Sand under an above ground pool

by Teri
(California)

We have an 18 foot round Intex Easy Set soft-sided above ground pool. It is only about 4 feet deep. We put rice hulls underneath it last year to make the bottom soft. The only problem was that when the rice hulls got wet, they smelled bad. We would like to use sand and put it both underneath the pool and all around the pool as a border. Is this doable? My husband asked "what if it gets wet". The sand at the beach gets wet all the time. He thought we would get sand fleas or something. Can you think of any downfalls of having sand underneath and all around our pool? We understand the cats may use it as a potty, but can you think of any other problems?

Hi Teri. I use sand under the pools on just about all my installs. I recommend it over any other type of base. The problem with sand and soft sided pools is keeping the sand in place, under the pool.

With a steel wall above ground pool the sand is held in place by the sidewall. With a soft sided pool this is not the case. The best results I have seen are when a wood frame is built using 2 x 6 lumber and that area is filled with sand. This frame should be larger than the pool by a couple of feet all the way around.

The frame can be wood or it could be the concrete border blocks used in landscaping. If you make sure this frame is set perfectly level all the way around, you will have a better idea what needs to be done with the ground inside the frame. It should also be level so that you can add just a couple inches of sand, smooth it out, and still be level.

When the pool is full I would definitely cover the sand with something, or it will get used by cats or possibly wash away. Sand makes an ideal base for patio paver blocks and they would help hold the sand in place. You could also lay plastic over the sand and cover that with landscaping rock. There are many different ways to landscape the outside of the pool in a way to cover the sand and hold it in place.