Can I Put a Metal-Frame Pool on Concrete?

Pools and Concrete

• Concrete as a material has a great deal of what's called "compressive strength." Concrete's compressive strength is a measure of how much weight it can bear that's sitting directly on top of it. Concrete compressive strength is measured in pounds per square inch (psi). For example, low-strength "3,000 pound concrete" is able to handle 3,000 psi. Even a large metal frame swimming pool wouldn't stress a typical 4- to 8-inch thick concrete slab, in other words.

Pool Floor Padding

• Another important aspect of putting a metal frame pool on concrete is to make sure the underside of the pool's floor is properly padded. Concrete is a hard and sometimes abrasive surface, so a good pool floor padding underlayment will be needed. There are several different materials that can be used as padding beneath a metal frame pool's floor when it's set on concrete. Suitable underlayment for the floor of a pool sitting on concrete includes carpet padding and solid foam insulation.

Level Concrete

• It's vital that any concrete surface on which a swimming pool is placed be as level as possible. Swimming pools are filled with a great deal of water that weighs many tons. A pool that's not sitting on a level surface will experience a huge amount of water weight pressing against its sides that aren't sitting on level ground. Even a metal frame, flexible liner swimming pool sitting on un-level concrete would be in danger of collapsing.

Considerations

• Solid foam insulation for a pool floor's underlayment padding can be found at any home improvement store. There are also several makers of rubber underlayment padding specifically designed to go under swimming pool floors. Metal frame pools are engineered to be self-supporting structures and won't require any buttressing even if they're on concrete. Never place any pool on a concrete surface that has cracks, breaks or is crumbling.