An "inexpensive" personal lap swimming pool

Leonard_Jansen

Two days ago I got stuck in what constitutes a traffic jam where I live - the Miller's goats had gotten out of their pen again and were blocking traffic by standing in the road. If it had been cows or horses, I'd would have gotten out and got them off the road, but goats are the most evil animal in the world. I hate goats. Anyway, while waiting for them to leave and go back to Hell, I was stuck behind a tractor trailer and I got to thinking...

I've often thought that having my own 25 yard or 25 meter lap pool would be nice, but something like that is expensive. I wondered just how inexpensively it could be done and came up with the following idea:

1) You can buy used truck trailers for storage. They are up to 53 feet long and are not that expensive. I later went on line and found some in the $1000-$2500 range. Older ones are built more heavily and they can be had - I saw a few that were over 50 years old.

2) Remove the stuff on the under carriage: wheels, axles, etc.

2) Cut the trailer in half (horizontal cut) with a cutting torch and now you have two 53 foot long halves. Trailers are usually 102 inches high so each half would be 51 inches high (4 feet 3 inches). They are also about 8 feet wide.

3) Cut each half to a length of 37.5 feet (vertical cut).

4) Patch any holes in the trailer, clean it, get rid of sharp edges, get rid of any rust, reinforce anything that might need it (like the non-cut ends), finish the tops (horizontal cut) so they aren't sharp.

5) Paint the entire thing with either an epoxy anti-rust paint or the paint they use on ocean ships (without the anti-fouling chemicals, though.)

6) Dig a hole that is nominally 3 feet 6 inches deep, 8 feet wide and 75 feet long. (For the record, I called up my sawdust supplier, Ed, who owns Ed's Landscaping and asked him if he would, in theory, be willing to dig a hole like that in exchange for keeping most of the top soil and he said he would if I threw in a dump truck load of composted horse manure as well. No problem, I have tons of horse mature. So this part is free.)

7) Put the two 37.5 foot trailer halves in the hole with the vertical cuts parts touching each other and the horizontal cuts facing up. Weld the two vertical cuts together with some reinforcement horizontally across the weld.

8) Install water pump, water jets, etc.

9) Back fill the hole around the trailer halves. I think the key here is to be sure the dirt is packed as tight as possible to prevent any spreading. It probably wouldn't work in sandy soil without cement reinforcement.

10) Line it with a heavy duty pool liner.

11) Put some decking around it. (That's why the hole is only 3 feet 6 inches deep and not the full 51 inches).

12) Fill with water to 4 feet deep, do the chemicals.

13) Swim.

Instead of a truck trailer you could use shipping containers (like they use on boats), or even dumpsters - there would be a serious cleaning and bleaching step for the latter, although if you didn't clean/bleach the dumpsters, it would be good training for the 2016 Olympics 10k swim.

I do wonder if something like that could work. Opinions, thoughts? (Of course, with my luck, I'd get it done and then go out the next day to swim and find that the Miller's goats were swimming and crapping in it.)

-LBJ

rosemarymint

When is your opening day pool party? Can you also host acclimating cold/ice swimmers?

suziedods

OMG .. you should get stuck in a traffic jam more often...

Leonard_Jansen

@Niek - Fiberglass is a good idea except I hate working with the stuff ( I insulated a lot of houses for my family's construction business back in the day) and the resin for fiberglass coating is hazmat suit and respirator stuff. Nasty. As to the shape of the pool, space is no problem - my property measures approximately 200 meters by 200 meters. However, I think you are on to something - one of your countrymen came up with and excellent design:

-LBJ

Leonard_Jansen

I did some scouting over the weekend concerning this topic since I know you all are eager to start building your lap pools.

1) My one neighbor, Lane, is a truck driver and I asked him if I could look at his 53' truck trailer. After looking at it and talking it over with him, I am convinced that my original idea would work, but isn't optimal. Lane is convinced that I am insane.

2) There is a local excavation business that has 2 shipping containers for storage. I asked them if I could look at the containers and told them why I was interested. I got the "you're crazy" look, but they did let me look. One 40' long shipping container could be used if cut in half like I originally thought for the truck trailer. On top of that, they come in heights of 8'6" or 9'6", so you could have a slightly deeper lap pool. They are sturdier than the truck trailer as well. Price for a used 40' is no more than a truck trailer and often less. Additionally, the ones used on ships seem to have a more rust resistant paint job as well.

3) I spent some time climbing in and out of construction dumpsters at a local housing development. (I do this anyway several times a year to get wood scraps and build bird houses that I give to my friends' kids, so the neighbors are used to it.) Construction dumpsters are the "best" option, but the downside is that the cost would be more. However, they are strong enough that I think that you wouldn't have to put them in a hole - you could just disguise it by building an elevated deck around it. Also, there is no cutting involved, just welding. The longest dumpster I could find was 22', but I am sure that I have seen longer ones. This means that you would need 4 of them to get a 25 yard lap pool. Of the 22' dumpsters, the 30 yard ones were the best deal in terms of length, width, height and cost.

So.... if I were going to build a lap pool (the Court Without Appeal has ruled that I don't think doing so is a good idea, however... Funny how she always knows what I think better than I do...) I'd probably go for the shipping container option. Definitely more work than the dumpsters, but probably 1/3 the initial cost (a guess), and about the same cost as the truck trailer but stronger and a little less work.

I have also thought of three other ways to do this, two of which may be cheaper and easier and the third is just plain nuts, but fun. I haven't had time to check the details, but if/when I do, I will let you know.

Start building...

-LBJ

gregoc

lakespray

http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyle/ci_21123240/denver-taxi-developments-container-pool-earns

and

IronMike

Hell, container homes are the new thing, and many of us lived in these "pods" while deployed to Iraq. I say the container option is the best one.

SuirThing

loneswimmer

I think this entire thread is an elaborate SPAM ruse by @Leonard_Jansen and Ed's landscaping.

I also suspect a consortium or even a conspiracy with the involvement of Lane the trucker, the excavation company, the US Military and I'm pretty sure that somewhere down the lane line, the Miller's role will be exposed, likely as the agents frontmen of the entire sordid business of selling and installing depleted-Uranium containers from Iraq to unsuspecting swimmers.

I am brought to this inevitable conclusion due to the fact that I also have shared a road with goats for many years (in my case, pygmy goats, the little dotes), and I know that they are entirely blameless, despite assertions by both @Leonard_Jansen and the almost Missus Loneswimmer, because they take no crap from her Pomeranian, unlike every other living creature, so trying to cast aspersions on them is a giveaway.

I'm watching @Leonard_Jansen, I'm watching closely...