Take down the Intex or leave up

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1380ken

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Jun 14, 2012
343
MA
I really don't mind the labor of taking down the pool or the labor of the set up. I am concerned because I have had two new Intex pools, a 12' and a 15', that had no leaks all season, but had leaks when I set them up the next year. All the leaks were pin hole sized leaks on the bottom within about 18" from the edge. I do not have foam under my pool. I believe that the leaks are from the liner, near the sides, moving back and forth slightly over small pebbles under the pool. It seem like the holes may be plugged by the pebbles and only leak when the pool is moved. My 15' pool had about 40 leaks two years ago. My new 20' pool is much larger and may have more leaks.
Where I live the pool season is really only two months, July and August. It would be nice to get rid of the pool for the other 10 months.
I wonder if my kids will mess with the pool in the winter when it has a ten foot snow drift covering it.
I am assuming I need to keep my yard secured if the pool is still up? The gate must be locked.
I will probably have to run the filter for an additional six weeks in the fall and six in the spring?
The cost of the water isn't a huge issue.
I almost lost my mind patching the 40 + leaks two years ago and worry the 20' will probably be worse.
Has anyone else had leak issues when their pool came out of storage??
 
We had a summers escape pool that was up for going on 4 years. The reason why we took it down was not because of it leaking, but the cost of a new pump (wasn't worth it). We would drain it below the skimmer and cover. Even with temperatures at 20 below zero, we never developed any leaks. I've seen many around here that would do the same thing.
 
I had left my 18' ultra frame up for two years and it looked nearly brand new when I took it down this summer. (It was 3 years old, took it down the first summer.) we had the coldest winter I can remember in a long time. I drained about 18" down, then, before it was really cold out, would put a little bleach and use my brush to move it around.
 
I'm in north central Texas. My ultra 16x48 has been up for going on 5 years without taking it down. I also continue to run the filter a few hours a day unless it's going to be well below freezing. If it's going to be well below freezing I will isolate and drain the pump. Never had any issues with pump or pool.
 
I'm on my 3rd season with my Intex pool. I took the pool down the last two years but I'm thinking of leaving it up after this season. I'm in southeastern NY and it does freeze and snow here. From what I've read, I should drain the water 6" below the lowest inlet and remove all fittings, hoses, pump, and filter.

But what about covers? I've heard people recommend mesh covers to keep leaves out and avoid the problem of water pooling on the cover. But then won't the rain and snow raise the water level back up to the level of the inlets? Should I leave the inlets open so that water can drain out?
 
I had an Intex pool that I took down the 1st 2 Winters, and then left up the next 3. I then drained it and sold it after 5 years of use. I never had an issue with leaks from taking mine down. When I took mine down I made certain it was completely dry. I didn't fold it, I rolled it.

I'm not sure how you've been doing yours, but if you are folding it that could possible be the reason for all the leaks because the square corners have a tendency to get tiny cracks or split everywhere there is a square corner so if you fold it and there are 5 folds then you could get 20 leaks one where each folded corner would be. (I learned this the hard way after folding a small kiddy pool before I got the Intex pool). Then I had a huge box with a blanket in it that I used to store it in, so it wasn't sitting in a box that was sitting directly on the garage floor. I hope this helps. Have a nice night. :)
 
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1380ken said:
So you didn't fold the pool at all? If I roll up my pool it will be over 20' long. All my leaks were on the bottom near the edges. I don't think my folds went that way.
Click to expand...

What I did is I rolled it lengthwise, and did one single flip over in the middle without applying any unnecessary pressure to the crease or the corners. Once the flip over is done to shorten it you can then again Roll that area if needed to shorten it more, if you are able to do so. Just the main thing to avoid is pressing down on any folds or creased areas that you do make in it because that could cause you more problem, and possibly put you at a higher risk for leaks. I hope this helps.
 
DigbyAllen said:
How did you know that you had leaks? Was it obvious such as water visible around the base, or noticeable drop in water level?
Click to expand...

When I set up my pool. I fill it with about 1" of water and then wait and see if there are any traces of water around the pool. Because there is a tarp under the pool the water is easy to find. You can lift the edges of the pool and look for water. If you find a leak it can be patched from under the pool. Sometimes I will remove a leg and fold the pool over a little so it is like a water bed and press down to find pin hole leaks.
 
My 18'x48" has been up for 5 years straight. I run the pump on a timer all year. Here in south central Texas we have a few cold (relatively speaking) nights in the upper teens, and as long as I have the pump circulating the water won't freeze. I even went so far to plumb under my new patio an electrical conduit for wiring the pump away from the house, and landscaped my patio around the pool.
 
The first few times we set up our Intex pools, I was in major panic mode. Due to warm ground temps, and 55 degree water out of the hose, the ground would sweat.i would then be convinced there was a leak. And watch close
Y after I turned the water off to see if the level went down. After two seasons of that, I finally caught on, ha. Another reason I like to leave mine up.
 
I have a bad feeling that I have one or more small leaks. The first two seasons my water level was stable and I very rarely needed to add any water. My pool is covered when not in use, and the occasional rain storm would keep it topped off. This year I find that I have to add water regularly, maybe an inch or two per week. I was hoping it was just evaporation because I don't see any visible water, but the soil around the pool always looks damp which is not a good sign. I'll probably take it down and then check it carefully next spring. Also give me an opportunity to improve my base. I can feel a few rocks poking up which may be the cause of my problems. I'm kicking myself that I didn't add foam to my base this year, but I'll definitely do that next year.
 
I'm on my second year with the 15' x 48" metal frame pool. Last year when I took it down, I sprinkled talcum powder (dollar store stuff) all over and in the dried liner. Somewhere on TFP, I think, I saw this as a hint to keep the liner from sticking to itself in storage. Seems to have worked. When the pool was fresh out of the box new, there were three pinholes. This year after storage there were none.

I then folded/rolled it up and put it in a very large tote (didn't quite fit, I had to tape the top on). The tote, along with another tote holding the pump, SWG and whatever else would fit lived in the basement over the winter.

This spring, I rinsed it off with the hose as best I could, set up the poles and liner, then rinsed the inside with the hose. Wiped up with a bunch of towels and started to fill. My daughter and I unwrinkled the bottom as best as we could, finally deciding that the wrinkles were foot massagers, added character and were aids to vacuuming as all the dirt was trapped there. That's our story and we're sticking to it!

I did consider leaving it up this coming winter, but I see a few small spots of rust on a few of the poles, where the T connecters meet the horizontal poles. There were a few last year as well. Before I put the pool up this year I sanded all the rusty spots and painted them with Rustoleum. So that's the plan for next spring as well. The metal poles are stored in the shed between the studs in the shed walls. The foam sheets are untaped and stored bungeed to the outside wall (covered with a tarp) of a kennel run that was repurposed as an outdoor storage for coolers and "stuff that can live outdoors with some protection".

Add in the worries over covering, keeping out debris and the constant rantings of OCD Woman (my evil alter ego) over the not quite one square out-of-level where two adjacent poles and blocks settled slightly out of whack, the wrinkles on the floor and not totally flat bottom with slight but noticeable to OCD Woman hills and valleys, I'm going to take it down again this year.

I'd never had a pool before last year and had no idea how to care for one. I'm so glad I found this site! It's been a breeze. Amazing what a good test kit and PoolMath can do for you. Thanks to all for the great posts and advice, I've learned a great deal. The Child (daughter) kept telling me "Mom - you're overthinking this", but from what I've learned from reading here, I've potentially avoided a lot of troubles.
 
I have a Coleman Power Steel Frame 16' x 48" pool that we put up this summer. I am leaving it up this winter. A neighbor has an Intex steel framed pool and left it up last winter and it survived with no problem. And our winter here was as cold and snowy as it could be. I have purchased a winter cover and air pillow and will hope for the best.
Larry
 
This might sound crazy. What if I removed the inlet and out let connectors and put small patches over the holes. I could then leave the water level high and have less issues with the cover. Next year I could just cut holes in the patches.
 

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