someone posted pictures of his yard with a slope away from the house and explained how he handled the problem on an earlier thread in this forum. I don't know how to post a link to the thread but it is from 6/29/07 and the title is "sloping site". It is currently on page 14 but that might change before you read this. Post again if you can't find it and I'll try to give you better "directions" to it.

i read that post,and it seems the PB cut into the earth,my slope is lower towards the house and the pool is going to up approx 2 ft off the ground because of the slope.my PB is not going to cutting into the earth.im trying to see how this will look

cncguy - our backyard sloped towards the house and our PB dug into the slope and put a raised beam against it. They also put a raised spa on one end of the pool to take advantage of the slope.

If instead of digging into the slope, your PB is planning on just building up a wall on the low end of the slope, it seems the wall will be having to withstand quite a bit of pressure from the water, whereas if it were built into the slope you would have the wall and the dirt supporting the pressure from the water. I'm not sure though. You might want to ask one of the pool builders on the forum such as huskyrider (Kelly) and see what they think.

From an aesthetic point of view, if I'm visualizing this properly, the view out of your windows would be mostly wall. If the pool were dug into the slope and the raised wall was in the back, you could have a some water features, etc. on that wall that would be quite nice to see from inside the house.

Just my 2 cents!

Mine slopes toward the house and we ended up with two 6" steps up (actually 3 steps at one point). Why don't you do some terracing with planters and steps? It could look really nice from the house.

If anything, hold off the install until you are absolutely sure.

We had a similiar problem...one pb wanted to build up the deck so that we'd have to step up to the pool but in the end we went with a retaining wall instead.

We also have an pretty good sloping lot and are currently tackling the same problem. (Over 8' change in grade after we cleared the trees! Too late to turn back then!) We decided keep the pool level (sort of) with existing grade at the house and to cut into the slope as well. This requires us to build a retaining wall on the side opposite the pool, which we are using as a basis for our waterfall. Which, by the way, will be seen from inside the house and all through the (rather large) back yard!

Unfortunately our slope is so great (both towards the house and down in the back as well) that even this will not do and we have to build a retaining wall to hold the dirt back on the bottom side of the pool (deep end). As we are trying to make lemonade with our lemons, we are planning on building the wall 48" heigh about 10' off of the pool (to allow for the diving board) and use that wall as our pool barrier. Per our county it has to be 48" tall as you are approaching the pool from the outside. (This is how the above ground pools get away without a fence!) So from the pool you should be able to have an unobstructed view of the back yard across the deep end. (We are working the other parts of the fence back into it.)

My point is you can make this work out beautifully! Try to visulize all of the other components that you will need in your yard, fencing, pool shed/equipment, waterfeatures, patio, grill, etc. Then try to work them in gracefully. Think about both the function of each space, and how it will be viewed from a distance. And don't be afraid to pull your lawn chairs around and try to visualize the finished result.

Shh! Quiet! We're working here! .... Can you see it....

Good Luck!
-Renee

thanks everyone for all the comments.hey houseful....

you said:
Mine slopes toward the house and we ended up with two 6" steps up (actually 3 steps at one point). Why don't you do some terracing with planters and steps? It could look really nice from the house.
If anything, hold off the install until you are absolutely sure.
well i spoke with the PB today and he suggested we do the same thing you did.he also said that once he is done with the grading which will include as much room as we want for the decking,you wont even notice it.in fact he said my lot is perfect for the pool and it will make the yard look bigger.he has been in business for over 40 years so im trusting him. houseful.do you by chance have any pics?
thanks again everyone.
cncguy

1 more thing i want to add is that we are getting an L shape 18 x 37 x 26 and the 37 is going to be from the house straight out back,the 26 is going to the width of the L which will be closest to the house.hope im not confusing anyone.in the earlier planning stages i could have had the pool closer to the house but it would be so close that retaining walls would have to be used and then comes the drainage questions.i have a paver patio off the back of the house which goes out about 30 feet.i also have a swale (spelling)for the water which works beautifully when it rains the water just goes into the swale and out to the side of the yard to the front.from where this patio ends im guessing the pool will begin about 20 feet away.im really liking housefulls idea,if i can put in a few steps w/terracing and planters,im in.if i can take pics before the dig ill try to post.digging starts monday.

I remembered seeing a pic of a pool with the slope towards the house when we were building. I had to remember where I saw it. I thought how this one was done was kind of cool. Ours slopes toward the house, but we used a raised bond beam. I've attached the link to the other pool.

Here's ours:

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

We have what you'd call a swale also I think. You can see it better in this pic. Behind the decking, the ground comes down from a high point, and then goes back up before coming up to the decking.

im going to try and post pics here
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa29/tontage/hunters003.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa29/tontage/hunters004.jpg

1 more try

another pic of the markers

May I ask why the pool is turned this way? I think I would have turned it so that the current right side in the picture was the back wall. I'd then do a 2' raised bond beam with a couple of sheer descents or something. IMO how it is turned now, most of your decking will be behind the pool which to me wouldn't be ideal when you had company over for a cookout unless you are planning on doing an outdoor kitchen out there, which is really a little too far away to have to be carrying stuff from inside. You could turn it the other way, and push it back into the yard a little if needed. Then you'd have plenty of room near the house for decking and a future grilling area if that is desired. It wouldn't be much fun to be slaving away at the grill or in the kitchen and then have to run all the way to the backside of the pool just to chat while waiting on something to cook.

hi-
i plan is this........the left side (the part with the L)will go out 8 feet past the edge of the rectangle to form this L.from here i have the steps,after the steps im going out 4 feet to start my decking and carry it out to the deep end of the pool.this area will be very large area for sitting and whatever.where the deep end is im going at least 4 feet further out with the decking around to the other side of the pool and 4 feet down the other side.the part closest to the house (shallow end) i hope to go 6 feet out for decking.would like 8 feet but we will see. so to recap,i will have decking closest to the house which will be 6-8 feet out X 34 FT wide and very large area which is on left which extends out to the back of the yard.i understand where you are coming from asking whay dont we just turn the pool so the longest part is going side to side.that was the 1st way we wanted it but due to town code where they include the decking as part of the plot plan,we couldnt do it.its just hard now to visualize this whole thing now.i hope to have better pics after the big dig starts on mmonday. my size is 18x37x26.
thanks,
cnc guy

Here are some photos. I think my slope looks about like yours now that I see it. Our water feature will be built where the wall is the tallest right behind the sheer descent. The plan is to have plant material around the entire edge of the deck and between the house and the deck.

Just for grins and giggles...Here's my sloping lot...

{{!gwi}}