Intex Ultra Frame 16' round Build Thread

[frdvschvy]

We decided to do an inexpensive above ground pool after getting some quotes for doing an in ground pool. Well, our "inexpensive" project is quickly escalating with all the other associated costs. The pool was the cheap part. Doing an Intex Ultra Frame 16' X 48" round pool with upgraded Intex 2650 gph saltwater system and sand filter pump (plan to hard plumb). Started the project a couple weeks back and it has been slow going as I have been doing the majority of this solo when time allows. Anyways, enough with the words. Here are some pics to document the progress. More to come as we move along.

The future home of our Intex pool. That giant tree in the corner must go. Crazy intrusive roots, too much shade for the pool and it drops all kinds of crud.




Tree removed and stump/roots getting ground out




Removing sod. Dang those sod rolls can be heavy




Sod removed and sprinklers re-routed. Got the ground close to what I thought was level using a 10' 2X6 and carpenters level. Also built a pad and small retaining wall in the back corner for the equipment to go




Made a water level to double check my work only to discover the ground was WAY off and needed a lot more work to get where it needs to be. Let the digging begin!




Dig, measure, dig, dig, measure, then dig a bunch more. You can see the jug of blue windshield washer fluid for my water level hanging on the back fence. Simple technology that works great. Thanks science!




Did I mention there were a few roots in the ground from that old tree? This made things FUN!






Days of digging in 2 hour spurts and the rough level cut is complete. Time for a beer or 10!

 

[frdvschvy]

Sorry for the delay. Been busy working... and enjoying the new pool. Still have to do landscaping around the pool and few small things but the bulk of the labor is behind me. My muscles are thankful this thing is almost done lol.

Digging and setting pavers to level within 1/8". A homemade water level made it easy to level them out.




Pump/filter setup and filled.




Decomposed Granite leveled and packed with a plate compactor. Gorilla Pad went down over this (no pics of Gorilla Pad).




Pool setup and my little helper working on filling it up.




Hard plumbed with a fountain






Put a black landscaping border around the base of the legs and then bamboo fencing to clean up the look of the pool (and help keep debris away from the liner)




Fountain doing it's job




Built a PVC umbrella / hose holder. Works great!




Made a paver walkway and pad for the ladder. A new ladder has been ordered and should arrive in a few days.




The kids enjoying all the hard work




Hoping to have the landscaping done by next week and finish it off. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for this project! Thanks for all the good advice and suggestions others have posted here at Trouble Free Pool. It has been a great resource!

 

[Blacklisted]

Looking good, keep the updates coming.

 

[frdvschvy]

Sorry for the delay, been busy working to exhaustion in the back yard lol. Updated the second post above with updates and pics. We are swimming. Wooohooo!

 

[Blacklisted]

Looks great, how did you bend the PVC for the hard plumbing? I am wanting to hard plumb mine and that looks good bent instead of strait.

 

[frdvschvy]

Looks great, how did you bend the PVC for the hard plumbing? I am wanting to hard plumb mine and that looks good bent instead of strait.

Thanks! I used flexible PVC/Spa hose for the curved sections. A little extra $ but made connecting things much easier and cleaner.

 

[toddefarrell]

Thanks! I used flexible PVC/Spa hose for the curved sections. A little extra $ but made connecting things much easier and cleaner.

I'm curious since this looks to be a two year old thread how the pool held up and if you had any pictures to share. I bought a 14' version of this pool 2 years ago decided it wasn't worth taking up and down every year so I bought a 10', but if it would last a few years in the weather I might do it this year.

 

[Shoei1]

Being in SoCal like the OP the only thing that I noticed was my liner that went through the top rails started to dry out. Our weather doesnt change much so Im sure its pretty easy on the pools. I got the 14' intex this year and I plan to keep it up year round now but do not plan to hard plum. I did that with my last pool and I had a lot of problems getting all the PVC fitting to work with the intex stuff. Going to keep it simple this time and just convert to a sand filter pump.