Restoring a swimming pool found under our patio

My husband, Nick, and I bought ourselves a nice 1940s “Frankenhouse” home on a channel off of a large inland lake in our home state of Michigan. The original house was built in the 40s, but has been added onto over the decades, leaving us with a large, strange ranch home. We bought it not too long after meeting and before getting married, but that’s a story for another day. Don’t do what we did, kids. It worked out, but only because we’re the same brand of weirdo.

The back patio was a poured cement pad, but there was a slightly elevated deck built over top of it. We knew something weird was going on there, but we had no idea just how weird it was going to get.

I’ve already buried the lede here so…..surprise!….we found an inground swimming pool under the giant wood deck platform. It’s around 2 feet off of the back doors, so I’m sure it’s very much to code and not a safety hazard for anyone.

What to do with it?

We don’t have kids, so a swimming pool was never on our wish list while we were looking at houses, but since we’re on a lake, we knew we’d be hosting family and friends.

This 16 x 32 foot pool was entirely filled with sand (and all kinds of other shit…I mean, treasures), so first step was to dig it out to see what we were working with. We rented an excavation machine to start, then ended up with shovels and really sore backs to remind us we’re not that young any more. We got a ton of help from my father-in-law, who brought out his own front loader. There was, of course, a front-loader competition of some sort happening in the backyard.

Curious what was buried in the pool?

We basically have archaeology degrees now

We found an old chemical barrel, which I was certain would contain a human skeleton or at least a femur. Alas, it was just a gross old chemical barrel. Small block Chevy engine, though? Check! Vintage PBR can with a pull-tab? Check! Way too many old railroad ties? Check!

We also learned our neighbor, who has lived in his home since the 1950s, helped dig this pool in the 1970s (he claimed it was his PBR can)…more on that later.

Sunken lounge area or pool?

We weren’t sure how much we would use a pool, so we briefly considered trying to turn the space into some kind of grotto lounge area. We quickly realized that having several options for our guests would be ideal. Older kids and adults could already go tubing or pontooning on the lake.

For younger kids and anyone who can’t fit on the boat, a pool would be a pretty sweet option. We’d run into a few occasions where kids on the boat would want to swim in the lake, but everyone else would get kinda bored floating around. Others would want to tube. I know, these are the real problems, people. I know.

We started doing some research on what it would take to restore a pool. We knew it was an absolute disaster. After all, the thing was 50 years old! We’re not sure when it was filled in and buried.

Restoring this monster

We’re surrounded by quite a few folks who have stayed in their homes since they were kids, so a lot of the older folks in the neighborhood remembered playing in the pool as kids and having big pig roasts in the backyard. Sadly, no one remembered where the pool plumbing was housed. Everyone thought they knew where it was housed, but they all said different things and none of them were right, bless them.

After much jackhammering into cement and cursing like sailors, we decided we’d set the plumbing up in the basement to make winterizing the pool easier. Most of the jets and lines had to be replaced and one of the skimmers had a massive tree root growing through it, sooooo we knew what we were in for.

Once we got the old liner pieces out, Nick filled in rough spots and completely broken parts with vermiculite (this is specifically for pools, not the stuff you use for your plants). Since we’re not far up from the water line/lake, we had some issues where the deepest part of the pool would fill in with ground water, so this process absolutely sucked.

I found a pool liner pattern online that I liked after looking at about 5000 dark blue ones that all looked dated to my eye. It also happened to be on sale because apparently no one else knows what to expected from a white/grey liner.

Turns out, the liner color you choose has a major impact on how the water looks. The white/grey hex liner I found made the water look more aqua-colored, rather than traditional pool blue. I love it. For some reason, it feels more like a tropical resort with this aqua, sea-blue color. Happily, no one else must like it because I got that liner at a steep clearance discount. Score!

The coping (parts that go around the liner and onto your deck/patio) we ordered was a total mess. They sent us all the wrong stuff (steer clear of Pool Warehouse - their Better Business profile is filled with complaints just like ours). Luckily, the coping isn’t what holds the pool liner in, so we were able to carry on with the restoration.

We got the liner in, filled the pool up with filtered water (not recommended - most suggest bringing in water with a truck, but we’re cheap), added the required pool floaties, and waited for it to heat up a bit!

From busted-up concrete to resort backyard

By this point, our yard was a total wreck. We have a huge backyard for a lake house (perks of being on the channel rather than lakefront), so we knew we had space for a massive party deck around the pool to allow us to put a bunch of chaise loungers, a hot tub, and a grilling and dining area.

We decided to be ballers and buy Trex decking, even though the space we had to cover was huge. The space is in full sun and would be a nightmare if it required refinishing, so it was worth the cost to us.

Next up….

Outdoor party kitchen

I can’t eat out much or get take-out due to some severe food issues - I have Celiac disease - so we cook at home for every meal. For hosting, we do a lot of smoking and grilling meats, so we wanted a spot for our Traeger smoker and a Blackstone grill. We also just clearly like projects, what can I say?

So we decided to build a grilling station. Nick framed up the cabinets and we found some tile that coordinated well with the pool liner and the Trex decking and…voila!

Planters for veg!

Since we had all that wood that was covering the pool, we used the old decking to create some raised planter beds for my veggies and herbs! I painted the planks since they were in rough shape.

We used some of the old pool fill sand as the base in the planters underneath the soil and compost. It’s worked really well by providing great drainage for the plants!

That’s it for now! What would you have done differently? We’re happy to answer questions, too, if we can! Pop them in the comments.