My parents are 75 and the pool needs to be re-plastered and the pea gravel deck completely redone, plus some other issues with the pool area. Basically, a $30,000 job.

We have a pool and my sister doesn't live close. The pool hasn't been used in 5+ years and won't get any use in the near future.

So... anybody every had their pool filled in or know someone that did it?

Cost? Issues? Do's and don'ts? TIA.

I'd say demo the top two feet of the gunite then fill it in with dirt. The decking just demo it and fill back with dirt as needed. i wouldn't worry about the plumbing lines. Cut them off below grade and have the pool equipment hauled off and electrical stuff made safe at the panel.

Is there an existing irrigation system in the backyard? If so, you might want to consider coverage of the new grass where the pool was prior to fill.

If they're in a major AHJ demo will require complete removal. If they're in the middle of nowhere, do like CorpsAg suggested but also poke some holes in the bottom for drainage before you fill it in. A backhoe with a hoe ram would make fairly quick work and then a few (or few hundred) yards of soil and some compaction later and you'll be ready for sod.

I hired plastering guys to redo my Mom's pool but we didn't redo the deck, just the coping. I don't think we spent more than 10K.

Compaction compaction compaction. Filling in a pool is like all the land developers filling in stock ponds. It's going to be a natural low point and subsurface water will find its way there. If it's close to the house or finds a vein towards the house could cause some issues. But overall just compact the everliving **** out of it in lifts with machinery.

Bust holes in the bottom of the pool.

Destroy top 2 feet of pool and throw in anything else you want, like patio, etc.

Fill with dirt. Compact a lot.

~egon

I had a friend who bought a house that had a filled in pool, but they didn't demo the concrete around it. He damn near killed himself jack handing it out. Use a back hoe if you can.

I did it at my old house. Basically did what people were saying here. Destroyed the bottom of the pool to allow water to drain. Then they tore down the top two feet into the hole. They filled the rest with dirt, then added a few inches of topsoil. I put in a sprinkle system and put down sod.

They used a back hoe on the project and spent a lot of time compacting the dirt before they moved on to top soil. I moved out of the house shortly thereafter, so I have no idea if it settled further or what, but I was happy with the result. If you live in the Austin area I can recommend a company. The biggest problem I had was I had it down in the wettest May in history of Austin, so the damn backhoe sat in my backyard for close to a month because they couldn't get dry enough dirt to move.

My parents did it years ago after my sister and I were out of college and they were never using it. As mentioned above, holes drilled in bottom, top few feet jackhammered and dumped in pool, then loads of dirt. Had some quality soil brought in and it did great after. Very lush grass, no moisture issues at all, and it never sank. They hired out the work, but it was all done in 1 day.