How to build an inground pool!

Alright here we go, you might ask, how in the world did you decide to do something like this? Well, I am always up for a good challenge, have just enough knowledge about me mechanically to make me dangerous, and all the pool quotes from over 15 companies came in way too high for me to be like ok....lets throw our money down the drain and pay someone to do this.

I have quite a bit of experience anywhere from installing a lift kit on a brand new Chevy in the drive way or anything else car wise, brakes, transmissions, clutches, water pumps, radiators, etc..., or swapping out drive positions on a Harley to accept longer reach pedals, to doing a lot of work on our home, removing walls, kitchen upgrades, addition, tiling, shower installs, plumbing, flooring, etc... Also we love working outside, and making the most of our yard, which over the years has progressed but not quite where we want it or think it can be.

So after all of the frustrating bids we received on building the pool and the delayed timelines where we really could not have a pool this year, after watching dozens of YouTube vids, I committed to DIY. We looked at fiberglass, gunnite and vinyl liner pools all of them, the best bet for us is going to be a vinyl liner pool which I am perfectly happy with. Yes, I am nervous, yes I have high hopes that everything goes well, and yes I have an unfetered confidence about me that thinks I can make this happen. So I reached out to dozens of companies who sell DIY kits (same kits professionals use by the way) but the market during this time is unexpectedly crazy busy and no one called back...no one. I finally found a company that picked up the phone every time I called and so far we have had 14 conversations and we have not even dug the hole. I respect that, his name is Bob with Polar Pools, give him a shout!

The first effort was to decide what kind of pool we wanted and we have a TON of limiting factors. Code setbacks, huge trees, small space, existing sewer, water lines, and patios etc... We know we are not going to get a big pool but end up fixating on a 12X 24' cocktail pool with tanning ledge, and constant 54" depth, so it is all usable. We found that pools with deep ends give up a lot of play room for the depth that can't really be used by the kiddos unless jumping off the diving board, BTW I plan on installing a cool jumping boulder that does not qualify as a diving platform.

Codes has been an issue in the beginning as I have received differing guidance which is frustrating. One person says this and the other this. Originally I was measuring for 15' setbacks side and back which was restricting what I could do significantly. Later on I was worried I had been given the wrong info, and thankfully I was right, the side/back setbacks were only 8' which opened things up for significantly.

In my county, I can pull a building permit, sign off on a barrier release form, but I plan on hiring an electrician to to do electrical, its required. In order to pull the building permit in my town, I had to go ahead and purchase a pool alarm and show receipt, which I think is silly but....

I did have an electrician come out and scope out the plan, he really didn't want to do it and the existing electrical in the barn was not to code. He didn't believe the wiring went through conduit to the house but I pushed back and did a blower test, using leaf blower to blow air into the barn conduit hoping I could feel it in the basement of the house where the electrical went out. As soon as Megan started the blower at the barn, I could feel air in the conduit and then all of a sudden a flood of water which covered me. Oh well, all is good, that is the result I wanted, otherwise we would have to dig an unwanted trench from house to barn. We are going to pull a new line through the existing conduit that is suitable for the electricity.

Lets talk about sewer lines while we are at it, I did call 811 and they came out to mark gas and sewer. The gas was easy and on the other side of the house while the sewer was not so much. I thought they would locate the line but instead they guessed and found the main, drew a paint mark in the yard where it should be. ughhh. When we did our addition last year we unearthed an unknown sewer pipe that is of concern to the pool location so I need to know where it was. They couldn't tell me exactly. I went to ACE and bout a 48" sounder pole thing that you can poke in the ground to try and find pipes. Megan and I must have poked 1000 holes in the ground (making it easy for cicadas next year) trying to find pipe and we finally found what we hope is the right line, in addition to an old existing septic tank made from stone and rotting rafter that I just bout fell into last year. It is out of the blueprint for dig which is what we want. What we don't want is a black swan pipe showing up that could ultimately be a showstopper. (and this happened today, having a plumber out ASAP to troubleshoot...uggg)

Finding an excavator has also proven to be a challenge, but several call to craigslist adds has been fruitful. We finally found a guy that uses laser levels/transits that can help get the best dig possible we hope. He has just been finicky on timelines, I guess mainly because he has to find a place locally to dump the dirt because we can't pile it up in my yard, it is too small. (thanks to Kelly and Brian for taking my awesome dirt, you will be invoiced)

Here are a few phots of the progress so far...