Pool damage is assessed…a plan is formed
Today was spent removing the decking, chopping it up to put in my fireplace wood pile and assessing the damage.
After the decking was removed completely, I found a lot of rot, warped boards and bent metal. The pool originally built between Jun 10 to Aug 2002. I worked on it after I came home from my job each evening. Shit it had to be hot then? Working in July/Aug?
At the time, I even had to relocate he sewer line from the kitchen.
This is how it was in the beginning as I was rolling in the steel sides. I a bunch of parts from old 30 foot round above ground pool someone gave me and recycled it into my pool.
The pool has served me well for 10 years, but the environment as really taken the toll on the “system” . I want to correct some of the design flaws, rebuild it totally such that I should never have a structural problem for the rest of my life…
If I had to do it all over again, it would have been built entirely of poured concrete. I love working with concrete. It is like fiberglassing, but for the house. Once you do it, you are done for just about ever. But, in this case I’ll rebuild it with mainly wood, with some concrete help.
You can see the rotten wood here.
After the deck was removed I used a piece of wing foam, floating on the water to establish a “water level” line around the perimeter of the pool to establish the drop or sinkage. I found the low side was 1 1/2 inches below the highest point … problems. Next I found the wood along the pool was was twisted and bowed out from the pressure …. more problems.
The pool was drained and surprising, the walls bowed back into straight line. It is at this time that I figured out what the problem was, and how to fix it.
The pressure of the pool water is bowing the wood out because of some steel supports which are just mushing into the dirt. AaaHaaa! That is the key issue and now I know how to fix it.
Originally, I thought I would have to build trusses for the deck, but instead, I am going to concrete around the middle of the pool. Essentially creating a concrete ring (girdle) to take the pressure of the water instead of the dirt. Plus, I found I had enough of the original steel sheeting to put a second sidewall in, so instead of one outer steel skin, I’ll have two. This will make me feel more comfortable as I have worried about the original steel sides rusting out.
Now I have a plan. I knew the structual support system would be the most difficult part of this renovation, and if I just wanted to deck over the pool and have a large outside deck, it would have been an easy upgrade. But, I love to exercise in the pool so the effort is worth it. This will be the last upgrade I do to the pool….gotta make it right.
