Intex Ultra XTR 24x12 Temporary Install for Summer Months

[pierre722]

Hi everybody,

I'm so glad I found this site. So here is my situation. This COVID-19 has really derailed our spring and summer plans. We are a very active family during the spring and summer months. Every weekend we are out and about. We are either at the zoo, day trips to the city, the beach or out east (North Fork of Long Island), etc... During the week my girls are at camp. Well, things are going to be very different this year and so the wife and I were thinking of getting the above ground pool for the back yard. This is not going to be a permanent install. Just for the summer months (June, July, August) after which I will be removing it and storing it away. Can I get away with doing minimal prep work if this is only going to be for just a few months? If yes, what steps should I take? Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

[Brett S]

Really, the critical thing for any of the intex type pools is that your ground is perfectly level. Being off by much more than an inch over the entire dimension of the pool can cause problems. Even if your yard seems very flat it likely isn’t perfectly flat and will require some ground prep to make sure that it is completely level. However if your ground is very flat then it’s likely that the ground work will be minimal.

Keep in mind that after you take down the pool you will have a large area with no grass, so it will probably take a bit of additional work to put your yard back together if you don’t plan to put the pool back up again.

 

[pierre722]

Really, the critical thing for any of the intex type pools is that your ground is perfectly level. Being off by much more than an inch over the entire dimension of the pool can cause problems. Even if your yard seems very flat it likely isn’t perfectly flat and will require some ground prep to make sure that it is completely level. However if your ground is very flat then it’s likely that the ground work will be minimal.

Keep in mind that after you take down the pool you will have a large area with no grass, so it will probably take a bit of additional work to put your yard back together if you don’t plan to put the pool back up again.

Thanks for the response. I'm not too worried about the grass after the season. It will be something my lawn guy will take care of and we factored that in. What kind of prep work am I looking at in preparing the grass?

 

[chayne]

i spray roundup down each year just to keep anything from growing up through the liner. you can put down insulation foam, or antifatgue mats, which is what i did, then i put a ground cover over that. i did not want anything growing threw the liner. i got my mats at harbor freight. i love how they feel when you are in the pool. some on here use the pink insulation board you can buy at big box stores. make sure to put stepping stones or concrete blocks under each leg or you will have problems with legs sinking in the ground. i got the Intex XTR 16x48 last year and i loved it. cant wait for a nice and dry weekend so i can put ours back up.

 

[pierre722]

i spray roundup down each year just to keep anything from growing up through the liner. you can put down insulation foam, or antifatgue mats, which is what i did, then i put a ground cover over that. i did not want anything growing threw the liner. i got my mats at harbor freight. i love how they feel when you are in the pool. some on here use the pink insulation board you can buy at big box stores. make sure to put stepping stones or concrete blocks under each leg or you will have problems with legs sinking in the ground. i got the Intex XTR 16x48 last year and i loved it. cant wait for a nice and dry weekend so i can put ours back up.

Thanks so much for the advice. Looks like I have my work cut out for me lol.

 

[MrNorth]

We just set up a 30 m2 intex pool, and we made a foundation using concrete that we aquired rather cheap, so the fopundation became perfectly flat (because our lawn was far from perfect).

During the setup of the pool it had to be monitored since the support legs tend to move as the pool fills up. We even had to drain a fair amount of water when we noticed two of the legs had moved way more than the others. This is after we had aligned the empty pool perfectly, using all kinds of measurements.

Now the pool is filled, but the long sides are still not perfectly straight, one side is very slightly concave and the other is convex. I doubt it is possible to make the pool perfectly rectangular, since the beams jave moving joints that tend to bend somewhat. The water is supposed to stabilize it, but dont expect anything perfect, even if the base is perfectly flat, like our concrete pad.

Also, beware of wrinkles on the bottom, if you dont watch the pool as it fills up the first hour or so. Kick and smooth it out as much as you can. I noticed the liner is not 100% perfectly welded together, so some sections can get wrinkles no matter how much effort you put into trying to straighten it out. We still have a few small wrinkles at the bottom, even after we put in a lot of effort in pulling out the legs as the water was getting filled up.

This is a "toy" after all, not a professional pool. It is also very noticable when we connect the pump, filter and chrlorinator to a heater using 50 mm PVC, it is difficult to make a good setup using the intex stuff, since it seems to be designed just to sit on the lawn, and not be connected to heavy tubes or pipes. Everything has to be supported otherwise i am afraid the inlets or some other parts of the pump will crack, since it is cheap plastics. 50 mm PVC filled with water is much heavier than the standard intex 38 mm 2" hoses, that is for sure.

Good luck witrh your setup!

/H

 

[Baumeister]

Pierre,
I have the pool you're looking at. We like it, It'll work great for what you want as long as you get the spot PERFECTLY level.
We bought our current house 3 years ago, it had an older 10'x20' Intex, which failed due to soil settling. We put the 12'x24' pool up/down 3 times over a few months, at that time not realizing how really level it has to be to work correctly.
If you don't have proficiency using a transit to level multiple points over a large area, it will save you a lot of aggravation to hire a contractor to come in and take out all the high spots(no filling in), if not set the whole thing up for you. If you have typical Long Island sandy soil it shouldn't be too expensive for a pro to get it perfectly level. You'll need a level pad approx 15' x 27' to account for the frame legs that kick out. For the frame leg bases I bought pressure-treated plywood and cut it down to 15"x15" squares. I used 2 under each, they have to be level with the bottom of the pool. So you either countersink them(what I did) or I'm guessing some use the rigid pink insulation or anti-fatigue mats of the same thickness under the pool floor area.
If you get all this right, the pool will be perfectly rectangular when full. While filling, the long sides bow in A LOT, which is quite alarming if you're not expecting it. If there are any errors in leveling greater than 1", the sides will bow in even when level.

We have a deck along 2 sides as we're on a hillside, that's a bit tricky with the flexing sides but worth it. If you have any use for a concrete pad in the off-season that size(basketball court, shuffleboard, etc) that would be a consideration as well.

 

[pierre722]

I just want to thank everyone for their advice. We finally decided to go ahead with a 15x48 ultra round pool. After much thought, we figured the 12x24x52 water line would be too high for my younger daughter. With the 15x48 she can comfortably be in the pool with her sister and not constantly be on her tippy toes. I did upgrade to a Sand filter pump and saltwater system. Boxes are arriving every day and will pick up the pool tomorrow. Exciting times ahead. Question...what test strips do you guys recommend?

 

[chayne]

this is what is recommended around here. test strips are not as accurate

TF-100 Test Kit

tftestkits.net