Hello Everyone!
Apologies up front for this long diatribe. If you choose to keep reading you might want to set aside some time and grab a drink...
I've been a reader of this site for the last few years after inheriting an 8'x30" round Intex Easy Set from our neighbors. My kids quickly outgrew it and we bought a 12'x36" Easy Set a couple years ago. Well, we've outgrown that one and my wife convinced me to go with a metal frame Intex Prism 24'x52" pool that's absolutely massive! Happy wife, happy life right?
Anyways, I've been searching and searching through these threads looking for advice about leveling, what to use for ground base material, and other ideas. Right now I'm focused on the base and it seems like there is conflicting advice from pool owners and even Intex themselves.
Here's what I've done so far:
That was 3 weekends of work with help from family. After the sod roller I thought we were on a roll! The ground was level within an inch or two according to my 12' "level" and I felt pretty good about assembling the pool. We assembled the pool and under each leg we placed a 16x8x1.5" patio block. Started filling with water and, sadly, one side started filling more than the other confirming the couple inches off my level had predicted. I chose to ignore that and we filled it. Then things got worse.
Once the pool was full it was a lot more than 2", more like 4", even 5" in a spot. Last weekend I decided to drain it and we'd try again, so we all got to swim in the pool for one day while it was draining and then Sunday we had more than 1.5" of rain fall in an hour or so and the entire area is a mud pit before I can even disassemble it...
So my lessons learned:
Now that I'm going to dissemble it I want to get it right. My neighbors have a friend with a landscaping crew willing to level the area with a compacted class 5 base material and that's where I'm torn. It seems like sand is the preferred medium to rest the liner on. The problem is that once the class 5 is compacted it'll be at grade with the low side of the hill. Any sand on top would just wash out. I really don't want to dig down any further as that would be a lot more dirt to remove, so here's what I was thinking about doing. I'd take my patio bricks and place them where the feet would go, but I wouldn't break the surface of the class 5, they'll rest on top of it. Then I'd go with the foam idea so many of you seem to like. 4x8" sheets of 1.5" foam taped at the seams with holes cut for the patio bricks. I'd throw the ground pad on top of that and assemble the pool.
So if you made it this far thank you for reading and for any advice/comments/criticisms you'd wish to share!
Jason
Apologies up front for this long diatribe. If you choose to keep reading you might want to set aside some time and grab a drink...
I've been a reader of this site for the last few years after inheriting an 8'x30" round Intex Easy Set from our neighbors. My kids quickly outgrew it and we bought a 12'x36" Easy Set a couple years ago. Well, we've outgrown that one and my wife convinced me to go with a metal frame Intex Prism 24'x52" pool that's absolutely massive! Happy wife, happy life right?
Anyways, I've been searching and searching through these threads looking for advice about leveling, what to use for ground base material, and other ideas. Right now I'm focused on the base and it seems like there is conflicting advice from pool owners and even Intex themselves.
Here's what I've done so far:
- Sod removed
- Removed dirt (18" difference low to high)
- Roto-tilled entire area to pulverize the rock hard clay
- Attached a 12' 2x4 with a 6' level taped on to a rod in the center
- Walked around in a circle leveling the pulverized dirt I don't know how many times
- Used sod roller to compact all the dirt
- Went back to walking in circles to address any other high/low spots
- Repeated last 2 steps many times
That was 3 weekends of work with help from family. After the sod roller I thought we were on a roll!
The ground was level within an inch or two according to my 12' "level" and I felt pretty good about assembling the pool. We assembled the pool and under each leg we placed a 16x8x1.5" patio block. Started filling with water and, sadly, one side started filling more than the other confirming the couple inches off my level had predicted. I chose to ignore that and we filled it. Then things got worse.Once the pool was full it was a lot more than 2", more like 4", even 5" in a spot. Last weekend I decided to drain it and we'd try again, so we all got to swim in the pool for one day while it was draining and then Sunday we had more than 1.5" of rain fall in an hour or so and the entire area is a mud pit before I can even disassemble it...
So my lessons learned:
- Don't use dirt as a base
- Sod roller doesn't compact well
- Don't promise it'll be available this weekend
- Don't rush trying to level ground for a 55 ton object
- Make patio bricks flush with ground (oops!)
Now that I'm going to dissemble it I want to get it right. My neighbors have a friend with a landscaping crew willing to level the area with a compacted class 5 base material and that's where I'm torn. It seems like sand is the preferred medium to rest the liner on. The problem is that once the class 5 is compacted it'll be at grade with the low side of the hill. Any sand on top would just wash out. I really don't want to dig down any further as that would be a lot more dirt to remove, so here's what I was thinking about doing. I'd take my patio bricks and place them where the feet would go, but I wouldn't break the surface of the class 5, they'll rest on top of it. Then I'd go with the foam idea so many of you seem to like. 4x8" sheets of 1.5" foam taped at the seams with holes cut for the patio bricks. I'd throw the ground pad on top of that and assemble the pool.
So if you made it this far thank you for reading and for any advice/comments/criticisms you'd wish to share!
Jason
