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Can I Remove a Pool Myself?

Posted
Updated
ByAaron Baker

A capable owner can do parts of a pool removal, and some do the whole job. The demolition permit still applies, the gas and electrical have to be removed or capped correctly, drainage holes have to go through the floor before any fill, the fill has to be compacted in lifts, and an inspector has to sign off. Skip the permit and the removal becomes a problem when you sell, because the Arizona Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement asks whether a pool was removed, capped or filled.

What the permit requires, whoever does the work

The rules are the same for an owner and a contractor. The detail changes by jurisdiction:

  • City of Tucson. A Swimming Pool Demolition permit. Any fill must include structural modification for positive drainage, and a site plan showing the buried structure goes in the permanent record
  • Pima County, unincorporated. A Demo permit. The inspection verifies the equipment and its connection to service are removed, the drains are broken out, and there is a 4 inch hole at the lowest point of the pool, all before fill
  • Oro Valley. A demolition permit with two inspections, one before fill and a final after backfill, with signed compaction test reports on site when testing is required. If the area will support a structure, the whole shell comes out and a geotechnical report from a licensed engineer is required
  • Marana. A demolition permit with a site plan showing utilities. The checklist notes that NESHAP compliance through Pima County DEQ may be required if asbestos is present or suspected
  • Sahuarita. A demolition permit with no fee. An inspection verifies the utilities are capped

Ask at permit intake whether you can pull the demolition permit yourself as the owner of the home, and what the jurisdiction needs from you to do it.

The equipment

A rented jackhammer can handle a small spa. A full-size pool usually needs a breaker on a skid steer or mini excavator for the deck and the top of the shell, a concrete saw for the bond beam, and a compactor for the fill. All of it has to fit into the backyard, which may mean opening a wall or fence and rebuilding it.

The haul and the fill

Concrete is heavy. A rented dump trailer fills up by weight long before it fills up by volume, so a full removal means many loads. A partial removal puts the broken concrete back in the bottom of the shell, which cuts the hauling, but the rest of the hole still needs fill brought in by truck. That fill has to go in 6 to 9 inches at a time, with each layer compacted before the next. Dumping it in all at once is how yards end up sinking.

Utilities

Pool equipment is usually tied to a gas line for the heater and an electrical circuit for the pump. Those have to be disconnected and capped at the source, and the inspector checks that they are. Gas and electrical work are the parts of this job an owner should hand to someone licensed to do them.

What a capable owner can do

  • Get the permit requirements from the jurisdiction before anything starts
  • Drain the pool
  • Take the equipment off once the gas and electrical are made safe
  • Handle the landscaping after the pool is filled and graded

Some owners hire out the demolition, fill and permit and do the landscaping. Our removal ends at a compacted, level finish grade.

Why skipping the permit hurts at resale

Line 135 of the SPDS asks whether a pool was removed, capped or filled, and a separate question asks whether permits were obtained for work on the property. A DIY fill with no permit answers the first question yes and the second one no. The buyer’s inspector will look for settlement, and the lender may want paper. In the City of Tucson and unincorporated Pima County an after-the-fact permit is typically available, but the jurisdiction decides what inspection or engineering evidence it needs, and that evidence is harder to produce once the work is buried.

Our pool removal page covers what a permitted removal includes and what it costs.

Get a written quote to compare

Call (520) 222-8503 for a written quote you can put next to the cost of doing it yourself. To see what your pool costs you each year until it comes out, use the TerraSpec, the pool removal cost calculator.

Sources

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