Excavate your own Pool (Peoria: credit, buy, live in)

[Steelers5]

I got a quote to have a pool built and was wondering if anyone has done the excavating themselves. Its a small pool (play pool). The side gate I have isnt very wide so they quoted me for a "small" bobcat ($$$). There are also a bunch of gotchas in the contract for a "hard dig". If I hire a team with shovels and wheelbarrows couldn't the same thing be accomplished? Thanks in advance!

[Ponderosa]

I don't know where the pool is to be built, but most anywhere in the valley you are going to run into some caliche not far below the surface. Your team will need jack hammers to get through it. If you live in a "mountain" community like me, it's rock, rock and more rock. My pool required blasting!

I assume you are going to have steps and benches and plumbing runs, all of which require some know how or experience. Honestly, I would forget about a manual DIY dig and just pay the price.

Note to newcomers: buy a place with a pool if you must have one.

[KurtAZ]

Or if you are REALLY adventurous...try Build Your Own Pool

[jnojr]

Originally Posted by Steelers5

I got a quote to have a pool built and was wondering if anyone has done the excavating themselves. Its a small pool (play pool). The side gate I have isnt very wide so they quoted me for a "small" bobcat ($$$). There are also a bunch of gotchas in the contract for a "hard dig". If I hire a team with shovels and wheelbarrows couldn't the same thing be accomplished? Thanks in advance!

This is one of those things where you think, "How hard could it possibly be?" Then you start... and you find out exactly how hard it is, and why it's so expensive.

They charge a certain amount for a Bobcat that sounds like a lot, but it's because it's less than paying people to do the same job. When you watch a movie, and someone is digging a grave, and like two hours later they're standing there fresh as a daisy with a 6'X8'X3' hole... no.

This is one of many things where it's well worth it to just pay someone who knows what they're doing.

[AZ Manager]

Where you going to dump the removed earth? Sure you could shovel it out but there's a lot of issues to consider which is why you pay someone to do it.

[smoochaz]

We used Caribbean pools and got a line of credit with credit union west pool was around $30k very nice with water feature and bahama step. We have 7 years to pay it off!

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by Steelers5

I got a quote to have a pool built and was wondering if anyone has done the excavating themselves. Its a small pool (play pool). The side gate I have isnt very wide so they quoted me for a "small" bobcat ($$$). There are also a bunch of gotchas in the contract for a "hard dig". If I hire a team with shovels and wheelbarrows couldn't the same thing be accomplished? Thanks in advance!

I say go for it. The life lessons learned will be INVALUABLE.

[spoonman1]

Originally Posted by Steelers5

I got a quote to have a pool built and was wondering if anyone has done the excavating themselves. Its a small pool (play pool). The side gate I have isnt very wide so they quoted me for a "small" bobcat ($$$). There are also a bunch of gotchas in the contract for a "hard dig". If I hire a team with shovels and wheelbarrows couldn't the same thing be accomplished? Thanks in advance!

The ground here is no joke. To give you an idea, Moon Valley nursery had to use jackhammers to make holes to plant shrubs in my yard.

I also had a pool dug and the "hard dig" thing is real, not a scam (at least with reputable companies). People often have extra rock/caliche and you just won't know until the excavator hits the rock. In my case I didn't have to pay extra for a hard dig as I had "normal" soil (still very hard but not rock). Also, if it is a hard dig, most pool companies will do multiple bids on the work so you can get the best price.

[Mike from back east]

Up here in far northwest Peoria, off the 303 loop, just putting in sprinkler lines 6-inches deep had to be jack-hammered, the ground is that hard.

I wouldn't think of trying to dig it myself.