quick leveling question...

I've read a few times here that it is not recommended to add dirt to bring a spot up to level due to compaction issues...

However, I have one corner of my pool area that's about 2" low... everything else seems to be very close to level....

Could I get away with building that area up if I were to rent a plate compactor, and use water to settle the area?


My alternative is paying someone to come level it with machinery, because I'm not about to try and dig 800 square feet of hard packed clay/silt down 2-3"

Advice?

you should be fine in doing that, just make sure you bring it all up well beyond the edge of your pool wall - say 3-5 feet.

I had about 3/4 of my pool pad area built up about 1+ feet because of where I wanted the top rail to end up (elevation wise).
I had dirt moved in the fall before the build, it was levelled to a point but not compacted, it sat over the winter and the elements compacted it pretty good, a bobcat did the final levelling that spring, then I built up a 3+" thick pad of screenings and compacted them with a plate compactor before building the pool on them.

One more question.. I had an excavator come look at the job, because it'll only cost me about $50 more to pay someone to do it than it would for me to go rent a plate compactor...

He said my soil is very loamy, and might not compact well... he suggested bringing in sand to level and compact... However, I'm worried that sand will wash out too easily, particularly if it's under the frame of the pool, causing problems down the road...

Am I right?

Our other alternatives are to bring in road base or something similar to compact for a base, or to scrape down 5-6" to hard packed soil.

Which is my best bet?

I would recommend using crusher run/screenings - about 4" of it, so if you have your loam taken down an extra 3-4" (if final top rail height is important to you, otherwise just build on top of the loam) and bring in enough screenings to create a 3-4' wide circle under your walls. It compacts to a hard base using water and a plate compactor and can be levelled precisely.
Then use 3-4" of sand inside the pool for your base under the liner - I sloped mine to gain about 8" of extra depth in the center because my pool and liner was big enough to accomodate that.