How do I Build a Pool Slide With a Drainage Tube?
A slide makes a backyard pool more dynamic and fun for kids to play in. While purchasing pool slide additions is one expensive option, you can also make a pool slide yourself out of a large drainage tube. Installing such a slide requires hardware to support both the drainage tube and the weight of a full-sized person, as well as a place for a hose to spray water down the tube's surface. Room behind the pool to install the slide is necessary. The pool must also be sufficiently deep to allow a slide.
Find a heavy-duty plastic drainage tube that has a diameter of at least 3 feet. Cut off a 6-foot-long piece of this drainage tube; then cut the top off the 6-foot plastic piece. Sand down the inside of the drainage tube so that it is as smooth as possible for sliding. Decide which end of the slide you want to be the top (entrance) and bottom (exit into the pool). Drill a hole in the plastic near the very top of the tube, large enough to fit the metal end of a garden hose.
Attach steel bars along the outside of the drainage tube with steel bolts every two feet. Attach 1-foot steel bars 2 feet from the front of plastic drainage tube with brackets. Fire two bolts into each bracket with a small bolt gun. Two feet up the plastic drainage pipe from the 1-foot steel pipes, attach 2-foot steel pipes in the exact same way, with a bolt gun and brackets. At the top of the plastic drainage tube, attach 3-foot steel pipes with brackets and a bolt gun. Make sure these steel pipes go directly into the ground and support the plastic drainage pipe at an angle so that the slide slopes toward the pool.
- Find a heavy-duty plastic drainage tube that has a diameter of at least 3 feet.
- Two feet up the plastic drainage pipe from the 1-foot steel pipes, attach 2-foot steel pipes in the exact same way, with a bolt gun and brackets.
Attach anchor flanges to the bottom of each piece of steel pipe with bolts. Then lift the plastic drainage pipe with the steel poles attached to its sides into position where you want it beside the pool. Make sure you want the pool slide affixed in this position permanently. Attach the flanges to the deck, patio or surface around the pool with bolts or masonry screws, so it is solidly in place.
Set up a 3-foot high metal ladder or step ladder at the entrance of the slide. Insert the gardening hose through the hole that was cut in the end of the plastic drainage tube. Turn on the hose so that water flows down the pool slide, making it easier to slide down. Climb into the pool slide to test it out.
- Attach anchor flanges to the bottom of each piece of steel pipe with bolts.
- Attach the flanges to the deck, patio or surface around the pool with bolts or masonry screws, so it is solidly in place.
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References
Tips
- Building up dirt under the drainage tube or installing the steel poles in dirt around the pool will help to make the slide more secure.
- The larger the drainage tube, the better.
Warnings
- Make sure the ends of the bolts you attach to the plastic drainage tube are not sticking out into the slide itself; otherwise, people sliding down the tube will be injured. If the bolts are protruding, they should be sanded down and covered with melted plastic.
Writer Bio
Irving Oala began writing professionally in 2007. He writes for various websites when he is not writing screenplays and short stories. He is also a huge sports fan and automobile enthusiast and always tries to fix broken items or devices around the house on his own.
