Expanded Polystyrene Floating Work PlatformExpanded polystyrene is customarily used for marine work platforms. These floating platforms are typically very basic and are used to perform maintenance on boats above the waterline.Our customer in Melbourne Florida took it to another level by building a very durable platform that also doubles as a floating dock. The marine work platform was constructed using 4 pieces of.9 lb density EPS 6” x 36” x 96”, pressure treated lumber and plywood. His golden retriever pups think it is a great place to play.Marine work platforms are typically just a block or two of EPS, without the plywood, sized to accommodate the needs of the project.Sales PersonJohn TamburoUniversal Foam Products, LLCEPS STYROFOAM™ Solutions410-498-0000 ext 232 PHONE 410-498-0300 FAX. Formex Encapsulated Floats used for Floating HomeThis floating home, built at the Gordon Marina in Bobcaygeon, Ontario allow its owners to fully enjoy the benefits of waterfront living.

• What To Put Under Above Ground Pool On Concrete

The flotation platform, constructed of treated lumber and 48” x 96” Formex encapsulated floats, is built separately from the house. It is then moved under the house and attached to the floor system. When the tide is up, the house floats keeping everything on the first floor high and dry.

Universal Foam Products has provided flotation for floating cabins and homes from Louisiana to Canada. We also supply custom flotation for specialty applications like work platforms and barges. Give us a call regarding your special requirements.Sales PersonJason IsennockUniversal Foam Products, LLCEPS Styrofoam Solutions410.825.8300 Ext 250 PHONE 410.825.5050 FAX. How do you build a floating dock?Most people building a floating dock construct it the same way you build a stationary deck on land. Depending upon the size, it can be framed using pressure treated lumber ranging from 2x4s to 2x10s spaced 16” on center to over 24” on center. The floats can be installed below the joists or can be placed in between the joists.

Universal Foam Products has provided both encapsulated floats and un-encapsulated floats for hundreds of docks and swim platforms throughout the United States and Canada.Floats can be plain EPS (expanded polystyrene) blocks or Top Mount and Flange Mount encapsulated floats, depending upon local codes and restrictions. We can assist in helping you determine what will work best for your project.This customer in Mechanicville, NY constructed a dock on a private lake using 12 precut blocks of 1 lb density EPS to construct his dock.

Universal can assist in the design of your dock to make sure it sits out of the water at the level you want.Sales PersonJohn TamburoUniversal Foam Products, LLCEPS STYROFOAM™ Solutions410-498-0000 ext 232 PHONE 410-498-0300 FAX. Universal Foam Products flotation for docks and swim platforms, shipping from over 80 locations around the United States and Canada.EPS floats are used for swim platforms and floating docks on private lakes and ponds throughout the United States. If your community association or regulating body requires encapsulated floats we can provide them also. We have both “top mount” and flange mount” floats available. Universal Foam Products provides an online calculator or you can contact us directly to find out what you will need to float your dock. We can assist with the design and offer construction tips to make sure your project goes smoothly.

What To Put Under Above Ground Pool On Concrete

PersonJohn TamburoUniversal Foam Products, LLCEPS STYROFOAM™ Solutions410-498-0000 ext 232 PHONE 410-498-0300 FAX. EPS Geofoam makes swimming pool construction faster and easier.

Approximately 1,000 cubic feet of EPS29 Geofoam was used to create the contour cuts in the vertical walls of this pool in Ft. Meyers, FL as well as to create the sloped floor and steps. EPS Geofoam is almost always used in pool construction in multi-story building as a way to reduce weight and is becoming more and more popular for in-ground pool construction also for block-outs, steps, seats and sloped floors.Sales PersonUniversal Foam Products, LLCEPS Styrofoam Solutions410.825.8300, ext 229 PHONE 410.825.5050 FAX16 Stenersen Lane Suite 4B Hunt Valley, MD 21030. 12 blocks of.9lb Virgin EPS 16” x 48” x 48” were used to build this floating dock and swim platform in South Hadley, MA. Un-encapsulated EPS floats are less expensive than standard encapsulated dock floats and are commonly used on private lakes and ponds.

On larger bodies of water under the control of private associations and government agencies, encapsulated floats are typically required. At Universal Foam Products we provide a variety of encapsulated top mount floats and flange mount floats as well as un-encapsulated EPS floats and Styrofoam Brand flotation billets. Sales PersonJason IsennockUniversal Foam Products, LLCEPS Styrofoam Solutions410.825.8300 Ext 250 PHONE 410.825.5050 FAX.

24 blocks of 1 lb EPS 9.5” x 26” x 47” was used to replace the existing foam in these commercial aluminum floats. I would like to acknowledge the excellent customer service and expertise I received from Universal Foam LLC while I was researching dock float foam for replacement in our 36 boat community dock.

I appreciated the time Ann took with me in familiarizing me with their product and helping me to make the best decision in purchasing. It was not only their pricing that swayed me but Ann kept in touch until I was ready to order and made sure all my questions were answered. When the foam came in, we opened the old aluminum clad floats, pried out the old water-logged foam, and slid the new custom made foam blocks right into the aluminum shells. They fit perfectly. We will be ordering more to replace the foam in all the rest of the floats! I enclosed a picture of our dock so you can see where the foam is being used. Sales PersonUniversal Foam Products, LLCEPS Styrofoam Solutions410.825.8300, ext 229 PHONE 410.825.5050 FAX16 Stenersen Lane Suite 4B Hunt Valley, MD 21030 Post navigation.

Over the years I’ve seen my share of horribly built above ground swimming pools. Many of them were severely misshaped, all their uprights leaned to the side and the resin connectors were cracked and did not hide the screws. The biggest way to mess up an above ground pool installation, though, is for it not to be level.The most “off level” an above ground can get is around three to four inches off. This means when the pool is filled, on the one side the pool structure is three or four inches higher above the waterline than on the other side.

Chief Obvious nature fact: Water is always level with the earth. Since water can only be level, an “off level” swimming pool will look really bad when you fill it.I don’t usually see above ground pools that are off more than four inches, because they will almost always cave in when the level is off by more than that.

Most above ground installation manuals will say that a pool should be level within an inch, but I try to get it level to an eighth of an inch or so. Above grounds with liners that have patterns or tile lines will start to look “off level” at about the half inch mark as the naked eye can compare the level pool waterline against the pattern of the liner. How an Above Ground Pool Is LeveledTraditional above ground swimming pools are leveled at their bottom track. This is the track that the pool’s wall fits into. So, if the track is level, then so is the wall. Most do-it-yourselfers will go on YouTube and find that most videos show how to level the entire bottom area of the pool.

They will show this using some makeshift long leveling tool made from two-by-four wood nailed together according to the length needed to span the radius of the pool’s size. They then tape a two or four-foot level to the wood so they know when it’s level and attach one end to a piece of wood that’s hammered into the earth at the very middle of where the pool is going. At that point the long two-by-four wood can swivel in 360 degrees from the center pivot point and can be used to level the earth.This leveling method does work to level the earth, but it is time-consuming and ultimately not very accurate in leveling what’s really important to level which is the bottom track. The bottom of an above ground pool doesn’t have to be level. Some will “dish out” the bottom of their pool so it is gradually deeper in the very center and that’s cool as it may make it easier to maintain the pool later on.The reality is that it is much more important for the pool’s bottom to be smooth instead of level. The above-mentioned long two-by-four leveling method does very little at making the pool bottom smooth as the smoothing is done later on after the wall is up and the bottom coving is built or installed. Leveling the Pool’s Bottom TrackWhen I started building above grounds in the eighties, we didn’t use blocks for leveling.

We would just level the earth and lay the track down and roll out the wall. The result was some of those pools were pretty “off level”. Today every pool installer uses some kind of blocks for leveling the track and we place a block under every one of the bottom track connectors. I’ve seen people use all kinds of things for leveling blocks from cutting pieces of small pressure treated wood (not recommended) all the way to full 8”x8”x16”concrete blocks buried (also not recommended). Most do-it-yourselfers use too big of a block for this as they think the blocks have some structural value and they don’t. I use 6”x6” standard thickness square pavers.CAUTION: SIDE RANT AHEADWhen I explain that the blocks under the track have no structural value, some homeowners look at me sideways and don’t believe or agree with me on this.

If you work in computer science or are an engineer of some kind, chances are you won’t agree with me as these two professions must attract the overly intellectually arrogant. In this case, it doesn’t matter if you are wrong, as it won’t hurt anything to overbuild. You can spend your whole week digging and leveling giant unnecessary pieces of concrete materials. I’m sure your body needs the exertion and your soul will enjoy being outside for a change. Certainly there is value in everything we do.Anyway, when leveling the blocks under the track, people do it in two ways. Most will lay down the pool’s bottom track, shape it and somehow mark where the connectors are and then take the track out of the way so they can level the blocks.

Some will keep the track in place and level the blocks underneath. This is tricky as the track will get in the way of leveling the blocks. The latter is the method I use. What to Use to Level the BlocksMost people will use a four-foot level and starting with the first block, will level from block to block all the way around until all blocks are the same level. This is hard to do as the distance between the track connectors (which is where the blocks go) is more than four feet long. To make up the difference, some will tape their level to a five foot 2×4 so it will reach from block to block.Personally, if I were using a four-foot level to level the blocks, I would leave the track in place and put the level on top of the track. This will allow you to level farther than the four-foot length of the level as the track covers the longer distance from connector to connector.

This is also more accurate as you are now leveling the actual track and not just the blocks. Confused yet? This will make more sense when you are doing it instead of just reading about it. The Ultimate Leveling ToolYears ago I used a four-foot level to level pool tracks, but eventually graduated to using a builder’s level instead.

Hand levels work well, but the drawback is you are leveling from block to block which means you are using a different point of reference every time. This can result in the blocks not being all the same level. You’ll know how level or off you are when you finally level that last block with the original first block you started with. Often the blocks will be off and will have to be redone using this method.A builder’s level or transit uses the same point of level reference every time. This means the blocks will all be the same level the first time. It does take two people to do this, though, as one has to look through the level while another is leveling. You could rent a 360-degree laser level and do it on your own if you don’t have any good friends.In conclusion, just remember that it’s the bottom track that has to be level and not the ground inside the pool.

Get that bottom track level and the right shape and the whole pool will look good and last longer no matter how bad the pool’s bottom looks or feels. Hi Dan, great article! We have been trying to level the ground now for 3 days. We feel better about getting the track level like you mentioned above. Our ground is fill dirt with many small rocks. Every time we pull up a rock there is 3 more.

We are using a 6 foot level to rake off the high spots but should we use a transit to level the ground before the track process? We have a pool pad and lime sand for the 2″ cushion. Is that enough cushion?

Also, we purchased the pool coving. Should we use it or the sand?Thanks for your time. Thank you for the article. We are new to pools and gave us good info. We bought a house on the river which came with a above ground pool. The floor of the deck is level with the top of the pool. This spring the river rose very high and sand was washed out from under the pool bottom making the pool lean badly.

(I think this happens every year to some extent.) We are re-doing the pool and deck next spring and wonder if you have some idea as to a base for the pool to avoid future washouts.Thanks for any advice. I’m not an installer but have done alot of reading up on this, as I’m also putting up an above ground. It sounds like one should dig out the high spots and use something like a tractor with a loader bucket or a skid steer if you have access to one. The “low” spot don’t touch. That is your starting point. From there, all other points around the pool have to be dug down to that low level.Adding dirt to a low spot to make it high is very difficult to do. Well, it sounds easy but when you put on tens of thousands of pounds of water, the newly added dirt will compact and become a lumpy spot.

It’s very difficult to compact new dirt to the same compaction rate as the existing soil that you already have.I think a rototiller will just make a mess of things, loosening up far too much soil too far down and it’ll ruin your good base. Your article was very helpful. I have a question that I hope that someone can answer.I live in the San Francisco Bay area. We have hard clay here. The type that is almost as hard as granite on the top three inches until you hit the softer stuff below that.My questions are:1. The bottom rail will not sit perfectly flat on the dirt because of small nooks and crannies and it is very hard like granite. What are my options in this case?

Do I make a bed of small river gravel underneath along the circumference of the pool so that the rail can sit evenly?Which leads to this question:The plates where the rails come together are plastic and they are about an eighth of an inch thick. Logic dictates if i even out the blocks with the surface of the diet then the rails will be floating above the dirt with an eighth of an inch gap so it appears that the blocks have to be sunk an eighth of an inch further down. It’s this correct? I have a contempra pool 15′.

I called the company where I purchased it and they stated it can float above the dirt between the blocks. I though that answer to be incorrect. Also one final question.

If the boffins rails are all label but the base is off by 2 degrees at the lowest point is this acceptable? Any help appreciated. I am building a 33 foot above ground pool and need a little advise.I had a company with a skid steer and excavator get my ground level to within one inch using a laser. My ground has many nooks and crannies that will not allow the bottom rail to sit flush on the ground. Should I use a crushed stone around the base to get it smooth so that I can lay the rail down flush with the ground?

Or will the minor inconsistencies in the ground be smoothed out by the weight of the pool since the overall ground is level to one inch? Hi, I have a 24’ round pool. My previous pool let go after a Number of years, and we did not replace the pool until the area had been sitting a few years growing weeds. I hired a company to come in and re-install my new pool on the same area. Now that the pool is then I noticed there are high and low spots within the base of the pool I also can feel a few small rocks up against the pool liner of the floor is this anything to be concerned about they use sand as a base on top of my old base. I am concerned that they rushed to get done and did not give me the quality I expected. I do not want to have to replace my liner because of small rocks penitrating my liner.

I feel as though my old pool was had a more level floor. The pool walls do look level to the naked eye. Do you think the small rocks can harm the liner? They are maybe 1/2” in size.

We had a 24′ X 54″ pool installed 11 years ago. It collapsed so we removed the pool and bought a new one. I am presently digging around the pool base to get the rocks out of the way. I found the pavers that the track must have rested on. Since I have gotten this far and I have pulled the sand and clay away toward the center, do you think I can do this on my own (with some muscle help)? I have done so much work already, the site is already there (from the old pool), and it seems that I have done the hard work already (pushing river rock back and digging out the clay and sand all the way around the diameter to make the pavers accessible). I realize that the most important part of the process is to make sure the site is level.

Any advice you can give would be appreciated. “When I explain that the blocks under the track have no structural value, some homeowners look at me sideways and don’t believe or agree with me on this. If you work in computer science or are an engineer of some kind, chances are you won’t agree with me as these two professions must attract the overly intellectually arrogant. I’m sure your body needs the exertion and your soul will enjoy being outside for a change. Certainly there is value in everything we do.”You didn’t explain anything.

You stated an unsubstantiated opinion and did not provide any facts or cite any sources. Having never looked into this I can picture most of the loading being distributed among the ground, but with the liner attached to the members of the frame, I imagine the blocks have at the very least the same amount of “structural support” as the area underneath the liner.“If you work in computer science or are an engineer of some kind, chances are you won’t agree with me as these two professions must attract the overly intellectually arrogant. I’m sure your body needs the exertion and your soul will enjoy being outside for a change. Certainly there is value in everything we do.”Programmers and engineers are physically lazy people that avoid the outdoors? Certainly there is no value in this.

On second though, there is probably a lot of value in this statement. Ill share and see if you’re correct. Thank you for this article. I just bought an Intex rectangular pool and the thought of leveling the entire pad seemed like a waste of energy since the pool legs or braces going all the way around seemed the most important. So your article confirmed it. But I’m wondering if I can just use a string line and string level to level the four corner and then do the ones in between with the same stringlike putting up a fence.

My backyard is smoothjust not level so I’m not concerned about the pool bottom. Am I thinking correctly? Sorry but this article is not giving advice on building soft sided pools. They are almost impossible to get level. I hate building these rectangle Intex pools and only do so when I need the work in the cooler off season. With them, I level the entire area as best I can using a laser level and a lot of patience. Then I assemble the pool on top of the level earth and start filling to set the liner as best as it can(which is not great).

After that, I go around and level pieces of PT wood under each side support using a laser level(blocks will snap after filling). I make all the wood pieces the same level so this insures that the pool’s perimeter will be somewhat level when filled. That’s the best you can do with these poorly designed things.

Ok allOf this is very helpful and sounds like a lot of work lol, I recently purchased an above ground pool put it up no problems but my back yard is just a downward uneven mess, I rent the home that I live in and want to avoid digging up grass and putting sand down to level it it’s 14 x42 intex pool, what would be considered to be to unlevel where it is not safe? Will it collapse? Can I put small 2x4s down to help level it out? Again I am not a home owner got a really great deal in this pool and would like to just put it up and fill it with little to no hassle if possible lol thanks for your time! PS all of these comments are very helpful thank you all. I think you are asking the wrong guy here.

I only know how to do things right and only want to give advice on doing things right. The right way is to remove all the sod in a 16′ circle and then level the circle as best you can with levels.

Take some pride in putting this thing up in your yard and stop trying to find the easiest way to do it. Putting sand over grass and shoring up a few thousand pounds of water with pieces of wood sounds like some third world construction. This is America.

Stop concerning yourself with how much work it is and do what it takes to make it safe. We purchased a used 33 by 54 round pool. My husband and son became carried away with the Bobcat and removed to much ground. Now I’m unsure what we should do.

We live in the Midwest, with all the rain we’ve had I can tell there will be an issue with erosion. I have researched putting the pool on a concrete pad but, this will be costly. Can we pour a circular concrete footing to place the wall on and then fill in the center with lime and sand? Or should we continue with regular installation and install proper drainage? Either way proper drainage will occur. If your yard is severely sloped, then you may have some issues with erosion because the pool will be level around sloping earth. Every situation is different but what is the same is that it rains, and the rain water carries earth away from around the pool when there is enough rain water to make a temporary river.

You want to make sure the “rain river” either does not form next to the pool OR cannot carry any earth with it. This can be achieved many ways. The best way depends on your situation which I don’t know exactly. This depends on the type of above ground you have. With an Intex type, I really don’t have much advice since the design is poor.

For a metal walled type, getting the bottom track level and the correct shape is the most important thing. After that, you can use the level bottom track as a reference for getting the inside pool bottom level.

And I don’t worry about starting from the low point of the site. I just level the entire area. Most of the time, I’m moving earth from the high points to the low points for make level.