Should I go it alone?

[matt4x4]

An 18 foot round pool should be very simple to install, I did my 30 foot round, the hardest part was the wall since it's one piece and weighed about 400 lbs, you wall might weigh 150-200 and that will be the toughest part since your site is allready level. - all I can say is spend the 800 on pool stuff or a the beginnings of a deck beside the pool - that way you won't regret it.
This will be a simple job if you're willing to sweat a bit for a day.

[kevincad]

We are going to do it ourselves with my hubby, myself, our two teenagers and a nephew (adult). A weekend, some barbeque and a blender full of Pina Colada when we are done! (rum free for the kids)

We figure once we have the site level, the patio blocks level, then following the instructions we should be able to do this. It might be hard work, but hardly rocket science. $700 buys a lot of nice new goodies to go with the pool.

Free rum for the kids?!! Just kidding! I did my above ground pool by myself, with help from a friend once in awhile. I could have used more help with the liner, though.

[gwrace1]

It's hard work and very time consuming. Because of my limited free time we decided to have the yard leveled and pool installed by a contractor. We had an Artesian Echo Canyon Ultra 2 33' Round pool installed. That was in mid March of this year. It took them 3 days to complete and there were 3 of them working. To save money I did the trenching, ran the conduit/electrical, plumbing and landscaping. It was about 150' of electrical from the house to the pool into a storage shed where I installed a sub-panel, timer, Aquarite, pump and filter. I also hard plumbed all PVC piping underground from the pool to the storage shed and ran two return lines.
Last week we installed a deck and fence kit around the pool. We plan to finish up the last of the landscaping this week.

After a month's worth of work the first swim for the kids was this week.

The moral to this story is the pool is just the beginning. Be prepared for all the follow-up work that is required.

[rbutera]

I would hire someone if significant grading is required.

We have a 15x30, and the install took a long day with 3 guys.

This included a lot of grading beyond what the landscapers had done. The fact that he had a small dozer on hand and a dump truck on call for dirt if necessary (which I paid the dump truck driver directly for) are the kind of things that would be hard yourself. It is amazling how a dump truck full of dirt spread out over a 15x30 area becomes ... only a few inches.

They used a spinning laser level (like drywall contractors do) to check the levelness around the whole pool. I'm pretty anal about such things, and I was impressed.

After watching them, I realized I could do this myself, but the extra time and frustration, especially since grading was necessary, made me happy I did not.

If I had a round pool and a flat backyard with easy access, I'd probably do it myself. But I have neither ...

[NWMNMom]

This included a lot of grading beyond what the landscapers had done. The fact that he had a small dozer on hand and a dump truck on call for dirt if necessary (which I paid the dump truck driver directly for) are the kind of things that would be hard yourself. It is amazling how a dump truck full of dirt spread out over a 15x30 area becomes ... only a few inches.

You added fill? What type did you add? Did you have it compacted then before installing the pool? I have been told by a pool installer guy that pouring a slab is our only alternative ($4,000 for product and labor we can't afford) or that we will have problems when adding fill because it will NEVER be solid enough no mater what to hold pool wall weight, but we can't dig or risk no drainage as we have such a high water table. On the other hand, we have been advised by other people to use Class 13 gravel/fill (ND) or Class 5 gravel/fill (MN) - both of those products have fractured gravel/rock, black dirt and high clay content for compaction and high friction value (I'm quoting the sand and gravel guys) or recycled ground concrete (wondering if that would be too abrasive?) Don't know what the gravel products are called in other states. Did you use any of these products? Appreciate any answers you could give, thanks.

[CarlD]

You added fill? What type did you add? Did you have it compacted then before installing the pool? I have been told by a pool installer guy that pouring a slab is our only alternative ($4,000 for product and labor we can't afford) or that we will have problems when adding fill because it will NEVER be solid enough no mater what to hold pool wall weight, but we can't dig or risk no drainage as we have such a high water table. On the other hand, we have been advised by other people to use Class 13 gravel/fill (ND) or Class 5 gravel/fill (MN) - both of those products have fractured gravel/rock, black dirt and high clay content for compaction and high friction value (I'm quoting the sand and gravel guys) or recycled ground concrete (wondering if that would be too abrasive?) Don't know what the gravel products are called in other states. Did you use any of these products? Appreciate any answers you could give, thanks.

That's to make HIS life easier and relieve HIM of liability. There is no reason to use concrete if you have a properly prepared site. However, if he's uncomfortable installing on fill and sand, it means he either doesn't know how to do it, or is lousy at it. Find someone who knows how to use sand...Been there, done that too.