Leveling Frustration!!!

[highlights]

We bought the 18 x 52 Intex Ultra Frame. In the past week we have filled it and drained it twice due to the ground being unlevel.

We have spent three days this time trying to get the ground level. We borrowed a tri-pod leveling type device and half way through leveling yesterday it started raining. Despite covering the ground, one side of our area got wet and muddy. Today we brought in more dirt to help dry it up, then made sure everything was level. We allowed some room for the muddy side to sink and put the pool up. We packed the dirt in.

Even though we allowed room, the muddy side apparently sank more than we anticipated and we are now off by about 2 inches on that side. We have a couple of inches of water sitting in it right now until we decide what to do.

Is two inches too much to be off? If not, will it continue to sink or should it dry and quit sinking?

I don't know if climate makes a difference with this, but we live in Louisiana.

Any advice is much appreciated as we have worked so hard on this and are just getting disheartened and frustrated at this point. Thanks so much!

 

[tmyers]

Sorry that you are having trouble. However, you need to find the lowest point and dig everything else down to that level. You will never get it level by adding dirt. Even if you get it close, the first time it rains it is going to wash the added soil away and you will be back where you started.

I hope this helps.

Tim

 

[jsf0656]

Sorry that you are having trouble. However, you need to find the lowest point and dig everything else down to that level. You will never get it level by adding dirt. Even if you get it close, the first time it rains it is going to wash the added soil away and you will be back where you started.

I hope this helps.

Tim

he is correct. that is the preferred way. BTW, most people suggest pavers under the legs. i did mine this year and it helped alot!

 

[George_]

And you need to tamp all of that loose earth. I brought a sloping ground up by dumping many small layers at a time and used a plate compactor and water for each layer. I added gentle slopes off to the sides so I wouldn't have any hard runoff or collapses. For 2 years it stayed level and the pool was taken down each winter. My son even rides his battery-powered quad over the area when the pool isn't there and only barely distrubes the soil. The more snow we get and each pool season will only make it even harder.

...but the better thing to do is dig it out and not build it up.

 

[cramar]

Ditch the the transit and get a (straight) 2X6 and a 4 foot level on top, transit's records elevation at a location, boards with a level will tell you the levelness of the entire run.
Don't add soil, you will never compact it as much as tens of thousands of gallons of water will, you need to level it down to the lowest point. If it rains then you have to wait it out, there's no way to rush things. Once that site is done properly everything else will fall into place.

There's lots of videos on how to level and AGP base, watch and research those.

 

[barnyard]

I for one wouldn't ditch the transit. I have put up or helped to put up several ABGs over the years and the ones that came out the best were the ones where I used a transit to shoot each block. Shoot each block, find the lowest one and level the rest off of the blocks off of it. Then take your long straight edge and remove the dirt in the middle and between the blocks to make the rest of the area as level as you can. It is the blocks that are the most important to being level. The last pool I put up this way came out to within 1/8" all the way around.
I do agree with not adding soil. I have seen people get away with it, and I have even seen some installers do it that way, but I would never add soil, just remove it. JMHO.