Hi Everyone, I am new to the forum and this is my first post here. First off, a tip of the hat to the hosts, admins and moderators who have produced this excellent resource for us all. Secondly, thanks to the great community who have provided me hours of great reading tips.
I bought an 18' x 54"
Intex Ultra Frame and it has been patiently waiting in its box (along with the kids) for me to prep the yard. My yard is already fairly level, but I have a couple questions before I begin:
My yard varies in height from high to low by about an inch, how level does it have to be if I plan to use styrofoam?
The roots and soil in my yard are quite old (several years), some weeds, grass, etc. Should I kill the vegetation first?
I plan to use a 10 mil tarp, then styrofoam, then another tarp on top of that.
Ideas For Heating Your Pool
I've seen a lot of people brainstorm on ways to heat their pools, especially in colder climates. I personally live in the Northwest. From what I have read, styrofoam helps quite a bit to insulate the pool bottom from the earth. I think I've found a somewhat slow (2-3 days), but efficient way to do so at the expense of a bit of electrical wiring, and slight electric bill increase, that may appeal to some of you.
Install a tankless water heater like used in RVs and at point-of-use in homes. This is the one I chose because it is only 110V and appears it can work with lower amperage circuits as well.
Next, I purchased a
thick solar blanket like this one. This should also help in not only heating the pool, but reducing evaporation at night when the wind crosses the surface.
Other Purchases
Lastly I bought the
Intex Saltwater System, but I hear that most are either buying the integrated saltwater+pump system or upgrading their pumps.
In preparation, I recently bought a
Black & Decker Cultivator to help bust up the soil a bit to remove the grass. My yard is pretty dry, compact, and has largely been neglected by the previous home owner (and admittedly a bit by myself lately). I managed to chew up about 1/5th of the pool ground area before the battery started losing it's ability to keep up. Does anyone make a plug-in pack that can snap in place of the battery for these tools? That'd be awesome! Looks like it'll be a long process, but for $100 at your hardware store, it sure beats renting a sod cutter and having to rent a truck/trailer to unload it. Best of all, I get to keep something out of the $100 spent.
Please share your feedback, thoughts, comments, etc. I really hope someone can benefit from the suggestions above, and I hope keep learning more from you all as well!
this thread is kinda us intex owners own little community get together! there have been some great ideas brought to light here. everything you mentioned are very good things to do. the ground prep is very important. get it as level as possible and free of rocks and debris. mine is off 1-2'' on one end but it has not been a problem. i can highly recommend the SWG and the intex sand filter. both have been great for me. my water has stayed perfect!
