Need help quickly! We (4 adults) are in the process of preparing the ground for our 24' Intex pool. so far, we had an excavator come and dig and level the spot due to a significant slope; he added 2 large loads of sand. All day long today we have been leveling the area. We had decided to put 12" patio blocks under the 24 legs - what a huge job that has turned out to be! We've been working for hours, in the heat and humidity, and only have 5 blocks done! We're tempted to stop right there and proceed with the pool assembly. My question is - are the blocks overkill? The instructions don't say anything about the blocks - we only decided to do from reading other posts on this forum. Help!
Are patio blocks under the legs really necessary??
- Thread starter tspears53
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That's an awful lot of water to shift with the legs just sitting on sand. Tons of posts from folks here talking about legs sinking/walls leaning/off level and such. Can you use a smaller block? How about an 8x16x2 and even break them in half. Patio pavers would work too. You'll be glad you did.
They are not necessary in order to get the pool set up, but you WILL wish that you had them if you don't place them now. I've had some smaller Intex's, and have gone through not having pavers under the legs. They will settle, make the pool uneven, drop the water level, look bad, and p1ss you off.
You don't have to have them SO level that a ball won't roll off a board across them, but naturally the closer they are, the better. All things considered though, the level will eventually be off by inches without them, so anything better than that (preferably less than an inch) can work.
You don't have to have them SO level that a ball won't roll off a board across them, but naturally the closer they are, the better. All things considered though, the level will eventually be off by inches without them, so anything better than that (preferably less than an inch) can work.
Thank you for your responses! We did continue to work and got them all installed then rented a Vibropad tamper and compacted the whole area again then finally erected the pool and added a little water and voila!!, incredibly - it was off level probably 4" or more!! Curse, Curse, stamp my foot, cry, scream, and generally rage at the inanimate object of our misery!! So, after our colossal failure (4 adults working 3 full days and into the night in intense heat and humidity and sunburn), we proceeded to drain the water, disassemble the pool, cover the area and dejectedly go into the house to cool off and regroup. My son, admirably the optimist, wants to add more sand, tamp the area and set the pool up again. But from what I've read, I know we can't level with sand - we must remove the high ground, right? (Which is another immense job!) So my plan is to hire someone, like I wish we had done to begin with, to come and fix our mess. I really rather hate this pool! Oh, and did I mention that we have a drop off and every time it rains (or we drain the pool) we loose buckets of sand and cause little canyon in the edge, so now I'm thinking we need a retaining wall! Our $500 Walmart pool becomes more expensive with every step we make. Can anyone convince me that this will all be worth it?! Thanks again for your support!
After a hot day of work leveling some ground or building a retaining wall, it's tough to beat a relaxing dip in one's own pool.
Good luck, with your pool, it will be worth it in the long run, the short run will get you every time though. After having a couple intex pools I don't think I would have tried to use sand. The pavers need to be flush with the existing hard ground and the sand should not be spread past the edge of the liner, actually a gorilla type pad would be best. As far as the leveling goes, there is no substitute for a transit, laser level, or water level to get things right the first time. Even a 12.5 foot 2x4 with a 4 foot level taped to it is good for reference, but for the final check a transit is invaluable. Ground that looks level to my eye is usually off at least 2 inches over 10 feet. Once the site is level and the pavers are set on solid ground the pool fill with no more problems.
I had a 24 foot intex for the last two years and mine was not level by about 4 inches and I hated it. I used the patio pavers because the first time we put the pool together, the legs started sinking when it rained so for me the patio pavers are a must. My intex ended up getting a hole in it and we took it down and replaced it with a hard walled 24 foot but this time I hired professionals to come in and level the ground and put the pool up. I wish you luck. All I can say is once you get it up, you will love it... 