Hi all, sand and foam, pros and cons. I have installed many thousands of pools on a sand base. That’s what I do every day. Once I have smoothed the sand I get out of the pool and do the rest of the install from the outside. This leaves the sand free of footprints. No one gets in the pool until it is full of water and the sand well packed.

I have also done many foam bottoms. With a couple of rolls of duck tape and a good liner install they turn out great. The last one I did for myself was on foam and the one I set up for a customer this morning was on foam. The only drawback is if your liner does not fit well it is extremely hard to work the wrinkles to a minimum. Sand is a little more forgiving in this respect.

Best of luck with the pools, Dennis