Hello all!
I’m new to this forum and my knowledge of residential swimming pools
is very limited. Basically my expertise is limited to swimming in
them!
My question is that we recently purchased a home that has an
existing swimming pool that was filled in about 10 years ago. We’re
not sure if it’s poured concrete or a vinyl liner or what. My
question is would it be worth anything to salvage the existing pool,
or should we start from scratch.
I should also mention that all the ‘extra’ items for the pool are
still here. The previous owner put an extra electrical panel off the
main panel (Lifeboy) to run the various electrical components, and
there is also a capped-off gas line that heated the pool at one
time. There are pipes and switches outside that were somehow related
to the pool, as well.
Any insight would be helpful! It’s amazing to think there’s a
swimming pool buried in my backyard, and I’m wondering how feasible
it is to imagine it as a reality with water in it!
Thanks,
Lisa Stanley 
New here w/ a question
May 23rd, 2004 · 1 Comment
Tags: chemicals
1 response so far ↓
1 janis_40 // May 26, 2004 at 11:01 am
In a message dated 4/15/2003 2:36:58 PM Central Daylight Time,
tarbinator@… writes:
Hey Lisa,
I hope the previous owners disclosed this when you bought the house and if it
was me I would have demanded a price reduction before I bought it. Removing
or repairing a filled in swimming pool can be costly and could be an
environmental disaster depending on what was done when the pool was filled
in.
If they simply filled it in with dirt then what is at the bottom will be a
messy swamp of decomposed organic matter that you may or may not want to
attempt to remove. To prevent damage to the shell it must be done by hand so
get out the shovels and start digging. If they pumched holes in the bottom
of the shell for drainage…which is what they should have done…then
depending on how many holes and how big they are will be the deciding factor.
Again you will not know until you empty the pool so start digging.
I have seen pool filled with concrete, dirt , lawn clippings, construction
materials and just about anything else they was laying around at the time.
There is a lot of material in there so you might consider having an
excavation company do some of the work. A small loader such as a Bobcat
could be used if you are carefull until the majority of the material is out
and then you need to do the rest by hand.
If the walls have plaster on them or traces of plaster then it at one time
had a plaster coating on it and be prepared to shell out antwhere between 3
to 10 grand to repair it. If there is a track at the top of the wall just
under the coping then it may have had a vinyl lining and depending on the
damage to the shell you may get by with a lot less in cost. The elecreical
panal and gas lines are great as long as they are useable. How old is the
gas line and the electrical? For that matter how old was the pool? A pool
built in the sixties is worth saving because it was really well built but
given the extent you will need to do repair to it then updating the plumbing
and putting in a dedicated vacuum line would be a great idea.
Lisa, repairing the old pool would be cheaper than removing the old and
installing a new pool given the amout of material in the pool. One final
idea would be that maybe a contractor could use the existing pool as a form
and pour a new shell inside it. Just an idea but anyway you look at it be
prepared to shell out some money.
Ken (electricjet)
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