East Dallas new pool construction- do we need piers?

[rathboma]

Hey folks,

we are in East Dallas looking to build a 23x16 Gunite pool in our backyard and have two prospective PBs giving bids.

The smaller company, where the guy we talk to also project manages the build says definitely we need piers due to the slope and soil, the other company, a salesman from one of the big pool builders That’s been running for 30yrs says the soil is fine, and so we do not need them. Didn’t think the slope was that bad.

We’re not sure how to evaluate the two opinions. How do we figure this out?

our whole street is on a hill and the area for the pool probably slopes 2-3 feet from the north east to the south west corner, which means over half of the pool would be above ground really.

The cost of piers is $8-10k.

So glad I found this forum, I can see I’ll be here a lot!

Any advice offered is greatly appreciated.

 

[HermanTX]

Welcome fellow Texan to the TFP forum.
Do you have any neighbors that have pools? You may want to contact them to see if they have similar slopes, etc. What did they do?
However, since a pool is a sizeable investment, while $10k may be significant, spending $60k and having it slide down the hill is much worst. Suggest you find an engineering firm that specializes in pool construction, soil evaluation to provide you their professional recommendations and not take the word of a salesman or someone who thinks they do not need it because they have not done it before. Every yard is different and you are risking a lot by not having a proper evaluation.

 

[Jimrahbe]

R,

Piers are 75% scam and 25% a real requirement.. The problem is that most home owners have no way to know which..

I too recommend getting a separate engineering study done.. While it will increase the cost by 1 or 2K if you actually need piers, it also could save you 6 to 8K.. if you don't..

At the very least I would contact a soil engineer and look into the cost of having it done.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

In case you are not following this thread...

Piers or no piers in North Texas?

Hello All! Very excited to be here, but very nervous to be starting this process to become a brand new pool owner. We've narrowed our PB search down to 2 we like; however one insists they will not build a pool without piers in our town, the other (who happens to be the oldest pool company in...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[joepaiii]

Good luck trying to figure out what to do. If you go to an engineer - prepare to have to requote everything as they will have different build plans than your pool builder might. But if you go that way it will likely be more than just the money you pay the engineers to come up with a build plan.

Also - at the end of the day - you really should trust the company you are contracting to build the pool to know what they are doing. Otherwise you probably have picked the wrong company. I know that a lot of them make mistakes but the ones that have been around for years should know how to build pools in our area.

I ended up paying for steel piers since we are on a slope and our house has had numerous foundation problems. Did I need them - probably not. We hit rock in the deep end but not in the shallow end. Is my pool likely more stable than without them - probably. And that's why I put them in.

Good luck - talk to a bunch of builders and engineers if you can. As mentioned earlier - your neighbors are great resources due to proximity and local soil conditions.