Build a swimming pool for under $3000, not impossible

[Music] let me show you how to build this in-ground swimming pool for under three thousand dollars impossible you might think well i built this 10 by 20 foot in-ground pool in the year 2014 for only twenty six hundred dollars this can be accomplished if you're willing to do most of the work yourself now i will take you through my process step by step on how i constructed it along with a cost breakdown step one i hired a backhoe to excavate my backyard digging up a section slightly larger than the pool dimensions the pool's deep end is positioned on the downhill slope for easy drainage step two i installed four posts one at each corner the posts need to be absolutely vertical and very solid then using a simple laser level i marked exact level lines near the bottom of all four posts next i marked a one inch increment on all posts all the way up to the top step three the floor drops about a foot from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end so i had to dig the footing deeper to maintain a level footing it is important to get the block exactly level all the way around otherwise the walls can never be level another option would be to pour a cement footing this would require installing many vertical rebars making it much more difficult later when installing each block my idea of block footing is much simpler as you will see in step number eight step four each row of blocks should be installed one complete row at a time tie a string between two corner posts at the exact same vertical mark using it to line up the outside edge of the block wall when setting block you should position the blocks top edge barely touching the string this will make a straight row two steel rebars are placed between each layer of block providing evenness and strength overlap rebar ends at least two feet when continuing from one rebar to the next each row of blocks should be staggered one half block from the previous row for additional strength step 5 when making the steps drill holes in the walls and install rebar for strength the empty space between each step and wall is filled with wet compacted sand i designed the block steps in a one quarter arc circle step six i added several inches of sand on the bottom floor prior to installing the rebar drill holes in the block walls to accept the half inch rebar ends lay rebar in a cross hatch pattern on the pool floor step seven i installed a three inch plastic pipe sweep as a drain pipe with a threaded fitting located outside of the pool near the right side of the pump house next a one and one quarter inch pvc pipe is routed to the jets on either side of the pool as well as to the clean out for the sweep hose the cleanout and jet access were all cut with masonry blade in a four and a half inch grinder i did make one error however as i did not position my clean out low enough in the wall next i constructed a small pump house at the outside wall at the pool's deep end and installed a one-half horse electric pump i purchased from home depot the pump is located behind a filter which i purchased on ebay it is a small used pool filter that had been removed from a hot tub the filter is a stay right model 50 and it is adequate for this size pool i placed shut off valves on each inlet step eight one half inch rebars are cut five foot long and inserted vertically in each block cell about 80 rebars total then each block cell was filled with cement to about one half inch from the top a plastic pipe or metal rod was used to massage up and down in the cement while filling block to be certain of no air gaps step nine the floor was poured in two stages the first stage was three inches thick to cover the rebar as a rough coat next a second coat two and one half inches thick was poured afterwards for additional strength and smoothness step 10 i made two simple wood forms that were used to pour the coping at the top the top row of blocks had not been filled to the top in order to allow additional space for the coping cement to bond securely it took me several weeks to install all of the coping about two per day using both forms so we could work in both directions around the top of the pool step 11 the block seams were coated with a blue moisture sealer prior to the cement coat we then applied cement mix 50 50 with fine sand and coated the inside of the pool walls to cover the seams and to make the inside reasonably smooth step 12 i purchased on the internet blue glass tile for the trim and the bench seat a little research on the web resulted in finding a closeout price on just enough tile for the pool at about 75 cents a square foot tile was applied with standard tile adhesive white grout was applied next as a two-part epoxy mix purchased from lowe's step 13 marsite which is a special coating for pools was applied over two days i had learned that this application is critical so i elected to hire professionals to perform this task the walls were coated with one half inch thick marsite on the first day the floor and steps on the second day the pool finish was then sprayed afterwards with a garden sprayer containing muriatic acid to remove impurities in the finished coat while the pool walls appear to be white the marsite coating contains tiny blue glass fragments embedded which reflects blue in the water when the pool is full [Music] step 14 here's a breakdown of what the material costs to build my pool [Music] you

Channel: Gerry Wilson

Views: 10,061,808

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Id: R2MYUSAwmVo

Length: 7min 26sec (446 seconds)

Published: Mon May 26 2014