Pool Installation Guide
FIBERGLASS POOL: THE RIGHT WAY TO INSTALL.. BEST PRACTICE
- Mark a datum (Reference) point on a nearby wall or fence to check all levels, then mark out the size and shape of the pool. Ensure the top of the coping is no less than 20cm above the ground level (25 cm better) this will mean that the water level inside the pool will be higher than your ground level
- Dig the pool hole about 10cm oversize, so that you can backfill around the pool with 8 : 1 dry sand and cement mix.
- Dig out a 50cm x50cm x60cm section for the skimmer box.
- Put a minimum 10cm of sand on the floor of the hole, ensure the sand and backfill are free of rocks and stones as they can force against the pool wall and cause damage (Star crazes) to the pool shell.
- When the sand has been leveled, lower the pool in and check levels on the 4 corners and the middle. Check to ensure the pool is positioned correctly.
- Pick a spot beside the skimmer box and install a 1.8 m length of 90mm stormwater pipe with some slots (holes) cut in with a grinder approximately 30cm up from the bottom. This will become an inspection pipe, you can put a stick down it once a week to see if water is building up under or around the pool in heavy rain. The Inspection Pipe can be used as a pump out point should any water be detected.
- At this point, start throwing some sand and cement Backfill around the sides, but no more than 30 cm and then start filling the pool with water bringing the backfill and the water up together. This will prevent the pool from bowing in or bowing out.
- You do not pack the backfill or wet it just throw it in. Moisture in the subsoil makes the sand and cement go off and forms a sandstone barrier against the shell, protecting it from water build up. (Backfill should be 8 parts sand to 1 part cement) Although the backfill should not be packed into the sides, the exception is under steps and swim outs where packing the backfill will support these high traffic areas.
- Now install the plumbing (Pipes) from the skimmer to the pump to the filter and back to the returns.
- Now fill with water to half way up the skimmer box and start forming up around the pool to do your concrete bond beam.
- The concrete bond-beam ensures the pool is held in place. Drill 4 mm holes into the bottom edge of the fibreglass coping every 60cm then lay at least 8 mm thick steel bars at 20cm intervals in the area you have formed up ,and now put cross bars every 20cm and tie the steel together. Use tie wire through the drilled holes in the Coping to tie the steel to the pool coping.
- When pouring the concrete, ensure that material is pushed up under the coping for support.
“THESE STEPS ARE A GUIDE TO THE INSTALLATION OF A FIBERGLASS POOL AND IS THE METHOD DESCRIBED BY AUSTRALIAN ENGINEERS.”