Hi all,
I've been reading these posts for some time preparing to set up our Intex 18ft round prism frame pool. We thought we did everything right but it was so not successful.
Our yard is sloped. We talked to several landscapers about digging the high side and leveling out an area. One landscaper proposed we do a three sided retaining wall/box and backfill with soil. We were iffy on this but he assured us he'd done this before with success. Fast forward to a finished product compressed with a fortune in dirt and a bill twice what we were quoted. That's a different story....
The ground was solid enough but littered with rocks from the fill soil. We raked and pulled them out and retamped. We leveled with a post in the middle and drilled a hole in a 2x4 to swing around and leveled the site at 12 to 18 spots. We bought pavers for the legs but for whatever reason decided against them at the last minute. Temporary insanity I suppose.
When we started to fill the pool we noticed the one side of the floor was covered first but we didn't think it was off much. We babysat the legs for hours making sure they were level and plumb. The top ring also read level the whole way around except one spot was off maybe half an inch.
Once almost filled, the pool was 3 inches off level. Then the hose fell out and ran under the pool for quite some time on the already too low(deep) side and two legs sunk another inch. We were crushed but knew we had to start over.
We drained the whole pool and removed it from the site. This is our new game plan. I really need some guidance as to whether we have the right idea.
We made a bunyip. It's amazingly accurate. Big surprise, the site we thought was so level is off 3.5 inches. ??
We are going to find the lowest spot on the site and rake and dig and tamp until the bunyip says we're good. Next we were going to assemble the top ring and position pavers under each "T". Then we will sink the pavers(12x12x2) until they are flush and the bunyip is happy. Then we try again???? Am I missing anything?
My other questions are if we should use stone dust anywhere because our soil is not untouched and has been compressed into this "box"? And when you speak of stone dust, do you mean paver sand or stone dust that is like fine chips of ground up stones, more like extra fine gravel?
Any suggestions and information would be appreciated!!
Thank you!!
Wanted to add this is not a permanent installation. We will take down in the winters. Don't know if that makes a difference.
I've been reading these posts for some time preparing to set up our Intex 18ft round prism frame pool. We thought we did everything right but it was so not successful.
Our yard is sloped. We talked to several landscapers about digging the high side and leveling out an area. One landscaper proposed we do a three sided retaining wall/box and backfill with soil. We were iffy on this but he assured us he'd done this before with success. Fast forward to a finished product compressed with a fortune in dirt and a bill twice what we were quoted. That's a different story....
The ground was solid enough but littered with rocks from the fill soil. We raked and pulled them out and retamped. We leveled with a post in the middle and drilled a hole in a 2x4 to swing around and leveled the site at 12 to 18 spots. We bought pavers for the legs but for whatever reason decided against them at the last minute. Temporary insanity I suppose.
When we started to fill the pool we noticed the one side of the floor was covered first but we didn't think it was off much. We babysat the legs for hours making sure they were level and plumb. The top ring also read level the whole way around except one spot was off maybe half an inch.
Once almost filled, the pool was 3 inches off level. Then the hose fell out and ran under the pool for quite some time on the already too low(deep) side and two legs sunk another inch. We were crushed but knew we had to start over.
We drained the whole pool and removed it from the site. This is our new game plan. I really need some guidance as to whether we have the right idea.
We made a bunyip. It's amazingly accurate. Big surprise, the site we thought was so level is off 3.5 inches. ??
We are going to find the lowest spot on the site and rake and dig and tamp until the bunyip says we're good. Next we were going to assemble the top ring and position pavers under each "T". Then we will sink the pavers(12x12x2) until they are flush and the bunyip is happy. Then we try again???? Am I missing anything?
My other questions are if we should use stone dust anywhere because our soil is not untouched and has been compressed into this "box"? And when you speak of stone dust, do you mean paver sand or stone dust that is like fine chips of ground up stones, more like extra fine gravel?
Any suggestions and information would be appreciated!!
Thank you!!
Wanted to add this is not a permanent installation. We will take down in the winters. Don't know if that makes a difference.
