Above-ground swimming pools are popular in Port St John. Over my 36 years of installing pools, I’ve built quite a few in PSJ.
THERE AREN’T MANY ABOVE-GROUND POOL INSTALLERS AVAILABLE TO GO TO PORT ST JOHN
PSJ is a somewhat hidden community as it’s between Cocoa and Titusville and borders where the space program sends off rockets. If you live in PSJ, you may be surprised to hear that many people in Orlando don’t know about the neighborhood.
There aren’t many AG pool installers to begin with, but there are even fewer of them that are based somewhere on the east coast. This leaves the few installers coming from Orlando available to go to the coast. And some of them won’t go that far in the summer at least.
With being based out of Orlando, I have found Port St John to be fairly close, so I install there year around.
THE EARTH VARIES IN PORT ST JOHN
Being a coastal community but inland, PSJ has a variety of types of earth that make up yards. In this area including Cocoa, Merritt Island and Titusville, there is always the possibility of the ground being made up of mostly small or crushed shells called “coquina”.
By itself, coquina doesn’t make for an ideal above-ground pool bottom, but if there is some soil or sand mixed in, it packs well and can make a nice smooth bottom.
Yards in Port St John can also have sand-based earth, which is common everywhere in Central Florida. I have also seen dark soil and some clay in this area.
For the most part, I don’t give much thought to what the earth will be like when planning on an install in PSJ. It’s usually very workable.
PARTIALLY SINKING AN ABOVE-GROUND POOL IN PORT ST JOHN
I have done and seen a fair amount of semi-inground pools in PSJ. Occasionally, when doing a dig for one, I have hit groundwater, but that is rare in this area.
Also, the ground is typically firm there, so this is good for backfilling a pool halfway or so in the ground.
MOST LOT SIZES ARE BIG ENOUGH IN PSJ
The majority of homes in Port St John are established, which means that the lot sizes are big enough for homeowners to have a bigger pool if they want.
This is also good if wanting a semi-inground install as it takes more room to dig a hole to put a pool in.
MOST HOMES HAVE WOOD FENCES
Older areas like Port st John, Cocoa, Merritt Island, and Titusville will have more yard fencing made of wood instead of vinyl. This is good if needing a pool installed and the installer has a machine.
My machine is 48” wide, so I need at least 4.5ft wide access to the yard and pool site. If the home doesn’t have a gate wide enough, then a section of fence has to temporarily come down for access.
Wood fence panels come apart fairly easily, vinyl fences do not. Port St John doesn’t have many vinyl fences, which is good.
THE GROUND IS FLAT IN PSJ
Above-ground swimming pools need to go on level ground. If the yard has a slope to it, then the area has to be graded. If more than a foot, this can cost more for the installation.
In PSJ, I have rarely had to charge for extra grading as it’s flat there.
THERE’S NUTGRASS IN PORT ST JOHN, BUT ONLY AVERAGE
Nutgrass is the only thing that will grow through a pool liner, (Well, except for traveling bamboo). I always recommend putting down a quality granular nutgrass killer right before the liner goes down.
Nutgrass is hard to identify in a yard and this area has it, so unless you are going down two feet in the ground or more, use a nutsedge killer.
THE GROUND IS USUALLY HIGH AND DRY IN PORT ST JOHN
I have occasionally encountered wet ground in PSJ, but not much at all. Almost all installs in this area will have nice and dry earth to install the pool on.
This is also good if you are thinking of sinking an above-ground pool in the ground some.
vPOOL STORES IN PSJ
Pinch A Penny
6269 US-1, Cocoa, FL 32927
Pinch A Penny
2311 FL-524, Cocoa, FL 32926
Conrad’s Pool Supply
4261 S Hopkins Ave, Titusville, FL 32780