Building an Inground Pool on a Hill
Building an inground pool on a hill is different than building it in a flat backyard. Hillsides create great opportunities for cool water features such as waterfalls, stream beds, and vanishing edges. Hillsides can also create structural problems. An average gunite inground pool or shotcrete pool for Aquacrete weighs between a half a million and one million pounds, with the water, steel, and the concrete. This is literally tons of weight in a small area. Structure is the key. A lot of builders think that a retaining wall and fill is the solution, but that simply is not enough.
Solid Foundation
A solid foundation is the first step to keeping your inground pool where it belongs. Piers are sometimes used to reinforce the base of the pool by anchoring it into bedrock so that it does not shift of move. Footings are used, especially on the downhill side to help keep the pool from settling.
Concrete can Crack
Settling is a symptom of a structural problem. Cracking can occur while the pool is settling. Cracking can create additional problems from the water leaking out of the pool. The water can cause fill consolidation and chlorinated water will cause the rebar to rust. A vanishing edge pool that settles will have water running over only one side of the weir wall.
Retaining Walls
Retaining walls are often used in sloped back yards to help level the yard so it is more useable. Inground pools are often placed in a yards with retaining walls. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the pool can be built in the same way just because the yard is now flat. The excavation of a pool should always go into the natural grade. Don’t get tricked into thinking that it is ok to skimp on the structural side of pool building just because you want to save a few bucks on your inground pool.
We build swimming pools and retaining walls in Northwest Arkansas and its surrounding areas, including Bella Vista, Bentonville, Rogers, and Fayetteville.
