New Pool Project for 2012, (ended up less pool more project)

[Samantha Sabrina]

Hey everyone,

First let me say I am new here, and so far I have found this site to be about the most informative I have ever been to, it is awesome....

I have never been a fan of paying to use a website, but this site is so impressive in several ways, first as stated fully loaded with actual useful information, and organized where you can find what you need, and the fact that it is totally free to access all this wonderful information with no hidden gotcha's, I am planning to become a supporter....

OK with all that out of the way let's get to the good stuff, lol.

We bought a 16' Quick Set pool from Wally World 4 years ago, and it was not very impressive, however it did serve its purpose, lol, it gave us a way to get out of the house on the hot summer days here in Mo., and cool off thus reducing the need to run the AC so much, which resulted in MUCH lower power bills.

We have had such a mild winter and off to an early spring so we thought we would get the pool put up and filled ahead of schedule, well when we dug it out we found the critters have chewed some BIG holes all over it, sighs...sooooooooo time for a new pool...as much as we can't really afford to buy a new pool this year, I am actually kinda glad, (like I said, was not real fond of the Quick Set style), it was a royal pain to clean, and you don't get the full use with the design...

Anyway since we are gonna have to buy a new one, we are going to go with the Intex 22' x 52" Ultra Frame Pool, Wally World has them for $699.00 right now, plus I am going to add the Heritage Wide Mouth Pool Skimmer, just one for now but may consider a second one down the road, winks.

Disclaimer here: I have pics uploaded to Photobucket, but not sure if I can embed them inside a thread, so for now I will go ahead and insert them the way I knnow how, (I am all for reducing bandwidth on the site server).

OK so let's talk new pool here :-D

We are planning to build a deck on the back of the house and have it wrap around the pool when we are finished, (this is going to take a couple of years to complete so this thread will go on and on and on, LOL).

First let's start with some pics of the site where the old pool was, when we first set it up we had it too close to the house so we started the setup by adding dirt to move it out another 4' or so, (give room to start building the deck this year).

[attachment=2:1see1k6t]Pool-Stuff-003-O.jpg[/attachment:1see1k6t]

[attachment=1:1see1k6t]Pool-Stuff-004-O.jpg[/attachment:1see1k6t]

[attachment=0:1see1k6t]Pool-Stuff-005-O.jpg[/attachment:1see1k6t]

OK I didn't know there was a 3 file limit, so I will have to add more to another post I guess.

As you can see the site is currently a mess, lol, but we are hauling in much more fill, since the new pool is 6' bigger in dia. the whole site is going to have to be expanded, plus we are going to raise the level of the whole thing about 2', I know people will say it is a bad idea because of settling, but we have red clay out here, and plenty of it, plus with our equipment it will be well packed and hard as concrete by the time we set the pool, and we are doing some initial filling with stone mixed with the clay, (another thing we have plenty of, lol).

You can see the solar heater my other half built, (it is coming down, getting a design makeover, and repositioned).

When he built it he wasn't sure how effective it would be so he built it on the cheap, (regular 3/4" PVC painted flat black), it turns out that 100' worth of pipe on a hot summer day would scald you coming out, and would increase the temp of the pool by 10 degrees in about 4-6 hours of run time.

It has held up pretty good until last year when we hit some 100+ days and the PVC started melting, but now that we know it works he is going to rebuild it using Pex tubing, it is rated for 200 degrees, so it should hold up nicely.

My other half is pretty sharp when it comes to stuff like this, but I must say even he is impressed with the cool neat ideas we have seen on here and he will be implementing many of your ideas in the new setup....Thank You, Thank You.

We left the old pool up the first winter, but when it came time to open it the second year cleaning it was a bigger pain than usual, so we took it down each year after that, the new pool however will remain in place year round, with the design of the new pool he has figured out how to cover it for the winter so it will stay clean, plus we have a very big wood furnace and he is going to build a heater for it to keep the pool water above freezing.

OK that is about enough for this post, but before I close he wants me to ask those with this type of pool about the support legs, when the pool is filled:

Do the legs stand up straight and 90 degrees to the ground?

Do the legs bow at all or are they nice and straight?

Is there any space between the point where the legs set on the ground and where the liner turns inward, or does the liner touch the legs and the very bottom?

Thanks Everyone, I will make another post soon, and give regular updates on our progress.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Ok I went to the test area and learned something, giggles, now I can add the pics from my Photobucket.

Here is the Fourth of 4 old site pics.

While I am at it I will post a drawing I made of the foam layout I plan to use for the new pool.

We have read other posts about foam getting wet under the pool, after designing this layout my other half says that the ground cloth or a tarp 24' x 24' will be big enough to hang out over the edge of the foam on all sides and by staking some decking lumber as a border around the foam edge but on top of the tarp should be more than enough to keep water out.

Also, in addition to taping the seams of the foam we will also be wrapping tape over all the outside edges, again with foil or plastic on the top and bottom of the foam this should also ensure no water enters the foam.

Another question from him also:

The old pool we just used the pump that came with it, plus he added another shallow well pump to circulate the water thru the solar heater, and he added another filter inline to keep the heater lines clean.

After reading thru other posts there seems to be several other types of filter systems out there, salt and sand, we already know the new pool will come with basically the same type of system as the old pool, so the question is....

Is one of the other types of filter systems better than the other? Sand versus Salt.

In this kind of pool would using the salt type system cause early decay of frame, liner, and or other parts?

Thanks

 

[linen]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

I do not have an intex, but I have helped my neighbor some with his (it is the blue walled frame model) so I will give you questions a shot. Hopefully some intex owners will chime in as well.

Do the legs stand up straight and 90 degrees to the ground?

From what I have seen, basically 90 degrees, maybe slightly less (angle on the pool side) due to the bottom of the legs moving outward as the pool fills.

Do the legs bow at all or are they nice and straight?

I think they stay pretty straight. According to mcoonan in this post: http://www.troublefreepool.com/cutting-foam-for-bottom-of-intex-t42484.html#p346826, the base of the legs move out slightly during the filling of the pool. That thread probably has some info that might help you.

Is there any space between the point where the legs set on the ground and where the liner turns inward, or does the liner touch the legs and the very bottom?

My neighbors touches all the way to within 2 inches of the bottom...it has a very small radius in the corner (again about 2" radius).

We have read other posts about foam getting wet under the pool, after designing this layout my other half says that the ground cloth or a tarp 24' x 24' will be big enough to hang out over the edge of the foam on all sides and by staking some decking lumber as a border around the foam edge but on top of the tarp should be more than enough to keep water out.

Also, in addition to taping the seams of the foam we will also be wrapping tape over all the outside edges, again with foil or plastic on the top and bottom of the foam this should also ensure no water enters the foam.

If you use extruded polystyrene, having it wet is not a problem in my experience. You will want to tape the seams so the liner does not slip down in between the boards. No harm in putting a tarp on though I do not think this is mandatory when using the foam.

Is one of the other types of filter systems better than the other? Sand versus Salt.

The sand is a filter. I am assuming when you say salt your are refering to a salt water chlorine generator (SWG). A swg is not a filter. It is use to chlorinate the pool.

The three common filter types are cartridge, sand and DE filter. Take a look at the filter section of this link for more detail.

In this kind of pool would using the salt type system cause early decay of frame, liner, and or other parts?

Many people on this board use a swg with intex pools. I have heard of no reports suggesting problems for the intex frame style pools.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Hey everyone,

Well thought I would post a couple more pictures of our progress.

Not very much, having to dig up the clay and shuttle it about 250 yards from dig site to backyard is soooooooooo slow going..ugggggs.

Anyway we are making some progress, lol.

K the first 2 are where we are leveling the backyard, about half way there so far.

This is the pile of screenings we had delivered yesterday, (16 tons).

The next 2 are closeups of the screenings, the rocks look bigger than they are.

Here you can see how much really fine stuff is in it, basically dust.

We got this from the local lime factory, it cost $85.00, the screenings were free just had to pay for the trucking.

Most quarries have something like this also, around here they charge $2.40/ton for the screenings, plus trucking.

This stuff is much better to use under a pool since it packs down and gets like concrete after it gets wet.

It will wash out like sand, just not as easy, but if you surround it with either earth or lumber it will stay put and makes a great foundaton for an AGP.

Enjoy

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Hey Everyone,

Well we are making progress..

I am not updating this thread all that often yet, still slow going, but I know how everyone just Loves pictures, lol, so I thought I would post a few after we finished working today, plus a lil bonus later,

K, the first 3 are just showing how well the leveling is coming along, nothing very impressive but it is getting there.

Took these out the back door, lol.

It looks better from this angle than it actually is, still a long ways to go yet, ugggggggs.

These are pictures or our dig site where we are getting the clay to level the backyard, it is about 250 yards away, just uphill from the pond.

Ok so since we are still waiting for some exciting "Pool" pics to post, I thought maybe everyone might enjoy some pictures of our first DIY pool build from 20 years ago.

This one is all natural, no chemicals required.

This one is standing on the dam looking back to the head of the pond.

Just off the end of the dam, right above our fishing spot.

Same spot but looking almost straight across.

Same spot but looking back toward the dam.

From the white overflow pipe you can see sticking up to the far side we dug the hillside out for the clay to build the dam with, so that whole corner is about 45 ft deep.

It took us about a year to cut all the timber out of the valley, then it took my other half and our son a whole summer running our 750 Ford backhoe virtually 24/7 to construct the dam, luckily we had a pretty dry summer that year so it didn't start holding water before it was complete.

That overflow pipe is in the middle of the dam, and at that point it is about 30 ft deep, which is as deep as we were allowed to build on our own, any more and the Corp of Engineers would have had to do it for us....Big $$$$$$$$$$

The MO Conservation Department did a great job of working with us, they did the whole site survey, and then sent us a construction layout with details on where and how to dig the key, and what percentage of clay and other soils and rock we were required to use.

Hope you enjoyed!

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Hey everyone,

Well it is scorching hot out today, totally miserable.

Thought I would post a quick update while we are inside cooling off for a bit.

The other half has been working, and now has the pool area close enough that we are going to have to start setting some corner posts, and laying out the landscape timbers so we know exactly where we need to raise or lower to get nice and level.

We are hoping to get one half level enough to start movng some of the screenings up and get it out of our way, when he had it dumped he missed the mark about 2', and now it is smack dab in the way, uggggggggggs.

Well enough for now, if we don't pass out from the heat maybe I can post a couple more pics this evening, depends on if we get far enough to make it worthwhile.

 

[Mike_k]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Just want to say love the pictures! Keep them coming! Good luck!

I have never been a fan of paying to use a website, but this site is so impressive in several ways, first as stated fully loaded with actual useful information, and organized where you can find what you need, and the fact that it is totally free to access all this wonderful information with no hidden gotcha's, I am planning to become a supporter....

Oh, and if you do become a lifetime supporter, you get $10 off of the TF-100 test kit from http://www.tftestkits.net/ - which you will be needing soon! You will get other discounts as well. Definitely worth it!

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Mike,

First TY and glad you enjoy the pics.

Yes I know about the discount, and will be both paying my membership dues and ordering the TF-100, but it is most likely going to be sometime around the middle of July, we are on a very low fixed income right now so we have to pinch pennies until they scream and then pinch some more, lol.

Right now the cost of fuel for the tractor is killing us, our backhoe is not running, so we are using our best friends 3400 Ford Commercial with a front end loader and 6' Gill box blade on the back.

It is a good old tractor, and is getting the job done, but the front loader bucket only holds about 1/3 what our backhoe does, so shuttling clay 250 yards is very time consuming, and it is in dire need of new injectors, it is over fueling so bad it is not funny, we even had to slid a piece of stove pipe over the muffler so the smoke goes over our head, my other half ran it a few days ago for a full day and by the time he came in he couldn't even talk, he had to take the next day off to clear his lungs and sinuses, he is still a lil horse even now, but thankfully we have the bulk of what we need moved up here so we are getting a small break from running that thing.

We have a small Kubota 4x4 and he took the brush hog off yesterday and put the blade on so we can use it to help do the finer finish grading, we love that lil thing, it will run forever on 5 gallons of fuel.

We are wetting the whole area down each evening before we come in and then running the big Ford over it with the fluid filled tires is really packing the clay down to where the lil tractor and blade will barely scrape it, the other half had to put some concrete blocks on the blade to make it heavier, lol.

OK, I am cooled off some now so back to work, lol.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Hey everyone,

I am looking to pick the brains and tape measures of 22' Intex Ultraframe owners.

Our build site is getting close to ready for the pool, but I still need/want to get some accurate info on this pool ahead of time so I can get ahead of the game before the pool gets here and we are ready to actually set it up.

We are going to cover the entire base area of clay/earth with heavy black plastic before we stake the landscape timbers for the 24' x 24' surrounding the pool, then fill with screenings, then pavers buried in the screenings to within 1/2" of the paver tops, then cutouts in the foam for the pavers, so when finished the top of the foam is level and even with the top of the pavers, (I don't like the idea of setting the support legs on the foam).

Anyway since we are going to bury the PVC water lines we need to know sorta where the connections will be on the pool so we can get it done ahead of time rather than having to wait until the pool gets here to do all the work above the plastic.

Anyway, here is the info I am looking for:

I have read here that since it is 22' in Dia, there will be 22 support legs.

Since these pools are not a perfect circle, I am guessing that the 22' is measured from the widest point between 2 support legs, is this correct (A) in drawing?

What is the shortest measurement across the dia of the pool (B) in drawing?

[attachment=0:2mwdu20t]Master_Layout-O.jpg[/attachment:2mwdu20t]

How far from center to center are the support legs?

It is advertised as 52" deep, is this to the top rail, or the actual waterline?

How far apart are the water port holes in the sides, and how far from the ground up to each?

Are the ports centered between 2 support legs?

I made a drawing of the foam layout but at that time I just tried counting the support legs in the picture they have on the website, I didn't know until I read on here that the number of legs = ft in dia for these pools, so I need to redo my layout drawings so I can better visualize how this is all going to work.

Any help/info would be greatly appreciated.

I am just the type that likes to plan ahead as much as possible, less gotchas to jump up and bit me in the backside that way, lol.

Thanks Again

Hoping and Wishing a great Holiday Weekend to Everyone...Please be SAFE, and Enjoy.

 

[mrodgers]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Only have 4 inches of water in mine right now. On my phone, so cant see your image right now...

52 inches is to top of rail.

ground to center skimmer hole approximately 36 1/2 inches

ground to outflowing hole center about 43 inches

36 inches center leg to center of next leg. You are correct, 22 legs in total.

Looks like 72 inches horizontal between holes.

Yes, holes are centered between 2 support legs with a free section of leg/vinyl/leg between the holes.

There are 2 drain holes at bottom of pool. 1 offset below the return hole (offset closer to leg going towards skimmer hole) and another drain directly across pool on the other side.

Sorry, can't get true diameter measurement as its really dark out here, lol.

Hope that helps some. We just got ours set up yesterday and have been slowly running our well all day today. We've got 4 inches, and that mere 4 inches is about 800 gallons I think.

Oh, and its an absolute fantastic pool thus far for the price. We had just a 12 foot blue metal frame and the ultra frame is so much nicer. I laid down 1 inch foam and it feels fantastic. Nice and sift on the feet. I used 15 sheets (4x8) and have a 4x4 sheet left over not including the scraps from trimming around the 24 foot hole I leveled.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Mike,

Thank You so very much, that really helps, still some info I need, but since it is dark, you did a great job thus far,

If you can find time tomorrow during the daylight to get the other measurements for me I would be forever grateful.

Glad to hear you are in the filling process, I would be very interested to find out how long it takes to fill it with your well too, we will be filling ours from a well.

Are you using a garden hose? Hose size?

I am going to tee off a 1" or 3/4" water line just before our pressure tank and run that out to our equipment pad and connect it to the fill line with a shut off and one way valve so I can fill/add water faster than using a 1/2" or 5/8" garden hose.

I think our well pump is supposed to deliver 10 GPM, and it is a 1" supply line to the pressure tank, (not sure if the 1" line will move that much water, guess I need to do some calculations).

Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday weekend and the pool gets full enough to enjoy it.

Please be safe

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Hey everyone,

Well we are getting down to the "real" work now, starting the hard part, hand leveling and tamping, (most of the base area is within a few inches of level), so it is too close to finish with the tractors.

We are not going to level the entire are by hand at this point, as long as the outside edges are perfectly level, (the landscape timbers), and the rest is within the few inches we will just do the final leveling with the screenings.

Thanks to Mike aka mrodgers providing me with some much needed info we are going to go ahead and bury all the water lines too, (below the frost line) and then insulate everything above ground as we do not plan to take the pool down for winter, now for a question?

What would everyone recommend we use 1.5" or go with 2", or bigger?

At some point in the future we will be upgrading the pump, filter and adding a SWG, so we don't want to have to dig out the water lines and redo them later.

Any other items we need to address before we cover the base (clay/earth) with the heavy black plastic, stake down the timbers and level the screenings?

Thanks for all the help and advice, it is all Very Much Appreciated.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Hey everyone,

Well having a hard time getting to bed so I thought I would past a couple of pics for your enjoyment, nothing impressive, but we think it is a good idea, lol, for our piece of mind anyway.

This was night before last after we knocked off for the night.

They show the site and how close we are getting to level, plus we used the PCV conduit we will be using to run power to the shed to create a circle approx the same dia as the pool.

It still has to move to the right hand side about 2 ft yet, but still have the rock pile in the way.

I will end up having to get on the roof to get the whole thing in one picture, lol, the backdoor is just not high enough.

We think the PVC does a pretty good job of visualizing the area required, and where we still need to add around the edges to make sure we don't have anything give way and slide out causing a pool collapse.

They aren't much, but hope you enjoy, and maybe give someone else and idea.

 

[mrodgers]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Samantha (great name, always liked that name),
I am only trickling the water in as my wife is paranoid about the well. She grew up with a bad well. I am just calculating what I need in bleach for 4ppm and adding in the evening in hopes for it to hold good until we can start filtering. I have a roof gutter set up to divert over to the pool witb a filter sock I grabbed at work tied on the end hoping for rain (which forecast looks great for picnics, not so good for pool filling, LOL.)

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Mike,

Very Innovative, now if you could just figure out how to get mother nature to work with ya, but of course, the weather always does just the opposite of what we want or need, sighs...lol

Good luck and enjoy the picnic, or the rain whichever you end up with.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Hey everyone,

Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Just thought I would bump this back to the top since everyone should be coming back in from their weekend out.

Mike has provided me with some great info but still have a couple more things I need to know yet.

Thanks

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

Bump

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

How big is your equipment area?

Hey everyone,

We are still working and planning, and thought I would check and see how big of an area everyone is using for their equipment to sit on.

Even though we will not be putting a heater on our pad if you do please list it along with all the other equipmet you have and the overall size of your pad.

Thanks

 

[linen]

Re: New to site and new pool project starting this year.

What would everyone recommend we use 1.5" or go with 2", or bigger?

Since you have the choice, I would go 2".

Any other items we need to address before we cover the base (clay/earth) with the heavy black plastic, stake down the timbers and level the screenings?

I can't think of anything.

 

[Samantha Sabrina]

Re: Looking for 22' Intex Ultraframe owners

Linen,

Thanks, that is pretty much what we were thinking.

Since Mike told me there are drain plugs on both side of the pool we arer going to run a 3" drain line under the pool, so both drains can be opened and not have to mess with hoses or soaking our insulation in the event we need/want to drain it.

Anyone else have ideas of things that might be good to address ahead of time?