I was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona and my parents had a big, beautiful pool in our backyard that I took for granted. Because our pool was so accessible, I really didn’t appreciate it and rarely used it. However, 8 years ago I moved north where it is rare to have a pool in your backyard. If we want to take our kids swimming, we have to go to the public pool, which is not up to par when compared to what I grew up with. Public pools are dirty and reek of chemical. Not to mention, our public pool is indoors so the room also gets hot and humid, and I’m not a fan of sharing with strangers. I realize now how spoiled I was as a child to have our own little oasis right in our own backyard.
And then I ran into this story about a family that made their own pool! This is definitely something I can get on board with! Pools can be so expensive, but if you dig your own it can definitely cut down on costs if you aren’t afraid of a little hard work and getting dirty! Here’s how they did it!
First, map out where you want your pool to go. (If you have a purple outhouse, I would build next to it for sure!)
This family dug their DIY pool in layers, each layer going a little deeper than the last, creating a step effect!
You can see it coming along slowly, layer by layer.
They secured each layer to ensure they didn’t have a landslide down the road.
My husband and I bought our kids an above ground pool like they have in the background. It turned into a swamp pretty quickly. The DIY in-ground pool is definitely a step up!
They are approaching each new level as you would when building a retaining wall – Smart!
This task looks tedious, but it’s much cheaper than hiring someone to build a pool for you.
The steps are pretty sturdy and as you can see the pool keeps getting deeper and deeper.
He’s slowly adding a layer on top of the steps for stability.
He’s almost done with digging.
Make sure to take plenty of breaks so you don’t burn yourself out!
You can really see this pool taking shape.
And put your kids to work as well!
The steps are all done, as you can see above.
They filled it with water before plastering, to make sure there were no leaks! Easier to fix now than after plaster!
Just sitting, and really enjoying his hard work.
The kids look pretty happy with their dad’s huge project.
Wow, this turned out better than expected.
Can’t forget the floating rafts.
This looks like an amazing backyard oasis.
I love how cool and inviting the blue plaster looks in their pool! And the steps are perfect for children learning how to swim! They are always near steps to get out and they can play at whatever depth they feel comfortable with. I really need to talk my husband into making me my own DIY swimming pool!