Excavating and receiving my 12'x24' this weekend. I'm Ready!... I hope

[hrsdennis]

Bk, What a thing to say to someone about to tackle such a big project on his own.

I do have a couple of opinions on that line of thought. I do in a few hours what a first timer would take from three days to three weeks to do. I walk into many disasters that took weeks of hard work only for me to say I will have to take it all down and redo correctly. It is just not for everyone.

If an experienced installer can be found at a reasonable price then that would sure be a good option. That is hard to find in all areas.

A do it yourself project is in many situations the way to go. And I figure that if this forum is on standby it is no longer a do it yourself job, it’s like lets all do it. We do make a difference.

I spent several days fixing my wife’s sewing machine, many years ago. When she got it back from the shop the repair man advised her to never let her husband touch the machine again. If I had had a forum to go to I could have done it right, I’m sure I could have.

I remember my first garage door opener, the install price was sixty dollars. Three days later I had installed it myself, saved the sixty and had that great pride that I did it myself.

My backup truck is an F250 with nearly three hundred thousand miles on it. It has never been in a shop. So it takes me half a day to change a water pump when a shop could do it in forty five minutes, no one touches my truck.

I’m just saying, I have total compassion and understanding for those that hire and those that don’t.

Zephans, the blocks needed for under the braces are just standard patio pavers. They can be 12 x 12 or 8 x 16 at about 1 ½’ to 2’ thick.

Have a good weekend, don’t forget the pics. Dennis

[CanuckPool]

I totally agree with you Dennis... everyone has a different level of handyness, I installed my garage door opener too, its so darn easy and fun, and saved a few bucks. Decks, fences, pretty much anything with wood is good too. But I take my hats off to someone who wants to install a pool themselves for the first time, thats courage! Things can go great, but things can go horribly wrong, and the best laid plans can take 3,4 even 10 times longer than expected, especially when you find out you need this tool or that material, trips to the hardware store can eat into your day BIG TIME.

zephans I wish you luck and hope everything runs smoothly... and that you don't run into any thing "difficult" while you are digging.

[CanuckPool]

I didnt see where you alotted time to install your equipment/electrical/gas/plumbing? or is it a lot easier on an AGP?

[NWMNMom]

Our best advice on pool building is ALWAYS reasearch and NEVER rush.

[matt4x4]

What it boils down to is each and everyone's abilities, but more so, each and everyone's proper judgement of their abilities!!!
My in laws keep thinking there isn't ANYTHING I can't do - a nice thing for someone to think of you, however, the way I see it is they just haven't asked me to do something I'm unable to do - a VERY BIG DIFFERENCE!
Deciding whether or not to build my own pool was a daunting task at first, once I looked it all over, the hardest part seemed to be getting the liner in right - to this day, I feel that it still is the hardest part of the job - getting something level isn't hard given the right tools, setting up the wall isn't hard - it's somewhat physically demanding, but not hard, installing the equipment - probably the easiest part of the job for me because I like messing with mechanical stuff.

[NWMNMom]

The leveling was the most physical and time consuming part for us due to having to take down some woods to enlarge the area some, build up our low/wet area with Class 5, compacting, and getting it all level, etc. All of the tractors, loaders, etc belong to us and we own some gravel pits and areas with some fill so that made it cheap to do, but still a lot of hard work. The Class 5 was trucked in and the plate compactor was rented. I'm sure I made life tough for DH because I was after him to check level every 5 mins throughout the entire install and make adjustments accordingly - if you don't work well with your co-builder (read spouse) in situations that require specific attention to detail then this isn't the job for you either. There is no rushing or shortcuts unless you want problems later.

Our liner went in so well we thought something must be wrong - we were just lucky and also had researched and gotten good advice - this was our first JHook liner and we weren't sure how well that would go. Overlaps are easier but this wasn't hard either. Good prep and taking our time made all the difference.

[matt4x4]

Everything went in so easy on our pool - but then, it doesn't have a single screw outside of the wall bolts and the skimmer bolts, The framework all clips together with a big 1/4 turn vinyl bolt on top therefore, the liner was the hardest part - only because with a 30' round pool, it was a big PIA to try and get the wrinkles out!

The good thing was I had the pad built up and prepped by a neighbour/contractor, and all I did was level/compact the screenings and sand.
It was work, but nothing hard (except physical).