Anyone ever hear of putting old carpet under the pool for added protection/cushion? Just bought the Intex 24x52 and starting to plan out the install. 

woodyp said:I'm thinking wet, rotten and smelley before long.
olag25 said:Where would you get polystyrene 1" thick that's big enough for a 22' pool? And how much would something like this cost? I'm considering what i'll use for my next pool opening.
phonedave said:olag25 said:Where would you get polystyrene 1" thick that's big enough for a 22' pool? And how much would something like this cost? I'm considering what i'll use for my next pool opening.
4'x8' sheets of rigid foam insulation that is 1 3/8" thick is available at just about any construction supply house at $25 to $27 a sheet. You could peice it together and tape the seams. Most of it is backed with foil on one side as well.
-dave
olag25 said:phonedave said:olag25 said:Where would you get polystyrene 1" thick that's big enough for a 22' pool? And how much would something like this cost? I'm considering what i'll use for my next pool opening.
4'x8' sheets of rigid foam insulation that is 1 3/8" thick is available at just about any construction supply house at $25 to $27 a sheet. You could peice it together and tape the seams. Most of it is backed with foil on one side as well.
-dave
WOW. So am i doing my math right? Are we talking about $450 - $480 for a 24' x 24' pad?
3 x 6 x $25 OR 3 x 6 x $27??
Almost as much as the pool itself.
Seems rather expensive.
Why put carpet down you ask? My backyard is full of holes from ground squirrels and gophers. The last thing I need is for a thirsty rodent to chew through the bottom of the pool liner. Carpet is tough and should definitely slow them down. Also, in terms of the carpet smelling and decomposing, one person posted that they put sand down first. That is a good idea. Thank you. That will keep the carpet dry.Well this topic is pretty old but I'll comment since I was the one who started it with the question. Summer of 2011 we did not use carpet, just a heavy duty tarp. We take our pool down every year and in taking it down in 2011, the tarp smelled about as bad as something dead. Judging from the ground lines and dead bodies, the earthworms didn't fair too well coming up under the pool.
This summer of 2012, we did put carpet down. I live in a college town and used carpet is plentiful when the students move out at graduation in May. A perfect time to put up the pool (especially our May, it was HOT). The carpet went down on bare dirt, plush side up, and we cut it to about the 24' circle. We did put the same old tarp on top of the carpet, then the pool. We just took the pool down this past weekend as the cold nights have made the pool very cold and with school starting it was time to take it down. The carpet was muddy, but dry for the most part, it wasn't saturated. Yes, there was still dead worms and the smell, but I don't think it was any worse than the year before. We do not intend on reusing the same carpet next year and have disposed of it.
I like what the carpet did for us. It was FREE, gave a protection from rocks, added a cushion on the floor of the pool and I believe even helped retain the water temp. We did have to piece the carpeting to make the full 24' circle and one or two of the seams were not tight. All that created was a line where the vacuum had to pay special attention to.
So the debate is, Why put it down? Other than giving the pool a little more protection and keeping the heat in the pool, I guess there is no reason why. Will we do it again in 2013? Probably, our investment in the pool is worth piecing used carpet for a pad.