I know this is going to sound dumb, but tell me about your square box please. My husband is planning on putting up my Intex pool this week and weekend and I think what you did is exactly what I want!
Dimension at the ground for Intex 16' Ultra frame pool.
- Thread starter jeffchap
- Start date
Sure, I'll be happy to. Let me do it later tonight from home -- it's too cumbersome to type it all out on my phone.
I may have taken some pictures during the construction. If I can find them, I'll post them too. If not, at the very least I'll take some now that show more detail.
It really wasn't complicated, as I'm certainly no carpenter. If I can do it, anyone can. It just took a weekend, some sweat, and a friend with a pickup truck. Leveling the sand is where you want to take your time and get it right. I did not do that the first time, and henceforth gravity eventually gave me the 'opportunity' to do it again correctly.
I may have taken some pictures during the construction. If I can find them, I'll post them too. If not, at the very least I'll take some now that show more detail.
It really wasn't complicated, as I'm certainly no carpenter. If I can do it, anyone can. It just took a weekend, some sweat, and a friend with a pickup truck. Leveling the sand is where you want to take your time and get it right. I did not do that the first time, and henceforth gravity eventually gave me the 'opportunity' to do it again correctly.
Alrighty Cooks, here you go. Hope this isn't too long...
The box is constructed of 16 foot long 4x4’s, a few of which I cut to shorter lengths which I will explain below. My yard has a good 8” or more drop from the front to the back of the box, so at the front it is only one board tall, whereas at the back it is stacked 3 boards tall. I dug a trench with a spade shovel to a minimum depth of about 2 inches, into which the lowest board on each side is lain. Along the sides, the trench got deeper as I dug into the slope toward the front. I didn’t see any need to dig out a trench 8” deep for the entire 16 feet, so when the trench got 6” deep, probably halfway to the front, I cut that board (let’s call it layer 1) off and stopped there. Then I continued digging again for the next board (layer 2) on top of that until it was 6” deep. Then I cut that off, at about 12 feet long. The top layer (#3) is the only one that runs the full 16 feet length of the box on the sides.
So looking at it from the side, it basically looks like this:
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------Layer 3--------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------Layer 2------------------|
|-----------------------------------------|
|-------- Layer 1---------|
|--------------------------|
If your yard doesn’t drop as much as mine, you might be able to get away with fewer levels, maybe even just one. A steeper drop might require more.
Each board is screwed into the one below it with 6” screws, evenly spaced a couple of feet apart. I overlapped the corners for stability and screwed them together, countersunk just for appearance.
The box was just roughly leveled at this point. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because the sand inside will be where you really need to get it level. If the sand is slightly lower on one side, you can just fill in with some extra rocks or mulch on top and no one will ever know.
Once the box was constructed, I drilled three ½” holes along each side vertically down through the entire thing all the way into the ground. Then I pounded about a 2 ½’ long piece of rebar down through each hole and into the ground to keep it from bowing out once it was filled.
Now comes the fun part. YOU CANNOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THIS STEP, so learn from me and do it right and do it only once! It took 4 tons of sand to fill my box. I dumped it in and leveled it out as best as I could with a rake. Then I sprayed it heavily with water to get it to settle. I struggled with a way to determine if it was really level. I tried laying down boards and putting a level on top, checking at different angles. But it was difficult to determine if it was really flat until I hit upon the idea of using water. I just kept spraying water into the box until it started pooling on top of the sand. At that point, it was easy to see where the low spots were, so I just raked it from the peaks into the valleys and then sprayed it down again. Repeat this until the water pools evenly across the entire surface. This has the added benefit of really compacting the sand so that it should not settle any more once you begin filling the pool. I considered renting a roller from Home Depot to further compact it, but ended up not doing so. But that’s just an idea some might want to consider.
Once the sand was leveled, I put down a layer of landscaping fabric (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Landmast...-Control-Fabric-2519RP/203065747?N=5yc1vZbx4q) over the entire area and attached it to the top of the box with roofing nails. This is to keep animals and kids from digging in the sand and tracking it into the pool, and also to keep grass from growing up through the sand. Leave a little bit of slack in this layer so that it doesn’t rip once you begin to fill the pool, but not so much that you have wrinkles. Important - use a water permeable material. I used a waterproof tarp the first time, and rainwater pooled up in it and became stagnant. To clean up the appearance, I screwed a top layer of 16 foot 2x4’s to cover the fabric and nails.
That’s pretty much all there was to it. After the pool was filled, I covered the landscaping liner with a dozen or so 50 lb bags of river pebbles available from Home Depot for $2.50/bag. Then I put in some paving stones to set the pump, filter, SWG, and ladder on. I’m also going to put in some solar power lights on stakes and just push them into the sand.
In retrospect, I wish I had built a hexagon instead of a square. I think it would look a little fancier, but it would’ve taken more work cutting the angles off at each of the corners and getting them screwed together securely. I was in a hurry to get the pool up at the time, so I went the easy route. But I think I could have built a larger box for about the same price in lumber, because IIRC, a 16 foot 4x4 was roughly twice the price of a 12 foot 4x4. And I haven’t done the math, but I’m pretty sure a hexagon 12 feet on a side would accommodate a larger diameter box than a 16 foot square.
The box is constructed of 16 foot long 4x4’s, a few of which I cut to shorter lengths which I will explain below. My yard has a good 8” or more drop from the front to the back of the box, so at the front it is only one board tall, whereas at the back it is stacked 3 boards tall. I dug a trench with a spade shovel to a minimum depth of about 2 inches, into which the lowest board on each side is lain. Along the sides, the trench got deeper as I dug into the slope toward the front. I didn’t see any need to dig out a trench 8” deep for the entire 16 feet, so when the trench got 6” deep, probably halfway to the front, I cut that board (let’s call it layer 1) off and stopped there. Then I continued digging again for the next board (layer 2) on top of that until it was 6” deep. Then I cut that off, at about 12 feet long. The top layer (#3) is the only one that runs the full 16 feet length of the box on the sides.
So looking at it from the side, it basically looks like this:
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------Layer 3--------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------Layer 2------------------|
|-----------------------------------------|
|-------- Layer 1---------|
|--------------------------|
If your yard doesn’t drop as much as mine, you might be able to get away with fewer levels, maybe even just one. A steeper drop might require more.
Each board is screwed into the one below it with 6” screws, evenly spaced a couple of feet apart. I overlapped the corners for stability and screwed them together, countersunk just for appearance.
The box was just roughly leveled at this point. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because the sand inside will be where you really need to get it level. If the sand is slightly lower on one side, you can just fill in with some extra rocks or mulch on top and no one will ever know.
Once the box was constructed, I drilled three ½” holes along each side vertically down through the entire thing all the way into the ground. Then I pounded about a 2 ½’ long piece of rebar down through each hole and into the ground to keep it from bowing out once it was filled.
Now comes the fun part. YOU CANNOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THIS STEP, so learn from me and do it right and do it only once! It took 4 tons of sand to fill my box. I dumped it in and leveled it out as best as I could with a rake. Then I sprayed it heavily with water to get it to settle. I struggled with a way to determine if it was really level. I tried laying down boards and putting a level on top, checking at different angles. But it was difficult to determine if it was really flat until I hit upon the idea of using water. I just kept spraying water into the box until it started pooling on top of the sand. At that point, it was easy to see where the low spots were, so I just raked it from the peaks into the valleys and then sprayed it down again. Repeat this until the water pools evenly across the entire surface. This has the added benefit of really compacting the sand so that it should not settle any more once you begin filling the pool. I considered renting a roller from Home Depot to further compact it, but ended up not doing so. But that’s just an idea some might want to consider.
Once the sand was leveled, I put down a layer of landscaping fabric (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Landmast...-Control-Fabric-2519RP/203065747?N=5yc1vZbx4q) over the entire area and attached it to the top of the box with roofing nails. This is to keep animals and kids from digging in the sand and tracking it into the pool, and also to keep grass from growing up through the sand. Leave a little bit of slack in this layer so that it doesn’t rip once you begin to fill the pool, but not so much that you have wrinkles. Important - use a water permeable material. I used a waterproof tarp the first time, and rainwater pooled up in it and became stagnant. To clean up the appearance, I screwed a top layer of 16 foot 2x4’s to cover the fabric and nails.
That’s pretty much all there was to it. After the pool was filled, I covered the landscaping liner with a dozen or so 50 lb bags of river pebbles available from Home Depot for $2.50/bag. Then I put in some paving stones to set the pump, filter, SWG, and ladder on. I’m also going to put in some solar power lights on stakes and just push them into the sand.
In retrospect, I wish I had built a hexagon instead of a square. I think it would look a little fancier, but it would’ve taken more work cutting the angles off at each of the corners and getting them screwed together securely. I was in a hurry to get the pool up at the time, so I went the easy route. But I think I could have built a larger box for about the same price in lumber, because IIRC, a 16 foot 4x4 was roughly twice the price of a 12 foot 4x4. And I haven’t done the math, but I’m pretty sure a hexagon 12 feet on a side would accommodate a larger diameter box than a 16 foot square.
I wished I seen this post before I leveled the area for my pool! The wood idea is great!
What we did was to level and compact the center of where the pool was going. Then took a tiller and chopped up the soil around it. We then made a compacted "rim" around the edge and took a level taped onto a long board to make sure the center was level with the rim. We filled in between the two with dirt and compacted that. Then added more dirt and used the board the skim the low spots and recompacted it. Now thinking about putting a foam base to have it super flat.
Building the rim was a pain and the wood would of made things a whole lot easier.
My body is still sore!
What we did was to level and compact the center of where the pool was going. Then took a tiller and chopped up the soil around it. We then made a compacted "rim" around the edge and took a level taped onto a long board to make sure the center was level with the rim. We filled in between the two with dirt and compacted that. Then added more dirt and used the board the skim the low spots and recompacted it. Now thinking about putting a foam base to have it super flat.
Building the rim was a pain and the wood would of made things a whole lot easier.
My body is still sore!
I hope your sand does not get washed out. Hopefully the boards and fabric will stop that.
We generally suggest that the ground should be leveled to the lowest spot and never to try to raise the lower parts unless maybe you are using a compactor. Then a thin layer of sand can be used.
We generally suggest that the ground should be leveled to the lowest spot and never to try to raise the lower parts unless maybe you are using a compactor. Then a thin layer of sand can be used.
This was the first major project that showed my age. Or that I'm just that much out of shape.
Did you use anything for support under the legs? I thought of just using some pavers sunken into the ground a bit to make them level with the bottom of the pool. But some people have said that it may crack with the pressure.
I considered it, but I did not. The 14' pool I had up for two years prior didn't seem to need them.
If at some point I do decide to add them, I don't think I'd have to take the pool down to do so. As it was filling I was able to lift and reposition the legs, at least until it got past 30% full or so. If the need arose, I think I could drain it down to that point and then with a little help, slide them beneath the feet. I might have to cut through the landscape fabric first, to settle them into the sand. But I think it would be doable.
If at some point I do decide to add them, I don't think I'd have to take the pool down to do so. As it was filling I was able to lift and reposition the legs, at least until it got past 30% full or so. If the need arose, I think I could drain it down to that point and then with a little help, slide them beneath the feet. I might have to cut through the landscape fabric first, to settle them into the sand. But I think it would be doable.
Jeff I just wanna thank you I've borrowed your idea of framing up my pool.... I'm going to use railway sleeps under the U shaped legs of my pool, due to the weight of the water (17 tonnes), because my pool is a rectangle, it will make a nice little framed area for me to put polished river rocks all around the pool.... You've saved me about $400 on artificial turf, bout $100 on timber, and about $100 on tools, turf adhesive and pins.... So thank you...
I've borrowed your idea of framing up my pool.... I'm going to use railway sleeps under the U shaped legs of my pool, due to the weight of the water (17 tonnes), because my pool is a rectangle, it will make a nice little framed area for me to put polished river rocks all around the pool.... You've saved me about $400 on artificial turf, bout $100 on timber, and about $100 on tools, turf adhesive and pins.... So thank you...
Well, I bit the bullet and installed the Dyna-skim tonight. I went ahead and drained down below the opening so that I could install without having to split the gasket in half. It was no problem getting it lined up and making the cut. The only thing that was more difficult than I expected was screwing in the screws. If I had known how hard they were going to be, I would have screwed them in once before trying to do it in the pool.
I've got a slight seep around the gasket. I'll try tightening it up some more tomorrow to see if I can get it to stop. If not, I'll seal around it with some silicone.
I've got a slight seep around the gasket. I'll try tightening it up some more tomorrow to see if I can get it to stop. If not, I'll seal around it with some silicone.
