Probably the biggest concern with above-ground swimming pools and east Orlando is ground wetness. As you move east of Orlando, it gets closer to sea level and the ground gets wetter.
I’ve lived in Orlando since I was about five years old. In the early years, we only went east of Orlando to take canoe trips down the little Econ(lockhatchee) river AND watch Dusty Rhodes wrestle at the Eddie Graham Sports stadium.
Of course, we also drove through east Orlando to get to the beach by way of going down S.R. 50 or the Beeline.
And later, when I started installing above-ground pools, I did a lot of jobs in Azalea Park, Alafaya, and in neighborhoods up and down SR 436.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT INSTALLING AN ABOVE-GROUND SWIMMING POOL IN EAST ORLANDO
1 Wet Ground
By far, the biggest concern with installing an above-ground pool in eastern Orlando is how wet the earth is there.
Most areas in East Orlando are dry enough for a pool install, but the farther east you go from 436, the wetter the ground gets.
If considering installing a pool in your east Orlando yard, take note of how long it takes for the yard to get dry after a heavy rainstorm. If it takes more than a couple of hours to feel dry again, it might be too wet.
You can also remove about a 2ftx2ft section of grass in the area where you want your pool and see how “mushy’ the earth is or stays.
2 The earth is usually flat
Areas that are wet are also usually very flat. This is a good thing when installing an above-ground pool. Because water is level, swimming pools have to be very level.
This means that the ground the pool sits on has to be very level. Starting out with a level area in the yard makes the pool install easier than if it had some slope to it.
3 East Orlando yards are usually big enough
As Orlando became more populated, the lot sizes for homes got smaller. Fortunately for the east area of Orlando, most of it was established earlier during our 50-year boom (Thanks, Disney World)
Older homes then commonly mean bigger backyards, which is great for installing an above-ground pool.
4 Easier yard access
Commonly, an above-ground swimming pool doesn’t need any equipment to install. More experienced pool installers (like myself) will use a machine to do the groundwork portion of the installation.
Using my machine as an example, my skid/steer machine is exactly 48 inches wide. This means that I need at least 4.5ft wide access to the yard.
Many walk-through-only gates aren’t wide enough for a machine to go through.
Fortunately for established areas like most of East Orlando, the yards are big enough for many to have double gates. Also, older homes are more likely to have wood fences, which are much easier to temporarily take a section down for wider access than vinyl fences more common in newer neighborhoods.
5 Earth type
People typically don’t think about what their yard’s earth is made up of.
Fortunately for those installing in Orlando, Central Florida is mostly sand-based. This is good as sand is easier to work with in terms of moving and leveling it.
East Orlando is mostly sand-based except for areas in Conway. Apparently, areas of Conway used to be used for farming. Because of this, some of these areas will have very rich, almost black earth.
Rich soil earth is maybe easier to work with than sand earth and makes a better, flatter pool bottom since it packs very well. So, if you have rich soil-like earth in your yard, that is good for installing an above-ground pool.
INSTALLING YOURSELF BUT DON’T WANT TO DO THE GROUNDWORK?
Removing the grass and leveling the earth is usually about fifty percent of the job for installing an above-ground pool.
Many are willing to assemble the pool but don’t want to tackle the very laborious job of preparing the ground.
I offer the service of preparing the ground ONLY. Here’s my info page for ground-prep only.
NOTE: Ground prep only is great if you bought a soft-sided (Intex, Bestway,) as they are much easier to assemble, but still require a good ground preparation.
Considering me for installing your metal-walled pool? Here is my price sheet.
POOL STORES IN EAST ORLANDO
Pinch-A-Penny
10228 Curry Ford Road
Orlando, FL 32825
Leslie’s
419 S Chickasaw Trail, Orlando, FL 32825
Pinch-A-Penny
5833 South Goldenrod Road
Ste. A
Orlando, FL 32822