I am looking at little above ground pools from Walmart - does anybody have any experience with these?
I am looking at the My Sunshine 12' Quick-Set Pool. Since it is just my 14 year old son and I, we just want something to float in during the hot summer months. And I want something easy to set up and maintain.
So, we have a concrete pad that the previous owners of my house had a hot tub set up on *and* we have a huge yard. Do I set it up on the concrete pad which is close to the house, or out on the lawn which may not be perfectly level? I am really not worried about killing off the grass - I can just use the area to plant a garden when we take down the pool LOL.
Advice please.
Thank you.
Edit: This one does have a filter and I can buy a skimmer/vacuum set for $20 :)
@ Denise - How level is level? and how can tell if my lawn is level enough? I am hopeless LOL
We have had these several times. We have a nice level spot...my friends, however, have found out the hard way that the ground needs to be pretty darn near level! If your yard is level--the grass is the way to go--if in doubt, put in on the concrete pad.
I'd put it on the concrete pad so you dont have to worry about leveling.
Okay, we have the Intex 16 ft, 4ft deep. We haven't set it up for this year so I don't know if the extra sturdy one will be better. I have never had one survive being put up for the winter without springing too many leaks.
I put one up on an end of our patio. The weight of the water caused that section to sink a bit. The other thing was the hardness of the concrete actually hurt their knees when they drug the bottom.
Unless you like constant maintenance I would advise you get one of the bigger ones that has both a filter and skimmer. You can actually use it to vacuum the pool. That was the big step up last summer and well worth the extra 100 or so.
Oh yeah, mine sits on pea gravel but the supports shift so this year I set a retaining wall at the same diameter as the pool. Actually no, I did the math, it has an exact diameter of 16 feet but the bricks are 10 inches wide and the supports are three inches wide and ...... Yeah that sucker was set to the 100th of an inch but those darn supports won't shift this year. :)
I know I am not Denise but mine sloped just one inch last year. It put a lot of pressure on the lower side of the pool. This year when I place that ring I used a 2x4x10 and a level stake in the center to pivot from. That sucker is flat as a pancake.
If it will help I can upload pictures to my photobucket and post them. Just message me.
I love intex pools! We have been using them for several years. Our last one lasted us at least 7 years :) We bought an 18x48 last year. This size is perfect for all ages. (little ones need a float)
The grass has to be very level. My husband uses peat moss every year and re levels it. The peat moss is so suishy and soft under the bottom of the pool. I don't think you are allowed to put a pool of this size on concrete. My kids do flips and handstands in the pool, the soft bottom is safe. They also like to jump in off the ladder. I will have to ask my husband how he first leveled it. I remember him using a two by four and packing the peat moss in the unlevel spots.
I cant wait for the pool weather! If you go with an intex you will love it. Have fun :)
Well, our yard is not completely level. it would take forever to get it exactly right. What we do is get sandbags. Fill the pool partially and where you see the sloping put some sand down. Sometimes we just leave the sand in the bag and one person picks up the side of the pool and the other shoves the bag under. We did dig a bit of a circle a little smaller than the pool in the ground which also helps. We use the Intex brand and have had great luck with those. I have not used the brand Wal-mart carries so I don't know how it would hold up. We are on our third pool but not because of any leaks. We upgrade as my 2 boys get bigger. This year we got a 12 foot by 36 inches. We can't wait! Only available at Toys-R-Us
We bought the soft sided ones that have the inflatable tube around the top and I hated it. I saw videos of it rolling over and it has a burrito effect if hit just right. I took it down and refused to ever put it up again.
For an above ground pool go with the ones that have the sides that are straight and have multiple poles on the sides to give it support.
To level your yard you will need to build a box that is larger than the pool It needs to be filled with sand and the sand needs to be packed down and then leveled by hand or by machine if you want to go to the cost of renting a bobcat or some other type of larger machine. We used a good sand and drove over it several times with a bobcat. It packed it down well and the sand stayed put. It felt nice under the liner on the bottoms of our feet too. Concrete could be really hard and possibly tear the liner or someone could band their head.
