Swimming pools come in several varieties; wooden walls (really old), metal walls, and gunite. Out of them all a gunite pool is the most laborious to remove. A gunite pool removal becomes more of a demolition project as the concrete is often thick and reinforced with rebar. For such projects an excavator with a hydraulic breaker attachment is often the best tool to break through cement and rip apart the rebar. We perform pool removals/demolitions all over Connecticut, the majority are liner pools with walls but we do come across gunite pools and are equipped to remove them as well.
Below is a picture from a gunite pool demolition we did in Woodbridge, CT in 2016. The homeowners had college aged children that were rarely home and had become tired of maintenance associated with the pool. On top of that the pool was located in a level area off the rear of the home, an area they determined would be better suited for a future patio.
As you can see below we have one of the largest rubber tracked excavators (9 ton machine + rubber tracks don’t destroy grass the way metal tracks do) available with a hydraulic hammer attachment. In the picture you can see the hammer against the thick concrete wall of the pool punching a hole through the cement. It was a very time consuming process since hole after hole had to be punched in a line before we could break the concrete. It was similar strategy to how paper is perforated to allow for easy separation.
The Town Of Woodbridge asked for the walls of the pool to broken up at least 3′ from the surface as well as the bottom of the pool broken into small pieces to allow for drainage. All municipalities are different with their requirements and we always advocate obtaining a pool permit prior to any work occurring. The permit is beneficial for homeowners because after the pool is gone they can remove the pool from their property tax and if they go to sell they have proof it was demolished properly.
Once the walls and bottom were broken up we had the town inspector take a look and give us the final okay before bringing in soil to fill the pool.
Drainage was an issue on this property as the yard had a slight slope upward with a wooded hill beyond the rear of the property. When we were grading we had to put in a swale to move the water to either side away from the home as the rear sunroom was almost flush with the ground and could flood. On the topic of drainage it is very important to move water away from foundations to prevent getting water inside the home. Many homeowners have us put pipe in the ground to connect gutter downspouts to retention pits away from the home. It is cost effective to have such work done while we are there as we already have all of our machinery on site for the pool removal so the cost to transport said machinery is already covered.
The majority of our pool demolition/removal clients have us spread topsoil, grass seed, and hay upon completion. You can see the yard above is now seeded and ready to once again become part of the lawn now that the pool has been removed.
This was just one of the countless swimming pools we have removed for dozens of satisfied clients. If you are looking for a contractor to remove your pool or are simply debating between redoing an old pool versus demolishing we can help.
Google Review
Now you see it...now you don't. Like magic, shrubs were removed, pool was drained and filled in, surrounding patio gone and all affected lawn areas seeded and hay covered. The process couldn't have gone more smoothly and the yard looks great. We're happy to recommend Grillo Pool Removal and give them this 5 star rating - Trudy Dykun in Branford, CT