Avoid the pitfalls of pool excavation

If you're planning to put in an in-ground pool, the first step is excavation. But pool excavation is not a cut-and-dried procedure. Each yard differs, depending on the condition of the soil, shape and size of the space and access. To ensure you get the best and most reliable job done, consult a pool professional, who can arrange for earthmovers who specialise in pool excavation.

Chris Lees of Pool FX handles the construction side, organising renovations, maintenance and pool excavation. He has developed a trusted group of machinery operators he calls on when a client is ready to take the plunge. Whether the yard is big or small, or has tricky access issues, there is sure to be an excavator for the job.

"Every site is unique, with its own characteristics," explains Chris. "You just need the right guys who are set up with the right machinery specific to the type of hole you are after. You can get machinery as small as a wheelbarrow and you can get 13 or 14 tonners." 

Some pool excavation jobs involve support installation (or piers) as much as they do digging. Chris has found that if earth is too soft and falls away, as it does in some coastal locations, supports need to be bolted in to ensure the pool remains stable. If unsure about the stability of the earth, you may require tests to assess what will be required for the job.

Piers are also used in conjunction with excavation when a pool is installed on a sloped piece of land. For a pool recently created by Peter Reidy of Country Style Pools, construction involved partial excavation and some serious supports.

"We boxed half of the pool completely out of the ground and the other side was excavated. As it was a concrete pool, we just made the walls thicker for extra strength on the side that was out of the ground," explains Peter.

Excavating only half the pool can make the earthmoving side of things a bit cheaper, though the costs are not as high as you may think. Because of the unpredictable nature of a pool excavation job, Chris finds it hard to give an exact quote at the start of a project, but most jobs are within a surprisingly affordable price range.

"Obviously it's hard to gauge because the price of pool excavation can change as we're going along, but it's not an astronomical amount. We are familiar with the machinery costs and the running costs, so the rates are generally much the same across the board."