Installing Your Wooden Swimming Pool

Premium Wooden Swimming Pools

IMPORTANT NOTE: These instructions are intended to be used in conjunction with the DVD disc which is included with the swimming pool sundries pack.

Recommendations for storage after delivery

Prior to assembly the wood in the wall of the pool is sensitive to variations in temperature and humidity. It is therefore necessary that you take the following precautions after delivery.

Do not:

• Keep the wood in sunlight or under a black cover, as this could cause the wood which makes up the walls and top shelving to warp, which will make installation extremely difficult.
• Assemble the shell in several stages, leaving the wood exposed to the strong sunlight.
• Use unsuitable tools.

Strongly Recommended:

• Unpack and assemble the structure within 24 hours of delivery if at all possible and certainly within a few days of receipt at the latest.
• Assemble the structure in one go, preferably in the morning while the temperature is cool.
• If not, store the pool in a cool well-ventilated place, sheltered from sun and rain.
• Store the hardwood top shelving flat under weight.

Please Note

If the wooden planks and/or the borders are damaged or cracked due to bad storage onsite, the shell will be unusable and not covered by warranty.

Specific Precautions:

• It is essential that you install the structure on a smooth, hard surface that will not deform. You must prepare the ground as advised in this document.
• Use suitable tools.
• Unless your filtration kit (filter and pump) is housed within a secure waterproof enclosure, it should be placed at least 2 metres from the shell, to avoid the risk of electric shocks. It is important to ensure the electricity supply for the pump or any other electrical item has 30mA RCD protection.
• Never leave children unattended around the shell.
• When pool is not in use, remove the exterior ladder to minimise the risk of a child or animal falling in the pool.
• The pool is designed for domestic use. Running along the top rail, diving or jumping into the water from the edge should not be allowed under any circumstance.

Wood is a living material, however once cut, the appearance of cracks, light movements of the wood or changes of colour are normal and the planks do not need to be replaced, excepting in extreme circumstances. The planks will have been treated recently and may be delivered to you still moist. In case of a rapid change in temperature, these planks can dry very rapidly and lose 1 or 2mm of height. This might give you the impression that they are lifting up while they are actually shrinking. At the end of the season, it might be helpful to remove the top shelving, and knock the planks firmly home with a mallet to correct the fitting.

Wooden Parts of the Swimming Pool

Your pool walls are made from planks of Scandinavian pine, known for many years for its toughness and long life. It is subject to harsh climatic conditions in its native environment and the trees grow slowly, which makes them stronger with a higher density. The timber is “Tannalised” which protects it against woodworm, termites and fungi etc. “Tannalising” is a pressure treatment with preservatives, which allows the exposed wood to be in permanent contact with the ground without detrimental effects. The wood when fully impregnated takes on a green tint.

The top shelving is of an exotic African wood, renowned for its durability and consistent quality. After many years, it takes on a grey/silver sheen. If you wish to avoid this colour change, we advise you to treat it with teak oil, or similar. Later on you can also recover the natural tint by cleaning the wood with a high pressure cleaner (Do not allow the lance near the liner) to remove the superficial layer, which has changed colour.

Composition of the Pool Walls

Once finished, your shell should have 8 sides of identical height each one having 91/2 planks (excepting 4m octagonal, composed of 81/2 planks). The first layer is created by laying alternately a half plank then a full plank and so on. The total height of the wall when fully assembled and before fitting the top shelving should be 1.31m (excepting for the 4m octagon which should be 1.17m)

Following is the composition of the octagonal pool shell in assembly order:

1. 4 half planks (7cm high, 4.5cm thick, with flat bottoms
2. 64 plain planks 13cm high/4.5cm thick, (except 4m octagon with only 58 planks)
3. 1 plank (1 piece 13cm high) with a hole cut for the return inlet
4. 1 plank (1 piece 13cm high) with cut-out for skimmer insertion
5. 3 plain extended planks without tongues for the top layer
6. 1 extended plank without tongue with a cut-out to retain the skimmer
7. 4 extended half planks without tongue for the top layer.

Preparation of the Base

Your pool should last for many years, so take the time to install it properly, to ensure a long and trouble free life.

It is imperative to install the shell on a smooth, stable, hard surface. You must prepare your base to clear it of all irregularities. We advise the laying of a 150mm thick reinforced concrete base on which to install the shell. The base should be perfectly level and with a smooth screeded finish. If this is not possible, then a well paved area is an alternative solution. Refer to pages 5 and 6 for the recommended dimensions of the base.

Attention: for the installation of a 5.57 or 6.57m pool which is to be installed above ground or part submerged, you will need to use optional support braces cast in or fixed onto the concrete. The nature of the bracing used will depend on whether the base is existing, where wooden braces would be most suitable, or to be purpose built, in which case we strongly recommend the use of steel braces, set in the base at the time of pouring the concrete.

For pools installed fully in ground, bracing is not necessary, providing that the excavated area around the pool is properly backfilled, using pea shingle (self compacting) and not soil or spoil already excavated as this will move and settle with time.

Assembly of the Swimming Pool

Tools & materials required for assembly

• Non metallic mallet of at least 1kg (fitting of wall beams)
• Special soft wood block for protecting beam tongues (supplied with kit).
• Cross head screw driver
• Large spirit level
• Electric drill
• Tenon saw (preferably) or Hack saw (for cutting plastic pipe-work and liner lock)
• Trimming knife (Stanley knife or similar)
• Tape measure
• Cylinder or wet & dry type vacuum cleaner

Leave a whole day for assembly, excluding time to fill the pool. We advise you to carefully follow the assembly stages in the correct order to avoid errors or waste of time.

Place the liner in the sun to warm it and make it more supple to work with.

Setting out the Pool

Before starting assembly, you should decide the position of the skimmer, the ladders and the return inlet. It is essential that none of these items are installed on the same wall as any of the others and it is preferable that the skimmer is positioned facing the prevailing wind.

Having already laid the base it is desirable to mark out the exact dimensions of your pool. Here we describe the method of marking out for a 4M octagonal pool. The principles are however similar for all pool sizes.

The 4M dimension stated for the pool actually refers to the internal diagonal dimension and not the measurement between the parallel sides. This latter dimension is in actual fact 3.7m and we therefore need to start by marking out a 3.7m square box.

First mark out one side of the box at 3.7m and peg each end. In the video we are using two masonry nails. Having established these datum points we next need to mark out the two remaining corner points of the square using the dimensions shown in the table on page 4 of the instruction manual. To do this we are using a string with loops at each end. The string has an overall length totalling one side and one diagonal of the square. It is marked part way along at 3.7m which is the length of one side of the box.

By fixing the loops to each of the masonry nails and stretching the string to the marked point, we obtain the third corner of the square. By reversing the string on the nails and again stretching it to the marked point we now have the fourth and final corner of the square. We can now join up the corners using a chalk line. Once again using the table on page 4, mark in both directions from each corner to obtain the remaining corner points for the final octagon shape. Finally check that all the sides are of the correct length (1.53m in the case of a 4M pool) and that all diagonals are equal.

Pool Internal Dimensions

Assembly of Wall Beams

Stack the planks in piles and in their correct order of installation, adjacent to their eventual position. All of the planks are 45mm thick, tongued and grooved top and bottom respectively along their full lengths. The ends of the beams are slotted at 45º to allow them to interlock together at each corner.

The planks are placed one upon another and fixed together using tongues and grooves to locate vertically (tongues always facing upwards, grooves facing downwards) The cut outs at each end, allow you to accurately interlock each side wall section together at the correct angle, to form the octagonal shape.

As you fit each row of planks, use a mallet with the grooved wooden block protecting the tongued top edge of the plank to firmly tap them fully home. If you hit directly onto the tongues you will damage them and will not be able to key the next row of planks properly into place.

ATTENTION: In order not to have gaps between the planks, you must ensure every plank is well interlocked from the start with no gaps showing. If some planks are bowed, start fitting from one end and using the tongue and grooves as rails, gradually work along the length with the block and mallet, striking firmly. In extreme cases a clamp may have to be used but this is extremely unlikely.

The first layer of planks

Start the assembly commencing with the four half planks having a flat underside and tongues facing upwards, placed at alternate wall positions. One of these should be placed facing the prevailing wind as this will be the wall in which the skimmer will be installed The next four planks will be full height, and interlinked into the half planks by means of the 45º slots at each end. You should now have an octagonal frame consisting of four half and four full planks, all with two upward facing tongues. For the extended pools, the bottom long planks on each side should be half height.

Building up the Walls

Continue building up the walls by fitting the remaining layers of planks. From a suitable starting point, work around the pool in the same direction on each layer. If a plank does not interlink properly, change it for another and try it elsewhere. Do not start a new layer without having interlinked each plank securely. Check the level at the 2nd or 3rd layer with a large spirit level and measure to check that the diagonals are still all of equal length.

Fitting the plank with the return inlet hole

This plank should not be inserted in the same wall as either the skimmer or ladders. For the 4M octagonal pool, this should be the seventh full plank from the floor. The hole recess should be on the outside of the pool.

Fitting the skimmer & extended top planks

The skimmer cut out planks should be inserted in a wall starting with a half plank and facing towards the prevailing wind.

For the 4M octagonal pool, the lower skimmer plank ( with the recessed cut out at the rear), should be fitted as the seventh full plank, one above the initial half plank.

Now fit all of the extended top beams starting with the skimmer top beam and then alternately half and full beams until wall is completed and level.

IMPORTANT
On extended side pools, the skimmer weir and return inlets must be fitted at each short end of the pool, facing each other.

On the 6M octagon and the extended length pools (5.57m & 6.57m), additional vertical support planks need to be fitted. These are fixed to the outside of the pool wall by means of 5mm x 100mm csk screws which are fitted from the inside - one screw per horizontal wall plank. See figures 4&5.

In the case of the 6M octagonal pool, one support plank should be fitted as near to the centre of each wall as possible, bearing in mind that it must be offset slightly in the case of the walls containing the skimmer and return inlet.

For the extended pools, the support spacings are shown on the lower diagram on page 5 as the wooden braces, which will actually be attached to them. Where steel braces are used, the supports should rest tightly against the sides of the braces. This will make it easy for you to box in and camouflage the braces.

Fitting the wooden support braces to extended wooden pools installed above ground

• Referring to figures 6 & 7, fit the brace around the vertical support plank and as tightly up against the pool wall as possible.
• Drill 13mm holes, one each through top and bottom joints of the brace and support and secure them using 2 off M12 x 130mm bolt and nuts, with a washer on each side of the brace.
• Offer one galvanised bracket, pressed up firmly against the side of the brace and the concrete base, approximately 300mm from the pool wall. Drill a 12mm dia hole through the bracket 85mm into the concrete. Secure the bracket to the floor using the 12mm x 80mm expanding bolt.
• Fit the second bracket on the other side of the brace, approximately 600mm from the pool wall, and fix as described above.
• Drill two 13mm dia holes through each bracket and brace and secure using M12 x 130mm Bolts nuts and washers (washers on the opposite side of the brace from the bracket).

Assembly & installation of external wooden ladder

The ladder consists of two side pieces, three wooden steps, eighteen screws and two 10mm bolts complete with nuts & washers for fixing to the support brackets.

Start by drilling 3 equi-spaced 2mm dia. holes in each of the slots in the side pieces , countersinking them on the outside. Next place one side on the floor with the slots facing upwards and tap in the three steps with their front edges flush with the front of the step side. Next fit the other side piece, tapping fully and firmly home. Finally screw securely together.

The ladder is connected to the pool by using two of the top shelf support brackets. It is important that the grain of the wood of the brackets runs horizontally when fitted. First measure the outside width of the ladder and then the outside length of the pool wall, divide the difference between the two dimensions and measure in from one outside end of the wall.

Draw a vertical line which marks the inside edge of the first support bracket. From the inside of the pool, mark the centre line of the bracket. Offer the ladder up to the wall and set in its correct position. Drill two holes through the wall approximately 40mm and 160mm down from top edge of wall, using a 6mm drill bit.

Countersink the holes on the inside of the wall, offer up the bracket making sure that the top of the bracket is perfectly level with the top of the pool wall and vertical. Secure using two 5mm x 100mm csk screws. Position the second bracket on the opposite side of the ladder and fix in the same manner as the first one. Remember to leave a few millimetres of clearance between brackets and ladder sides.

Finally drill two 11mm bolt holes through the brackets, using the ladder holes as a guide and secure the ladder by feeding the bolts from the inside of the ladder with the nuts and washers fitted on the outside

Fitting the remaining support brackets

For reasons which will become obvious later, it is necessary to fit a support bracket on either side of the skimmer opening. The spacing between these should be 200mm either side of the centre line of the wall thus giving a gap of 400mm between them. Finally the remaining brackets can be fitted at the centre points of the remaining six walls.

The final stage in assembling the pool structure is to cap the vertical ends of the walls which is basically for cosmetic purposes. Take the vertical measurements of the ends of the pool walls from the floor to the underside of the extended top beams. You will have two different dimensions and therefore need to cut eight of the special end capping sections provided to each length. Gently tap these cappings on to the end of each wall section and fix in position with 25mm panel pins or oval nails. If you wish you can cut and use the capping off cuts to fit on the end of each of the extended top rails.

LINER INSTALLATION

Fitting of the linerlock

Linerlock is the white plastic channelling which holds the top of the pool liner in position. The actual channel opening should be at the top when fixed to pool wall.

First measure the horizontal length of a wall side( In the case of a 4M octagonal pool, this length should be 1.53M). You will need to cut eight pieces of linerlock to this length, remembering that each end should be chamfered to 22.5º to obtain a good neat fit to the next length at each corner. It may be necessary to make some sections from two pieces as the linerlock is supplied in standard lengths, which do not divide exactly into the correct sizes for all pools.

Starting 25mm in from each end, drill equi-spaced fixing holes at between 200mm - 250mm centres, depending on length of linerlock and number of screws supplied, using a 3mm drill bit. Now, using the 3mm x 35mm csk stainless steel screws provided fix the linerlock to the top of the walls, making sure that it is exactly flush with the top of the wall, all of the way around.

Fitting the Return Inlet body (See also figure 11)

Insert the inlet body through the pre-cut hole in the pool wall from the inside. Secure the body in the wall, using the 2’’ BSP backnut provided. Tighten firmly by hand. Fit ‘O’ ring to a 1.5’’ socket nipple and screw into rear of inlet body, tightening gently with a strap wrench or similar. Store the eyeball, faceplate and gaskets in a safe place for future use.

Fitting the Skimmer Weir body

Offer skimmer body up to rear of cut out with skimmer face flush to inside face of pool wall. Carefully mark position of fixing holes in mounting flange through onto rear of wall.

Remove skimmer and drill the six holes where marked to a depth of not more than 35mm using a 3mm drill bit.

Refit skimmer into place and secure with six of the countersunk screws provided. Once again fit one of the self adhesive gaskets to the face of the skimmer opening flange and ensure that all remaining components of skimmer are stored in a safe place for future use.

Installation of foam underlay

After ensuring that the walls of pool are clean, dry and free of dust, carefully spray them and the mating surface of the underlay in a zig zag pattern with the can of spray adhesive. At the same time, gradually unroll the underlay around the inside of the wall making sure that it is firmly pressed home as you go, paying special attention to the corners. Using a Stanley knife or similar, trim around the top of the wall flush with the bottom of the linerlock. Butt and trim the vertical seam (do not overlap) and seal with underlay tape. Trim the underlay from around the return inlet and skimmer faceplates with a Stanley knife.

Installation of felt underlay

The floor must now be thoroughly cleaned and the felt carefully laid and cut exactly to the floor profile. Make sure that it is free from creases. Avoid overlapping the joints, it is better to butt them together so that you don’t get unevenness which will show through the liner. Seal the joints with underlay tape to avoid movement during the fitting of the liner.

Fitting the liner

It is absolutely essential that ALL foreign bodies are excluded from between the liner and the underlay, which means that the underlay and the liner should be thoroughly cleaned (vacuumed) before installation. Also the person installing the liner from inside the pool should be barefoot or at worst wearing socks.

Having cleaned and refolded the liner, place it in the centre of the pool and unfold it outwards. Start to hook the liner beading into the linerlock (See Figure 12) and move liner around until one of the corners of the liner floor, lines up with one of the wall corners. Continue to feed the beading into the linerlock at the same time spreading the liner floor so that both the vertical corners and floor to wall corners line up. Should you experience difficulties in retaining the beading in the linerlock use small wooden wedges to lock it in place at the trouble areas (see Figure 13).

Just before fitting the final piece of beading into the linerlock insert the vacuum sweeper hose gently downwards between liner and underlay to near the bottom of the wall. Seal the opening at the top with underlay or gaffer tape.

Filling the pool

Now the time has come to fill the pool using either, the submersible pump from a hired portable inflatable pool or the mains water supply via a garden hose.

Immediately switch on the vacuum cleaner and using your heels, gently ease the liner into position against the walls making sure that it is hanging true and vertical and that the floor to wall seam is as tight as possible against the base of the wall. Continue to adjust until all creases have been removed from the floor. Once the water level has reached approximately 150mm and the creases have disappeared, switch off the vacuum cleaner and remove the hose, fitting the final piece of liner beading into the linerlock.

Cutting in the pool fittings

Never make any holes or cuts in the liner unless you are sure that it it the correct position.

Once the water level has risen to approximately 250mm below the return inlet fitting, turn off the water, fit a self adhesive gasket to the inlet faceplate, place it against the inlet flange and using a pointed tool such as a small crosshead screwdriver, carefully locate one of the screw holes in the flange behind the liner and gently punch a hole through the liner. Line faceplate up with the flange behind the liner, secure loosely before punching the other three holes and fitting the remaining three screws Now tighten all four screws evenly. Using the Stanley knife cut a cross in the centre of the inlet and trim out the surplus liner material, leaving a neat circular hole. Finally fit the eyeball inlet housing.

Next we cut in the skimmer weir using basically the same principle as with the inlet. First we need to fit the gasket to the face plate and in this instant make two screw holes to position it against the skimmer body faceplate. Punch out the remaining holes and secure, using the screws supplied. Cut liner out from opening. Finally clip on the fascia plate.The restrictor flap can also be fitted in the bottom of the skimmer body at this time.

Installing the filtration equipment & circulation pipework

First assemble the filter skid pack unit in accordance with the separate instructions supplied and place in the required position. It should be noted that if the filter pump is not to be installed in a secure waterproof housing then it should be situated not less than 2metres away from the pool. In all cases it should be protected by a 30mA RCD trip. All electrical work should be carried out by a qualified electrician.

The skimmer weir should be connected to the suction connection at the front of the pump. The top outlet of the pump is connected by the blue or black flexible hose to the upper of the two connections on the left hand side of the multiport valve fitted to the top of the filter (as viewed from the front, with the pump to the left of the filter). The return inlet is connected to the lower of these two connections. The roll up backwash or drain hose is fitted to the single port on the opposite side of the valve.

Before showing an actual installation, we illustrate the process, which should be taken every time prior to making a solvent cement joint in the pipework.

Carefully consider the way in which you wish your pipework to run, remembering to keep it as simple as possible, using the minimum number of fittings .Keep horizontal pipework as low as possible and fit the pipework together dry (no adhesive) first, marking the connections, so as to be sure that they will fit together properly, before using the pipe cement to make permanent connections.

Using a clean piece of rag, or a small (1/2”) paintbrush, wipe both the ends of the pipe and the inside of the socket end of the fitting with pipe cleaner, to remove all traces of dirt or grease. When using pipe cement coat both the outside of the pipe and the inside of the fitting evenly, then push together as soon as possible before the cement dries, which it will do very quickly, especially in hot weather.

When making threaded connections, wrap PTFE tape around the male thread in a clockwise direction (5-10 turns) as viewed from the lead in end of the thread. This will ensure that the tape does not unwind as you screw in the fitting. Allow a minimum five hours for pipe adhesive to fully cure before switching on and operating the filtration equipment.

Now you can continue to fill the pool to approximately 50mm above the centre of the skimmer opening and set up the skimmer flotation collar in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.

Fitting of top shelving

The top shelves for the 4M octagonal pool come supplied in sixteen pieces, broken down into eight inner and eight outer sections.

Firstly place the eight inner sections around the top of the pool, with an overhang into the pool of approximately 12mm. Make sure that they all butt together perfectly and that the overhang is even all around the pool perimeter.

Following the line of the extended top planks running under the shelves, mark along the centre lines and drill two holes 2mm dia x 75mm deep at each end of each shelf down through into the planks and also one hole down through all brackets at centre top of wall . Open all holes in decking only out to 6mm dia and countersink.

Secure all round using 5mm x 70mm stainless steel screws. Now line up and position outer shelves, leaving a small expansion gap of around 2 - 3mm between them and the inner set. Repeat the drilling and fixing procedure as with the inner layer previously. Make the hinged flap for access to the skimmer weir lid as follows: Using a square, mark the outer shelf down the centre line of the support brackets on either side of the skimmer, remove rail and cut it into three pieces. Refit the two end sections, fit the two hinges supplied to the remaining piece and connect it to the inner rail.

Finally offer the eight pre-drilled and shaped pieces of hardwood to the underside of the shelving in each corner and secure each one with four screws as shown in Figures 14 & 15.

Fitting of the internal stainless steel ladder

Assemble your ladder as shown in the leaflet enclosed in the ladder box. Position the ladder in the pool, directly in line with the external ladder, with the ladder sides vertical and the fixing flanges resting on the top rail. Using a felt pen mark the six flange fixing holes through onto the top rail. Remove ladder, drill the six holes 9mm diameter, replace ladder and secure using the six 8mm x 50mm
stainless steel bolts with nuts and washers.

Cutting the solar cover to size

Your solar cover is supplied as a rectangle and needs to be cut to shape. This is very easily done using a sharp pair of scissors as shown by watching the DVD.

Up and running

Your pool is now ready to go. For advice on how to start up and operate your pool, refer to the pool owners handbook enclosed with your kit, or contact your pool supplier for professional advice. Figure 16.

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