What to put under U-shaped Intex pool legs?

[Tui911]

Hi all

I posted in another thread that we are having issues with the leg supports we chose to put under the U-shaped rectangular Intex pool legs. We went with pavers, thinking we were clever and choosing a better product than lumber, not realising that pavers crack, which happened.

So we've drained the pool - it is not raining heavily so we'll have to leave it as is for the time being until the rains stop. But in the meantime we're debating best options to put under the legs. The options are:

1. dig the pavers in deeper than they are now and put a piece of marine grade plywood on top - would require more digging and ply is not that cheap here plus, while it is treated, it's not treated to sit on dirt;
2. use pressure treated lumber which is suitable to sit on top of dirt (i.e. won't rot) , however here they only sell them in width of 200-300 mm (and depth of 50 mm). So we would need to put two pieces side by side, with wood grain perpendicular to the legs - this is my preferred option as I have seen others in this forum using this system. My husband's concern is that, if it's two pieces of wood, what happens if one sinks and the other doesn't. Has this happened to anyone?
3. Get two pieces of marine grade plywood, sit them on top of each other. You'd need two pieces as they're not thick enough to only use one. Again same problem that this product is not design to sit directly on the ground.

Any other suggestions/ comments/ ideas?

Thnanks
Ksenija

 

[ajw22]

From How to level above ground pool - Further Reading

Intex recommends using 2x6 or 2x12 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.

 

[Tui911]

Yeah I know but it doesn't say how thick those boards need to be... and not sure what 2x6 or 2x12 means?

 

[PoolStored]

Yeah I know but it doesn't say how thick those boards need to be... and not sure what 2x6 or 2x12 means?

2x6 and 2x12 are the dimension of the board. They are nominal 1 1/2" x 5.5" and 1 1/2" x 11.5" respectively. The third dimension (other than 2xXX) is the length of the board.

2x6


2x12

 

[Tui911]

Ah I see... here we use a metric system which is why I got confused. We have 50mm x 200 mm or 50 mm x 300 mm. This would equate to 2x8 and 2x12. However, as the instructions say that the grain of timber has to be perpendicular to the leg, then this means that you need to have two of those boards side by side, so that the surface area is wide enough for the leg to sit on?

 

[PoolStored]

Ah I see... here we use a metric system which is why I got confused. We have 50mm x 200 mm or 50 mm x 300 mm. This would equate to 2x8 and 2x12. However, as the instructions say that the grain of timber has to be perpendicular to the leg, then this means that you need to have two of those boards side by side, so that the surface area is wide enough for the leg to sit on?

The 50x300mm should work fine. The grain runs the length of the board ( on the 3rd dimension, not the 50 or the 300).

Say to cut the 50x300mm to 600mm long. You put the 600mm dimension perpendicular to the pool side. Ending up with 600 running from pool out, 300 side to side, and 50 up and down. This will be grain perpendicular to the leg. Make sense?

You need to make sure it is "ground contact" pressure treated, or use 4" thick pavers.