You’ve finally purchased your own above-ground pool. Now that you’re a proud owner of a giant water pot, it’s time to put it to good use!
Your first instinct would be to inflate it, toss it anywhere, fill it with water, and start the fun, right? Unfortunately, while that is an acceptable thought, it’s not an acceptable thing to do.
You asked a couple of friends about it, and they gave you instructions that included the word ‘digging’ in them. But, of course, you don’t want to poke a hole through your garden, so you turn to your trusty Google instead: How to level ground for pool without digging?
To level the ground for a pool without digging, you’ll need to remove the grass and spread some sand instead. Then, you’ll use a wood board in a constant rotating motion to even the sand.
Don’t worry; you won’t be carrying the wood board around. Instead, we’ll show you how to create a ground spinning mechanism using simple tools. Speaking of which, let’s have a look at those tools.
Prepare Your Tools
Here’s what you’ll need to even the ground under your pool:
-A rake to smoothen the ground
-A wooden board (its length should be equal to half the diameter of the pool)
-A duct tape
-A hammer
-A hand drill / a power tool
-A metal rebar stake
-A measurement level
-A ring hook screw
-A heavy-duty twine
-A few bags of sand
How to Level Ground for Pool Without Digging
All of the following steps are easy to do. You can do all of them on your own if you feel like it. However, we recommend having some extra hands on duty.
For convenience, we’ll assume that we have a circular pool with a diameter of 15 feet.
Remove the Grass
The first thing you need to do is to clear a space for the pool.
Most people put their above-ground pools in their backyard. You might be tempted to just place it directly on the lawn, but that would be a bad idea.
The excessive water and chemicals from the pool will damage the grass and the soil underneath. On the other hand, the grass itself can contain bugs and insects that could climb over the pool or even damage it.
Also, weeds can grow and puncture your pool’s lining if your pool stays in the same spot for too long.
So, you’ll need to remove enough grass for the space your above-ground pool will take.
Rake the Ground
Removing grass often leaves a lot of debris behind. So, you’ll need to use that good old rake to smoothen the ground.
We recommend using the rake from the inside out. It’s more efficient than just scooping the debris randomly.
Spread the Ground With Sand
Never place your pool on any solid ground. Rocks, tiny debris, and soil can do all sorts of damage to your above-ground pool.
Sand is the optimum ground material under the pool because it acts like a cushion and is easy to get, spread, and level.
Keep in mind that you don’t need large amounts of sand. You need just enough to cover the whole ground with an inch or a half inch of sand.
Prepare Your Levelling Equipment
Now for the fun part. We’ll begin by telling you the point of all of this so you won’t feel puzzled as you read through the instructions.
Your goal is to fix the wood board in the center of your ground and rotate it constantly on an even level until the ground underneath is totally flat.
Now let’s put that into action:
Bring over your wooden board and place it on its side. Then use a power tool to drill a hole through the side of the board.
The hole should be the same thickness as your metal rebar stake. It should also be as deep as possible. If you can take the hole all the way through, that would be better.
Take your metal rebar stake and use the hammer to put it inside the hole you just created.
On the other side of the board, securely place the ring hook screw. Make sure it’s well-placed, as this will be your grabbing point later.
Bring your measuring level over and duct tape it on the wooden board.
Level the Ground
By now, you should have a wooden board with a metal rod in one end, a hook screw in the other, and a duct-taped measuring level in the middle. To begin your work, follow these steps:
Insert the protruding end of the metal rod into the center of your ground. It should be deep enough to keep the wooden board parallel to the ground. Use the duct-taped measuring level to ensure that parallelism.
Keep in mind that it’s not rocket science. You don’t need to achieve perfect parallelism. You just need to ground to be more or less even.
Once the board is in the right place, bring that trusty heavy-duty twine and pass it through the hook screw. Make a couple of good knots there, and warm up for the workout.
All you have to do now is to hold the twine and walk around the sandy ground. The constant rotation will slowly level the sandy ground.
You’ll need to stop every few minutes to remove any excess sand. Then, at one point, you’ll have a level ground for the pool without any digging.
Would you like a 3-minute recap for the whole thing? Here’s some visualization to help your imagination.
Final Words
So, how to level the ground for the pool without digging? Spread some sand, dip a wooden board on the ground, rotate, and voila!
All of this can make it easier to drain your pool as well.
Make sure to take time on all these steps to avoid errors. Once you place the above-ground pool, it will stay there for a while. If there’s a sharp object or anything beneath that can damage your pool, you won’t even notice it.
