Filling in pool with cement, rocks and dirt?

[sunshineandchocolate]

Hi All!

A different situation than most here. I'm actually renting a home that has an unwanted inground pool out back. Our otherwise great landlord advised that he would be having the pool filled in within a month of us moving in but it's been several years now and it was never filled. When we moved in, it was apparent that they'd started the process of removing the pool but stopped. The sides of the pool are nothing but plywood and the liner is laying in the bottom of the pool with dirt. It appears there was a cement bottom that has been broken up somewhat. The cement around the pool is sloped and severely cracked and the pool is sitting on it's own hill in the middle of the backyard now as it's gotten higher each year. To be honest, it hasn't been a big deal for my boyfriend and I as we never use the backyard for anything but we just got word that our next door neighbor has called code enforcement. They've given our landlord until the end of the month to "bring the pool into compliance or face fines". He told us to expect his maintenance team over to fill the pool in with rocks and dirt. Although I don't know much about pools, his plan to "fill it up" doesn't exactly sit right with me. I recall from my childhood that there was a sinkhole in my parent's backyard because the builders buried trash on site. Considering that, it doesn't seem like a great idea to just dump dirt, rocks and shrubbery into a hole and consider it done. I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to bet there were significant problems caused by the pool being abandoned that long (4 years since we've been there and who knows how long before that). The wooden patio decking that meets up with the cement around the pool seems to be giving way, I suspect because the pool has shifted so much. I don't own the house so I'm not all THAT concerned, but I'm just wondering what, if any issues should I know about that might happen as a result of this?

[PoolDoc]

Sorry, but I'm not really going to put a lot of effort into this.

1. We've learned to avoid answering third party questions, for many reasons. Among other things, it's VERY unlikely the pool's owner will be impressed, if you go to him and say, "I asked about what you are doing, on this online pool forum, and they said you're doing it all wrong!". The pool owner needs to ask.

2. The pool's owner -- not you --- is on the hook, if his method of filling fails. A sunken, swampy area of the yard is not a greater hazard than an empty pool.

Good luck!

[sunshineandchocolate]

Understandable, thanks for your reply. They started the other day and as soon as they started taking down the fence and concrete decking around the pool, one of the trees in the backyard started leaning. Everything is on hold for now.

[PoolDoc]

For what it's worth, it doesn't sound like the property owner is a genius!

[nefretrameses]

Perhaps code enforcement needs to visit. They may have rules about how and with what, such holes can be filled.

[PoolDoc]

It may not be very wise for a tenant to 'sic' code enforcement on their land lord . . . unless they've already lined up a new place to live. There are a 1,000 ways a landlord of a single family unit can make it unpleasant for the tenant to remain.

There may be ways to fight that in highly regulated markets like California or perhaps Florida. But most of the "Deep South" is much more of a 'laissez faire' business environment. Plus, the landlord is much more likely to know their way around the rules and regs, than the average tenant is.

Bringing inspectors in is always a rather mixed bag: the only certain outcome is that things will slow down!