18ft Intex Build

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PrairieGirl82

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May 14, 2021
9
Eastern Iowa
Hello fellow pool enthusiasts! I have been reading, planning, and scheming for a couple of months now. Baring any bad weather, our pool build is occurring this weekend. Pool: 18ft intex XTR with intex 2100 gal/hr sand filter

I’ve hired someone to do the ground leveling for me and removing a bush while we are at it. He is a hard landscaping person and will be using a bob cat. The plan is to put down paver base and use compactor plate to compress it. I plan to put 1” foam under the pool and use 12”x12”x2” pieces of ground contact wood under the legs.
Question 1: Do you think I need any sand between the paver base and the foam? I'm thinking there is no reason to, thoughts?

Question 2: Do you think I should have him sink the wood 1 inch to be level with the foam?

Question 3: When people say triple tape with Gorilla tape. Does that mean once down the middle and then two on either side of the seam?

I purchased a solar cover. I will generally be using the pool by myself (my partner is not a pool person) so I need a reel to actually use the solar cover. I have ordered the reel, rod, and clips. I am planning on doing something similar to what cowboycasey did here: 27ft round above ground pool solar blanket reel

Question 4: Do you think I could use some of those cement blocks meant for floating decks? Do you think it would be heavy/steady enough? https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...x4-6x6-deck-block/1794278/p-1502778698449.htm

Water is being delivered Monday or Tuesday next week. I believe I have the needed chemicals, testing kit, sand for filter, and cleaning items. Electrician is coming in about 2 weeks to put in dedicated electric box and hopefully will be able to bond the pool. The county is requiring it and I don’t know if I have the skill to pull that off. I’m getting a quote on a deck, but that might just have to wait until lumber prices go down.

Question 5: What am I missing/forgetting?

Thank you if you have read this far! :)
 
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Our excavator came yesterday to start leveling ground. The plan was to remove a very large lilac bush and then dig down to level. We have a pretty significant slope. Well, once the lilac bush was removed it became apparent just how much of a slope we are talking about. We are 20 inches out of level from one side to the other. I'm not really interested in building a retaining wall. The excavator thinks he could bring in nice fill dirt, compact it with his bobcat and then put crushed stone down and compact that. On the back side of the pool it would need to be regraded away from the pool and reseed with grass. On one side we have plenty of space to do that. On the other side, not so much, only 4 feet until we have a fence.
All I have ever read is that it is bad plan to add in dirt to level, so I'm not sure about this. With the right equipment is is possible to have a safe level build like this? An 18' round intex is the pool.
 
You can build up using 2 inch lifts with crusher run not dirt... Crusher run is a rock with rock dust in it.. once compacted the dust locks in the gravel and will hold the level...

so you know, I dropped a hill 20 inches on 1 side of mine just fine, it has worked for 9 years now... I did not do a retaining wall, there is about 3 feet of space between the hill and pool on mine.. I used crusher run and built up under mine also.. :)









 
IMG_20210606_153057590_HDR.jpgIMG_20210607_060656849.jpgThank you for your fast reply! Here are some pictures of our situation. To clarify, you are saying to not build up the 20 inches with crushed rock, but still mostly level from the low point, add in crushed rock to create the base, but make sure the earth edge is at least 3 feet from the pool? We have a drop off beyond the lowest edge here too, plus that fence. Part of me want to just throw up my hands and figure out a different spot. Our front yard is much more flat, but was trying to avoid putting it there.
 
I would do it exactly like that.. It will be fine.. Just lower to the lowest spot and call it a day.. Leave 3 to 4 feet between the "cliff"/edge and the pool.. I just got 1.5 inches of rain today and 2 inches of rain last Fri.. no issues at all... :)

I love doing this... Your pool will weigh over 70,000 pounds or 35 tons... way easier to go down then up when leveling.. trying to do 2 inch lifts compacting 20 inches would take weeks to do it correct to hold that much weight...
 
That thing compacted it and kicked me into a coma for a week afterwards.. I only did 2 inches and I would pay someone to do another 18 inches...
 

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I have a 21x43 oval set into a hill. The back side was dug out four feet. I don’t have a retaining wall and there’s 4 feet of space back there. The hill has slowly eroded towards the pool, grassed over and is now stable. It’s been 5 years. Eventually I’ll get around to putting down some gravel, weed block and landscaping timbers about a foot out from the pool. After that if the price of lumber ever comes down I’ll build a deck over the hole and be done with it. I do have a drain pipe buried back there so the run off stays away from the pool.
 
Hi all, I could use some advice. I had someone come in and level the ground. We had to install a retaining wall. He added about 8" of crushed gravel and paver base, tamping down. He told me it was with in 1". I'm setting up an 18 ft intex pool, planning on doing 1" foam under it and as going to put 12"x 12"x 2" boards under the legs. I got a laser level to make sure everything was good. Well...now I see that we are between 2 and 4" off. Yes, I know I should contact the contractor to fix it, but thought I would reach out here first. I'm so ready to get this thing set up.
What would happen if I sunk the boards on the tall side by 2" and got taller pavers (12"x12"x4") and sunk them only a little level? Is this a terrible plan for the liner?
IMG_20210724_105534381.jpg
 
Dont use wood, it will eventually rot out. Use concrete solid half blocks or larger pavers. Build up some base material amd tamp it down making it all level. Then add some base to the middle bringing it all on plane. If you have to order a yard or 2 of material so be it. Do it right amd do it once and be done with it
 
Whew! Here is the update. I followed advice given (which I knew to be true, but was so ready to be swimming!). I asked the contractor to come back and add more base material. He did and got it within 1/2 inch level. I rented a laser level again and leveled footings. My friend came over and helped me set up the pool last weekend. We put down a heavy tarp, then taped 1" foam together and cut around footings, lastly a gorilla pad. One issue was that I had placed the 12"x12" footings by placing the top ring together and centering then based on where the leg would sit. In reality most of them wanted to be in the front half of the footings and it was clear they needed to be moved back. So...I did and then had to cut foam to fill the void left by moving them back. Filled the pool this week and have been enjoying it greatly! Now to figure out where electric will permanently go, a deck, and landscaping....😉IMG_20210807_130920216_HDR.jpg
 
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PrairieGirl82 said:
Whew! Here is the update. I followed advice given (which I knew to be true, but was so ready to be swimming!). I asked the contractor to come back and add more base material. He did and got it within 1/2 inch level. I rented a laser level again and leveled footings. My friend came over and helped me set up the pool last weekend. We put down a heavy tarp, then taped 1" foam together and cut around footings, lastly a gorilla pad. One issue was that I had placed the 12"x12" footings by placing the top ring together and centering then based on where the leg would sit. In reality most of them wanted to be in the front half of the footings and it was clear they needed to be moved back. So...I did and then had to cut foam to fill the void left by moving them back. Filled the pool this week and have been enjoying it greatly! Now to figure out where electric will permanently go, a deck, and landscaping....😉View attachment 362540
Click to expand...
She looks nice! You might want to keep an eye on the wood blocks and be prepared to swap out if needed though… Maybe they will stand up? We have an 18’ Coleman on an old concrete pad that is about 2” off level on the bottom 5 legs. I was going to go with the wood for those five posts but I switched to pavers on the low end of our concrete pad last minute before filling. Punching the numbers and figuring our 6,092 gallon pool weighed 50,800Ibs coupled with the YouTube videos of the wood squares cracking was too much risk for me.
 
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