SNOW! Colorado and INTEX pool

[Poolnewbie144]

Hi all.
First a little background: newbie pool owner here with the Intex Ultra Frame XTR 32'x16'x52" pool that we got up this summer with help from this community. Thank you!
We unfortunately are getting a snowstorm here on Tuesday night and into Wednesday. We have pretty much decided we are going to follow the warranty directions and take it down. But are a little concerned with exactly how to do that. Do you all have any tips or tricks to making it go well? Have heard horror stories of the top rails sticking..Does just Johnson and Johnson baby powder work? How do we store such a huge pool? (Box was wrecked in shipping so was discarded.) What do you do with the bare ground after moving the pool? (We have ground leveled, tarp, foam insulation, another tarp and the pool on top of that. )
Help please! We are going crazy trying to figure this all out.

 

[kimkats]

Your above problems are why many people leave them up. If you do take it down you will have your hands full with getting it dry THEN finding a place to store it where the bugs/critters cannot/will not get into.

-It has to be dry and that means COMPLETELY dry before putting up
-some place or thing for it to go into that is as sealed as you can get it to keep things out

 

[richierich]

yeah a lot of people leave them up. I left mine up for a couple years before I got a permanent pool. I took it down one year and it was a nightmare. took a long time to get the final 2 inches out and dry it off. then I put it in my garage and mice ate holes in it. on top of that when I bought a new intex it took awhile to get the ground re-level.

I am in NY and we get very cold winters with snow and ice. I then left my new intex up for a few years without any issues. I had a 14' intex round. The sheer size of your pool in comparison will make it a very very very difficult and time consuming job. I would leave it up (with the water in it but drained below the returns). Do not empty the pool. You do have to put away the equipment though, don't leave that out. You can also use the search feature to see many other people leave theirs up as well.

 

[kne]

We did take our intex down one year, luckily had space in a shed to store it for the winter. It was a lot smaller (18' round) and only took it down because we were moving the location. We bought 2 big outdoor garbage cans, drained the pool, then used a shop vac to get the remaining puddles, then used towels to dry everything more. We dusted the entire pool with baby powder or talc to absorb any extra moisture and stop the liner from sticking to itself, rolled the pool up as tight as possible and put it one of the cans. In the other can we put all the poles, T's and feet in. Used ziplock bags for the odds and end pieces with descriptions written on the bags. Tarps and mats we did store outside, but just laid it all out in the sun to make sure it was dry a few days before we set up the pool. We did have one plastic pin snap when taking the pool apart, and meant to get a replacement over the winter, but didn't and the missing pin didn't end up being an issue for us. This was not a couple hour project, it was probably closer to 6 after the pool was drained. It's been a few years, but I was super paranoid about mice / critters like @kimkats mentions above, probably from horror stories on this site, and I'm not sure what my SO used, but did do something in the shed to deter mice. Also, should mention the garbage can lids did not fit on when the pool was in them, pool and legs were too tall, we used the cans more as a way to keep everything up, off the ground and contained.

 

[cowboycasey]

after all that work I would leave it up and call it a day Mine has been up 5 years going on 6... I have had 6 inch solid block of ice in the pool when the polar plunge came through... I do not put a cover on as I do not have trees near me...