Okay, so here's the deal. I live on a lake but the wife insisted on getting a pool since we have a 3 year old and a 4 month old. With naps taking up boating time, the wife wants to be able to enjoy summer as much as possible. Enter the Intex 14' x 42" Ultra Frame pool. There was a huge sale at Walmart and we were able to grab this pool for under $200. Only problem is, I really know nothing about pools and we don't have a great yard for one since our back yard is a pretty steep hill. What's the best way for me to get this put up? Do you recommend getting an excavator company to come in and smooth out a place for it, or should I try to dig it myself? I plan of building a nice deck to go with it for laying out and whatnot, but I have to figure out how I am going to get the pool set up first. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If need be, I'll gladly post pictures of the process. Also, how far do you suggest putting this from the house? One spot that is available (and the flattest part of my yard) is actually right behind the new addition we have put on. I don't mind it being there but I'd like to have access to my shed garage, but the real problem is I can't build anything within 35' of the road and that's really giving me little room to work with. Any help/ideas would be early appreciated. Thanks!
Newbie with an Intex 14' x 42" and a hill of a problem...
- Thread starter dkdubb
- Start date
- Jul 3, 2013
- 9,028
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-40
Welcome, you have come to the right place to start you off.. If you look in my sig below, I have my intex pool build in it including digging down to the lowest level where your pool will be. Give a look through pool school and grab a great test kit and ask lot's of questions, we love them 
Have fun
Have fun
Share pictures of the area you have to put a pool in. That will give us an idea of what you are working with. (look in Caseys siggy for the link on how to post pictures)
Casey has it down with the test kit AND he knows all about digging to put in a pool. It is SO worth it!
Kim
Casey has it down with the test kit AND he knows all about digging to put in a pool. It is SO worth it!
Kim
Rent or borrow a transit to make sure you are level. Close enough doesn't work so well with the Intex pools. (Or any pool, lol.) when my kids were young, I preferred the pool to be somewhere that I could see it even when we weren't in it, from the house. That meant it was first under a tree. Not ideal, but I would be able to see if anyone went near it when I was in the living room.
I had to deal with an 8" drop where I wanted to place my pool, so here was my solution. Most people here will advise against this, but I'm going on 4 years with no problems with it.
Dimension at the ground for Intex 16' Ultra frame pool.
Dimension at the ground for Intex 16' Ultra frame pool.
One area it might have to go is like a couple foot drop, the other, more flat area would at least an 8" drop. I get back home tomorrow and will be able to scope the areas out some more to see what all will need to happen for this pool to work. The Intex is only going to be a temporary pool for a couple years at most. If it all works out and we are happy with it, I'm going to go with a more permanent AGP solution since I live in an area with such high winds and cold winters.
You could make yourself a water level instead of using a transit, cost you a few dollars, there's a post here somewhere explaining it. 14' round wouldn't be too hard to dig and level by hand, I'm just finishing up a 26' round by hand that was 2' out of level
Unless your 3 year old is tall that 42" pool will be over the three year olds head. It might be way easier to get a smaller pool and put it up in your almost flat spot. I have three kids , when my were young we had a pool that was about two feet deep. Save your 42" pool for next year or the year after.
With a deep AGP/small kids, if you take the ladder away the kids can't climb in, so this can be a good safety advantage too.
Just my experience with small children. It is nice if the pool isn't over their heads. I am assuming if they wanted to go swimming in deeper water they might go out on the boat in the lake. My daughter was three when my twin boys were born. It can be a handful trying to keep everyone happy.
The wife really wants it for when I am on the lake and she is home during nap times. It will also be for the kids, but they will be fine not being able to touch...
I will be posting pictures of the area where I want to put this soon. I have been a little preoccupied building a new boat dock.
I will be posting pictures of the area where I want to put this soon. I have been a little preoccupied building a new boat dock.