Inground pools?

[Ar1el]

Anyone ever install their own inground pool? I found a few sites that have a DIY pool kit. It is the liner pools and it looks fairly easy but again they are just pictures.

 

[southern_redhead]

I haven't. We don't have our own pool but are looking into it (I sooo want one!) I did want to say that a friend of my mother's had one done and they went the liner route. She said no matter what they did, even replacing the liner twice, they always had issues with it losing water and the liners "leaking". Eventually, they gave up and filled it in. She said the whole thing was a huge waste of money. I'm sure there have to be people who have liners that worked fine and they love them but I want to go with a fiberglass insert if we do ours. My uncle has one (out west) and it is FABulous!

 

[woodkins]

Our inground pool has a vinyl liner but we also have 6" thick concrete walls, poured concrete steps which are covered with the vinyl liner and a bench cut into one of the walls in the deep end of the pool. We have underwater lights and a waterfall & it took a lot of electrical and plumbing work on top of the general pool installation. Ours is 20X40 and is a mountain lake shape so it is pretty free form. It goes from 4' to 8' deep so i cannot imaging trying to create that myself. They had to set forms to pour the concrete with steel rebar footings etc. It was a long process and doesn't seem like a diy project.

 

[RMulieri]

I have a pool and there is NO way in hell would I have attempted to do it myself.But I live in a very limestone/rock riddled area.A close neighbor attempted to do it themselves and ended up paying a pool company it was too difficult with the soil and rock content .A pool is an expensive investment, imho it is worth paying someone to do it right.Too many things can ended going wrong and you may end up spending more money to correct it than if you went with company in the first place ( as my neighbors found out)

 

[sukhakuli]

We have an inground pool also, and besides digging out a hole that large, there's also the complicated plumbing system, plus you have to reinforce the ground because water is so heavy, the electrics, the heating systems (we have 2 propane and solar), the ozoneator, etc etc.

Why not get an above ground pool? There's really nothing wrong with those.

 

[Ar1el]

Thanks for the relies. Paying someone to put it in right the first time would be the better option for sure. I was just thinking of ways to perhaps save a little money on it. Thanks again.

 

[holden]

We had a fiberglass pool installed in the fall. FYI - if you do decide to have someone build a pool for you, plan on it costing much more than you think - at least 25% more when all is said and done (fence, landscaping, etc.).

 

[okeydokey]

We did last year. We got the kit from polar pools. It ended up costing half of what it would have to have an installer do it.

However, we know a lot of helpful and talented people (one who has a backhoe and is an electrician). It was a lot of work and a stressful couple of months but it turned out beautifully. The kit was about $7000 or $8000 and the total cost was about $16,000. Is L-Shaped. Most of the cost aside from the kit was for concrete.

We absolutely love it and would never have been able to pay for one installed.

 

[Ar1el]

We did last year. We got the kit from polar pools. It ended up costing half of what it would have to have an installer do it.

However, we know a lot of helpful and talented people (one who has a backhoe and is an electrician). It was a lot of work and a stressful couple of months but it turned out beautifully. The kit was about $7000 or $8000 and the total cost was about $16,000. Is L-Shaped. Most of the cost aside from the kit was for concrete.

We absolutely love it and would never have been able to pay for one installed.

That is more than I expected a DIY pool to be. Do you have to concrete under the liner of the pool? My father-n-law can do the electrical work and my DH's cousin has a backhoe.

 

[okeydokey]

That is more than I expected a DIY pool to be. Do you have to concrete under the liner of the pool? My father-n-law can do the electrical work and my DH's cousin has a backhoe.

Once you excavate, you install the walls, the plumbing and electric and then we (when I say we I mean DH and his friends ) spread a concrete and vermiculite mix on the bottom before placing the liner in. We bought bags of both and rented a mixer to mix it ourselves.

We did hire a concrete truck to come deliver concrete to pour in behind the walls once they were up and under the steps. Then we hired a concrete guy to do the surrounding patio. This was the most expensive part.

The kits come with a video and the folks we bought from were very available by phone with questions. It is no small project, however. We could have done it cheper but we really wanted the l-shaped pool (rectangular was less) and we got a salt water system. We have quite a bit of patio around the outside too, which adds to the price. A pool of that size and shape would have been 35 grand to have someone else install.

 

[Ar1el]

We have an inground pool also, and besides digging out a hole that large, there's also the complicated plumbing system, plus you have to reinforce the ground because water is so heavy, the electrics, the heating systems (we have 2 propane and solar), the ozoneator, etc etc.

Why not get an above ground pool? There's really nothing wrong with those.

I do not mind above ground pools. DH has inground on the brain.

 

[Ar1el]

Once you excavate, you install the walls, the plumbing and electric and then we (when I say we I mean DH and his friends ) spread a concrete and vermiculite mix on the bottom before placing the liner in. We bought bags of both and rented a mixer to mix it ourselves.

We did hire a concrete truck to come deliver concrete to pour in behind the walls once they were up and under the steps. Then we hired a concrete guy to do the surrounding patio. This was the most expensive part.

The kits come with a video and the folks we bought from were very available by phone with questions. It is no small project, however. We could have done it cheper but we really wanted the l-shaped pool (rectangular was less) and we got a salt water system. We have quite a bit of patio around the outside too, which adds to the price. A pool of that size and shape would have been 35 grand to have someone else install.

Thanks for explaining. I appreciate it.

 

[msmama]

I agree with the person above who said that NO WAY would I even attempt it myself!! (I actually had to have mine re-done last year after a particularly bad winter and my attempt to eek out one more year with an old liner destroyed the whole thing).

BUT...it also is going to depend on where you live and what kind of soil you have. For me and my location and soil, fiberglass wasn't an option so I had to go with the concrete (which seriously at this point with all the steel and concrete I think my pool would survive anything) and a vinyl liner.

I didn't need fencing or landscaping or anything because it was already done and the pool shape was already mostly dug, it just needed fixing (though I did need lots of demolition), but I don't think I paid much more than 20K. For the difference between that and the do it yourself-er above, I'd pay to have it professionally installed!

 

[powellrj]

Oh goodie, another zombie spammer.