Inground pools in North Canton, Ohio

North Canton started as the village of New Berlin. Boss Hoover began making electric suction sweepers in a corner of his leather goods factory in 1908, the company became the largest vacuum maker in the world by the 1930s, and the town took the name North Canton. Hoover left in 2007. Walsh University now owns Hoover Park and the Hoover Historical Center on East Maple Street, and the high school still carries the Hoover name. About 17,800 people lived in the city at the 2020 census.

For pool planning, the history shows up in the streets. Much of North Canton was built as neighborhoods for people who worked at the plant, on regular lots within walking distance of Main Street, with later subdivisions filling in around them. Those are good yards for a pool. They are rarely huge, though, and on a typical lot the setback and coverage limits decide the pool size before anyone picks a color.

We sampled the USDA soil survey across the city and found more variety than we expected. Around the center of town, much of the ground is mapped as a Chili and urban land complex. Chili soils formed in glacial outwash, the sand and quartz gravel that meltwater left behind, and the USDA rates them well drained. A pool dig in Chili ground usually stays dry, and the gravel makes decent backfill.

A short distance north, the survey shows Sebring silt loam mixed with urban land. Sebring is the opposite. It formed in old lake sediments and is poorly drained, and the USDA describes a seasonal high water table anywhere from 6 inches above the surface to 9 inches below it from October to June, with ponding after heavy rain and snowmelt. We also found a very poorly drained Luray variant to the south and steep Wooster slopes near the north edge.

So the question we ask on a North Canton site visit is simple: which kind of ground are you on? On Chili gravel the dig is straightforward. On Sebring or Luray we plan to pump, set a drain at the deep end to relieve pressure under the shell, and schedule the dig for summer when the water table has dropped.

This is the part of the design that takes the most back and forth. The city's schedule for single and two family districts sets pools, with or without an attached deck, at 10 feet from side and rear lot lines. A separate schedule caps yard coverage by all accessory buildings and structures, including decks, pavement, patios and pools, at 60 percent. On a modest lot that already has a detached garage and a driveway, the 60 percent cap can arrive before the setbacks do.

That is why our 3D design matters here. We draw the lot with the house, the garage and the drive, then try shells until the numbers work. A 12x24 or 12x26 fiberglass pool with the standard 4 ft concrete wrap deck is where many North Canton families land. A larger model is possible on a deeper lot, but then we usually trade patio area for water. If you want outdoor living space as well, we plan the pool deck and patio together so the square footage goes where you will actually use it.

For budgeting, our installed fiberglass packages run from $68,400 for the 9 and 10 foot wide models to $103,900 for a Virtuous 16x40, with the Hero 12x26 at $74,900. The package covers the shell, Pentair pump, DE filter and LED lights, the 4 ft deck, startup and the electrical hook-up at the equipment. The fence, extra patio, spoils haul-off, dewatering on a wet lot and the power run from your panel to the pad are priced after we see the yard. Financing is available through lenders we work with.

North Canton covers pool barriers in two places, both amended by Ordinance 58-2021, which lowered the minimum pool fence height and took effect in March 2022.

• The zoning code, Section 1133.08(d), requires the pool and its adjacent walkways to be enclosed by a wall or fence at least 4 feet high, with no openings, holes or gaps larger than 3 inches except doors, gates or windows with locking devices. Walls of the house and secured accessory buildings can form part of the enclosure.
• The property maintenance code, Section 1707.01, says private pools, spas and hot tubs holding more than 24 inches of water must be completely surrounded by a fence or barrier at least 48 inches high, measured on the side away from the pool.
• Gates and doors in that barrier must be self-closing and self-latching. If the latch is lower than 54 inches from the bottom of the gate, the release goes on the pool side, and the gate has to close and latch on its own from 6 inches open.
• A spa or hot tub with a safety cover that meets ASTM F1346 is exempt from the barrier rule.

Note the 3 inch gap limit. It is tighter than the 4 inch opening many fence suppliers design to, so we check the picket spacing on the fence you choose before it is ordered.

Unlike much of Stark County, North Canton does its own building inspections. The city has adopted the Residential Code of Ohio, and its code says no structure is built or excavation made until the Chief Building Official has issued a building permit. Fences and walls need a zoning certificate or building permit from the North Canton Building Department too. We prepare the site plan with the setbacks, coverage figures and barrier layout, and file it with the department along with the electrical work.

On the gravelly ground in the middle of town we can dig most of the season. On the wetter Sebring soils to the north, we would rather wait for the water table to fall than fight it, so a spring start there usually means a June dig. Either way, the design and permit stage runs through winter for a pool you want to swim in by midsummer.

We work across Stark County from North Canton, including Canton, Massillon, Louisville, Green and Uniontown. North Canton is an easy run down Interstate 77 for us, close to the Akron-Canton Airport, so site visits and inspection days fit into the week without trouble.