# Forum Home Renovation Pools, Spa & Water Features  DIY pool installation

## lukejj

Hi,
I have been looking into putting a pool in for the family to be ready for the end of the year.  Sadly, I'm unable to let someone else do all the work as the cost is way beyond my budget (in ground pool).  I've looked at a few options, but, I like the idea of a plunge pool as it would fit well into our yard.  I initially looked at getting a concrete water tank and using that as a shell, however, while I have plenty of room for a car to access the area, getting the trunk into deliver the water tank is unlikely to be possible because of it's width.
This kind of ruined my plans for a while until I thought about using a poly tank - which I admit is a little scary, but, based on the below do you think this might work? 
Dig a hole big enough for the tank to sit in, then reinforce it with a retaining wall.  Add a nice sand base and then lower the tank into position.
Now for the scary bit, cur off the top of the tank.  I would leave a rim by cutting from the top and leave about an inch of the top (I'm not sure I explained this well).  I doubt this would give the tank enough stability around the top to retain it's shape, so I may need to come up with an idea so that tank keeps it's round shape. 
I also thought of adding steel vertical posts to the side of the tank at about 1 meter intervals to give the tank more strength and then using steel frame bracing to join them together.   
I need to do a bit of thinking about the plumbing for the filtering, but a skimmer box cut into the side near the top might do the job. 
After this is done I would add some decking around the edges to hide the gap between the retaining wall and the side of the tank. 
Assuming I could get the strength of the tank sorted out after the top is removed, what other issues can other see that I've managed to overlook?
Many thanks,
Luke

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## barney118

Go and see an engineer for concrete specs and go from there . Big Cost is in digging and getting rid of dirt.  
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## aabamo

how little is your budget?  
if you cant afford to install one, can you afford to maintain one?

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## lukejj

Hi,
The idea to use a concrete tank had to be abandoned due to site access limitations.  As far as excavation costs go, since it's only a small plunge pool (about 2.5 meter in diameter) I can sort this out myself. 
With regards to my budget, yes it's tight but that's not a reflection on my financial circumstances.  It's an indication on what I'm prepared to pay for a pool - perhaps I'm not being realistic with regards to costs, but that's part of my reason for my investigations.
Cheers,
Luke

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## chalkyt

Lots and lots of years ago I had a similar access problem . The solution was to put a vinyl "above ground" type pool in the ground with a deck around it. After a bit of searching we found several companies who make such a beast complete with engineering drawings, certification, etc. My son has also looked into this for a sloping site and tells me that such places are still around. We had planned to use it until the kids grew up, then revert back to garden and lawn. Twenty years later when we sold the house it was still going strong. 
The all up cost was in the order of $2,500 compared with $10,000 for a concrete in ground pool (way back in the 1970's when things were a lot cheaper!)

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## lukejj

Thanks Chalkyt it sounds like a good option, I might look into that.
Cheers,
Luke

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## SilentButDeadly

You are really looking at a plunge pool.  From a council and personal safety perspective you'd be best off considering a pre-made fibreglass plunge pool rather than a modified water tank...otherwise you are simply building an oversized snail trap for toddlers.  
There's more than a few fibreglass pool providers that provide pool shells to DIY installers...a quick google of 'diy fibreglass pools' turned up heaps

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## lukejj

From a safety perspective it would comply with local and state regulations, require permits and will be subject to the necessary inspections.  The goal of using a water tank isn't to circumnavigate laws that are put in place to keep kids safe - if I wanted to do that I could call it a pond, keep fish in it for most of the year and that would satisfy the requirements - which I think is wrong. 
I'll take another look at the diy plunge pools, the trick is to find one that's the size and shape you're after.
Cheers,
Luke

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