rectangular pool not level

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T

thompson family

Member
May 14, 2020
6
surfside beach, sc
Hello everyone!
I came across this website and forum while looking up information about our pool. We just bought our first pool. It's an Intex 24X12X52. We did all the prep work of digging the ground, putting sand in, and making sure our ground and paver blocks were level. Once it was filled, we noticed that one corner is off by about 1/2 to 1 inch. Now, this isn't necessarily what concerned us at first. We put a paver block underneath each of the legs. After we turned off the water from filling up our pool, we came back outside about a half hour later or so and some of our paver blocks had actually cracked in half. Should this be a concern? Any advice on what to do other than completely drain it and start from scratch? Thank you!
 
If the pavers are cracking then your posts are sinking. I know you don't want to hear this but you should probably drain it and use 4 inch thick half blocks under the legs. That said, if its a seasonal pool and you're taking it down in a few months and it remains only 1 inch or so out of level, you might be OK to keep an eye on it and prepare a better base next year.
 
Hi, welcome to TFP! Where you using sand to level the pool? If so that could be part of the problem. Also Intex recommends using pressure treated boards instead of pavers to support the legs on their rectangular pools. The support for the legs needs to be large enough so the legs do not hang off the sides of the support, and so the legs have room to spread out as the pool is filled.
 
thompson family said:
oh man....thank you. It just stinks to put in all that hard work and to do the prep work for this to happen. Question....in your picture you have a rectangular pool. How did you level your ground? We found this to be trying...lol..but we worked through it.
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I actually paid and excavator to level the area and spread and compact choke/fine stone. Then I set and leveled the pavers using a water level leaving room for half inch foam board.
 
Here is the thread in my build, might give you some ideas.

New AGP build - Intex 12x24

Spent last week prepping a spot for my first pool. We got an Intex 12x24 on sale over the winter after reading up on them. Hired an excavator to get us down to the solid ground and haul in and compact the choke. Finished up leveling and smoothing out the sand late last night, so no pics of...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
I have the larger version of your pool with almost identical set up, including paying someone more than I paid for the pool to level my sight. I used pavers, all looked good until about a week in, I noticed a paver broke at a corner. Hours later two of my legs bent. I had to drain, wait for new legs and refill. That was last summer, pool remains with in 1\2 inch level, but 5 of my 38 pavers have cracked! My plan will be to drain and use treated wood as Index recommends. Best of luck to you!
 
JeaniB said:
I have the larger version of your pool with almost identical set up, including paying someone more than I paid for the pool to level my sight. I used pavers, all looked good until about a week in, I noticed a paver broke at a corner. Hours later two of my legs bent. I had to drain, wait for new legs and refill. That was last summer, pool remains with in 1\2 inch level, but 5 of my 38 pavers have cracked! My plan will be to drain and use treated wood as Index recommends. Best of luck to you!
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For a seasonal pool that gets taken down each year I think wood is a great solution. I leave mine up year road so I went with the block.
 
If your ground is firm and level and the pavers are thick enough and large enough to support the full width of the legs then that's fine. Intex recommends pressure treated wood because it can be difficult to find pavers that meet the criteria. If the legs hang over the sides of the pavers even a little you run the risk of the legs bending at the point where they have no support.
 
I am installing the same exact 24x12x52 rectangular pool this weekend. My question for everyone is whether to go with the half cinderblocks that are 16x8 - 4 inches thick (with holes) OR (also in the cinderblock aisle) solid concrete blocks 16x8 - 4 inches thick with no holes. Also, since they're 16 x 8, should these be laid down length or width-wise on the ground for the support brackets?
 

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NJSwimmom said:
I am installing the same exact 24x12x52 rectangular pool this weekend. My question for everyone is whether to go with the half cinderblocks that are 16x8 - 4 inches thick (with holes) OR (also in the cinderblock aisle) solid concrete blocks 16x8 - 4 inches thick with no holes. Also, since they're 16 x 8, should these be laid down length or width-wise on the ground for the support brackets?
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I used 2 16x8x4 solid blocks, side by side at each leg. That said, the reasoning behind it was that I leave my pool up year round. Also I figured it was better to go overboard than risk having to drain the pool and reset it.
 
sammckin said:
I used 2 16x8x4 solid blocks, side by side at each leg. That said, the reasoning behind it was that I leave my pool up year round. Also I figured it was better to go overboard than risk having to drain the pool and reset it.
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I plan to keep mine up year-round also, So I’m going to take your idea and do the same exact thing with two 16 x 8 concrete blocks for each leg. Although because I live in New Jersey it does get into the 20s and 30s often during the winter so I’m not sure if I can actually leave it up.
 
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NJSwimmom said:
I plan to keep mine up year-round also, So I’m going to take your idea and do the same exact thing with two 16 x 8 concrete blocks for each leg. Although because I live in New Jersey it does get into the 20s and 30s often during the winter so I’m not sure if I can actually leave it up.
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I left mine up last winter, just took the pump in the garage and drained it below the intake and return holes. I read one guy on here left his up in Canada somewhere and his froze solid with no problems.
 
zea3 said:
Hi, welcome to TFP! Where you using sand to level the pool? If so that could be part of the problem. Also Intex recommends using pressure treated boards instead of pavers to support the legs on their rectangular pools. The support for the legs needs to be large enough so the legs do not hang off the sides of the support, and so the legs have room to spread out as the pool is filled.
Click to expand...
We leveled the regular ground first, then hauled sand in and leveled that as well. I didn't see anything in my manual about recommending anything for support of the legs. We drained our pool yesterday. Bought the thicker block that someone else recommended, made sure they were all level, and just started filling it back up a couple of hours ago. We already feel defeated so this better work lol
 
thompson family said:
We leveled the regular ground first, then hauled sand in and leveled that as well. I didn't see anything in my manual about recommending anything for support of the legs. We drained our pool yesterday. Bought the thicker block that someone else recommended, made sure they were all level, and just started filling it back up a couple of hours ago. We already feel defeated so this better work lol
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Don't feel defeated, you have a long swim season ahead!
 

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