INTEX Ultra XTR Legs leaning opposite the low corner

[dyxov2000]

Hi all,

I have a question, hope someone can help
I installed an INTEX Ultra XTR 9x18 and after it filed up I noticed that couple of side legs are leaning towards one end, they are not 100% vertical.
Now, the strange thing is the pool is mostly leveled with only 1 corner being about 1 inch lower, and the leg tilt is opposite to the lowest corner which is counter-intuitive and confuses me. From what i understood reading countless posts about tilting legs, usually, legs tilt towards the low point since the water pressure is bigger at the lowest wall when in my case the top parts of the tilted legs are tilted towards the high corner
Which leaves me thinking that the legs possibly were tilted from the beginning, because when i was filling it up i made sure that legs are pushed out as much as possible per the instruction video but honestly i don't remember checking that the legs are vertical or have a tilt, also while filling with the water the pool frame bends inside and it's hard to notice if the legs are not 100% vertical.
The pool is installed on the leveled ground using about 2 inches of compacted stone dust, i also used interlocking gym rubber tiles under it.
When inspecting the base of the tilted legs i don't see any signs of a leg movement on the ground, also pool itself doesn't look like leaning, it more feels like the liner is not well positioned and shifted to the high side

 

[dyxov2000]

Ok, so i got a 4-pound sledge hammer, put a piece of plywood against the PT plywood that i used for footing then another piece of 4x4 and hammered with short strokes, not strong but fast and many and it looks like it pushed the legs back to the vertical position. I marked the previous, tilted position on the side with a marker, you can see the line if you zoom the pic a little, and this is how it looks now.
I am not sure if i should consider this fixed or still need to empty the pool and fill it up again this time watching the legs and generally making sure it's better centered on the leveled area.

I would appreciate any advice from experienced above ground pool owner, i am a complete newbie and it feels like i am in over my head.

 

[kellyfair]

Is the previous tilt the dark line next to the warning labels? I’m surprised you were able to budge the legs that much!

@jseyfert3, what do you think? I don’t have this kind of pool with the u shaped legs.

 

[jseyfert3]

Neither do I. Is it @Brett S that has one?

It was hard to tell how tilted they were in the first pic. I doubt that the other side being an inch low would have cause them to tilt, they probably just weren't straight when it was filled.

I am not sure if i should consider this fixed or still need to empty the pool and fill it up again this time watching the legs and generally making sure it's better centered on the leveled area.

I don't see why you'd have to drain it now, especially now that the legs are straight.

also pool itself doesn't look like leaning, it more feels like the liner is not well positioned and shifted to the high side

What do you mean by that? Do you have a picture without the cover on?

Speaking of the cover, I'm curious why you have the winter cover on? And why you mounted the solar cover reel over the winter cover? Are you planning on getting a solar cover? With that handy solar cover reel, I would totally recommend you get one. I got one for my round Intex, and it's crazy how effective a solar cover is at keeping the pool warm. When we got that cold snap a week or two ago my pool had cooled off to about 70, I put the cover on and even with lows in the low 50's and highs around 70-72 on sunny days it was heating up and worked it's way back up to 76 in a couple days (then the higher temps returned). Problem is with my 26' round pool it's a royal pain to put the cover on and off, but a reel would make it a breeze.

 

[kellyfair]

Oops, sorry, now I don’t remember who has this kind of pool.

 

[Brett S]

Yeah, that looks fine to me now. I think you should be good to go.

 

[dyxov2000]

Is the previous tilt the dark line next to the warning labels? I’m surprised you were able to budge the legs that much!

@jseyfert3, what do you think? I don’t have this kind of pool with the u shaped legs.

Yes, i draw the lines before started hammering, I had little hope that this idea will even work on the way back from Home Depot with the sled-hammer.
I guess it moved because of what i have under the pool, on top of the sand i put 24"x24" interlocking rubber tiles upside down with the smooth side up, then the piece of tarp that came with the pool and the pool, i used 15"x15 PT plywood under the legs.

 

[dyxov2000]

Neither do I. Is it @Brett S that has one?

It was hard to tell how tilted they were in the first pic. I doubt that the other side being an inch low would have cause them to tilt, they probably just weren't straight when it was filled.


I don't see why you'd have to drain it now, especially now that the legs are straight.


What do you mean by that? Do you have a picture without the cover on?

Speaking of the cover, I'm curious why you have the winter cover on? And why you mounted the solar cover reel over the winter cover? Are you planning on getting a solar cover? With that handy solar cover reel, I would totally recommend you get one. I got one for my round Intex, and it's crazy how effective a solar cover is at keeping the pool warm. When we got that cold snap a week or two ago my pool had cooled off to about 70, I put the cover on and even with lows in the low 50's and highs around 70-72 on sunny days it was heating up and worked it's way back up to 76 in a couple days (then the higher temps returned). Problem is with my 26' round pool it's a royal pain to put the cover on and off, but a reel would make it a breeze.

Thank you for taking the time and going over my setup.
Yes, i think i tilted the legs when i was trying to smooth out the wrinkles on the floor when filling up, those were really hard to smooth because the pool had already about 4-5" of water when i noticed them, so i had to literally jump on to the corners from inside, that helped with the wrinkles, but probably moved the legs around a bit, i made sure that the legs are pulled as far back as possible but don't recall checking if they are vertical, you can see on the picture the legs are not centered in the opening, but they are not pushing on liner too, so I hope it's borderline OK. Also, hammering the footer moved the tops of the legs by a little as well, judging by the top of the line, i see it moved by about 1/2 of an inch.
About the winter cover, few reasons for having it on for a night, my back yard is not fully finished yet according to local codes, i have a high wooden fence around the property but not a gate, so we have to remove the ladder and put cover for a meantime. Also, there are lots of trees in our area and i can see a lot of people covering their pools in the neighborhood, so i will have to see. With AmazonBasics 36-Inch Bungee Cords it's not that hard anymore.
Yes, i got the solar cover and it's really good, i just found it easier to loosen and put the reel on top of winter cover than trying to go over it.

 

[outpost]

Are all the legs level now in all directions? From the picture angles it’s hard to tell but almost looks like they may be off level left/right a bit as well? I only ask because for a 1 inch off base, your liner sure looks like it’s stretching in all different directions judging by your square pattern.

I don’t think that pool is going anywhere and looks safe to swim in, but if it was me I would take some water out, get a nice big level and that new hammer and maybe give each set of legs a once over and make sure they are all the same levelness on each plane.

 

[dyxov2000]

Are all the legs level now in all directions? From the picture angles it’s hard to tell but almost looks like they may be off level left/right a bit as well? I only ask because for a 1 inch off base, your liner sure looks like it’s stretching in all different directions judging by your square pattern.

I don’t think that pool is going anywhere and looks safe to swim in, but if it was me I would take some water out, get a nice big level and that new hammer and maybe give each set of legs a once over and make sure they are all the same levelness on each plane.

Thanks, outpost

That's exactly what i am going to do, they do look a little left and right here and there, not near as bad as the 2 i pushed back, but still...
Great observation about the pattern, although the pattern is not perfectly aligned with the top gray part, to begin with, i also noticed that it's stretching in different directions. The problem is when filling these pools with water the sides bent inward by a lot, and it's hard to tell if all is going well, they sides straighten up to a certain degree after it was full.