Latest articles about Swimming Pool Construction
Finalizing the excavation

With several backbreaking days of pick and shovel work behind me, I think I can finally call the excavation complete. Things went mostly according to plan, with the exception of a possible miscalculation of the pool wall to wall width…
How to build a pool
Collapse!

It was always likely that the unpropped excavated wall at the rear of the pool deck would collapse if it got significantly wet.
How to build a pool
Excavation (mostly) complete!

Mostly. There is still plenty of shovel work remaining to get the footing trenches exact, and there’s a substantial amount of manual digging to do in the areas pipes were discovered during the dig, but the rough (read machine) excavation is complete.
How to build a pool
Digging time!

I’ve just completed two full days excavating and the site is taking shape.
1.7 tonne excavator Removing the existing vegetation prior to full excavation.
How to build a pool
Excavation preparations

Alrighty, it’s excavation time. To prepare for the dig I made the dig plan below:
Dig plan showing the elevation of each area to be excavated The large black square is the existing rainwater tank slab and all elevations are relative to it (i.
How to build a pool
Demolition

Before we can begin building the pool, a certain amount of destruction is required. Specifically, we need to:
Demolish the red brick paving above the pool area.
How to build a pool
Documenting the process

Installing a Mobius ActionCam to take periodic photographs of the site. We will assembled the stills into a time lapse video at the completion of the pool construction project.
How to build a pool
The autodidacts' era

It struck me recently that this endeavor would not have been remotely possible pre-Internet, or even pre-YouTube. The ability to track down tutorials, instructional videos, and professional forum discussions on topics as diverse as structural engineering to how to stop a wedding (I kid you not).
How to build a pool
Choosing a pool shell

Fiberglass pool shells come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but are broadly similar in their construction. They generally consist of a number of layers of fiberglass and other materials and a final “gelcoat” finishing layer that is the finished surface of the pool.
How to build a pool
Detailed design

Fiberglass pool or concrete pool? Concrete pools are built directly in the ground onsite. Concrete (or more often shotcrete) is set on a framework of steel reinforcement and then plastered or tiled.
How to build a pool
Testing the limits of online self-education

So I’m building a pool. More precisely, I’m building a pool, a deck, supporting retaining walls, storage cupboards, privacy shield, garden beds, and lighting,
How to build a pool