have him melt the sand and then it'll level itself when it melts and become glass, and wow wouldn't that be cool. I think I've been watching to much Higgly town hero's :roll:

[jeffus]

Maybe a small thermo-nuclear device to level the whole neighborhood and we can start fresh - in 10,000 years or so.... :wink:

[sao95]

see now your thinkin :lol:

[jeffus]

Perhaps something a little more practical? - eh!?

[Mark B.]

Very funny posts boys! Now you know why the pool companies want $25 an inch to level. It ain't always easy.

[jeffus]

No, it's not and I am asking for help.... :D

[sao95]

string line, come-along and a 2x4 will work and it's not that hard. Find your lowest point, take out any sod if needed, pour sand it, make a cross string line set at the right elevation, pull the 2x4 aross leveling the sand using the string lines as a guide, same way you do concrete basically :wink: a bobcat would be easiest, but it'll tear up your yard and it's a bit much for just a pool, and it costs to rent it...

[sao95]

he's already got the sand :wink: but if you do go the rock base way use pea gravel, it's easier to level and you don't have to compact :wink:

[Tim E]

What kind of pool, how big, and how far out of level?

The usual method is to drive a stake into the ground in the center of the pool layout down to approx finish level. Attach one end of a *STRAIGHT* 2x6 pref or 2x4 to the stake with a long screw or L bracket. The board should be about a foot longer than the pool radius. Stick a level on top of the board and swing it around in an arc to find high/low spots. Its always recommended to grade down to the lowest spot than fill them. To do the sand, raise the stake up the desired # of inches and use the board as a grader, keeping your eye on the level as you swing. That's the general idea.

I was many years in the biz, fire away any questions.

Tim

[Weston]

Swimming pool... nice!

[jeffus]

Thanks for the tips! Much appreciated! :D

It's got an inflatable ring around the top and it rises as its filled. It's 14 feet in diameter & 30-32" deep. I'll have to see if I can find a pic.

I figured I'd do it right since after this pool dies, we might put in a 'real' one.

[Weston]

Another idea-

Once you've got your ground where you think it is level, then take a tarp and put it over the area... make a "test run" by putting a bit of water in the tarp and check for areas where it isn't quite level.

[SGTDad]

How far out of level is it? If it's not bad, you can transfer dirt from the high point to the low point and compact before using your sand. If it's more than about a foot, then you might have to build a short retaining wall to hold the dirt on the downslope side.

[jeffus]

It's not too bad, probably less than a foot. I bought edging to contain the sand.

[SGTDad]

It's not too bad, probably less than a foot. I bought edging to contain the sand.

Then I'd get some stakes and string, make the string level between the stakes and start excavating the high areas and moving the dirt to the low areas. You can rent an power tamper, which would be best, or you can buy a hand tamper at a home center for not much money. Make sure you tamp the moved dirt down good or it will settle. Don't worry about making it perfectly level. Once you have it ballparked, pour in the sand, tamp and fine tune to a final level. If you're less than a foot out of level, you shouldn't have too much digging.

Good luck!

[Jackson's Dad]

Thank God I don't like swimming, and therefore don't need to install a pool. What a lot of work!

[jeffus]

Spent most of today digging out tree roots...oh my aching back... :cry:

This is too much damn work for a 'free' pool. It was a gift from my sister to my daughter. I'm pretty much convinced they both hate me.

All the sods up, roots are gone. Now for that leveling stuff....

[SGTDad]

:(

Your daughter will love you the first time she jumps in!

[chopperglide]

we have a pool like that same size and all....the sand will work great...we live on a hill so it took me alot of sand but it looks cool against the slant of that hill

[jeffus]

Hey Chopper - does it use disposable filters too?

They recommend changing every 2 weeks..

[chopperglide]

yeah but i don't do that...my FIL works for York so he has this crazy filter cleaning chemical that we use and it works great...but my bet is that i will have to get another one at some point this summer..these things are not commercial duty.....

[mnsahd]

We have had the same pool for three years now. Leveling does not to be perfect but it helps. Tim E's method is the best way to go. Change your filter every two weeks for sure, it helps out a lot! Stock up with filters as well, as you will be hard pressed to find them towards the end of the season. :lol: Get a solar cover to help heat the pool's water. It was the best $25 that I have spent.

[jeffus]

Maybe I can strap a couple of those Brita pitcher filters together in a pinch..... :D

Do you use any chemicals?

And, what about vacuuming? Shop-Vac? :wink:

[sao95]

we have one as well, I washed the filters out with the hose and only changed them twice last summer, worked fine, the tab of chlorine worked better than the granules, lasted longer too, didn't need any other chemicals as everything else tested fine, had those handy dandy test strips, ours came with a vacuum that had a hose attachment where you attach a garden hose, it worked like a big piece of crap, I did use the extension pole but took a shop vac flat sweeper piece and attached it to some tubing I got at home depot, kinda looks like shop vac tubing except it was a little stiffer, then connected that right into the filter hole on the pool, only pain was the hose had to be full of water before you turned the filter on and if you get too big of an air bubble you'll have to shut the pump off and let the air out on the top of the filter and turn it back on, but it did a great job, much better than the piece of crap it came with, ours also came with the cover, we didn't use it much though as the one time we did the water got too hot being as we were way down south.... oh also I didn't do any leveling as we put in on concrete, it was outta whack, but the pool holds up fairly well....

[jeffus]

OK, you need to breathe between sentences..... :D

I think that cover you were talking about is meant to go under the pool.. :shock: :D

Then again, why did I buy sand - I live at the beach. After getting all that crud out of the zone, I'm plowing: SAND! #-o

[dabrewinguy]

We have the same pool, and the first year we had it, I didn't think we would need to level the ground first. We just put it right on the grass and filled it up. :roll: Turns out our yard is ALOT less level than I thought, there was almost a foot difference from one side to the other. A few times we added too much water and the side would collapse and we'd get a little title wave of water across the back yard. It was pretty cool actually. It happened once when the kids were in the pool and the youngest rode the wave right out to the middle of the yard. She just looked up with this "what the heck just happened" look on her face, then started to laugh and wanted to go again.

When I did finally decide to level it off, I pounded a broom handle in the center of the circle and screwed a long 2x4 to it, and swung the 2x4 around the circle as I added sand to the low spots.

[sao95]

wow that is one hell of a long sentence :lol: sorry it was late and I was tired. We got the tarp for underneath and the cover for the top :wink:

[jeffus]

Well, I'm convinced the easiest way to do this is to write a check! :wink:

Wheeled about 3.5 to 3.75 tons of sand in place. Started to level it and had to stop & mow the lawn for the party today. I then proceeded to grab a 2 hour nap face down on the living room floor until my daughter jumped on me. :evil:

Me so tired....

The kids made a complete mess of the big 'sandbox' today, but it kept 'em busy for hours. So there's that.

The end is in sight. Luckily, it's been unseasonably cool here lately so that makes work a little more bearable. :roll:

[Weston]

Be sure to take pictures... and it will all be well worth it when you see the look on her and her friends' faces the first time one of them presses down to hard on one of the sides and all of the water comes rushing out. :wink:

Nah... you'll be done just in time for the heat of summer - great place to relax with an umbrella drink

[ministermatt]

Too bad I don't live a little closer. I have put in about 150 pools. Was a summer job while in college. Just put a 18 foot round in for my sister and one for her neighbor. Takes one day to level and install. I use a transit to level the ground with in 1/2 inch with a bobcat, then a shovel and patio blocks to grade for the supports. You don't have any support so I would suggest either the 2x4 method mentioned or renting a transit for a day to get it spot on. Remeber that water does not lie. If it is off, even a little, it will show.

[jeffus]

Ah- power equipment! Sweet! 8)

Probably should have went that route. But I wouldn't be getting all this exercise. :wink:

I do appreciate all the tips! Thanks!

Had to take today off to go to the Dr's. Chitlin's got "Pink Eye" and a bit of a cold.

[jeffus]

Getting there! Almost got this beast tamed!

Hopefully, we'll finish leveling tomorrow. We got Pre-K grad ceremony tomorrow night, but maybe start filling Friday just in time for the steamy weekend coming.

[Weston]

Going to be a hot one here too... high Sunday 93.

Might be too hot too work outside here :???:

[jeffus]

POOL'S OPEN!

Or at least it wll be tomorrow. I just turned the water off but it's too dark for a decent pic, so here's one from this afternoon.

I measured the level while it was filling and I got it to about 1/8 of an inch!

I just have to clean-up around the edges and maybe tuck that ground cloth away. But I wanted/needed to get this thing up before the 90 degree weather hits this weekend.

http://www.straightlinegp.com/pool.jpg

[Weston]

Nice!

1/8 of an inch! Wow, that is good 8)

[jeffus]

3000 gallons of fun! 8)

(More like 2984, but who's counting except the water company)

[DarthDaddy]

Thats what I had for the smaller pool in my back yard. (Where I put the patio pavers...

My wife kept calling it the Crop Circle... It did the job though...

Hard Work...Now you can Float and Relax!

[jeffus]

Izzit me? Or does it look like a giant bounce: ? :shock:

[Weston]

Yeah if you had two of them side by side and a red buoy floating in the middle of both of them... then it would look like ( * Y * )

[Indy]

Yeah, it does kind of look like my wife topless in a 30MPH headwind, now that I think about it.

[SGTDad]

Yeah, it does kind of look like my wife topless in a 30MPH headwind, now that I think about it.

Next time it's windy here, I'll have to ask my wife to confirm if this is true!

[jeffus]

I'm thinking mammogram, kinda...

Weird.

But most threads degenerate into boobs & beer anyway......poof! There it is!

[QJ]

I went searching for pea gravel info and found this pool thread that turned into a bOObs thread.

:icon_lol:

So how's the pool, jeffus?