Building Your Dream Apartment

Five Things You Need to Know About Excavating a Hole for a Pool

15 May 2017

Julian Caldwell

If you want to add a swimming pool to your property, one of the first things you need to consider is excavating the area so you have a hole for your pool. Then, you can start to get into the fun stuff like tiles, slides, pumps and inflatables. But, first, here's what you need to know about getting ready.

1. Trucks Need to Access the Area

This may sound obvious, but many homeowners forget to plan for the trucks that you need to excavate your pool hole. Find a path where they can enter the yard and consider removing fence panels as needed. If you're planning on laying new turf in the front, wait until the excavation is over — heavy trucks driving over it could damage it.

2. Core Samples Are Helpful

In most cases, you don't know what's underground until you start digging, and that means if you find something surprising, you may need to make a quick decision and adjust your processes accordingly.

So that you can plan more effectively, you may want to start with a core sample. Try taking a few samples around the area so you can find out if you have bedrock or a high water table in the way of your design. Core samples can also be useful to establish soil integrity so you can avoid cave-ins or other issues during the excavation.

3. Elevated Pools Are Ideal for Some Areas

If you find out through excavation or a core sample, that rock or water is in the way of where you want to put the pool, you may want to excavate just to those levels and then put in an elevated pool. There are designs that mound soil and add turf around the pool, or you can add decking or even make the sides of the elevated pool look decorative.

4. Elevated Pools Aren't the Only Solution

However, you don't necessarily have to choose an elevated pool. A skilled excavation team can get a pool hole into almost any area. Rock can be blasted, and groundwater can be held back with a dewatering system.

In these cases, you should be prepared to incur some extra costs. Both of those tasks take extra time, skills and equipment.

5. There Can Be a Lot of Dirt

Finally, be aware that you may end up dealing with a lot of dirt in the excavation process. As a general rule of thumb, you will pull out as many litres of soil as your pool holds litres of water. In most cases, that's more dirt than you can easily integrate into your landscaping so you should make a plan to haul it away or hire an excavation company that is willing to take the soil for you.

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