This has been a fun week for us! I would say the progress of the pool itself is about 90% complete and I can’t wait to show you what we did! Originally we planned on saving money and trying to install chunks of cedar (Somehow?? We never did get around to figuring out how it would actually work) around the exterior of the pool to hide the metal sides. After the concrete was completed, we quickly ditched that idea! Instead we headed to Home Depot and bought a few pallets of stone. Building a stone wall around the exterior was so much easier to wrap our minds around. The cost was actually not as terrible as I feared it would be.
Directly opposite of this picture is the concrete patio. This side is obviously a lot higher! It’s actually buried probably close to 18 inches, with 36 inches sticking above ground. Our situation is a little unique because of the slope of the hill we installed on. Typically with semi inground pools, the entire pool would be above ground close to the same height. So that leads me to our stone wall! (Did I call it a brick wall in the last post? Ahh I can’t remember!) We had quite the span of metal that needed covering. Curt’s first step was to install horse panel wire that we had leftover from our fence project to the sides of the pool using zip ties…nothing fancy here! The wall we built is floating, so it doesn’t touch the pool at all! The metal served only as a stable backing when we began stacking the stones upon each other.
Curt and I kept commenting on how INSANELY easy this project was! It was like building with heavy, life size toy blocks! Once we decided on a pattern, we used Quikcrete commercial grade construction adhesive to glue all of the stones together. Stacking one stone on top of another stone until we reached the top row. Seriously, that’s it! Like I said, the stones don’t touch the pool at all. We simply built a little wall in front of the pool’s sides.
While we were planning the pattern, we had to keep in mind the top metal ring of the pool needed to be covered as well. We found the height to work perfectly if we laid the smaller bricks sideways on top of the larger blocks. Do you guys remember the patio side of the pool where we laid the bricks on the metal ring in a linear fashion all the way around? Well, since the stone wall sticks out farther from the pool sides, we simply turned the bricks 90 degrees and we able to connect the top metal ring to the stone wall seamlessly. So half the pool’s “ring” is covered with bricks lined up front to back, and the other half has bricks lined up side by side. I don’t mind the transition between the two at all.
You can see the transition in the top bricks a little bit in this photo. You can also see the differing heights from the concrete to the gravel! It’s quite a drop.
And here she is all stoned up and looking fine! I’m so happy we went this route. It was the pricier option, but I think the longevity of the stone will be worth it.
So what’s next you ask? Well, next we are building retaining walls…LOTS of them! The entire exterior edge of this patio will have a retaining wall. To save on supplies, we are using cinderblocks to build the wall. On top of the cinder blocks we will use the same stone to “cap” them off in the pattern above. I think it will be a nice balance between cost and beauty!
That stone work is so beautiful! You all did a great job!
Thanks, we really like it!
Beautiful! How’s the wall holding up? Do you mind sharing the types of stone you chose?
It’s been almost a year and the wall is holding up beautifully! None of the bricks have fallen off. 🤗
Thank you for this blog … it is very encouraging for a similar project I have coming up!
Wonderful! Thank you! I just added the last blog on the pool, the finished product!
Hi! Do you have any updated pics of your pool area? We have the exact same pool and are struggling with idea on how to finish it! The fence around your pool is exactly what I want! Any estimates on concrete patio and block around pool cost? I love The pics I saw So far!
I just added a 4th and final blog post about the pool and its full of pictures! The concrete really depends on your area. We had quotes from 8k down to 3k. We went with the guy who came in the middle of those two. I can’t remember off hand how much the block costs. I want to say around $300. I hope that helps!
Do you happen to have a picture of the slope of your yard before or during the installation?
Unfortunately I don’t have any that show how large the slope actually was. They all look like relatively flat ground.
I just came across this 4 part blog. It is absolutely beautiful. My question is how would you change the liner down the road if the stone is glued to the top and the wall?
Believe or not, we already had to change the liner! Some debris fell into it over winter and popped a hole. So now I’m more then concerned these liners aren’t as tough as they claim. Haha! To answer your question though, the bricks sit on top of a metal ring. The underside of that metal ring is where the liner gets secured. So the bricks don’t inhibit that at all.
Hello I love the wall. Did you have to secure it with anything? Did you reinforce the back of the rocks?
Hi! I’m unsure if you are referring to the cinderblock wall around our patio or our pool walls? Either way, we used construction adhesive on both! In an earlier post I showed how we reinforced our pool walls. Thanks!
Amazing job with your pool. We are getting a similar one and this has been a source of inspiration. Can I ask how sturdy the brick paver is that sits on top of the metal ring. If someone Is to lean over it in the pool does it shift at all? And did you adhere it to the metal ring as well?
Thank you! The pavers on the top are adhered to the metal ring with construction adhesive like the rest of the bricks on the outside of the pool. They don’t move at all when you lean on them. The only bricks that have shifted are a few rows where the dirt the we back filled the pool with has settled. Those two rows of bricks are still attached but you can tell they have slid down a bit. Otherwise the rest have held perfectly!