Help! Need to level 12’ Bestway pool on sloped concrete driveway

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Brandon3S

Member
Apr 20, 2021
11
Vancouver
Pool Size
1236
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
So, I’m stumped on how to complete this project safely. The concrete driveway behind our house has about a 3-4” slope over 12’. Initially, I was going to build a leveled platform for the pool to sit on with wood, but lumber prices are outrageous in Canada right now. So that’s out of the question..

I’ve heard that pavers, roofing shingles, sand and rigid foam can accomplish the job. But I can’t picture how I could create a “wedge” like pad safely without any washout or blowouts. The pool will only be up for the summer season also. Would appreciate any input! Thank you!
 
Welcome to TFP :)

Is there any place that is already almost flat that you could put it... The problem with building something up is the weight of the pool.. your pool will have about 3600 gallons that weigh over 30,000 pounds or 13,608 KG.. whatever you use would have to take some weight..
 
I don't know if it will be any cheaper, but the only alternative I can think of is using retaining wall stones to build your box. Instead of dry stacking you will need to mortar them together to prevent shifting, and fill the box with compacted 1" lifts of crusher to build a level pad. You can put sheets of foam insulation on top of the pad if you choose.
 
cowboycasey said:
Welcome to TFP :)

Is there any place that is already almost flat that you could put it... The problem with building something up is the weight of the pool.. your pool will have about 3600 gallons that weigh over 30,000 pounds or 13,608 KG.. whatever you use would have to take some weight..
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Thanks for the welcome!

Unfortunately there is not..my partner is insistent and adamant that the 12’ pool gets put up this year and the only space is in the back.

We had an 8’ bestway setup next to our house last year though. However, I was so anxious of a break and destroying the foundation of my rental unit and house next door. It was also my first pool. The ground was prepped, could have been better but it was still of 2-2.5”

Anyways, she bought a new one this year and I’m stuck with finding a temporary solution.
 
zea3 said:
I don't know if it will be any cheaper, but the only alternative I can think of is using retaining wall stones to build your box. Instead of dry stacking you will need to mortar them together to prevent shifting, and fill the box with compacted 1" lifts of crusher to build a level pad. You can put sheets of foam insulation on top of the pad if you choose.
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Well, here’s the estimate I got for wood. They quoted $1400 for the materials alone just in 2x4’s ($89 each) and plywood ($68 each). What would be the biggest cost in the method you suggested?

Haha and I’m not much of a stone guy so what is “1 inch lifts of crusher”?

Thanks!
 
Do you think I will have to build a wall all the way around or just one one side?

The pink line in the pictures is the pool length vertically. The van will be moved in the future for the pool.

I was also thinking I could build a base with pallets, add feet to level, cover it with plywood and rigid foam?
 

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"Crusher" is a name for crushed stone used as a base for paving roads or making foundations when concrete is not being used. A 1" run of crusher is laying down about an inch thickness of crushed stone and compacting it with a plate compactor or weighted roller. You add it in 1" layers, level and compact it until you have a stable base. You will need a frame around it to keep it from spreading out from the weight of the pool.
 
Brandon3S said:
The pink line in the pictures is the pool length vertically. The van will be moved in the future for the pool.
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Can you re-upload your pictures directly and not in a zipped file? This site will host the photos directly, and a lot of people here (myself included) often browse on phones and can’t (or won’t) download zipped files.
 

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Brandon3S said:
It says my photos are too loo large for the host website. So I had to compress them, just tried again still won’t work.
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Interesting. The site limits sizes to 10 MB each. And my experience in zipping .jpg pictures has never actually reduced their size. Are these not jpegs?
 
jseyfert3 said:
Interesting. The site limits sizes to 10 MB each. And my experience in zipping .jpg pictures has never actually reduced their size. Are these not jpegs?
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They are pictures I took from my iPhone 11, so not sure why I can’t upload them without compressing them..Maybe I have my pictures set too high quality. Anyhow, one of the mods edited the pictures into an above post! Thanks!
 
Check out this post New above ground oval 18x33 install

This is what I did with crusher run, basically it is small stone with stone dust and you can have it delivered for just about nothing... I think it was about 20 dollars a ton plus the trucking cost... Just call one of your rock trucking companies near you and ask for crusher run..

You would use this to raise the the side that is low by layering 1 inch level and compacting with water to "lock" the stone in place.. then you would do the next level the same way just working your way up to level :)

You will have to start about 2 to 3 foot bigger than what you need or use concrete blocks like @zea3 was talking about..
 
Brandon3S said:
They are pictures I took from my iPhone 11, so not sure why I can’t upload them without compressing them..Maybe I have my pictures set too high quality. Anyhow, one of the mods edited the pictures into an above post! Thanks!
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I've uploaded many pics directly from my iPhone 12 Pro, and with some exception they usually fit under the 10 MB limit. Where you uploading them directly from your phone or did you transfer them to a computer first?

What's interesting is that when I got on my computer and unpacked your .zip file (I was going to post the pics but a mod beat me to it) your pictures are only ~2.5 MB each. That should have posted no problem. Otherwise whatever process you used for zipping them didn't just zip them but also reduced their file size. So if you can isolate that part of the process without the zipping adding the files should be no issue. That or new members need so many posts before the 10 MB file limit is unlocked...

Anyway to answer your original question, I thought I remembered someone using foam under the liner and blocks of different heights to install an Intex on a sloped paved surface. I tried searching and did not find that, only a reference to someone else who had seen that and said they were still waiting to hear back how it worked. Basically there's a lot of questions on here about Intex pools on sloped surfaces and some ideas how to do that but nobody has actually come back and told the success story (with pictures!) of how they did it...
 
@jseyfert3 I wonder if that 2 inch hard foam that someone was using would work.. You would have to "shave" it down somehow but I seam to recall it could hold massive weight and not compact... I have no idea what foam it was I just remember reading it a couple weeks ago on a post we were working on...
 
You can use an electric carving knife to cut foam, or a plain hacksaw. You would have to stand the foam up on the long side and miter the cut to the correct length to get a wedge shape to level the driveway.
 
BoringDamo said:
The foam is XPS (Extruded Polystyrene) insulation. That may work but I’d suggest you’d need to still box around it.
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I wouldn’t think you’d need a box, flat sheets of foam aren’t going anywhere once they are laid down.

Strong supports for each leg, such as pressure treated wood, and of the appropriate height to counter the slope would be needed for sure though.
 
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