Filling deep end of pool

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C

Cmd629

0
Sep 12, 2018
3
Farmingdale/New York
I have a 16 x 32 inground pool with an 8 foot deep end. For many reasons mainly young children,I want to fill in the deep end making it about 5 feet in depth.
I know I will need a new liner but more importantly I need to know when is the right time as I live in New York with cold winters to do this?
Do I close the pool normally now then empty it in May fill it up to level it to 5 ft then add liner and water? Or
do i empty now and fill with dirt to give it time to settle???
im afraid of the Pool moving ir collapsing from being empty for so long? But if u do it all at once don’t I need to give it time to settle before adding new liner???
 
<gasp!> Noooooo Nooooo! Don't dooooo it!!!

Kids get older and taller. They also learn to swim and want to dive. Just imagine them in a short while, teens! Oy!!
Diving in is much safer in deep water than a more shallow one. Having a dedicated deep diving area allows the adults to have more fun diving in too.

Floats, pool noodles, rings etc all work in a deep end just as much as in a 5' end.

You'd be removing opportunities and not getting any benefit, IMO.

Maddie :flower:
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

I agree with Maddie ... 5' is no safer than 8' for a small child ... and perhaps less so due to the risk of hitting the bottom when jumping in, especially as they get older.

If you have other reasons for wanting to do this, I am sure there are members that might be able to offer advice. But, I would not consider small child safety as a driving reason.
 
5' is still too deep for those games you list.

When you say "No one in the house swims" does that mean they don't know how? No one floats on a raft or lounges around on a pool noodle? I love doing that in the deeper end of a pool. It isn't wasted space at all.

Just "standing" is ...b.o.r.i.n.g. IMO... I like to feel my legs hanging in the water without touching the bottom. I like to float around with others and have space. Leave the shallow end to the kiddies and move down to adult territory I say!! :)

Maddie :flower:
 
Im on the "shallower" deep end side of this one. We go to the neighborhood pool that is 10' deep with diving board and slides if that is what we want to do. For home use, I made a 10' long shallow end to maximize lounging space when we have lots of friends over, and deep end water depth will be about 5'4" so I will be able to stand on tiptoe and breathe, which is what I wanted. Every time I go to a pool party, everybody is in the shallow end or on the steps.

Cmd, basically fill to the depth you want, and order a new liner. If it were me, I would do it this fall, because pool companies get sooooo backed up in spring/summer.

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SBall said:
Im on the "shallower" deep end side of this one. We go to the neighborhood pool that is 10' deep with diving board and slides if that is what we want to do. For home use, I made a 10' long shallow end to maximize lounging space when we have lots of friends over, and deep end water depth will be about 5'4" so I will be able to stand on tiptoe and breathe, which is what I wanted. Every time I go to a pool party, everybody is in the shallow end or on the steps.

Cmd, basically fill to the depth you want, and order a new liner. If it were me, I would do it this fall, because pool companies get sooooo backed up in spring/summer.
Click to expand...

And this is one of those topics that is soooo personal...kinda like snowflakes, no two are the same.
 
Cmd629 said:
No one in house swims and my shallow end is only a few feet that everyone stands in and don’t fit. We want the while Pool 5 ft to get better use of pool. Volleyball basketball games football etc
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If you want a pool that's walkable end to end, I say go for it. Talk to the pool company doing the liner and see what they say.

But if you mean by this message that no one in the house knows how to swim -- you need to fix that, because a pool with a household of people who don't know how to swim is an accident waiting to happen, even at 5 feet. Get someone to come out and give you lessons, and do it now while the weather is still warm.
 
I wouldn’t fill the deep end either. Kids grow quickly. Our youngest can’t touch the bottom at that shallow end as it’s 4 foot and we knew that when designing but we also know how quickly they grow. We also went deep enough that they can bomb dive but no head first diving as we couldn’t dig to 8 foot. When your kids are a little older you’ll be grateful for your 8 foot deep end. They’ll be able to dive if they want to. I hope you mean no one swims laps rather than no one knows how to swim. Everyone in a household with a pool should be able to swim appropriately for their age group. Even young toddlers should be able to swim back to the edge and monkey along the wall to the steps. For us when we bought our house 10 almost 11 years ago our eldest was a toddler and we specifically looked for a house without a pool due to the risk. Now he’s 12 and our youngest 6 and we have paid a fortune to put a pool in. I didn’t want a pool until they were both strong swimmers which they are now. Definitely recommend getting an instructor out to teach all of you how to swim well. For us swimming lessons for the kids are non negotiable here in Australia. Basically if you don’t do them then you’re frowned upon.
 
Hi Commander Number 629! Welcome to TFP.

+1 for leave the depth.

Swim, dive, jump, float in a pool. Play volleyball on the grass, as mother nature intended!! Sports pools? I just don't get 'em. I would love to see statistics on what percentage of sports pools are used as such for what period of time. I'm guessing it's two games of volleyball and that's it. (But I'm fat and lazy so what do I know about it!)

The deep end of my small pool, at 7.5', is too shallow and used extensively by my kids, and by me. Big time. Wouldn't ever consider a pool a pool without a deep end. You want your kids to be safe in water, all bodies of water? You teach them how to handle themselves in water with no bottom, not 3' of water. Even if they don't touch bottom in a shallow pool, they know they can. They won't be confident swimming until they know they can do so in deep water.

Lounging area is a legit reason, safer is not. How many people you got standing around in your shallow end? I've never filled mine up, mostly because the kids are playing in the deep end!! I almost lost my two-year-old in a foot of water while he was wearing a life jacket. There are much better ways to achieve pool safety than altering depth. Much better.
 

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If you had older kids and becoming teenagers, then volleyball might be more likely. Then again if you often host parties with a lot of adults perhaps you would do it more than I ever did
 
Badminton, maybe. But a lot of volleyball and basketball games would destroy my surrounding landscaping pretty quick. The only sports pool idea I liked (or a pool with a very large shallow end), was an L-shaped pool, where one leg was shallow, but the other leg of the L sloped down to a nice deep end. Best of both...
 
I have a “sports pool”, depth 3.5,5,4. Although we seldom use it to play volleyball, we are still happy with the depth. Great for water aerobics, swimming, just hanging out, actually anything other than diving.
 
When we first outlined the pool on the ground, it didn't seem like the deep end was wide enough, based on our prediction of how the pool would be used. So we made it a bit bigger and it turned out to be a good decision. The deep end gets just as much use as the shallow, oftentimes more, depending on the activity du jour. I've taken the separator rope down, as even my 6 year old and her friends swim effortlessly between the deep and shallow. Based on my personal experience, I can honestly say we wouldn't get near the enjoyment (read: ROI) from our pool without the deep end.

That said, it's your pool and you know how you use it. We respect that. I think we just wanted to throw a caution out there that filling in the deep end is something you may possibly regret as the kids get older, taller and more adventurous.
 
doesnt need to settle. you will fill in the deep end with crushed stone or crusher run. the latter needs compacting in lifts when installed, the crushed stone self compacts. you then need to redo the bottom of the pool with vermiculite or portland mix and install a new liner. I would do crushed stone if it was me so you know it wont settle dirt is the most likely to settle and you cant empty pool now and put dirt in you would need to break holes in current floor to let water escape and leaving pool empty all winter could collapse or bow the walls. This filling of bottom has to happen fast in days and be done in dry season esp if you arent familiar with where your ground water heights are during the seasonal changes
 
Well, with all due respect, Cmd629 has decided to fill in the deep end of his pool for reasons he outlined quite clearly and has responded to suggestions that he not do this. He needs help determing how to best do this. Unfortunately, I've never dealt with a liner pool so I can't help him. Has anybody out there ever done this, and if so, how did you go about this?
 
Thank you for all your answers. But I know my family will enjoy the Pool much more if I fill the deep end and make it all 4.5-5 feet in depth.
I really do need advice on “How and when” to do this correctly. I don’t want to do this incorrectly and end up with a big problem that will cost me a lot of money to fix.
 
jimmythegreek said:
doesnt need to settle. you will fill in the deep end with crushed stone or crusher run. the latter needs compacting in lifts when installed, the crushed stone self compacts. you then need to redo the bottom of the pool with vermiculite or portland mix and install a new liner. I would do crushed stone if it was me so you know it wont settle dirt is the most likely to settle and you cant empty pool now and put dirt in you would need to break holes in current floor to let water escape and leaving pool empty all winter could collapse or bow the walls. This filling of bottom has to happen fast in days and be done in dry season esp if you arent familiar with where your ground water heights are during the seasonal changes
Click to expand...

There is the best advice you can get for what you want to do. ^^^^^^ when "lift" is said it means that much stuff added (I had to ask what that meant the first time I saw it so wanted to make sure you know what was meant).

Kim:kim:
 

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