Doughboy with slurry or Johnny W with dirt?

[JJ in Tx]

"shot" means the walls where rusting out from being buried about 18", needed a new liner, pump motor beginning to act up and i didn't feel like it was worth the money to fix it. We removed it but didn't immediately put up a new pool. Removal wasn't too bad because I wasn't trying to salvage anything, I just took a angle grinder with a cutting wheel and sliced that sucker up. The hole it left was another story though, 15 yards of fill later I no longer had a hole, I'm just glad I could get a bobcat/skid steer into my back yard.
JJ

[prh129]

Maureen,

Here's a thread to look at:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=1321

It looks like hrsdennis installs Doughboy pools so you might want to send him a PM as he might be able to give you some information.

I just got a Doughboy 24' round Desert Spring and I am very happy with it. I have the usual above-ground installation so I can't help you as far as burying it.

Did you compare warranties between the two pools?

Peter

[CarlD]

Well, what do you know! A AG dealer selling a pump AND filter combo that's BIGGER than you need! A Hayward superpump 1.5hp and 300# sand filter is overkill--I have 20,000 and use a 1 hp 2speed Superpump with a 200# sand filter and am just fine--and I run solar panels with it too. You are better off downsizing the pump than the filter--only downsize the filter if you downsize the pump.

[Dave45n]

We are also looking at an AG recessed into the ground. As JJ says the walls rusted, I have to ask how old was the pool, if known and if the liner was leaking? Also the make of the pool. If the liner was leaking, I think that would cause more rust than the ground water. Than if the ground was not graded for runoff of the rain that also could have been part of the problem.

After researching this type of install, I think that back filling with sand will help with drainage and movement of ground in the winter.

If the bottom part of the walls starts to rust out in ten years or so, I think the ground around it will support the liner for more years of use.

Both the Doughboy Desert Spring and Johnny Weismuller TItan seem to be of higher quality of manufacturers, thus better treatment of the metal.

The concrete around the pool worries me because of the frost maybe moving it and pushing it against the walls. I don't know if this applies to you or not, not living in a cold state.

Overall if we lose a few years off the life of pool and still have it for 20 plus years and not 30 years, is that really a loss?

Looking for more opinions on this.

Thanks Dave

[maureenc26]

Attachment 249
I'm not sure if I got this right, but I think I've attached the 4-page instructions from Doughboy on below grade installation.
Maureen

[hrsdennis]

Hi, I do recommend the Doughboy pool but not the slurry or the way Doughboy says to do it. Any pool can be installed in the ground. When I do this I like to have between two and three feet extra area around the pool also dug out. This makes installing the pool much easier. Being able to walk around the pool is critical for my installs.

When the pool is up and full of water the ouside can be coated with roofing tar and backfilled with dirt. As long as you keep your pool water above the dirt level you should not have a problem.

That's the way we do them anyway. Best of luck, Dennis

[maureenc26]

Thanks everyone for the input so far!

A few things:
we live in Illinois, so we definitely deal with the freeze/thaw cycles! The frost line is something like 42" (at least that's the depth deck footings need to be to meet code.) Wonder how that will affect the pool. Now the kids are asking for a deeper end -- don't know if that's better or worse for potential pool "heaving" due to freeze/thaw cycles.


What happens if the liner gets a leak -- would the water just sit between the liner and the pool wall and begin the rusting process? Seems like it would be the same whether it's tar coating the outside or slurry. (BTW -- Doughboy installer said that, although not necessary, we could slap on some tar once the pool is up and filled, and before they come back to fill the 1' space with slurry.)

I'm wondering too if I should plan to lay some drain tile to catch any water from higher in the yard that otherwise would treat the pool buried 24 inches in the ground like a dam -- then i'd have connecting drain tile run away from the pool, still in the general run-off direction but to a lower point in the yard than the bottom of the pool.