Dirt Under Bottom Rail

by Joel Johnson
(Springfield, Illinois)

Does the ring/track that the wall sits in need to be at ground level? I've placed them on 8" pavers and leveled them to within .25". One side of the ring is pretty flush with the dirt; the other has a 1" gap between the track and the dirt floor.

I'm bringing in sand to level inside the ring and this pool will be sunk into the ground 20".

I live in Illinois.



Hi Joel. I would not leave the gap there. You have done such a good job so far. Don't take short cuts. The bottom rails should all rest on firm solid ground, not sand. It would not take that long to pack dirt under the rails, or even place blocks under the rails, just not sand.



If you already have blocks set all the way around, like in the photo, then I would level the inside with dirt. The thing with sand is the deeper it is the more likely you are to have footprints. So using to much sand in any one area could be a problem down the road a ways.

Once the pool is set and the dirt around it backfilled you would be just fine, the thing is, the pool has to have plenty of water in it before you start backfilling. So being in the ground makes no difference, the pool needs to be built like it was sitting on top of the ground.

There is one other consideration to make when setting the rails sitting on dirt. Make sure there is no rise between the footplates, this caused the wall to crease.