What Tools Will I Need? - How To Remove An In-Ground Swimming Pool
Here is a list of tools you'll need for your pool removal project:
- Either a backhoe OR a mini excavator AND a skidsteer loader
First and foremost, there's no way you're doing this job by hand! An average pool requires about 100 cubic yards of fill at roughly 1800 lbs/cu yd. You don't want to move that with a shovel and wheelbarrow, do you? The backhoe boom/mini excavator will be used for the demolition and the loader bucket on the backhoe or the skidsteer is used to move all the fill into place.
You likely have a lot of concrete around the pool that needs to get broken up. You have three choices here: An electric-powered stand-up jackhammer such as the Bosch Brute that can plug in to a standard electrical outlet (sloooooow but effective), an air-powered jackhammer that you can rent from a supply yard/rental outfit (fast but more expensive), or a hydraulic jackhammer mounted to a skidsteer or excavator (really fast, really expensive). We chose a hybrid of the Bosch Brute for partial/careful demo and the hydraulic hammer to do the brunt of the demo on the pool deck since we have a generous friend who loaned us an excavator with a hammer in exchange for some welding work.
- A demo saw or a set of cutting torches
You'll need to cut the side walls of the pool into manageable pieces so you can pull them out with the machine. Ours were stainless steel which you can't cut with a torch so we used a demo saw with an abrasive blade. This is a gas-powered saw with a 12" or 14" blade and lots of horsepower. I suppose you could use an angle grinder with a cutoff blade also but you might be there all week if you pick that option!
- Some hand tools: wire cutters for the mesh in the concrete, standard shovels/picks/etc.
Ready? On to: Partial Deck Demolition
