Unlevel Intex Ultra Metal Frame Pool!

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sugarmyst

0
Jul 16, 2014
8
NY
Hello everyone, so glad I found this forum! What started out as an exciting project is slowly turning into a nightmare.

We landed a great deal: A free used but in good condition Intex 12 x 24 x 52 ultra frame rectangular pool. After sorting through it all we only needed to purchase 4 inexpensive replacement parts. Husband spent a day leveling off the spot with topsoil using an extension ladder with a level to guide him. Since it is on solid ground (not sand or asphalt) we decided to bypass using footers/supports under the u-brackets.

Started filling pool which coincided with 3 days of pretty heavy rain. Pool is filled now, and it's still raining heavily, and now it is clearly unlevel by several inches. This became apparant right AFTER I dumped 200 pounds of pool salt in it. Obviously I'd like to avoid draining it and starting over, but don't know if that's possible.

Does anyone familiar with these types of pools have any advice? Is there a way to dig out the high parts slightly? I have two teen boys who can get rough in the pool and there safety comes first. Fear of flooding my neighbor's yard and getting sued comes second, and the town telling me to take it down comes third! Attaching pics, I hope they show the unlevel issue. Thank you in advance!
 

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Welcome.

Your husband went wrong when he added fill dirt and tried to level it. You can not add fill dirt and you can see why right? For every gallon of pool water in that pool, it adds 8 lbs of weight. So, just for grins, lets say the pool is 12,000 gallons. That is... drumroll please.... 96,000 lbs of weight on fill dirt. If that doesn't make your head spin, I don't know what will.

You have to take the pool down and relevel it. We could never recommend you keep it up and be on your merry way with it looking like this.
 
I want to add that I read through a lot of these posts before we put up the pool, we researched it well. One of the things I'm wondering is, one of the B poles were slightly bent, but still fit together on the side that is lower, I'm wondering if that could be causing this problem as it was level when we started filling it. The pictures I posted are close ups and make it look worse. It wont let me post any more pictures, but it's less than a 3 inch tilt. Maybe 2.5 iches. I've read many different replies on this forum and realize that ideally it should be drained and leveled but also see that many people use these pools with a 2 to 3 inch tilt with no problems. I guess I was looking for reassurance that it will be ok to use it like this! I'm not searching for perfection. Draining 8,000 gallons of salted water is not exactly easy. :(
 
I can't see from your pictures, but it looks like you should be able to dig down the higher posts to be level with the lower ones. You have to jack up a spot near each post so you can dig out from under the post. This should get you by for this summer, and then unfortunately at the end of this season you will need to drain and disassemble and prepare the ground properly next year if you plan to leave it up. If/When you re-do it I highly suggest using some sort of paver under each support leg
 
Thank you Itssabby. I just went out again and thoroughly assessed the situation. I believe the problem is solely due to not putting a paver under the supports, as the low corner has a support that is sinking badly into the soaked ground. Kicking myself for thinking this would be fine! If only all the supports would sink evenly. Ya right! Hoping we can figure out how to dig out the higher spots a big, and that this heavy rain is done for the summer! I've seen some posts on here about jacking up the pool and my husband is pretty handy. Thanks again!
 
You can NOT jack the pool up and dig out the high end. You will risk a catastrophe in doing so. A jack is not stable enough to withstand the pressure, it can kick out, bend the frame, you could puncture the liner.

Take the pool down and re-level it. Take all that fill out and find the lowest spot and start digging into solid ground.
 
Can the corners move freely? I have the same pool and at first two of my corner braces were out too far stuck and this was causing one corner to appear low. Banged on it with a sledgehammer and got it in and it fixed the problem.
Doubt it's your issue, and if it's really out of level 3" (or even 2") I'd drain, re-level, and re-fill.
 
Hm, looking at the pictures more, is it possible to get a picture of the entire length of the pool (the 22 ft. length)?
If it's as out of level as it looks, a stuck corner brace is probably the least of your worries.
 

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Re: If you are 2 to 3 inches out of level the pool is not going to collapse

Intex installation instructions state the pool must be level, and the supports should be placed on pressure treated wood across the grain. You can download the manual here .

You are free to set up your pool however you choose, but the administrators and moderators of TFP are not going to say it is safe to go against the manufacturer's installation instructions and use a pool that is 2-3" out of level.
 
Re: If you are 2 to 3 inches out of level the pool is not going to collapse

Hey all, wanted to follow up on my original post. First I want to say that everyone who said it should be drained was correct, that is the only way to remedy sinking U-brackets on the intex Ultra Metal Frame pools properly. But for us, having got the pool for free and not having unlimited time, it wasn't an option. It was either take it down for the season or try to make it work. My husband comes from an engineering family and was able to lift 2 of the brackets using a hydraulic jack, digging and levering. He was able to slip cement pavers under them. The pool is still somewhat unlevel and if we get heavy rains again more legs could sink, we are fully aware of this.

That said, the pool is extremely sturdy and we are confident there is no risk of it collapsing. It has been used by rough playing teenage boys and I feel its sturdier than most steel framed permanent pools! The plan is to enjoy it this summer, take it down at the end and move it for next summer to a different part of the yard. When we put it up next year we'll do it right. If any of the metal frame pieces are bent I have no problem buying replacement ones, but I doubt they will be. This pool is awesome and is SO enjoyable! Again, its not ideal and I know no one will condone using it this way. But it works for us right now. Intex really designed these things well. The SWG is awesome, water is crystal clear, and I love the size! (12 x 24 x 52 deep). Thanks for everyone's help.

 
Re: If you are 2 to 3 inches out of level the pool is not going to collapse

zea3 said:
Intex installation instructions state the pool must be level, and the supports should be placed on pressure treated wood across the grain. You can download the manual here .

You are free to set up your pool however you choose, but the administrators and moderators of TFP are not going to say it is safe to go against the manufacturer's installation instructions and use a pool that is 2-3" out of level.
Click to expand...


They wont let anyone else say it either.
 
sugarmyst said:
Re: If you are 2 to 3 inches out of level the pool is not going to collapse

Hey all, wanted to follow up on my original post. First I want to say that everyone who said it should be drained was correct, that is the only way to remedy sinking U-brackets on the intex Ultra Metal Frame pools properly. But for us, having got the pool for free and not having unlimited time, it wasn't an option. It was either take it down for the season or try to make it work. My husband comes from an engineering family and was able to lift 2 of the brackets using a hydraulic jack, digging and levering. He was able to slip cement pavers under them. The pool is still somewhat unlevel and if we get heavy rains again more legs could sink, we are fully aware of this.

That said, the pool is extremely sturdy and we are confident there is no risk of it collapsing. It has been used by rough playing teenage boys and I feel its sturdier than most steel framed permanent pools! The plan is to enjoy it this summer, take it down at the end and move it for next summer to a different part of the yard. When we put it up next year we'll do it right. If any of the metal frame pieces are bent I have no problem buying replacement ones, but I doubt they will be. This pool is awesome and is SO enjoyable! Again, its not ideal and I know no one will condone using it this way. But it works for us right now. Intex really designed these things well. The SWG is awesome, water is crystal clear, and I love the size! (12 x 24 x 52 deep). Thanks for everyone's help.

Click to expand...
 
I have a similar issue, in that two of the legs have sunk and I started to notice that the pool is no longer level. I would love to talk to your husband about how he used the jack.
 
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