The right size excavator for vinyl liner pool removal.

[JookyDFW]

Hello All,

I'm new to the forum but I have used some not so heavy equipment before. I am in the process of removing an in ground vinyl liner pool from my back yard. After I recycle the deck I will be renting an excavator to remove the steel panels that support the sides of the pool, dig up the vermiculite from the bottom of the pool, and and rough grade the yard.

These excavators are expensive to rent for a 1-2 day project so I want to make sure I get something big enough to get the job done. I rented a trailer mounted excavator several years ago to remove some shrubs from around the house and I remember my friend having to chop the roots because the unit did not have enough power to dig them up.

Supposedly the steel walls are anchored to concrete piers buried behind the walls. I was thinking that one of the larger min-excavators (around 8000lb) would do the job but when I found out the walls could be anchored to piers I was thinking I might need something bigger. The one thing I have going for me is that the pool is 30 years old and everything is rusted.

I can post pictures if needed.

 

[JookyDFW]

Please disregard as I am moving this to the correct thread.

 

[movindirt]

Do you have much experience operating heavy equipment?

 

[JookyDFW]

Not a lot. Fork lifts, Skid loader and the aforementioned backhoe.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I removed a pool using just a skid steer with 4-way bucket. It was built just as you describe, I clamped on to the piers and wiggled them a little, they popped right out. Wiggled the steel beams enough to where they broke into manageable pieces, piled everything including the liner in the deep end. Dug a ramp down to the shallow end and filled the pool with bank run, using the machine as a roller to compact as I filled. I didn't do more than 12" lifts each time. I've been back to see the job 8 years later and there was no settling.

If you get an excavator, I think you'd want one with a thumb to do virtually the same thing I did with the skid. A 10,000lb machine should do the job. If you've got experience on skid steers, I think that would be the way to go, especially if you have grading in mind. Grading can be done with the Ex, but it will take longer and you'd need some talent on that machine to do a nice job.

 

[JookyDFW]

A rooftop picture of the work area. Deck will be removed first. There is a lot of grading to do. There's a lot of space and a 30'x30' driveway and the fence needs to be rebuilt.

Water has been pumped out and liner has been removed since this picture.

 

[JookyDFW]

Steve, Thanks for the info and sorry for the cross post. I was trying to correct mis-posting into the wrong category. The skid might work becuse theres at leat an 18" drop from the patio to the fence. that should provide enough dirt to ramp down into the pool. I am concerned about getting up the vermiculite. Its like really hard sand and I think it will not provide proper drainage if I leave it as is. My plan is to churn it up with the excavator while removing the steel walls and then come back on day two with the skid and finish the grade.

 

[CM1995]

Looking at the picture a mini ex is best suited for the demo with a skid to finish up as you stated. This is going to be a tricky demo with a mini if you don't have much experience.

 

[Garrie Denny]

So Hate a pussy ending. Did we tip the excavator? Brains don't grow in pumpkins

 

[JookyDFW]

Nope. It was all good. Got a E50 Bobcat from a local Bobcat dealer. Took me 15 minutes to get it from front of house drop off to the rear where the pool was. I could have gone through the yard but the delivery guy said the grass and probably a few sprinkler heads would be toast. It took about 10 hours of machine time and the only problem was when I got a big slab of concrete on top of the hoe. The thumb was not working so it was hard to grab stuff. I used the bucket and a couple tow straps to pull it off.





This is what it looks like now.



And this is what was pulled out.



Those big slabs of concrete were poured around the base of the steel walls and would not budge at first. Then I found a weak spot in corner of the deep end and managed to work most of it out.

 

[CM1995]

Good job. How did you get rid of the debris?

 

[JNB]

Glad to see you getting some work done. It's been so wet up here for over a month that I can't seem to make any headway. Nine weeks of jobs on the board and the calls keep coming in.

Tell me a a little more about the kind of work you do. I get a lot of calls for the Dallas area, but I don't work down there. My truck shuts off at the Lake Lewisville bridge.

 

[JookyDFW]

@CM1995 - I haven't yet. As JNB stated it's been raining a lot in North Texas. My plan is to break up the concrete with a jack hammer and take it to the concrete recycler. Similar to what I did with the deck. The steel will be cute up with a plasma cutter and taken to a recycling center. I screwed up with the steel. I should have pancaked it with the excavator and loaded it on my trailer.

 

[JookyDFW]

@JNB - I think with all the rain were getting all trucks shut off at the Lake Lewisville bridge. I'm actually a software developer by trade and this is just a side project I decided to tackle. I'm a pretty handy guy and who doesn't want to tear things up with heavy equipment. I was getting estimates of around $6500 for someone else to remove the pool. I figured I could do it for around $3500 so I'm giving it a go. I'm probably going to come in at closer to $4000-4500 when it's all done but I've been selling off the pool equipment I don't need to get some of that back.

 

[JNB]

@JNB - I think with all the rain were getting all trucks shut off at the Lake Lewisville bridge. I'm actually a software developer by trade and this is just a side project I decided to tackle. I'm a pretty handy guy and who doesn't want to tear things up with heavy equipment. I was getting estimates of around $6500 for someone else to remove the pool. I figured I could do it for around $3500 so I'm giving it a go. I'm probably going to come in at closer to $4000-4500 when it's all done but I've been selling off the pool equipment I don't need to get some of that back.

Ah. I've been looking for someone that actually cares about the finished product that I can refer work to in the areas I don't service. Good job on the pool!

 

[JookyDFW]

Well I finally got the pool filled in around the end of June and I uploaded a photo montage from beginning to end of the project. The fill took all day and used 13 loads between 6-7 yards (small truck due to alley size). This was a Company called ServAll that works out of Plano Texas. They were doing some work a few miles from my house and had access to plenty of fill dirt and I think I got a decent deal (see costs below). They seemed a little unorganized at the office but the guy showed up on time and did a great job. he brought a 6-yard dump truck and a tractor to grade the fill which I didn't expect. The end result is the last picture. We got a lot of rain in North Texas during the spring so the fill dirt was very wet and compact. I have not noticed any sag after three months. I'm glad I pulled all the crap out of the ground instead of throwing it into the hole.

http://s1107.photobucket.com/user/jookydfw/slideshow/Pool Demolition?sort=9

Original estimates from demolition companies was around $6000-7000 for the job.

I ended up spending around $3250. I also recovered about $500 from scrap and selling pool equipment on craigslist so my total expense was around $2750.

Major Expenses:

Demolition Hammer Rental: $225
Dump Trailer: $225
Labor (deck removal) : $800 (4 workers @ $10/hour for 2 days)
Excavator Rental: $1000 (2 days plus delivery)
Fill In: $975 (13 loads @ $75/load)

NOTE: We have one of only three day labor centers located in Plano, Texas a few miles from my house so it was very easy for me to find workers. I also offered a bonus for good work which ended up being around $20 per worker (paid for 8 hours and they worked for 6).

 

[JookyDFW]

For those interested in the steps from start to finish here they are:

Weekend 1: Drain pool, remove liner, crack deck
Weekend 2: Finish cracking deck
Weekend 3: Deck removal (2 days, 4 laborers)
Weekend 4: Excavation
Weekend 5: Fill In

For the deck removal I had 2 dump trailers the first day and kept on for the second day. The workers would load the trail and then I would take it to the concrete recycler. This got the yard to the point in picture three of the photo montage (see previous post).

The excavation started on a Friday and went through Monday (2 days rental). Most rental places will do a weekend rental where you get the machine on Friday and it's picked up on Monday and you get to use it for 8 hours. I didn't know how to drive an excavator and ran into issues with the concrete support for the liner walls so that slowed me down.

Fill in was actually on a Friday and took all day. Started around 8 and finished around 4. It took about 35-40 minutes per load because the dirt was only a few miles from my house. I did nothing other than pick some trash out of the fill dirt.

 

[pafarmer]

Nice work for a guy that does run machines enough to speak of.....well done...glad everything went smoothly and no one got hurt. For some reason when I see a guy renting any kind of heavy equipment it makes me very nervous.

 

[Ropinghorns]

We have done several pool demos like that pool with two workers. One in a mini excavator [10,000. pound] and the other in a skid steer. The concrete broke up with the mini ex. Slowest thing was the dump trucks that brought the dirt and hauled off the spoils. That bottom ring of concrete was a little thick too and a breaker would have been nice.

 

[dd13]

there's always the first time, If you never try you never learn. Even the best operators started out at some point in there life:Banghead