Swimming Pool Installations | Step-By-Step | Crane Hire

Not only can a swimming pool add value to your home, it is a necessity for the humid months of a Queensland summer. Follow our step by step guide for a flawless swimming pool installation.

1) Planning

The number one thing you can do to ensure your pool installation goes off without a hitch is to thoroughly plan the entire process. First, you or your builder will need to prepare a design for the pool area to be submitted to your local council for approval. Your plan should include the mandatory pool fencing as well as any landscaping or paving you may want.

Additionally, you will need to prepare and submit a form 15 (For Queensland only).

2) Excavation

Once your plans have been approved, the next step is excavation. Before you begin excavating it is important to figure out where the excavated soil is going to go, or if the excavation company will take care of it for you.

Once you have organised to have the hole excavated and the soil removed, mark out the area to be excavated (including any additional space that will be backfilled). Finally, excavate the area.

Note: If you are excavating soil it should only take one day (depending on the distance that the soil needs to be transported). If there is any rock that needs to be excavated the process can take up to two weeks and will be very noisy.

3) Prepare The Hole

After the hole has been excavated, all pre-plumbing and lighting must be installed in preparation for the pool to be lifted in. This includes filtration pipes, spa jets and any heating or lighting you may want.

You will also need to lay a base of sand in the bottom of the hole and screed the sand to create a level base in preparation for the pool installation.

4) Crane in Pool

Once the hole has been excavated and all plumbing and lighting have been installed, it’s time to place the pool into the hole. A crane is required to lift the pool into the hole. Before you call a crane hire company there are a few things to consider:

Ground Level Obstacles – Consider if a crane will easily be able to access your home and where the crane will be set up for the lift. Some driveways will not have the load capacity to hold the crane meaning you may need to organise a road closure.

Overhead Obstacles – Consider anything that may hinder the crane from lifting the pool into place including overhead power lines and obtrusive tree branches.

Which Crane Will You Need – There are a number of different mobile cranes available for hire depending on the requirements of your job. For example, if you need to lift the pool over your house you will need a crane with a much greater height and weight capacity than if you’re simply lifting it straight into the hole.

Crane Hire Company – choosing the right crane hire company can be the difference between a stress-free pool installation and a backyard nightmare. Any good crane hire company will be able to take all of the above factors into consideration on inspection of the site rather than waiting for you to do it.

When choosing a crane hire company ensure that they have experience with domestic or limited access lifts as they can be quite different to commercial lifts. Mighty Cranes is Brisbane’s leading crane hire company, offering affordable mobile crane lifts for both commercial and residential jobs. Call us today on 0477 000 976 for a free quote.

5) Fill The Pool

Once the pool shell has been lifted into place, it’s finally time to fill the pool. This can be done with the use of a hose or with trucked water. When filling with a hose, ensure that the pool is filled to the brim in order to avoid a water line around the edge of the pool. As the pool is filled, a backfill of crusher dust or sand should be added at the same level as the water to even out the internal and external pressures.

You will also need to organise safety fencing for the pool in accordance with your council approval.

Once the pool is filled and the fencing has been erected, take a sample of the water along with some basic information about your pool (length, width, depth, etc) to your local pool retailer and they will tell you which chemicals to purchase to get your pool started.

For more information or if you’re looking to have a pool installed fill out our contact form below.