ideas for cheap leveling fill for under a pool?

[TechBoyJK]

Sand seems expensive. Small wood chips?

Gf bought one of these so I can set it up in my backyard. My backyard is mostly level but it's not level enough. I need about 5 heaping wheelbarrows of fill.

 

[waffleironhead]

Don't cheap out. Just get the sand. The wood is just going to compress under all that weight. Have you called to get some by the dump truck load?

 

[eldorado99]

Sand IS cheap. Get fucking sand, you won't regret it

 

[Markbnj]

I can't think of anything better than sand. Maybe pea gravel? I doubt its cheaper. If you lived in New Jersey and had a truck we could set you up for the cost of gas.

 

[Jeff7]

Check Craiglist for it.
I found a few places close to me:
- 7-8 yards of dirt. Free, and they'll deliver.
- $50 for as much as you can fit in a pickup truck.
- Free for roughly a pickup truck-full.
- Sand, $40/ton.



Or check Google or the Yellow Pages for sand & gravel distributors, or even quarries.
I needed crushed stone once for a small concrete walkway. I rented a truck from Home Depot, and got a bed-full of stone at a local distributor. They just waved me through the scale; I guess it wasn't worth even their time to charge anything for it. I'm sure prefer to sell it by the dump truck.

 

[DrPizza]

Sand is very cheap, unless you purchase it, like an idiot, at Home Depot, in "tubes." A dump truck full is the way to purchase it. Hell, I can get a dump truck full delivered to my house for roughly the cost of 5 or 6 of those little bags of sand at HD.

 

[Jeff7]

Sand is very cheap, unless you purchase it, like an idiot, at Home Depot, in "tubes." A dump truck full is the way to purchase it. Hell, I can get a dump truck full delivered to my house for roughly the cost of 5 or 6 of those little bags of sand at HD.

New Craigslist post:
"Holy shit there's a mountain of sand in my front yard. Please come and take as much as you want. Free."


When my parents had a French drain system put in, that's about what we had at the start of the job: A huge mound of crushed stone at the top of the driveway.


50lb bag of sand at Home Depot: $3.15.
Manufacturer's cost for the sand in the bag: $0.015. (Just a guess.)
Everything else is the packaging and retail markup.

 

[NoTine42]

I you don't want to buy sand, then grab a shovel and dig out the dirt on the high spot.

Although I used a hybrid approach on my intex-type pool. Digging for basic leveling and sand for final leveling.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

invite the neighbors to take a dump in your yard?

 

[Howard]

The bones of the unrighteous

 

[DrPizza]

And, you want sand under the pool, else you'll feel every little pebble in the dirt. It can be uncomfortable to the feet otherwise. P.S. the pool in the OP is photoshopped - they aren't that big relative to the people in the pool. E.g., from elbow to elbow on the little girl is at least 2 feet, making the pool diameter greater than 20 feet.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

why is it even worth it at this point summer is more than half over

 

[Schmide]

obligatory kudzu

 

[Markbnj]

why is it even worth it at this point summer is more than half over

The solstice was June 21 in my neck of the woods. That was 22 days ago.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

The solstice was June 21 in my neck of the woods. That was 22 days ago.

yeah but costco and walgreens already have back to school stuff out

 

[DrPizza]

why is it even worth it at this point summer is more than half over

Yep, and according to the almanac, 2014 is the last summer ever. Err, uh, during the winter time, the sand will dissolve in the snow and he'll need to replace all of it next year.

 

[BoomerD]

1. those Intex pools are not very good...and their filter systems SUCK. Way under-powered and under-sized for the volume of water they have to handle.

2. CLEAN sand is the best thing you can put under a pool...and topped with a heavy-duty plastic tarp.

If you put down wood chips, you'll feel every rough spot under the pool...and may even end up with leaks. Same with pea gravel.

 

[lxskllr]

1. those Intex pools are not very good...and their filter systems SUCK. Way under-powered and under-sized for the volume of water they have to handle.

They're nice because they're cheap. It's a good introduction to learn owning a pool sucks. Mine was just another job after work, and it drowned some of my squirrels. They'd get in, but couldn't get out. They did manage to bite holes in the inflatable ring though...

 

[MongGrel]

Sand I'd say myself, with PVC type of a tarp over it, but bought an in ground with the house down here years ago.

Had to have it fiber glassed a few years after, been great since then.

Not trying to be an ass, but have come to know a bit about pools over the years.

Need to repair the freaking light still, pools a bit old and it went on me.

 

[Markbnj]

It's a good introduction to learn owning a pool sucks. Mine was just another job after work, and it drowned some of my squirrels.

I always figured that if I put in a pool I would lop off half the market when I needed to sell some day. People who don't want one won't consider your property, while people who do want one can always dream about putting one in. So no pool == win.

 

[cabri]

invite the neighbors to take a dump in your yard?

Amazing how much you try to be an asshole.:thumbsdown:

 

[Thebobo]

Kitty litter - I can deliver. used btw..

 

[MongGrel]

I always figured that if I put in a pool I would lop off half the market when I needed to sell some day. People who don't want one won't consider your property, while people who do want one can always dream about putting one in. So no pool == win.

Yeah I bought the house with it all ready here, just had to pay to fiberglass it later.

When the wife and I got married we shopped around for one that all ready had one and got a bit lucky at the time.

It's been mostly just upkeep since.

Not really a good pic, that was the start of the season and clearer now, but yeah when we bought the house it was all ready there, justifying putting one in these days is hard for any resale I imagine.

 

[NoTine42]

1. those Intex pools are not very good...and their filter systems SUCK. Way under-powered and under-sized for the volume of water they have to handle.

2. CLEAN sand is the best thing you can put under a pool...and topped with a heavy-duty plastic tarp.

If you put down wood chips, you'll feel every rough spot under the pool...and may even end up with leaks. Same with pea gravel.

The paper filter cartridges are an exercise in pool maintainance fustration. Last year I upgraded to the Intex sand filter...its so many orders of magnitude better....

I still think that the metal frame intex pools are worth the cost, if you upgrade to a proper filter.

I agree on the sand only below....or I've heard its even better if you do a concrete slab with 1.5" of rigid foam on top of the concrete (with pavers instead of foam under the support poles) an insulated bottom plus some give.

 

[MongGrel]

Had too