Garden pool supporting structure

Due to the limited travel possibilities my children would like to have a pool in the garden. For this the ground must be very levelled (+/- 1 cm?). Instead of digging a corresponding hole in the ground, I consider building a wooden supporting structure. But I am not sure if this is sufficient for the enormous weight of a filled pool.

Any thoughts about or experiences with such a project? Thank you for any input!

PoolSupportingStructure.skp (707.4 KB)

What is the soil like. Here we have mostly clay that would sufficiently support such a pool.
So I might consider excavating the supporting surface and leveling with fine sand. Far less work.

Is the wall of the pool 10mm, and does it bend easily?

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Based on the level of the water in your pool, the structure would need to support the weight of about six Porsche 911 Carreras plus the weight of kids and dogs. I would be skeptical that the base would support it. I’d also be concerned about lateral stability. There’s really very little to prevent the frames from tipping over like dominoes when the water gets to sloshing about.

I agree with Mr. H that putting it on the ground is a better idea. When the kids are tired of it, remove the pool, lay paving stones on the level sand and make a nice patio.

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We haven’t determined the type yet (plastic, thin metal) but it will be much thinner as in my model :wink:

Nice move, keeping me out of the equation :wink:

Same thought here, presumably much more diagonal supports would be necessary than are shown so far.

Oh, you’ve already spoken to my wife?

I’ve used the model to esimate the needed wood, the wood alone would probably cost about 170 Euro (approx. 185 USD), that would not be appropriate in relation to the pool, so that it probably runs out to the solution with the shovel.

I didn’t want to offend you.

I think so.

No but the neighbors put in a pool about 15 years ago. Their girls loved for about two summers and then they were done with it and there was a big flat spot to deal with so they put in a patio with a firepit in the middle.

The shovel and some sand my be less expensive. And with the money you save, you can buy another Porsche 911 Carrera or even a Turbo S. :smiley:

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Here’s a picture of the place, the blue sticks are on the same level…

The trampoline is well placed for pool entry. :smiley:

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You can lead a pommel horse to water…

In principle, it’s problematic, a least as drawn. A 1 meter deep pool would have 1 kg of weight on each cm^2 of bottom. The slats collect that weight, and concentrate it on the trusses. 60 mm wide at 500 mm on center means that the pressure (kg/cm^2) on the soil is amplified just over 8 times. That’s why foundations typically have spread footings, to spread the load out and get that number back down again, so you would typically put something under the trusses to spread out the weight. You still have to level out the soil under each truss, so you didn’t really make that work go away. I tend to agree with @g.h.hubers that leveling the ground might just be the simplest after all.

Yes, joist rolling over is an issue. A Rim Joist usually does that function, but X braces can be used.

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10kg/100=0,1kg/cm2
When paving, if you stand on one of your heels in the sand, you create a higher pressure per mm2 then one of these:

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These pools are usually sold as a finished product, so probably it comes with a frame that already has the lateral bracing taken care of.

I agree with the “on ground” party. In all cases you will have to remove the topsoil and all organic material and fill it in. Usually you put in first a layer of coarser material and a finer one for the levelling. In our parts the materials can be ordered in large sacks.

We had recently a cracked concrete pool that wouldn’t longer hold water in our yard filled and turned into a patio. A great improvement in safety and usability.

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With the pool on a solid structure the possibility of wear on the underside of the liner exists. I agree with the others, put down a level sand pad. Less work, expense and easier to figure out.

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A pity about the SketchUp model, but the stability and the price of wood are more important arguments :wink:

WIP: leveling finished

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Cool. What did you use? Vector push-pull?

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No! Subtraction from SolidTools :wink:

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If the photo is not a fake, you used Subtraction from ShovelTools…

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Very good. Think of what a nice patio it will make once the pool has served the purpose. :smiley:

Unfortunately, SketchUp hasn’t yet devised a tool to get Cotty out of doing the digging. I’d be the same, I hate digging.

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Not for gold nuggets I don’t

I don’t dig digging either.