Above Gournd Pools and Moles

by Jennifer
(Connecticut)

I'm replacing my current above ground pool with a new above ground pool. I have been calling local installers. I found that one uses sand stone and another that uses vermiculite.

I have a mole problem in my yard and we noticed the critters made tunnels under the old pool and we want to make sure this does not happen with the new pool.

My question is should we go with sandstone or vermiculite? Will moles continue to make tunnels under vermiculite? Please advice, we spent a lot of money and want to do it the right way!


Hi Jennifer. I'm not particularly fond of vermiculite. I would go with the sand stone if it is anything like mortar sand or masonry sand. It should be a washed sand and still wet.

Moles can be a real problem for above ground pool owners. Knowing you may have a problem going into it is a good thing, rather than finding out later. The best cure I know of is pouring a concrete slab for the pool to sit on. If that is out of the budget I would look for as thick of a ground tarp as possible to go under the sand. Several layers of thick plastic would help as would indoor/outdoor carpet. Anything you can put under the sand is better than nothing.

With nothing under the sand, as soon as the mole come up, the sand goes down and leaves a rather large indentation in the liner. The liner will dip down and there will be nothing underneath it, just air. That's just a pool accident waiting to happen. With something under the sand, unless the mole eats through it, the sand will not drop out and the liner will not be resting on air.