So this happened...Intex cement footer support.

[Anjayla0021]

I know not everyone puts supports under their plastic footings, but from what I read it seemed like a good idea. Apparently it was all done wrong because these footings are WAY off. We assembled the top beams and T-joints so we could see where the footings would go for the legs and sunk them level with the ground. As we began to set up the liner and the legs, they looked good still. The pool shifted a bit during setup but not as bad as this picture. Now, we have started to add water (there is about 2" in the pool and hubby got in to get all the wrinkles out. When I walked around the pool I noticed the footings were WAY off :-(

I am not sure what to do...we have had so much bad luck with getting this pool going and dealing with out electrician drama. Is it a terrible idea for us to just continue moving forward with filling this up? Our ground is pretty hard and we didnt put down any sand, just tarp and gorilla pad as our land was fairly level aside from a few spots where we had to take away some soil.

Would love to hear from those who didn't use supports under the plastic legs fittings. My husband wants to dig them out and re position them as he feels bad and knows all the research I did over the past few months, but I know that is going to be a lot of work and you can barely lifts the legs up as it is since we started putting water in it. What should we do?!

 

[CJadamec]

I can't quite tell from the picture are the upright legs completely off the concrete footings or are they just off to the edge of the footing?

If they are still on the concrete but not centered on the footing you should be ok as long as it isn't just sitting on the corner of the block.

If those legs are off the footings and just sitting on dirt they will quickly sink into the ground and leave you with an un-level or possibly broken pool.

Best thing you can is drain the water and either shift the legs of the pool to line up on the footings or move the footings if you can't get the legs to line up.

 

[Anjayla0021]

Yes, completely off the cement footing we put into the ground. Would it be a bad idea to just slide some wolmonized plywood under neath the footers?

I can't quite tell from the picture are the upright legs completely off the concrete footings or are they just off to the edge of the footing?

If they are still on the concrete but not centered on the footing you should be ok as long as it isn't just sitting on the corner of the block.

If those legs are off the footings and just sitting on dirt they will quickly sink into the ground and leave you with an un-level or possibly broken pool.

Best thing you can is drain the water and either shift the legs of the pool to line up on the footings or move the footings if you can't get the legs to line up.

 

[zea3]

You leveled the areas where the pavers are. The legs need to be on the pavers. Have you filled the pool completely or did you stop at 2"?

 

[CJadamec]

2" of water in a pool that size is around 2200lbs of water you won't be able to move the frame by hand with water in the liner.

Best thing to do is drain and get the uprights on the pavers. Plywood won't stand up to the pressure from the leg or the moisture.

The little bit of work to get the legs in the right spot now is worth it. It will save much more work and heartache later on.

 

[BooRowdy]

For what it's worth, we've put our Intex up almost every season for 7 or 8 years now, and we've never put pavers under the legs. We've never had an issue with sinking. Every year I want to do it the "right" way, and every year my husband just wants to get it done quickly.

 

[NoTime]

For what it's worth, we've put our Intex up almost every season for 7 or 8 years now, and we've never put pavers under the legs. We've never had an issue with sinking. Every year I want to do it the "right" way, and every year my husband just wants to get it done quickly.

I "got by" a few years with no base on an Intex type pool...then I had an extra rainy month and started to have sinking legs. My quick fix was adding pieces of treated deck board under propped up legs.
Installing pavers was more work, but ultimately worked much better.

 

[Anjayla0021]

Stopped at 2"

You leveled the areas where the pavers are. The legs need to be on the pavers. Have you filled the pool completely or did you stop at 2"?

 

[Anjayla0021]

Thats what I was afraid to hear....its only my husband and I setting up this pool and its going to be tough for us to move it unless we completely take it all apart again. What was supposed to be a fun weekend of us installing our pool has honestly been such a nightmare.

Is there any wood that would be strong enough to slide under the footings at least for this first year? We only really have June-September here in Michigan to swim and having to completely take down the pool and restart will probably be pushing close to July for us with our work schedules. It most definitely wouldn't be a permanent thing and will make sure that come next season they are all placed properly...

Or am I just really asking for trouble?!

2" of water in a pool that size is around 2200lbs of water you won't be able to move the frame by hand with water in the liner.

Best thing to do is drain and get the uprights on the pavers. Plywood won't stand up to the pressure from the leg or the moisture.

The little bit of work to get the legs in the right spot now is worth it. It will save much more work and heartache later on.

 

[Anjayla0021]

This is good to hear, I dont believe the instructions call for any additional support under the provided footings. I see you have the same pool as me, how hard is it to take down and put back up if we ultimately have to drain this pool and take apart? I dont think we are both going to be able to shift the pool ourselves even empty.

For what it's worth, we've put our Intex up almost every season for 7 or 8 years now, and we've never put pavers under the legs. We've never had an issue with sinking. Every year I want to do it the "right" way, and every year my husband just wants to get it done quickly.

 

[BooRowdy]

It comes down quite easily. The trickiest part is draining the last little bit of water. It takes a while to drain, and you want it dry before you fold it. As long as the weather behaves, the whole process takes a couple days, but my husband frequently does it on his own. Last year though, the winds kicked up as we drained the last couple of inches and we were worried it was going to flip. We had to lift it to dump the last little bit of water and I couldn't believe how heavy it was. There wasn't enough water to even cover the bottom, but it was so much heavier than when it's dry and empty.

 

[BooRowdy]

Sorry, I misread your question. If you've only got a few inches in, you should be able to wiggle the legs some. Personally, I'd just go ahead and fill it. If nothing else, it'll give a chance to see how the legs are going to behave as you fill. Then if you have problem and end up draining and moving, you won't be faced with an ugly surprise at 24 inches during the refill (they definitely move a bit during filling).

 

[Orangetractor]

I say drain the 2 inches out and shift the whole pool to the left and get the uprights onto the pads. Otherwise, if you don't you'll proabaly stare at those blocks all summer long....

 

[Anjayla0021]

We did end up adjusting them to sit on the stones....however like you said, I feel they will just push forward as the pool fills. Because we only had 2" of water in, we were able to just undo each leg one at a time and re station the paver under neath. It took about two hours to do, but I suppose I have a better peace of mind. Now if my electrician would just get it together and stop beating around the bush to get our electrical done, we should be all set! Crossing my fingers our pool is running by the weekend and that its level!!

Sorry, I misread your question. If you've only got a few inches in, you should be able to wiggle the legs some. Personally, I'd just go ahead and fill it. If nothing else, it'll give a chance to see how the legs are going to behave as you fill. Then if you have problem and end up draining and moving, you won't be faced with an ugly surprise at 24 inches during the refill (they definitely move a bit during filling).

 

[Blap]

Mine did that, I used a floor jack and a 2 X 4 to SLOWLY lift it while it was full and put a brick under a couple of the legs. If you lift it with a jack it doesn't lift the whole pool, just kind of rolls the water to the other side. I had mine up for 7 or 8 years.