fill in an indoor pool? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

tersh · 10-22-2008, 09:04 AM

Hi

My sister and parents bought a house with an indoor pool in Acton MA last year. Then My sister got cancer. I'm thinking they need to get rid of the expense of that pool ( many thousands $ so far). Can anyone tell me what's involved in converting that huge room with cathedral ceiling and a wall of sliding doors to the deck, into a living room/ activity room? In other words, fill in the pool.Pool is about 28' by 54'.
Meanwhile we need to figure out how to keep the humidity from starting mold again, and warping doors, etc.
many thanks in advance!
Tersh

Shoreline58 · 10-22-2008, 09:39 AM

Seems a shame to fill in that pool. Is there any humidity control system for the area? That would solve most of the problems that you described. If you are heating the pool, stop, that will help some. Or you could drain it and lock the room as a short term stop gap measure.

If you do go the route of filling it in, here are a few suggestions;

- Have the contractor saw-cut or jack hammer the top of the pool wall to two
feet below the deck elevation.

- Have the contractor core-drill or jack hammer 10-20 holes in the floor of the
deep end for hydro-static relief.

- Remove the hydro-static valves in the main drain buckets.

- Depending on the cost of materials in your area I would fill the pool with
a free draining material such as washed 1 1/2" stone or coarse sand. The
top six inches should be a structural fill such as 1 1/2" processed stone.
The contractor should bring the fill up in no more than 8" lifts and compact
each lift with a plate compactor. (He will probably try to convince you that
this is not necessary, it is!!!)

- Where the concrete deck has been cut the contractor should drill for 1/2"
diameter dowels roughly 18" on center. These are to be tied off to the
welded wire mesh that is going in the new concrete.

- The new concrete for the deck patch should be 3,500 or 4,000 psi mix.
Have the contractor give you the quantity required and phone the concrete
supplier yourself. You will want the concrete delivered to the site with
absolutely no more than a 4" slump and no water to be added on site w/o
your written approval! This is very important to avoid shrinkage
cracking down the road. The concrete workers will most likely try to
convince you that a 4" slump is not required, do not fall for it! Sloppy
concrete makes their job easier and leaves you with problems.

If you need any further info I will check back in on your post. Depending on were you are in MA I may be able to oversee the work for you.

tersh · 10-23-2008, 09:33 AM

I'll have to think about what you're saying when I get time. It sounds very expensive

SLSTech · 10-23-2008, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tersh

I'll have to think about what you're saying when I get time. It sounds very expensive

It is & needs to be performed by a full blown contractor that knows exactly what they are doing. There are options for laying a floor over the existing pool - while leaving the pool intact which might be a cheaper option & give you what you want. This is also a specialized field which I have seen only in California & Arizona. I am sure there are others that do it - I just have only seen it in those 2 places

I can't understand why the pool is costing so much money - I would go with Shorelines idea about the dehumidifier & if you are running a heater - stop it. You should only have to run the filter unit for so many hours a week (put it on a timer) & watch the chemical levels so nothing grows. That should probably only run $25 or so a month seeing it is inside. A pool guy should be able to help you out immensely & is worth a couple of visits.

I wouldn't get rid of the pool - especially in MA - I am sure the property value drop would be substantial. Maybe not in todays economy but in a couple of years, it would be a major selling point

tersh · 10-24-2008, 08:30 AM

I like the idea of a floor over the pool- especially since I like to dance, and I've been dreaming of a sprung floor- most of which in the Boston area were recently torn up to make ( empty) office spaces.
But I'm wondering about the moisture problem- traditional sprung floors, are, of course wood.
Nobody finds the pool useable when not heated.
thanks for your posts
Tersh

sennf1 · 01-04-2009, 09:47 PM

tersh, I was going to fill my indoor pool in this winter to make a bigger kitchen and family room. Are you going to go ahead with you fill in project? I was wondering if you had any contractors look at it or did you decide not to fill it in.

MALCO.New.York · 01-04-2009, 09:50 PM

Filling in an Indoor Pool is a Travesty and an Injustice! Peri-fookin-id!

woodchuck2 · 01-06-2009, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MALCO.New.York

Filling in an Indoor Pool is a Travesty and an Injustice! Peri-fookin-id!

X2, just drain the pool and turn off the heat to the pool room. She can get it refilled in the spring when the weather warms up, she may find the pool is good for exercise and for releiving any stress from the cancer treatments. As far as draining and refilling talk to the local Fire Dept. See if they have a tanker with a poly tank for refilling. We did it here quite often, we did ask for a decent donation to at least cover fuel expenses.
Filling in that pool isnt going to save you any money when you think about the expense of remodeling, how many years of pool maintenance will she get for the expense of the remodel? IMO you are only going to depreciate the value of the home in the end. I am sure that the indoor pool was one of the reasons why she purchased the home to begin with.

D.A.S.Anthony · 01-10-2009, 02:07 PM

Just got plans to build an indoor pool that looks very similiar to this. Any chance I can take yours? Here's my plan....

1. Cut the roof off with a gigantic can opener contraption (do they make those?)

2. Crane the roof off and gently lay it to the side.

3. 4 or 5 eye bolts (I was thinking 1/2" x 6") strategicaly drilled into the coping around the pool.

4. Rent a copter. A BIG copter.

5. We attach ropes or chains (whichever the engineer suggests) to the pre mentioned eye bolts.

6. We tell the copter pilot to pull up.. thus setting off a series of perfectly placed explosives around the pool.

7. We fly your pool from Mass to Conn. I know what your thinking....we have a permit in place to do this don't worry. and a oversized flag hanging off another smaller copter to lead the way for the air traffic.

8. Back at your place we crane the roof back on top and use bondo at all cuts to "reseal" your room. I will even sand the bondo and prep for paint.

9. We gently drop my new pool into the customers house! Then build the new roof around it!

It's a win-win. I think I may of left a few details out so feel free to comment.

like this

not this