# above ground pool going inground



## rktect 1 (Jul 3, 2013)

Well, today I have to review an above ground 25 mil liner pool which is 4 feet in height.  But they want to put it inground.  The manufacturer provide aluminum wall supports and panels.  The installer is saying that they have of course done this before and the only change they have ever made is that the panels are required to be preservatively treated.  The aluminum frame is left exposed on outside like a skeleton and backfilled against the plywood attached to inside of skeleton.  Liner is then applied and filled with water.

Anybody seen this before?  I did find a youtube video on one but that guy actually built a timber retaining wall and left space between the wall and pool.


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## mjesse (Jul 3, 2013)

We did a permit 2 years ago for someone installing one from this company (not an advertisement) - International Swimming Pools, Inc.

It looked a lot like an above ground pool, steel frame and vinyl liner, set below grade and back-filled.

mj


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## globe trekker (Jul 3, 2013)

rktect 1,

Can you obtain the manufacturer' installation requirements for this critter? They may or may not

allow it to be installed below grade.

.


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## rktect 1 (Jul 3, 2013)

It will in fact lose its warranty from the manufacturer if buried.  But homeowner was sold on idea to do this so that if they ever move they can take the pool with them.  ??????


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## steveray (Jul 3, 2013)

Engineer it.....


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## cboboggs (Jul 3, 2013)

rktect 1 said:
			
		

> It will in fact lose its warranty from the manufacturer if buried.  But homeowner was sold on idea to do this so that if they ever move they can take the pool with them.  ??????


And they can't take the pool with them if installed above ground?


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## globe trekker (Jul 3, 2013)

rktect 1,

I too would be concerned with the loads of the soils surrounding the
pool skeleton when / if installed below grade.  If they (the homeowners)
are headstrong on installing it below grade, does the AHJ have any
policies in place to address this (can you say .."variance"?), or to do
as you have indicated in Post # 1, ..have a space between the pool
skeleton and the surrounding soils?   The soils ARE going to move
and settle against the skeleton at some point.  Not sure engineering
this (*$$$*) is going to satisfy the homeowners. They're already buying
a Cheapo product, voiding any warranties by installing it below grade,
and now adding engineering costs to the equation to add more money
to this "proposed" debacle. Really?

Do the homeowners have that much money to waste?  
As we all know though, ..people with money do not worry about such
trivialities as shifting soils, and structural loads.


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## Rick18071 (Jul 3, 2013)

Does the manufacturer' instructions allow this? Doesn't matter with or without
a warranty.


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## ewenme (Jul 8, 2013)

Some people do have a penchant for tempting fate. Eh?


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## JPohling (Jul 8, 2013)

I would say its the service that needs to go underground now,  not the pool


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## M. Nieves (Jul 9, 2018)

Hi guys, I need an advice. Has anyone of you already heard about swim spas? I was thinking about installing one of them in the backyard. Any personal experience?

Thanks in advance!


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## Rick18071 (Jul 9, 2018)

Dealt with one in a resort where they also used it as a hot tub. Too hot to use for swimming and took to long to cool it down or heat it up. The swim jets were not adjustable for stronger and weaker swimmers. They gave up with the swimming and just use it as a hot tub.

But that was 20 years ago. There may be improvements now.


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## ICE (Jul 9, 2018)

M. Nieves said:


> Hi guys, I need an advice. Has anyone of you already heard about swim spas? I was thinking about installing one of them in the backyard. Any personal experience?
> 
> Thanks in advance!



swim spas? was an active link to a spa company until I fixed it.


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## loure1992 (Jul 19, 2018)

In this way when you place  them in the ground, they can collapse from the heaviness of the earth, yet just when they are unfilled.


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## ADAguy (Jul 20, 2018)

Swim spas are a big thing for sale at The Pomona Fairgrounds, they run ads on TV all the time. Installed in ground but due to depth are they bound by fencing requirements?


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## HForester (Jul 20, 2018)

If the pool is a_ listed_ "above ground (onground) pool", I don't think listing of the pool allows burial at any depth. However, I am vaguely familiar with liner pools that are intended to be installed in a hole. Again, back to the manufacturer to see how they intend for the pool to be installed. If the manufacturer will not stand behind it, then you know it shouldn't be done. And by the way, fiberglass shell pools can't be emptied either! They have to fill those as they are backflilled.


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## Rick18071 (May 7, 2019)

HForester said:


> If the pool is a_ listed_ "above ground (onground) pool", I don't think listing of the pool allows burial at any depth. However, I am vaguely familiar with liner pools that are intended to be installed in a hole. Again, back to the manufacturer to see how they intend for the pool to be installed. If the manufacturer will not stand behind it, then you know it shouldn't be done. And by the way, fiberglass shell pools can't be emptied either! They have to fill those as they are backflilled.



I'm glad they call them "Onground Pools" now. I never did see a pool floating above the ground.
I see a lot of onground pools partly buried where there are slopes in the back yard. It' probably better than fill to level it. Also I have reads a few manufacturers installment manuals and never seen anything saying not to do do it. If it voids the warranty that is not my problem. The warranty is usually just for short time anyway and I don't think anything would happen to a partly buried pool in that amount of time.


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## ADAguy (May 7, 2019)

Many decades ago we depressed the center of our 48" high Doughboy pool 18", leaving a 36" level ring inside and sloped from there to the center. 
Used it for years, great fun. Ran and high jumped the side wall to enter the pool. Liner held up great.


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## ameliasolis (May 24, 2022)

We are planning on putting a used above-ground pool inground on one side in our sloped yard. We are planning to coat the whole thing in Rustoleum and then the outside in roof coating. It's not going to last forever but, later it will be replaced with a resin pool. I only gave $150 for it. It's getting stainless screws, PVC piping, and a new liner. We are doing wall foam, cove, and something on the bottom not sure what. Can anyone think of anything we need to do we've forgotten? Would building a retaining wall on the buried side make it last longer? We are bringing old castle portage stones to flush on that one side for a patio. The other sides will have nothing there.


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## ICE (May 24, 2022)

The pump is in the garbage can.


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## Mark K (May 25, 2022)

ameliasolis said:


> We are planning on putting a used above-ground pool inground on one side in our sloped yard. We are planning to coat the whole thing in Rustoleum and then the outside in roof coating. It's not going to last forever but, later it will be replaced with a resin pool. I only gave $150 for it. It's getting stainless screws, PVC piping, and a new liner. We are doing wall foam, cove, and something on the bottom not sure what. Can anyone think of anything we need to do we've forgotten? Would building a retaining wall on the buried side make it last longer? We are bringing old castle portage stones to flush on that one side for a patio. The other sides will have nothing there.


You are changing how the loads are applied to the pool and by burying the pool underground possibly making corrosion more severe.  Please report back when the pool fails


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## redeyedfly (May 25, 2022)

Mark K said:


> Please report back when the pool fails


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## Beniah Naylor (May 25, 2022)

Any metal supports exposed to earth will corrode galvanically - but there are ways around that, either by isolating the metal from the earth, or by providing cathodic protection of some kind.

Isolating the metal from the earth would have to be something more substantial than Rustoleum to last. How deep are you wanting to bury it?

The retaining wall would definitely protect the pool.


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## Mark K (May 25, 2022)

The discussion confuses two issues, what does the code say and whether it makes sense.  The building department should focus on what the code says.  The question of whether the proposal makes sense should be left to the owner of the property.  While there are limitations on this right, individuals have a strong right to make what we may believe are wrong decisions.  Stated another way regulators should resist imposing their individual beliefs on those they regulate.


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## mark handler (May 25, 2022)

Prefabricated swimming pools accessory to a Group R-3 occupancy that are installed below grade ground are not exempt from the codes.
have them provide Manufactures data and calcs.


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## ameliasolis (May 25, 2022)

ICE said:


> View attachment 8984
> 
> 
> The pump is in the garbage can.
> ...


i also want to create a one like this


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## ICE (May 25, 2022)

ameliasolis said:


> i also want to create a one like this


I caused them to remove the pool and fill the hole.


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## Rick18071 (Jun 9, 2022)

The code says that you must go by the manufactures installation directions.


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