Jacking up on a ultra frame pool

[calivette2003]

I have seen many posts on jacking up on sagging corners on other types of Intex pools but not the ultra frame. As most know on a Ultra frame the bottom and side stick or push out far beyond the frame on top so using a jack sitting on the ground with a wood pylon going up to the top rail won't work. Two the frame is covered in vinyl liner except the very corners which only helps the corner pieces not the middle. I have three spots towards the middle where the "supposedly" compacted DG (about 5" thick)sagged when the rain season hit hard. You can clearly see the sag when you are in the pool and the pool leans down to the left as apposed to the perfectly plumb deck above it. I knew I should have paid the money and got a cement pad poured in ($3000.00 verus $350.00). Well anyway I somewhat sucessfully tried a dig underneath two pads and inserted a car jack-sized board/ and car jack under the frame's foot. I slowely jacked up 2-3 inches and was able to dig then hammer in some wood 4x4's under it, removed the jack and added/ hammered more wood blocks in the remaining hole. And it turned out okay...somewhat back to the orignal height.

Now I have 3 spots where it has also sagged (Dang DG!) and 2 of them are smack against the rear yard wall and fence where the long jack + handle will not fit. i.e. 2 feet between pool side and the fence. Jacking from the side is a no no since it tweaks the frame left to right and can bend the frame/rip the vinyl.

My thought is a bottle jack but digging down 8-13 inches in virgin clay mixed with DG is a *****. Any insight how I can do this? I really wish I could use a cherry picker like some people have shown but don't se any other method than from digging and jacking from below. Your thoughts?

 

[calivette2003]

 

[1380ken]

I wonder if a long pry bar and a pivot would work. I mean a pry bar that is six feet long with someone standing on it. I have a six foot pry bar that a mason friend gave me but I would guess that they are not common.

 

[calivette2003]

My two car jacks are 3-ton types. They barely had enough power to lift 2 inches. My guess is the pry bar would bend. I can tell you lifting from underneath sucks. I have to use a small hand shovel becuase I need enough dirt/clay to keep the foot from collapsing so that takes 1 hour just to dig the hole (4 inches wide by 10 inches long). Then fitting the wood down there to allow the jack to roll as the load is placed on it and once the foot is lifted, and stones are placed at the very ends pulling the jack out without a collapse is precarious at best. About 3 hours of work per foot. I looked at the project yesterday and there are actually seven feet not just three that need lifting.

 

[1380ken]

I would say that if you have seven bad post you might consider draining the pool.

 

[Safetybob]

I used a 1" x 3" or maybe 4" board that I cut long enough so that I could set a 2x4 on a brick and use my foot or a hand to "lift" the pool rail up (next to the pool of course) and place and/or level a paver or brick correctly so that the pool outside was level all the way around. My actual pool floor might be around an inch difference from one side to the other.

Bob E.

 

[gtnos]

i used a 2x4 cut down to about 30 inches and a 2 ton floor jack. no issues.

EDIT: oops! just saw that your pool is square, to whereas mine is round.... yeah, that might be an issue with jacking it up.

 

[calivette2003]

Yeah no way to jack up on the upper lip with these ultra frame rectangular pools. Your idea would take me only one hour versus two days of digging. Digging from under is 300% more time intensive than your idea but I don't have any other choice.

 

[calivette2003]

Update!
I went underneath trying to jack it up using 2 5-ton jacks. Ended up cracking and bending two of the legs!!
lesson learned.

DO NOT JACK UP ON A FILLED POOL!!

Those legs are not as strong as you think, They can only hold a static load, cannnot support weight while being jacked up apon or moved!!
I ended up draining the entire pool, 9800 gallons, ordering $150in replacement legs, moving the existing legs out of the way, digging down 2+ feet, hammering in rebar 5 feet into the clay/ DG base, and cementing all the areas under where the legs will be resting on. cement about 2' by 2' by 2' deep.
Lost almost $1000 in water and chemicals....wasted. 4 trips to home depot. Much less the 3 days of paid leave and three weekends of time.
Unless you are putting the pool on a concrete slab ALWAYS cement under where the legs sit. May look good for months but when the rain season comes watch out.
If I had done this in the bieggining I would have spent an extra $50 in cement but saved me $1200 once this is over!!

Will post pics when this is over

 

[laceygirl]

I feel your pain... Hubby and I have just finished digging down nearly 150mm to level our yard for our rectangle intex pool..... We are doing it the hard way by hand, I plan on laying bluemetal dust underneath my artificial turf as it sets like concrete when its wet, yet still has great drainage... We set our last pools legs on pavers, we will definitely be doing that again... I noticed under our last pool which was smaller, when the rains came it dropped by at least an inch at one end, even with pavers, so we are really prepping the site this time.... I've seen a guy use long wooden planks under his legs.....

 

[bjmsam]

use a cherry picker like some people have shown

I was unable to find those posts but it inspired an approach that worked for me. Thanks!