Intex 18' x48" Ultra Frame Support Question

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kizer

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May 26, 2012
14
Hello,
With such success on my first posts' questions being answered, here is another question:

My Intex pool is slightly unlevel, 3 inches in the worst location, 1 1/2 in the others but I do not think this is much of a problem because it is gradual. I have a lot of action in my pool, sometimes four or five kids splashing around and the pool supports move slightly. How much should these supports be able to move? I'm not saying the legs' feet move but the legs themselves sway. With a few troublesome legs, this can worry me-I have two that have slightly sank, one that is not within the band and rope (NO clue how that happened), and two that are a few millimeters slanted. I'll post pictures tomorrow once it is daylight again but just wanted to hear some thoughts.
The earth under my pool was dug VERY slightly (this was after digging a large garden by hand, I was done with digging) and then I added 3 tonnes of sand to help level. Like a moron, I didn't use supports under all of the feet, just the half I thought may be lower. I discovered this site after setting up the pool of course.

Thanks!
 
Drain the pool, level the ground, and when you set it up again, use concrete pavers under each support leg, (I am going to use the 4" thick 8" x 16" concrete pavers), they will give much better support and reduce the odds of any supports sinking.

At worst you should have it and keep it within 1" from level at any given point, and closer is better.
 
That would definitely be the way to go, but I need to find a way to fix this without draining.. It took FOREVER for the pool to heat up plus all the chemicals I've placed in it.. it'd be a huge loss.
 
Yes it would be a big loss, but how big would the loss be if your pool folds up while your children are in or around it?

It totally sucks that the instructions don't make it perfectly clear to people how important it is to place these pools on level ground and that they should use the concrete pavers under the supports to help prevent settling/sinking.

Even with the pavers there is still the chance of one or more sinking and causing the pool to become unlevel, but as indicated in another thread if you start out with level and for some reason something does settle or sink on you then you can jack up the low support and bring it back to level, but trying to jack up a pool that was setup on unlevel ground is not a smart thing to do, you will be putting too much stress on the entire pool structure and liner, which could very well result in a collapse, causing serious injury, possible death, and property damage.

The simple fact that you have 1 support leg that is not within the strap is cause enough to drain and correct the situation, I don't know what it would take to make that support move, but without that strap holding it....I wouldn't take any chances, if it were just the rope at the bottom you could untie the rope and fix that with it full, but the strap is another story.

All things considered, it would be much less expensive to drain and make it right than to jury rig it and take a chance that it will hold up, cut your losses while you are ahead and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Best of luck with the choice you make.
 
The strapless leg does scare me however there isnt any stress on it surprisingly. I weigh 180lbs and to test this setup i cannonballed into it from about 6 feet high. Im worried about the swaying.posts. If it comes down to it, ill have to drain. Just want any and all ideas.
 
PhilGillis said:
for whatever its worth, i have seen posts of people going back around the pool with ratchet strap due to rope or leg straps.
Click to expand...
That is exactly what I put around the bottom of our old intex pool instead of a rope. It's adjustable and a lot more durable than the rope. Heck the summer escapes pool don't even come with anything to go around the bottom! I went ahead and put ratcheting straps around the bottom of it too just to be on the safe side.
 
Allow me to toss my 2 cents in. I just finished setting our pool up for the 4th year in a row. Off by 2.5 - 3 inches every year. on the low side, I'll take a couple of 2x4 scraps and set them under the legs. It helps and they don't move. I wouldn't sweat the unstrapped leg. You're right in general there's not much pressure on them. I have on occasion, been able to lift one leg enough to get some sort of pad under it. Give it a try, otherwise, use a car or bottle jack and a 2x4 to lift the leg at the "T". good luck and have fun. I spend $200 /year in upgrades on my $200 pool. This year it's a new, wide ladder so all of us fat old drunks can get in and out.
 

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Jamison04 said:
PhilGillis said:
for whatever its worth, i have seen posts of people going back around the pool with ratchet strap due to rope or leg straps.
Click to expand...
That is exactly what I put around the bottom of our old intex pool instead of a rope. It's adjustable and a lot more durable than the rope. Heck the summer escapes pool don't even come with anything to go around the bottom! I went ahead and put ratcheting straps around the bottom of it too just to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...

Where the heck do you get a 60' ratchet strap?
 
I decided to go with the Hayward 21" Sand Filter and 1 1/2hp pump... It works great except I'm pretty sure I purchased the wrong silica sand... will deal with that later. At any rate, here is a pic of my work in progress pool (Pool looks very slanted but this is only because I am standing on a hill-it's only 2" off lol)

[attachment=0:3l9frw9v]Pool 010 (800x533).jpg[/attachment:3l9frw9v]
 

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