How Conditions Underground Can Affect Your Pool Installation

Deciding to take the plunge and turn your backyard into a pool paradise can be an exciting time. You’ve chosen between a custom concrete pool and a fiberglass pool, and you’re interviewing swimming pool contractors.

During the site visit, one company tells you about some factors they notice or are aware of in your neighborhood that may raise the price of your inground pool installation, and their bid comes in higher than the others. What do you do? Do you believe them? Or do you risk it and go with the other company that tells you not to worry?

Before you decide on who to hire, do some research. Today we’ll explore some underground conditions that can affect your pool installation. These factors can make installation more difficult, take longer, and increase the price of your project. Any reputable pool builder should tell you this upfront.

Let’s take a look.

Groundwater

Groundwater is present everywhere. It may seep into the hole being dug as soon as excavation starts. Or it may seep into the hole overnight. Don’t panic. Depending on the amount of water and whether it keeps coming, we can install sump pumps and a perimeter drain to deal with groundwater issues.

Rocky Soil

You may not even know you have rocky soil until excavation starts. It doesn’t become a problem unless the excavator finds boulders or runs into bedrock. In these two scenarios, it will take more time and labor to remove the rock – possibly involving jackhammers to break things up so the backhoe can remove the broken-up rock.

Clay Soil

Many central Maryland homeowners have clay soil or soil with high clay content. If you’ve ever dug a hole for a tree or shrub and noticed dark topsoil, followed by light-colored yellowish soil, that’s clay soil. Clay soil is expansive soil, meaning it expands when it gets wet and contracts when it dries out. If you have clay soil, the pool builder will need to reinforce your pool with more concrete or reinforcing steel bars to protect the pool shell.

Sloped Yard

Another condition that can affect your pool installation is if you have a sloped yard. Depending on where you install the pool, there will be additional excavating and grading needed to achieve optimal results. Your pool builder may also recommend a retaining wall and other adjustments.

Related Reading: Building an Inground Pool in a Sloped Yard

If you know already that you have rocky soil, clay soil, a high water table, or other underground issues, be upfront with the pool companies you interview. It can help them prepare an accurate quote,

Make It Exceptional. Make It Woodfield.

If you’re dreaming of creating a pool paradise in your backyard, make sure you hire an experienced pool design and pool installation team that knows how to handle the unexpected. You deserve an exceptional experience from the first consultation to pool installation all the way through to decades of pool parties.

We design and install custom concrete pools and fiberglass pools for homeowners throughout the Baltimore area, including Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Cecil County, Harford County, and Howard County. Schedule a call today.