Plan pool and create 3D floor plan yourself

The layout for our new pool was partially predetermined by the retaining walls of the old oval steel wall pool. However, some adjustments were still possible and also necessary. The demolition of the old pool landscape was completed and it was now time for me to make some thoughts and plans for the new concrete pool.

What does a modern pool need?

Basically, the new pool should get a proper staircase for entry. I could then gladly do without the stainless steel pool ladder. My goal was to walk comfortably down some stairs into the water in the future.

Furthermore, a sunbathing area in the water was also an absolute requirement for the new pool. With the steel-walled pool, it had always bothered me that there was no way to just let your legs dangle in the water or just sit down in the water.

Necessary technology in the new pool

Technically, there were also some unchangeable conditions due to the reconstruction of the steel wall pool. The prevailing wind direction had not changed, and so in the future the skimmer would have to be from the east side and the inlet nozzles on the west side.

The components themselves would have to change, however, as the old components were intended for a steel wall pool. But now we built a stone pool. There are a few things to keep in mind.

The skimmer was purchased in a slightly larger variant. With a throughput of 7.5 m³/ h, this would be a 50% increase over the old steel wall skimmer. By the way, one of these skimmers per 25m² of water surface is recommended.

Speck - Pumpen 2191082738 Badu Magic 8 Filterpumpe*

by Speck - Pumpen GmbH

• Filter-Umwälzpumpe
• selbstansaugend
• steckerfertig
• Fördermenge in m³/h = 8
• Förderhöhe in m WS = 8

 Price: € 289.00 Jetzt auf Amazon kaufen*

Preis inkl. MwSt., zzgl. Versandkosten

Zuletzt aktualisiert am 4. December 2023 um 18:35 . Ich weise darauf hin, dass sich hier angezeigte Preise inzwischen geändert haben können. Alle Angaben ohne Gewähr. (*) Bei den verwendeten Produktlinks handelt es sich um Affiliate Links. Ich bin nicht der Verkäufer des Produktes. Durch einen Kauf über den Link werde ich am Umsatz beteiligt. Der Preis ändert sich für dich jedoch nicht.

My pump with a max. conveying capacity, a Speck Magic II 8, I could continue to use. The power was sufficient to circulate the water in the pool three times a day.

However, I had to completely replace the inlet nozzles on the west side. To get the water into the pool, I initially relied on 2 masonry penetrations. These are installed directly in the pool wall.

A suitable nozzle, either for foil pools or color/epoxy pools, can then be screwed in on the inside of the pool. On the outside, the 50 or 60 flex pipe can be connected directly to the 2″ external thread with the appropriate fittings.

An underwater floodlight was to be installed again on the east side. The recommended place was the wall below the pedestal. Here, the bright LED headlight would not dazzle anyone.

Pool planning – My 3D pool planning video incl. Product presentation

The entire project to convert our pool, from steel wall pool to stone pool, I accompany with my camera. In my Youtube playlist “Projekt Pool umBAU” you can watch all videos about the rebuild.

If you want to see more of me and my projects, feel free to check out my YouTube channel.

Plan pool on the computer itself – Sketchup

After the minimum requirements for the new pool made of shuttering blocks were clarified, the detailed planning began. Finally, I had to order the material and therefore needed an exact idea of what I would have to buy.

I did the planning for this with the free 3D program Sketchup. The program is relatively intuitive to use after some practice and also offers a very large component library.

So I measured the maximum possible floor plan in the excavation and entered it on a paper sketch. Then it was off to the PC and I transferred the floor plan to the 3D model to the centimeter.

Especially with the stairs and the landing, I then got a pretty good feel for how big the components would affect the entire pool. The material requirements could also be calculated quite well in this way.

My goal was to face the curve left from the oval pool on the west side with a straight shuttering wall. For this purpose, 25cm wide concrete formwork blocks would be used.

Steel reinforcement, which would be anchored in each of the old lateral retaining walls, should increase stability, as should a connecting wall to the rounding.
The stairs should also be built with 25cm concrete formwork blocks. The height of 25cm and the step depth of 25cm were not perfect, but relatively good to walk.

The landing was planned in a line between the staircase to the north and the wall to the south with a height of 1m. For this purpose, 17.5cm formwork blocks should be used.

The platform then had a seating area of a good 3m x 1m. The area between the pool outer wall and the 17.5cm formwork wall should be stiffened with 2 additional retaining walls.

I then wanted to fill the gaps with antifreeze and compact them. Finally, on the frost protection should be poured over the entire seat a kind of base plate.

Combine different formwork stones in the construction of the pool

On the south side, I had built a small tub behind the curve of the old steel-walled pool with 25-gauge formwork blocks in 2 rows. This area was located under the pool terrace and was used for maintenance.

I wanted to integrate this 25 concrete formwork into the pool construction. Unfortunately, it turned out that the nearly 3m of the terrace wall was not built in line with the retaining wall. The escape was also slightly postponed.

My plan now was to first place 11.5cm formwork blocks in front of the patio wall in two rows. After that, I could continue building with 25cm formwork blocks. The alignment and angle should then also fit again.

Transfer construction drawing to the pool

With my 3D Sketchup construction plan in place, it was now back to the pit of the pool. Here the walls, the stairs and the landing were marked on the floor slab and inspected again.

But after the planning proved itself in practice, I was able to place the order with the building materials dealer. Shortly after, the truck arrived with several pallets of concrete blocks, reinforcing steel and concrete screed.