I’m looking to place a 10’ intext metal frame/poly on an existing concrete patio. The patio has a slight grade to direct rain away from the house. Suggestions on a way to make a non permanent level surface to place the pool on top of?
Pool on existing concrete patio
- Thread starter Multigrain
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,754
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Welcome! 
I'm assuming that a patio slope like that may be a difference of a couple inches or so from the house side to the end of the patio. A 10' pool may see about a 1 inch drop or so from one end to the other? Sound about right? So you may have 4 poles or so that need bases slightly elevated compared to the poles closer to the house. Since you won't need pavers like those who place their pools on the ground, you might consider some plywood pieces cut into 12 or 18 inch squares that you can use as shims to increase the poles on those low areas. To help with the comfort of the liner on the concrete, you could obtain some aftermarket padding (i.e. insulation pads, Gorilla Pads, etc) to feel a little more comfortable to the feet. Hope that helps get the discussion going for you. Other above group owner may have other ideas as well. Stick around for mroe repies. 
I'm assuming that a patio slope like that may be a difference of a couple inches or so from the house side to the end of the patio. A 10' pool may see about a 1 inch drop or so from one end to the other? Sound about right? So you may have 4 poles or so that need bases slightly elevated compared to the poles closer to the house. Since you won't need pavers like those who place their pools on the ground, you might consider some plywood pieces cut into 12 or 18 inch squares that you can use as shims to increase the poles on those low areas. To help with the comfort of the liner on the concrete, you could obtain some aftermarket padding (i.e. insulation pads, Gorilla Pads, etc) to feel a little more comfortable to the feet. Hope that helps get the discussion going for you. Other above group owner may have other ideas as well. Stick around for mroe repies. 
I think Texas has the right idea. First thing to do would be check the level with a string level or a long carpenters level. So how much fall you have and adjust accordingly. How long do you intend to have this pool in place? Wood shims will compress and/or rot over time. I'd use something else depend on the size of the shim.
I hadn’t thought of only raising the legs! The pool will be in place only for summer months in the northwest. If I place wood under the legs to raise them up, do I need not worry about the belly of the pool being level as well? I picture the raised legs would put more stretch on the poly material and the water would still be at an angle if it’s not resting on level surface. Maybe I’m over thinking this. I’ve never set up a pool, thank you all in advance for the insightful advice.
What are you going to put under the liner? The bottom material should be thicker on the "downhill" side.
Suggestions on a material (that’s not too expensive) that could be layered on the downhill side? Is this what gorilla pads do? Are those thick enough to build up layers?
I don't have an AGP so I'm hardly an expert. You have the right idea. I'd figure out how much grade to have to correct first before I worried too much about the underlayment. Your choices may change based on the space you need to fill and the condition of your patio.
I measured and the slope is 2.25”. I’m getting the 10’ x30”. Is there a $50-$60 hack? Thank you!
I don't have a good answer for you since I've never tried what you are doing. Can you level the posts on pavers and use sand to level the liner? I'm not sure how much sand and how expensive it would be. The last time I need sand in quantity I just had the local concrete place dump a scoop in the bed of my pickup truck.
Mine is set up on blacktop. I have a similar grade And THAT's uneven as well, and because of that you WILL need to level out the bottom as much as possible because the pressure of the water weight WILL, as you said, stress the bottom seams on these pools. Absolutely use MASON(paver) sand on your low side. It's not expensive. You can feather that into your high side. Wet it and tamp it to compact(I tape cardboard to my shoes and walk over it to compact it). Then cover that with your tarp and then place some type of padding over that. I use those foam floor mats that connect like puzzle pieces(this makes a VERY soft bottom), but others use foam insulation boards. Whatever you use for padding, GORILLA TAPE them together top and underside because everything will move as you fill and flatten your bottom and they will pull apart if you don't.. You could put another tarp over that, but I don't. DO use pavers and/or slate tiles under the low side legs, OR roofing shingles(these really grab and prevent too much movement of the legs). Or a combination of both/all if you need to shim. I have a combination of all. Wood rots and soon enough you'll have a legs sinking into rotted wood. If you can get your pool to within 1 to 1 1/2 inch off level, you should be fine. Mine has highs and lows all the way around but none are more than an inch off and it has held for 6 years now. Don't stress yourself to make it exact. But you WILL need to be checking for plumb front and sides of all legs, frequently as the pool fills because the legs do move out as it fills. If you can't be there to check on this every half hour or so, turn off the water and don't fill, because if even one leg gets too far out of plumb, and it's filled too far so that's it's too heavy to move it now, you'll have to empty until you can move them.