Wayne's Crazy Deck-Inside-Pool Project...

[Super_Dave_D]

You said it - CRAZY!! I like the pool net idea. I grew up with a pool and have been swimming since I can ever remember - it made me a WAY better swimmer as a result.

The wife approved this??

Abort.......Abort........Abort

[jyl]

My cavalier view - I would not be that concerned about earthquake damage, because it is not an inhabited structure. The odds of people standing on the deck during a big earthquake are very low, the odds of people being under the deck at that time are pretty nil. And after the big earthquake, a damaged or collapsed pool deck will probably be the least of Wayne's worries.

To me, the main thing is for the structure to hold up to people running, dancing, jumping, partying, etc.

If needed, seems you could have steel brackets made to support the ends of the beams on the lip of the pool. Sort of like big joist hangers, in concept. That way, the downward force would be distributed to the concrete lip, not all on the posts/footings. Also stabilizes deck horizontally. Probably something you could do after the deck is built, if necessary.

[LeeH]

We went the pool net route when our daughter was little. Sure beat dividing up our small backyard with a fence. Our pool is an odd shape, the deck has different elevations, and there's a rock waterfall. The net works fine with all that.

Fences can be scaled and gates can be left unlatched. If the net is on the pool there's no way a kid is getting in there.
http://www.katchakid.com/

[Tim Hancock]

I am just saying.....

[kstar]

Originally Posted by silverc4s

See my comments above

http://www.allsafepool.com/pool-safety-net/

Bill:

I used one of those nets on a pool at a previous home. I had great luck with it and it was surprisingly easy to deploy and remove!

Best,

[kach22i]

You could have put some cooling coils in it and had a place to play hockey year round.

[KevinP73]

How about this?
Line the empty pool with a waterproof membrane and add an independent sump pump in the deep end. Now fill the pool with gravel flush to the surrounding grade. Now build your deck over the gravel. You won't have the structural concerns of a suspended deck and if you ever want the pool back you can just remove the gravel, sump and membrane.
Plus. It's NEVER a bad idea to teach your kids to swim asap. You can make your home safe but you never know when your going to be at a freinds house or birthday party or whatever. It's just a good thing to do.

[Porsche_monkey]

Originally Posted by Neilk

Impressive project. I am surprised you couldn't "sell" the water to your neighbors for landscaping etc...

Chlorinated water will bleach the grass/flowers. It is not useful for 'watering'.

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by Porsche_monkey

Chlorinated water will bleach the grass/flowers. It is not useful for 'watering'.

True, but doesn't chlorine "evaporate" out of water. It would have been more trouble than it worth though.

The deck looks really nice, but I think I would have preferred the flexibility of a net. Who knows what condition an empty pool will be after 3+ years of being empty, especially in a seismic zone.

[TerryBPP]

Just add a bilge pump like a boat. You can set the water level on most of them. Have it pump to a grass area.

[KevinP73]

Originally Posted by Neilk

. Who knows what condition an empty pool will be after 3+ years of being empty.

Depending on the natural ground water level it is possible for an empty pool to "float" due to the lack of weight. Although this is more likely to happen to a one piece fiberglass pool it's not unheard of with cement pools.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by jyl

One thought - Are the footings secure, especially the ones that are leaned over so that a line drawn down the centerline of the post passes close to the edge of the concrete block? I see a couple that look uncertain. Especially if people walking, running, jumping on the deck, and/or moving weight from one side of the deck to the other, cause the posts to eventually shift from vertical. Perhaps you could tie the posts together at their bottom ends, right above the footings.

Considering that a deck like that could potentially have 30 people (6,000 lbs) slam-dancing on it (so dynamic load many Xs the static load). Not that it will, but it should be built as if it could.

One more thought - are pool bottoms very strong? I don't know what thickness the concrete is. Suppose 20 people cluster around one post and jump up and down?

Just asking - I'm sure that MIT education hasn't gone un-tapped in designing this thing.

first thing that struck me

[kstar]

Pool net from a previous home, about 5 years ago:

[onewhippedpuppy]

I agree with the comments above, I think this direction is a mistake. Furthermore, I'd be willing to bet that the pool will need significant maintenance and repair when you decide to re-open. You have empty water pipes with standing (stagnant) water in them. A pump that isn't pumping. A pool designed to be full of water (and pressue) standing empty. Then large point loads on a relatively thin concrete surface not designed to carry a load. It's a very creative project, but misguided.

To continue to beat the dead horse, why? Fence or safety cover is just as effective, and still allows you to enjoy that very nice pool. Furthermore, any kid old enough to be in your backyard unsupervised should know how to swim. As my son's swimming teacher liked to say, swimming is the only sport that could save your life.

[Porsche_monkey]

I would grout the cement supports to secure them and to distribute the load.

But, has anyone here seen Wayne do something without thinking it through? And some of your 'failure scenarios' are somewhat unlikely. A lot less likely than a one year old drowning in a pool, even one covered by a net.

Personally, it's not the way I would go, obviously from the title he knows it's 'a bit radical'.

[KevinP73]

I enrolled my oldest daughter into swimming classes when she was an infant(under one year old). The act of swimming is a reflex action more than a learned action. And for some reason babies do not swallow when their face is submerged. It is only when they panic that these natural instincts are abandoned and tragedy occures.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

...swimming is the only sport that could save your life.

Is running a sport ?

[kstar]

Originally Posted by Porsche_monkey

. . . snip . . .

And some of your 'failure scenarios' are somewhat unlikely. A lot less likely than a one year old drowning in a pool, even one covered by a net.

. . . snip . . .

Not the net installed over my old pool. At best, a one year old could get his/her hands and/or feet wet.

[Scott R]

I knew someone that did this, he developed a mold issue on the porous walls of the pool and inside the pipes, made his whole family sick and required demolition of the pool. He was going to have it cleaned and filled, however the deck supports had cracked the floor and the repair was going to be costly. Pools are only really usable for two months or so here in Colorado so he thought, what the heck? I'll just build over it.

[rusnak]

I think there is a company that makes custom clear floors that freespan the width of pools. The big thing now is to have a party outside and use the pool as a dance floor.

In this project I would consider biting the bullet and drill into the pool sides and bottom to properly install stress bearing anchor points. It's completely possible to patch these later on when you want to use the pool again. By then you'll need a new pump, filter, pool sweep, etc anyway to press the pool back into service.