Filling a Pool

[Peter Stahl]

Anyone ever had to fill in a pool? My daughter is house hunting and there is a decent house with a pool that would cost more to fix (at least for her). I didn't get real close but it looks like a vinyl liner pool about 16 X 32. House is cheap but I think the pool has scared everyone away. I'm guessing the concrete could be broken up and put in the deep end as clean fill. The metal and vinyl would have to be pulled out. Thanks for any replies.

[Michael Weber]

Just had one filled in last month. Big motha free form about 35000 gallons with a huge concrete deck that was 6 inches thick at least. Came with the house and we didn't want it and it was 30 years old. Originally concrete it had a fiberglass liner installed at some point. We hired an excavator to fill it in and what you describe is pretty much the process. However you hire will probably be able to crush any metal liner with their equipment into the pool along with the decking and the top 2 or 3 feet of the pool sides. Cost will vary with the size and deck area. Ours cost over $3000.00 but that included taking out over 100 feet of overgrown hedge and taking two dump truck loads of that to the landfill. The gentleman who did ours was 70 and had done excavating all his life. It was like watching ballet the way he moved the track hoe around and manipulated the attachments. Anyway it's definitely a relief to have it gone. The one summer we spent with it was a real PITA.
Mike

[Peter Stahl]

Thanks Michael, I was figuring in the 2 to 4K range. Wish my wifes uncle still had his dump truck, was one of those big ones you see doing highways.

[Alan Zenreich]

Two years ago I had a pool wall collapse (damn woodchucks tunneling) here in NJ.

It would have cost me more to fill in (roughly $8k) than to repair, so I had the wall repaired and a new liner installed (18x32 inground)

According to several pool contractors, here in NJ, to fill in a pool, the concrete needs to be REMOVED and clean fill carted in. None of the pool material is allowed to remain on site. Hence the high price of filling in the pool.

So, make sure your plans meet local codes.

[Tom Godley]

I do not believe it is possible to have this done for 3-4k in NJ - you will not be able to just push everything into the hole and fill it up.

Even if you were able to do it the easy way I believe it would cost more - it is unbelievably expensive to get almost anything done in NJ. The costs and requirements on both businesses and homeowners makes NJ ridiculously expensive.

[Stephen Musial]

I'm in the pool business here in St. Louis and the requirements vary by municipality. Some places want everything removed and then filled with dirt, some will accept clean rock fill, then landscape fabric, then 3' of soil.
Others will let you punch holes in the bottom to alleviate hydrostatic pressure, push everything in and fill and compact with rock or dirt. Some want an engineer to verify all compaction and fill.
All of them require a permit and you have to disclose it when you sell the house.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

My vinyl liner pool is a blast. I'm in Joisey up near the Del W Gap

Maybe they'd be better off thinking of having it repaired.

Replacing the liner is the best time to protect the liner for the future.
Lay sand in the base and apply poly foam sheeting everywhere.
Then lay the new liner.

Filling it is easy you can call a truck or just drop a hose in for a few days. I've filled mine at least twice.

People get intimidated at pools but they are fabulous if your home is in a warm climate for summer.

It's like cooking fish. Most people think it's hard because they don't know how but it's really easy peasy. Same with pools.

[Greg Cole]

+1 to Cliff's comments. I use a hose.
I fought off getting a pool thinking I'd hate the upkeep, but it's next to nothing.

[Tom Godley]

I will add to this also -- pools are not as much work as people think.

The first house I bought had a pool -- I almost did not buy it because it had a pool that needed some work along with the rest of the place.

The pool was the best part of the house!

[Jim Becker]

I stopped by my childhood home this weekend so the girls could see where I grew up. The pool that the 'rents installed in 1972 is still in use with the original vinyl liner and is in great shape. I agree that it may be better to consider a replacement liner, rather than filling it in. With the "robot" cleaning systems available today, pool maintenance is a lot easier these days than it was years ago, so it's worth considering it to be a nice feature on the property.