Shallow End for above ground pool

[Pete Hughes]

Hi,

I have recently completed building a shallow end and steps for an above ground pool (18' x 52' intex)

It covers about a 1/3 of the pool and allows the 4 year old to stand belly deep in a 4 foot pool but also allows the "adults" a good sized area to swim.
Made from PVC unions/tubing/planking and cost under $300.

I am hoping to post pictures once I receive the "good" forum access

[Watermom]

Hi Pete and welcome to the Pool Forum!

Your project sounds interesting. I'll be interested to see your pictures, too!

Hope you enjoy the forum!

[Pete Hughes]

Thanks,

The shallow end thing was the reason I found this forum in the first place.

Looking forward to sharing.

[PoolDoc]

Send your pictures to poolforum AT gmail DOT com, and I'll post them.

PoolDoc


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CIBoKYiNszI/Tgs-OnfsOFI/AAAAAAAAAS4/vP-5fMUKD_Q/s800/The_Intex_with_Deck_Extension.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3BTiO4UiqEk/Tgs-SBeGiuI/AAAAAAAAATE/WPhvfa4M5BU/s800/Under_Construction.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WcG_q5rY1Kg/Tgs-SGA-lPI/AAAAAAAAATA/Q-kS9lK79_Y/s800/Shallow_an_Steps_End_in_the_Pool.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ileID2ger88/Tgs-O1h-GGI/AAAAAAAAAS8/bR5YywKkDLY/s800/Weighted_down_with_Rock.jpg

[CarlD]

I, too, am curious, especially as to what you used for planking. PVC Planking? I hope you aren't using pressure-treated wood.
I also hope you put extra vinyl under your platform supports to prevent abrasion. If not, Home Depot sells Plumber's Vinyl that's used to shower stalls. It's at least 40 mils thick and is super-smooth. I use it under my drop-in steps. Or use can pieces of liner.

Carl

[Pete Hughes]

The Decking

The planking is a product from Home Depot advertised on the shelf as "Garage Door Trim".
It comes in 8 or 10 foot lengths and is 5 1/2 inches wide by 3/4 thick.
It is very light (the 10 footer comes in around 2-3 pounds)
It has 1/4 inch deep ridges on the underside. The top surface has a wood grain effect which in my opinion provides a decent non slip surface.
It looks as though it is designed to be painted over, since who would want a bright white wood finish.

The cost is about $16 for the 10'. I used nine of the 10s and one 8 footer.
Just over half of the total cost came from the planking.

I secured them to the 1 1/4 PVC tube with 3" countersunk galvanized machine screws/lock nuts.
About $26 for a box of 100 and I used 98.
If I can find a good online source, I will replace with stainless next year.
(no sign of corrosion yet after 6 weeks submerged)


The Frame/Structure

1 1/4 pvc sched 40 tubing. I used 10 10 footers.
I bought all of the unions online since I needed 4 and 5 ways which HD did not sell.
They are furniture grade PVC connectors which I was happy to use since they have smoothed/beveled edges. The sched 40 ones were a bit rough.
They cannot be used for plumbing.
I used a combination of approx 30 T / 3 / 4 and 5 ways at about $2 a piece incl shipping from US Plastics http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=555&parentcatid=690
Regular PVC cement.
The planking is not as sturdy as I originally looked for, so I had to reduce the span width between tube supports to 24 inches.
I would recommend 16" inch since my family are somewhat light weights.

Assembly

The whole thing took about 5-6 hours to build (maybe less if you are more used to working with PVC plumbing tube/unions).
Note from experience: work from one corner to the opposite.
Think about how the next 2 to 4 unions will go together and will the frame bend in that location to accommodate 2 joints at once.
I tried to connect 3 pipe ends to one union at the same time but it was not easy and I would recommend thinking ahead and trying to avoid.
Clean up the unions as you do each one since once the glue is dry it is much harder to remove and causes imperfections at the joints.
Very Important: Remember to drill about 1/2 inch holes at all corners if you want it to be sunk.

Tools
-----
Chop Saw
Drill/Screw driver/Countersink
Wrench


Installation

The whole thing weighed about 120 lbs.
Easy for 2 to carry to the pool but it took 4 people to lift over the edge.
At first it made a nice floating island. The PVC tubes and unions and hence frame would sink with no problems. But the planking is very bouyant.
Once I stood in the middle of it, it became apparent that at least 100 lbs was needed to sink it (once all of the bubbles came out of the frame)
I went for rocks but will be rethinking this next year.

[BigDave]

Wow, Nice Donuts!
Is the space under the platform small enough to exclude the small ones?

[Pete Hughes]

No unfortunately. I plan on removing the rocks and installing some kind of mesh/screen around the base this weekend.
The weather in New England has not been too great up till recently. I wanted to test the thing out before getting it all secured.
We finally had 4 adults and 3 kids standing/sitting on it over the weekend.

The steps were built last Saturday and really make the whole thing useable.

BTW, the deck extension was built last fall.
Also have a large sand filter/1.5 hp pump etc that was tested last summer on the 8 foot intex seen on the deck.
Heating system consists of 6 50 foot black rubber garden hoses with home built PVC "manifolds"

The Total project (incl deck extension with trex like boards/pool/pump/filter/shallow end/steps/solar heating) is still under $2000 so I am pretty pleased with what I have achieved

Some kind of fencing next

[Pete Hughes]

Shallow End/Platform Update.

The platform was a HUGE success.

For less than $300, we have a pool that we have spent 4 hours and more at a time in. It is easy to climb in/out without needing a ladder. Adults can sit comfortably. Kids can rest from swimming and play with water toys on the platform. We can use it for many years to come. It stores easily or can be left in a permanent AGP.

Please bear in mind that my goal was to have a pool that both Adults and Kids could enjoy.
Before the platform, my 4 year old son would not spend more than about 20 minutes in the pool. I can’t imagine I would enjoy spending too much time in a pool if I could not touch the bottom. He would soon get tired of constantly kicking his legs.


We had about a dozen play-dates with six or so kids each time. They would spend about 2/3 of the time on the platform (belly deep standing and neck deep sitting). It proved to be a very popular area of the pool for water fights. The rest of the time they would be jumping into the deeper section or just swimming around. (safety note: The jumping was done from belly deep water).
At least 2 adults were in at any one time. We usually had one standing in the deeper area, and one sitting on the platform.


My boy liked to drop toys onto the platform. He would then dunk his head under to retrieve them while still standing. Until then, he was afraid of getting his face wet. Next up was jumping / swimming followed by swimming underwater.
By Sept last year, my 4 year old was swimming unassisted. He could also swim down 4 feet to pick up toys. I honestly don’t think this would have happened without the platform since it allowed him to play and experience the water in his own timeframe. He was not just plopped in the water until it was time to climb the ladder.

For the winter, I stored the platform and steps in the garage. Since they are only 2 foot high, they store nicely alongside the wall in a vertical position.

None of the PVC unions / parts show any sign of failure.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I used Galvanized screws to hold the PVC planking to the PVC tubes. By the end of the season, there are signs of surface rust on the screw heads. I will soon be changing over to stainless.



The changes for this year will be:
Stainless screws
Carry the platform into the pool before filling with water (otherwise 4 adults are needed to lift it in)

[aylad]

Nice job!!

Janet

[ryankenn]

Well I got all my fittings ordered from US Plastics and the length of PVC already here. I'm having real trouble finding the planking though. Home Depot here doesn't have anything like that, and the other big box stores the closest is composite decking, which I have no idea how it would hold up to chlorine.

Do you have a link to the HD Us website for this material?

Mine should be an easier shape, a 3'x10' rectangle, but I'm including rails around it save for the steps in, and a 2' section to go into the pool. That should keep our daughter from accidentally stepping off. Should be fun to see how it turns out.

Any ideas on weighing it down without rocks? I thought about not drilling the PVC out so I could fill the legs with sand, but that would most likely make it too heavy to ever get out.

[Pete Hughes]

I'll be at both Home Depot and Lowes later today, so I'll try to get you a part number / manufacturer.

But I suspect it is this
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100077669/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=garage+door+trim&storeId=10051

I did a google search an found this:
http://www.royalbuildingproducts.com/products/garage-door-trim.aspx

There is a pdf brochure you can download.
Mine looks like the “overlay” pieces shown on page 10. About 6" x 3/4" planks with a rectangular profile.
They have Woodgrain Embossed and smooth Textured surfaces available.
In my opinion, use the woodgrain finish for the ‘nonslip’ walking surface.
It came in 8 / 10 or 12 foot lengths and was very easy to work with.

This year we moved up to a 15 x 30 above ground.
I put the entire 12 foot by 6 foot platform into the filled pool on my own.
I am glad I drilled ONLY the top corners of the platform. It made it easy to slide the platform into the pool from the deck since with the air still in the tubes, it floated while I positioned it.
Once in place, I pushed it down an inch or so to get water into the tubes.
I am sticking with the rocks as weights since they provide a sort of diving step for the kids.

I would imagine that filled with sand, it would weigh a couple of hundred pounds and be fairly unmovable.


This might work for you though..

Take a couple of 3 foot long 6” PVC lengths. Cap and “glue” one end. Stand upright, fill with sand. Cap and “glue” other end. Now you have a couple of 60 pound weights to lay on the ends or to lay on the structure below. That is how I keep my steps down this year. Cheap and very effective.

Good luck and ask away with any other questions

[ryankenn]

Great, thanks! That looks like them. Too bad here a 7' is $30, and at HD US its $20 for a 10'. Looks like I'll be making a trip south.

[ryankenn]

Finally done. I'm not in love with the rail for the stairs as its tight between there and the railing. I may cut and cap it. I went with railings to have a definite entrance and an area to go into the main pool. We'll see if it sinks or floats. I bought some 4" and caps to make sand/water weights to hang under it if its a floater.

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/2641/img2012072000044.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/img2012072000044.jpg/)

[Watermom]

Please let us know how it works out!