I finally have the pool up now. My estimation in the video was spot on and I ended up removing 44 wheelbarrows of dirt. I had no idea how many small rocks my clay contained and no matter how many I removed there was no end to them. So I ended up laying 1,000 lbs of mason sand (4 wheelbarrows worth) over the clay in order to keep small rocks from puncturing the pool liner. This added $51 of cost to the project. If I have to redo this project at a future house then I will for sure be renting a bobcat. I had no idea I would be digging up 44 wheelbarrows of dirt for just 5 inches of soil at the highest point. But if you want to do it for the cheapest and you have the time then doing this project by hand over a month is very feasible, plus it makes for a great workout. I may end up shooting one or more videos as I wrap up this project. Life is very busy so I try to shoot these without having to do any editing unlike my prior KZfaq videos. I plan on adding river stones around the pool to hide what is exposed of the tarp that goes under the pool and to make the whole thing look better. I need to also build a flagstone walkway to the pool entrance and a wooden housing for the pump and salt chlorine generator.

I think a lot of people find this out the hard way. Removing a couple inches of New England rock infested top soil is serious work. Especially when you run into rocks to big to lift without machinery

@@garrettscott9427 I'd love to see the rest of your project - we are trying to get the pool up this weekend but we've underestimated the work it'll take! We too want to do the river rock and I'm curious how you'll do that. More videos would be awesome! Thanks!

@@balcomhomeschool9135this project was by far more work than I had imagined it would have been. Well worth it though! I went to purchase the river rock a week ago and they were out of stock and won't get any in for a while due to quarry issues. I am wanting the project to be finished before I do a final video, so it could be a month or so.

I had no idea how rocky my clay soil was. No matter how many rocks I picked up there ending up just being more and more. I ended up putting a 1/2 inch or so layer of sand down. I tried compacting it with a plate compactor and it didn't do anything. Sand already sits very compactly, so maybe just leveling it out if you do use sand. One of those drums that can be filled with water and rolled around could also help pack the sand down if you really want to.

Between 4 or 5 thousand bucks if you have it poured and finished.

$1500.00 to $2000.00 DIY pour.

Same here. I have so much dirt, clay, and rock dumped it looks like I made it al the way to China. Still not level.

thank you!

It is hard to not get a warped board from the hardware store. I have to go through a pile sometimes if I want to find one that is really straight. Sorry that this happened to you!

If that bubble is in the middle then you probably be ok. A small bit out of level wont kill the pool. It can be deceiving looking at it and seeing it looks unlevel but it is. Good luck

I take it down. If you don't have very hard freezes then you could likely get away with keeping it up. Usually not recommended for this type of pool.

A tamper will work well with sand. I tried using a plate compactor and it did not go well. I later switched to a tamper.

@@garrettscott9427 wow great, thank you for such quick response!! This is literally cheapest solution, maybe my parents have one as well! I only have a 12ft pool but wanna do it properly as I have neighbours about 50 meters down the slight slope we live on. Cant risk a structural collapse.

yes

And what do you do when you can’t afford to rent a compactor ?? I got out the dolly with the big wheels on it put a few bricks on it and walked around in circles!!!

We are digging out for an 18 ft round. So actually dug out 21 ft all the way around. My back yard is exactly the same shown in this video. ( Quite high on one side and very light digging on other side. We plan to use 1 and 1 half yards of sand. Hope that helps

Due to the high rock content in the clay I ended up adding about 1 to inches of sand

And no cover except the solar one to warm it in early spring.

I kept it as large mound of dirt for the kids to play on. I then used to to fill in the pool hole when we prepped to move.

local landscaping rentals maybe? I purchased one from Harbor Freight.

adding any material to level out the area is a big risk. After filling the pool full of water it will weigh many tons and the added material will likely not stay level. Generally the pros will dig out an area and add sand.

are you building a retaining wall?

@@garrettscott9427 We are putting bricks down under the legs for extra support but no retaining wall. At least not this year.

Better use microscope

@@billm4262 How did pool turn out after using bricks under each leg? Was pool relatively level?

@@ericmuller3339 yes it help up fine

good question! I think it was somewhere around 44 wheel barrows of dirt. Way more than I imagined. Quite a few hours. I just did a little here and a little there, so hard for me to say. If you have as much dirt as I did then maybe consider renting a skid steer!

Adding dirt is a big no no. Sure, you can tamp it all you want but once the pool settles in you can get high and low points since hand compacted or even using a vibration compactor will never be as compact as the existing soil.

I think if you use the inflatable ring top pools to compact the soil every time you get ready to put it up over the summer it'll be fine in a few years. I agree with you. Dirt costs too much to just rip it out and toss it.

@@yesterdayistoday8760 is just do with it... in this Texas hot weather it’s just so hard

Nope. You remove dirt not add. Or you’ll end up with the new dirt sinking and your work will be for nothing

I agree, i put the dirt from the high wall of mine over to the low spot and the pool ended up sinking on the low point on each leg