9 x 18 Intex Ultra Frame - Underlayment Questions

Jump to latest Follow Reply
rkipper

rkipper

0
Aug 17, 2013
32
East, TN
Hello Everyone! The guys are about done leveling the area outside, I am so excited. I have searched and read as many posts as I can here on the forum(and there are lots) but still want to ask a few questions.

Can anyone that has setup a rectangle pool tell me what you used under the legs and what size(height especially), along with the size of foam you used?

Has anyone had experience with using square pieces of wood under the legs vs one single long board as I have seen in a couple of posts? I plan to use wood, not pavers as most pavers break over time.

I am worried about using 1.5 inch board with 1 inch foam, is that going to cause it to not be level if the pool sinks down into the foam and the legs being up a bit higher??

Will the foam squish out a few inches as we fill with water? If so, then I should not let the foam meet the wood for the legs, correct? I should leave a few inches between the foam and my wood for legs, right?

I want to thank anyone in advance for your thoughts and info. :p

level1.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]


Rkipper
 
Hi there I have the exact same pool and we are up to the same place! We are installing artificial turf under our pool so I won't need foam! We put concrete pavers under the legs as your pool when full will weigh 17 tonnes! Anything you put under 17 tonnes will be pretty flat! :)

Dig the pavers in level with the ground, you will get a better level that way!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thinking about using 12'' x 15'' x 1.5'' boards under feet and sink them 1 inch into ground leaving half inch above ground. Then use the 3/4 pink tongue and groove Insulating Sheathing under the liner. I am wondering if the two will level out together ok or not. I don't think I should make the boards flush with ground if the pink foam is going to cause a light raise on the liner. I know a lot of instructions say to make them flush but those instructions are never talking about adding padding though.
 
I went to Home Depot this evening and bought the pink foam, boards for legs(had them cut to 15'' length while there) and gorilla tape. I also picked up an extra heavy duty tarp to put down on the ground instead of the one that comes with the pool. I will use the one that come with the pool over the pink foam. Plan to stain the boards with some dark choc. wood stain.



 
Make sure you tape the insulation together really well as the weight of the water will created little grooves when it presses down on the insulation, so tape it well so it doesn't spread too much under the weight of the water.. :)
 
They didn't put the foam under the legs on ours just under the bottom where the liner touches the ground. If recommend wood over concrete pavers most of ours cracked and we had to empty replace and relevel after the first year. Wood will work much better!! Enjoy! Our intex was great for 3 years and now we've upgraded to a hard sided pool!
 
I have a question about pits in the leveled ground if anyone has any advise as to how to fill these.. I am not exactly sure what happened but the rain showed me where I had two pitted areas. Overall all it is level from side to side but in the middle area are two pitted areas that are about 2 feet wide or so. I have read on the forum that some use crushed lime and sand and tamp it down, do you think that would work to fill those areas?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I got the pool up and running May/June 2014, had surgery shortly after so never had a chance to get got back here to finish telling about my setup. I filled in the pitted areas with more limestone gravel and tamped it down. Getting the ground even was no fun. I eventually used to different 2x4's and a 4' level to get it as even as possible. The ground ended up about one inch or so off from side to side.

2014-05-04%2015.18.44.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
I first put down the heavy duty tarp. On top of that I put down the pink 3/4 inch foam insulation and taped them together with gorilla tape. In the first image you can see how I pieced them together and then in second image it shows how I put more tape on each seam. It is a good idea to place as many rows of tape over each seem so that they don't separate later.


 
After the pool was set up and the pumps attached, you can see how the footings were placed. In the image you can also see that I used the cheap blue tarp that came with the pool over the pink insulation and then placed another heavy duty tarp on top of that. So it is limestone, HD tarp, pink insulation, blue tarp, HD tarp, then pool. The insulation came out past the legs though not enough for the wood footings to sit flush so I cut out an area for each wood footing. The wood footings are 2 inch thick, 15 x 12. and stained for added weather proofing. Make sure you sit the legs of pool in middle of the wood pieces because as it fills up, the pressure causes the legs to push out some.



- - - Updated - - -

Here is an close up shot of the wood footing.



- - - Updated - - -

After the deck was put up, I partially enclosed the pumps with some of the pink insulation to keep the rain off the equipment.

 
rkipper,

thanks for all the information, your pool is looking good! I plan to get the same pool tomorrow. Here in Sweden our toysrus has 25% off on all pools this week, so im excited. A couple of questions if i may...

For your 2 inch footings did you counter set into your limestone base to be level with 3/4 insulation? i couldn't quite tell by the pictures.

I plan to purchase a larger filter pump straight away (pool comes with a 1200gph sand filter pump) so i am trying to decide on sand filter pumps, either the 2100gph or the 2650gph intex. How is your 2650 working out? Do you think a 2100 will do the job?

thanks
 
Sorry it took so long to respond. Yes, I had to dig a little into the limestone so that the footings were level with the insulation. The insulation is going to sink in about a 1/4 inch after pool is filled also. I found the 2650 to a good size. If you have the money to spend get the 2650 instead of the 2100. I can actually use the cheap vac that came in the kit with the pool and with the 2650, it sucks up all leaves, sticks, etc. I am sure the 2100 will do the job though if that is what you have to get.
 
You are probably okay, but the wood under your legs should be wider than the legs. Your is close. Someone here posted that their legs bent because the board was a couple of inches less wide than yours.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply