Cost of Intex Ultraframe 16x32

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M

mpiliero

0
Mar 14, 2018
117
East Northport, NY
Hi all,

Just wondering whether anyone can tell me the "usual" cost of an Intex Ultraframe 16x32 - they currently aren't available at all, but want to get a sense of what I should expect to pay if we are ever back in the "non-covid" world lol (hopefully next spring).

Also wondering whether I could put one on a concrete pad or whether the weight of the supports would put the pad at risk of cracking. We were thinking of pouring a pad to use for a level surface for the pool in the summer (I would put foam boards underneath the pool for comfort) and sports-related activities in the shoulder seasons. Maybe even try to do an ice skating rink in the winter!

Thanks!!
 
I paid $1249, including shipping for mine through a third party vendor on walmart.com back in early feb this year before all the craziness started happening. I was pretty happy with that price and it was at least a couple hundred lower than I could find it anywhere else at that time.

As far as the concrete pad goes, I would think that would be ok as long as your concrete pad is at least 4” thick. People using concrete pavers often see the pavers crack under the weight of the pool if they use pavers that are 2” thick or less. People using 4” thick concrete blocks don’t have a problem, so I would think that that would translate into thickness for a concrete pad as well.

The only potential issue I could see with a concrete pad is that I believe that typically they install them at a slight angle to allow water to drain off of the pad. Ideally for a pool you would want it to be perfectly level, but no more than an inch out of level across the entire pad in any case. You would have to talk to your concrete guy to see if that would be possible over such a large surface area.
 
Brett S said:
I paid $1249, including shipping for mine through a third party vendor on walmart.com back in early feb this year before all the craziness started happening. I was pretty happy with that price and it was at least a couple hundred lower than I could find it anywhere else at that time.

As far as the concrete pad goes, I would think that would be ok as long as your concrete pad is at least 4” thick. People using concrete pavers often see the pavers crack under the weight of the pool if they use pavers that are 2” thick or less. People using 4” thick concrete blocks don’t have a problem, so I would think that that would translate into thickness for a concrete pad as well.

The only potential issue I could see with a concrete pad is that I believe that typically they install them at a slight angle to allow water to drain off of the pad. Ideally for a pool you would want it to be perfectly level, but no more than an inch out of level across the entire pad in any case. You would have to talk to your concrete guy to see if that would be possible over such a large surface area.
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Thank you! And good point about the concrete pad. I had actually thought about that at one point, but had since forgotten lol. We are so all over the place with our pool decisions - all the way from Intex to full on inground, and everything in between. We currently have a 16x16 Intex which we have had for 3 seasons and has treated us very well.
 
That was a good deal @Brett S ! Was it the Ultra Frame or the XTR? I want to say mine was $1600 like 4 years ago, it was the Ultra Frame, not the XTR. I’m wanting to stay in that price range for the XTR. I’m hoping to get one in the next year or so.
 
Windylou said:
That was a good deal @Brett S ! Was it the Ultra Frame or the XTR? I want to say mine was $1600 like 4 years ago, it was the Ultra Frame, not the XTR. I’m wanting to stay in that price range for the XTR. I’m hoping to get one in the next year or so.
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Mine is an XTR. It was definitely a good price. Normally you can get a good deal at the end of the swimming season, but given everything that’s been going on lately I don’t know what the prices are gonna look like this year.
 
Brett S said:
Mine is an XTR. It was definitely a good price. Normally you can get a good deal at the end of the swimming season, but given everything that’s been going on lately I don’t know what the prices are gonna look like this year.
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That was my plan for this year, but we all know that’s not gonna happen. I don’t need it, that’s just what I’d like to do for a more permanent pool. So I’ll just plan for next year.
 
Windylou said:
That was a good deal @Brett S ! Was it the Ultra Frame or the XTR? I want to say mine was $1600 like 4 years ago, it was the Ultra Frame, not the XTR. I’m wanting to stay in that price range for the XTR. I’m hoping to get one in the next year or so.
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How has the Ultraframe held up for you over 4 years? Did you do SWG?

I'm so nervous about supply, I'm questioning whether to pull the trigger on an Ultraframe that is a (somewhat) reasonable price and currently available. I mean, still overpriced, but not by thousands, like they have been marked up this year.

I'd be satisfied to get 4 seasons out of the pool. We got 3 seasons out of our smaller Intex Prism frame.

Or keep on waiting and hoping the supply situation improves and get the XTR for a reasonable price.....
 

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We did an ultraframe with salt water and only got 2 years out of it. The salt water corroded the metal, at the end of the second year it was falling apart.
 
Call me excessive, but we hose the entire pool down every weekend. I also backwash and rinse every 2 weeks. I clean the SWG plates with muriatic acid every 4 weeks.
 
mpiliero said:
How has the Ultraframe held up for you over 4 years? Did you do SWG?

I'm so nervous about supply, I'm questioning whether to pull the trigger on an Ultraframe that is a (somewhat) reasonable price and currently available. I mean, still overpriced, but not by thousands, like they have been marked up this year.

I'd be satisfied to get 4 seasons out of the pool. We got 3 seasons out of our smaller Intex Prism frame.

Or keep on waiting and hoping the supply situation improves and get the XTR for a reasonable price.....
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I would hold out for the XTR, but if you’re happy with 4 years, then go for it. I’m hoping the XTR will last me about 10 years. Mine is great. I do use saltwater, and my corners are terribly rusted. Not to the point that I’m worried though. This was kinda like my test run pool. I’m considering replacing the corners with some PVC since it’s now probably going to be another year before I get to upgrade. I live in East Texas, so mine stays up all year. I usually close for winter, but I’m planning to keep it open this winter. Although it’s already too cold. The kids were in it yesterday, but I couldn’t stay in, it was so cold. Got out & checked the temp, it was 76! I also ran into so many hiccups getting mine put up, but it’s in great shape considering.
 
clduncan said:
We did an ultraframe with salt water and only got 2 years out of it. The salt water corroded the metal, at the end of the second year it was falling apart.
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I read so many of these stories when I first got mine up & was just terrified. I’ve been lucky. But having the time to see others troubleshoot, etc, I’m fairly certain we can really extend the life of our XTR when the time comes.
 
CT-Steven said:
Call me excessive, but we hose the entire pool down every weekend. I also backwash and rinse every 2 weeks. I clean the SWG plates with muriatic acid every 4 weeks.
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That does sound excessive.lol. But if you’ve got the energy, then go for it. I never considered the impact of cleaning the SWG plates as far as corrosion, etc. I’m really not good about cleaning mine. I only do it about once per year. I think I will try to focus on being better at that. Thanks!
 
CT-Steven said:
I clean the SWG plates with muriatic acid every 4 weeks.
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Keep in mind that each time you clean the SWG plates with acid it will slowly erode the special coating on the plates that allows them to generate chlorine. If you clean them excessively it will definitely reduce their lifespan. They are designed to be cleaned occasionally when scale builds up, so it’s not like you should never clean them, but just cleaning them for the sake of cleaning them on a schedule will definitely reduce their lifespan. You would probably be better off inspecting them every four weeks and only cleaning if necessary.

Edited to add: If you are seeing significant scale building up every four weeks, then you should probably check your chemistry because you should be able to go much longer than that between cleanings.
 
CT-Steven said:
I also backwash and rinse every 2 weeks.
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I don’t mean to pick on you here, but one quick note about this as well. It seems counter intuitive, but a dirty filter will actually clean the water better than a clean filter (at least to a point). The sand filter works by trapping dirt and particles in the small holes between the grains of sand. As the filter traps these particles it winds up reducing the size of the holes that the water travels through, so as the filter gets dirtier it can trap smaller and smaller particles and clean the water more effectively than a clean filter. Of course at some point the filter gets so dirty that the pump will need to work too hard to pass water through the filter so it will need to be backwashed then.

But your sand filter will actually clean your water better if you don’t backwash as often. Keep an eye on the filter pressure and only backwash when the pressure rises 25% over the clean filter pressure. Maybe check the pressure it every two weeks, but only backwash and rinse if the pressure has risen enough.
 
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