3 Steps to Building a Stock Tank Pool
Sweet summer time is here and I am so for it, ya’ll! Quarantine life pushed me fully into DIY mode. I started a garden from kitchen scraps, made macrame wall decor and have an entire window sill full of propagated plants. But, my favorite quarantine DIY project was just finished two days ago. Josh and I love to be outside. We have had so much fun sprucing up our backyard and adding our own touches to it. With Texas heat in full swing, we wanted a pool…but did NOT want to drop $35,000 PLUS to have one built. So, we rolled up our sleeves, did some research and jumped in (yes, that pun was on purpose) to building our very own Stock Tank pool, and ya’ll, I AM OBSESSED with how it turned out!
Here are our 3 steps to building your very own Stock Tank pool:
Gather all materials
There are so many sites out there that have long lists of items you need for this project and, honestly, every article I read was overwhelming and I didn’t understand a word of it. This project does not need to be intimidating and can be done soooo easily, so I am going to make this as simple as I can!
Stock Tank: You can find these at Tractor Supply or typically any local feed store. The link above is the tank we ended up getting, but there are other ones you can use as well.
Pool pump: The pool pump is to keep your pool water moving which prevents bacteria, algae and insects. Basically, it is the pump that makes this a real pool instead of a metal watering hole, haha! For our size tank we bought the Intex Pump and it does a great job of keeping the water fresh and moving.
Hole saw
Flex Seal tape
Extension cord (If Needed)
Pool cover (Optional)
Chlorine tablets: Keeps bacteria and algae out of the pool
Side note: You can use a salt water system instead, however, we chose chlorine as not to risk causing the tank to rust with the salt system.
Find level ground in your yard
Assemble the parts & dive in!
What took us the longest on this project was waiting for our pump to arrive, but once we had everything the pool was finished in a day! Now that you are excited and already planning where to put your own stock tank pool let’s get into the step-by-step assembly.
Once your pool is on level ground, take your hole saw and drill 2 holes with the 1 1/2 inch bit. Our tank was smooth around the side, so that made drilling easy, and we placed one hole closer to the bottom so that the strainer cap on the pump could pick up any debris. We placed the other hole next to and a bit above the lower one. (There isn’t really a science to this…we didn’t measure anything. As long as your pump hoses can reach each hole you should be good to go).
Attach the pool hoses one at a time and begin securing it with the adhesive silicone. This is a lengthy step as you have to hold the hoses still and in place for 10 minutes or more until the glue dries. Once it dried we went ahead and reinforced it with the Flex Seal tape to ensure that water would not leak and the hoses wouldn’t slip.
Spray out the bottom of the pool so it is clean when you start to fill it up.
Attach the hoses and test the pump.
Fill up the pool and ENJOY!
Josh and I had so much fun working on this project together. It was so special for us to shop, brainstorm and create this wonderful little oasis in our backyard. I hope we have inspired you to get outside, to thrive on creativity and to enjoy some sunshine! Head on over to my Instagram, kaleighccastle, for more Stock Tank updates and all of the boho summer DIY project inspiration!
All for now, lovelies,
xoxo, from this little house wife,
Kaleigh