newbie with pool construction questions

[gch.3]

hi all my name is george and ijust ordered a 12 x 18 oval pool. i was trying to search but it would not let me. so my question is about foam bottoms. we had an intex pool for a couple of years on sand the pool got a hole last summer so our kids are young and we decided to go with a permanant above ground. i saw on a sticky about foam so i am trying to rescearch it it looks a lot easier to install. what foam do you use? can i use just foam or do i need a thin layer of sand to set the foam over? how is it with foot prints after the pool is full? any help, comments,links would be greatly apreciated. thank you in advance

[aylad]

Hi gch.3, and welcome to the forum. Try your search again using the Google search feature linked in my sig. It works much better than the search function built into the site software. I can't answer your question, but odds are pretty good you'll find the info you need searching this way. Good luck!

[BigDave]

I used wall and floor foam (1/4") when we had our AG built last summer. Two reasons: Feel - walls are soft to touch but floor is pretty well compressed, feels firmer than sand alone and Insulation - our pool is mostly in shade and our solar panels are undersize according to installer I presume the foam helps overnight heat loss but not nearly as much as the solar cover.
Our foam was installed over a traditional sand bed with a sand cove.
Are you planning to build the pool yourself?

[gch.3]

bigdave
yes i am planning on doing the build myself. im looking at owens corning 2" foam for the floor with no sand and a foam cove. any thoughts will be appreciated.
thanks
george

[BigDave]

Is that 2" of soft closed cell polyethylene foam or is it the rigid sheet goods used in home construction? If it is the construction material, is it rated for exposure? It's usually behind sheathing or siding. My experience with rigid construction foam is that it can be crushed and dented which would leave your pool with a memory of all the heavy footfalls.
Have you purchased a circulation / filtration system?

What kind of 12 x 18 pool did you buy? Hard metal sides or soft sides?

Good luck - keeps us posted!

[gch.3]

it is a 12x18x52 metal side pool with a 16" 100lb sand filter with a 1 hp 2600gph pump. the foam i was thinking of using is ridged and is ment for burial under concrete slabs and is rated at 25psi. if there is a better product i am open to suggestions. i am tring to aviod sand as my water table is high and im afraid of the sand washing out.

[BigDave]

Are you burying the pool? Below the groundwater level?