rocks in landscaping around intex pool?

[ta2dwonderwoman]

I am considering what to do around the sides of my intex pool to keep weeds and such out of the picture a bit more than the sand we currently have in place ... is it ok to use smooth pebbles up against the liner? my hubby really wants to do this and I keep thinking that it will create pressure points and over time, possibly cause our liner to fail...also, how many seasons can I reasonably expect to get out of this pool before I have to replace? a friend in Georgia just told me that in season 3 of her pool, she found that the vinyl was getting weak where the frame runs thru it around the top and she had to replace asap to avoid a youtube type failue (one where everyone rides the water out of the pool and hopefully not thru a fence!)

thanks in advance!

windy

 

[jeffchap]

I've had river pebbles directly in contact with my liner for 3 years now with no problems. See my build thread here for details: Dimension at the ground for Intex 16' Ultra frame pool.

 

[ta2dwonderwoman]

Your setup looks fantastic and is very similar to what we're doing. We actually bought 8 foot garden ties so that we can do more of a circular enclosure than a square. We have debated back and forth on what to put in as filler and I was very concerned about the river rock but you put my mind at ease I think. I know our ground was not perfectly level and right now our pool is about an inch out of level so I wonder if that's going to be an issue going forward? I noticed that you said you had issues with yours not being level and eventually collapsed.

 

[ta2dwonderwoman]

View attachment 53119

 

[jeffchap]

I know our ground was not perfectly level and right now our pool is about an inch out of level so I wonder if that's going to be an issue going forward? I noticed that you said you had issues with yours not being level and eventually collapsed.

As long as it's no more than an inch, you should be fine. By the end, mine had settled 3" or more. The low point rocked back and forth and rubbed the paint off of the top rail. Then it rusted through at that point.



By the time it finally gave way, I knew it was doomed. The season was almost over and I had already planned to replace it. I was just hoping to finish out the year. Point is, it didn't just collapse unexpectedly.

 

[ta2dwonderwoman]

Thank you so much for the info , I have been concerned about the fact that it was out of Level A little bit. I will be sure to watch for excessive movement and increased amount of unlevel. I know these pools don't have a really long lifetime so I do plan to replace it at some point but I really hope to get several years out of it first. To be honest I got it on clearance at Walmart for $450 so for a starter pool if it lasts me 3 Seasons I feel lucky. My main thing was I didn't want to spend the whole bunch of money and then find out we hated having a pool. But it has been such a joy for us that I can't imagine not having one and I know that we will replace this one when the time comes.

 

[ta2dwonderwoman]

As long as it's no more than an inch, you should be fine. By the end, mine had settled 3" or more. The low point rocked back and forth and rubbed the paint off of the top rail. Then it rusted through at that point.



By the time it finally gave way, I knew it was doomed. The season was almost over and I had already planned to replace it. I was just hoping to finish out the year. Point is, it didn't just collapse unexpectedly.

do you leave yours up all year round? I am in Kansas so have somewhat similar weather as you do and have been gathering info as to whether or not this is doable...so far the consensus is that it is better than the damage risk of taking it down and storing it every year...

and did yours fail due to water taking out the liner or the metal giving out due to rust? just curious?

 

[jeffchap]

do you leave yours up all year round? I am in Kansas so have somewhat similar weather as you do and have been gathering info as to whether or not this is doable...so far the consensus is that it is better than the damage risk of taking it down and storing it every year...

and did yours fail due to water taking out the liner or the metal giving out due to rust? just curious?

Yes, I leave mine up year round. My current pool has survived 2 winters so far with no problems.

The one that ruptured, the top rail rusted all the way through and the liner split in half at that point. But not immediately. It was actually rusted through for a couple of months. It started leaning more and more outward on that side and then finally split.