Center Drain Installation

by Eileen Adcock
(Fair Oaks In 47943)

Hi. Sorry to bother you again. You have told me about the main drain for my liner but is there any way I could get a picture of how the plumbing is run for it.

Hope I'm saying this right.

Thank you, Eileen

Hi Eileen. Let's see what we can do. This is a layout of how it should look. Once you are outside of the pool the plumbing might be slightly different but this should give you a good idea.

The drain assembly installation should begin by slightly sloping the pool bottom towards the center. The goal here is to make the slope even and gradual, leaving the drain the lowest part of the pool.

Before I start working with a drain I insert all the screws into it about half way. This prevents any dirt or sand from clogging these holes and causing problems later. The top of the drain itself, not the faceplate, should be even with the top of the pool base. So if you are using a sand base the drain should be set one half to an inch above dirt level to allow for the sand. When you have a hole in the center and a trench going out beyond the pool wall you are ready to install the drain. The drain can be set in the center and the pipe attached to go outside the pool area. An elbow can be attached to the pipe and a stub pipe attached going into the air a couple of feet. The outside plumbing can be done later. When setting the elbow make sure it is going straight up exactly like the drain.

Before backfilling the trench check the depth of the drain. You should also use a level on the pipe and the drain making sure everything is as correct as possible. The trench can now be backfilled and tamped. It is a good idea to use a bag of post hole cement around the drain itself to prevent it from any possible shifting once the water is in the pool. Keep the concrete low enough to allow for dirt and sand to go over it to bring the grade up to where it needs to be.

When the pool is up and the base completely finished is when I finish smoothing around the drain, remove the screw, and glue on the bottom gasket. When the pool has several inches of water in it I get back in the pool and install the other gasket, faceplate and drain cover. Install the faceplate and tighten all the screws before cutting the liner. Be sure the pool is finished and the liner properly set before doing anything with the drain.