Trying to move a swamp pool from one yard to another...I know we are crazy

[Teena]

Hello,

My husband and I "inherited" a pool from our friends Dad. The pool was never closed for the winter and has sat for 2 years. The pool is only 3 years old. It is 29' round above ground. It is filled with gunk, frogs, cat tails and who knows what else. It smells awful. However besides that the pool looks like it is in great condition. So we are hoping to save the liner. Some people say it will never happen, some people say it can be saved. We are going to make the decision when its empty. We plan on draining it with a garbage pump.

So my questions are....what can we clean the liner with and how should we store it until the pool goes up if it is salvagable?

Also we are wondering if we really need this grounding wire that people are telling us to bury around the pool and attach to the pool in 5 places? Our plan was just to run a ground wire from the pump to our house with a GFI something or other (Im a girl...not my thing) and some thing that you can put in the water that grounds the water.

Any tips, even for something other than mentioned would be greatly appreciated. We already tore up half our back yard (we have a slope that needed to be graded) and we are in way over our heads...we are also on a budget and have to do this ourselves. HELP PLEASE!

Thanks in advance,
Teena

[PoolDoc]

Once you drain, if the liner is stiff and brittle . . . forget it. Otherwise, maybe.

+ When you get to maybe 4" water left, add a couple of gallons of PLAIN 6% bleach, and a cup of liquid laundry detergent. Spray the sides down, and scrub the pool with a pool brush.

+ Pump that out, and refill with 2". Add another gallon of bleach, and re-scrub.

+ Be EXCEEDINGLY careful about the walls; they can fall inwards damaging the structure and the liner. You may need to brace them, or tie them back.

Good luck!

[Teena]

Thank you, we decided to scrap the liner and buy another.

Now we are having a problem getting the ground level...we have about a 2 foot grade in the yard. We dug down some on one side adn built up a few inches on the other. But we are still off 4 inces...we had a transit but it must've been broken. It rained and we noticed the water pooled on one side. So we got another transit adn sure enough...off by 4 inches....ugg....what a nightmare!

[Teena]

I have another question (and thank you, you have been very helpful). We laid the stones and the track yesterday but bc we didn't do the best leveling job the track is actually recessed into the ground...we had to dig basically a trench to get it level...about 2-3 inches...is this ok?

[PoolDoc]

I think you pretty much need to get the entire area the pool rests on level.

Sorry.

[BigDave]

PoolDoc's right - level. Level and compact - if you have built up, the build up must be compacted or the poolwater will do it for you before it all spills out. The bond wire is different than the elecrtical ground and is an important electrical safety feature - do not skip it.

[Teena]

well the bottom track is now level...and all the ground in the circle is level....but the track is lower than the ground....is that ok?


Oh and where we built up we compacted with pne of those gas powered compactors


(Two posts waiting in moderation queue were combined.)

[PoolDoc]

.but the track is lower than the ground....is that ok?

I think what we were both trying to say was, "No, it's not OK."

[BigDave]

What PoolDoc said - and - don't skip the bond wire.

I'm glad you used a compactor.