We bought a soft side pool, the 18' by 42".. when we went to set it up, it became lop sided, and now we are trying to figure out how to correct it without dumping all that water.. any thoughts? or other experiences we should know about ahead of time??
Most parents said that the ground has to be ABSOLUTELY flat or the pool will "creep" and eventually collapse. Do not let kids in if it is really leaning. Look at the owner's manual before setting the pool up, or contact the manufacturer for more safety info.
We did that last year and had to let 1/2 of the water dump out. Then, we (very difficultly) pulled the side up and pushed out the bottom and kept doing that and kept doing that until it was popped mostly up evenly.
GL!
Easy to set up and no sand needed, right? We got the same pool a couple of years ago for our seemingly perfectly level backyard. It took three truckloads of sand and lots of painstaking backbreaking work to get it right!! My husband finally strung off the entire area using a level and we filled it all up with sand. Even after all the frustration, it is soooo worth it!! If you do leave it up lopsided, it will most likely collapse at some point. Unfortunately, you will have to drain the water to get it right. Or, you could just wait until the collapse and then make it right!! Your spot has to be completely level for it to be as it should. We covered ours and left it up. Just to let you know how much i think it is worth the work. We've already bought a new one for next year, so that at the end of this season we can just throw this one out and have a new one to set up early next year. These pools are hard to get set up, but i think they are the best invention ever for people with small back yards. If i can be of anymore help, just let me know. Good luck!!
We had the same problem. We thought our yard was flat, but could see it wasn't when the pool was full. We could be admiring our pool, and out of the blue, the downhill side would just dip down, and we would lose all the water. This would happen even when no one was near the pool.
It has to be perfectly level. We have one of those pools, and we tried to set it up, thinking that an inch difference wouldn't be that bad, but it turns out, it really is. We ended up filling up the pool at least 3 times before we got it all completely level and standing. What we did was got a load of sand and leveled it off and then filled up the pool, the sand seemed to be the trick because once we got the spot level, it was great! We used it a bunch last summer and are currently in the process of getting it ready to use this summer! They're great!
My parents bought one of those a few years ago and had a similar problem. Unfortunetly it's because the ground is not level so in order to even it out you would have to dump enough water to lift the pool and then use something to level out the ground. It's a pain, I know. My parents used the pool for 3 summers and after the first one had to level the ground using sand every year.
D. c. I called a pool installer to come and put the pool up because we were lost as to what to do they wanted to charge me more to put the pool than we paid this is crazy. I called another pool place they said to put concrete blocks under each leg and level each block but I don't want it to put a hole in the bottom of the pool. we are draining 15000 gals. of water out the pool the water co. loves us. we are lost because the installation book said not to use sand to level the pool and customer service never answers the phone I'm lost and uncertain on what to do. Any suggestions?
We to had one of those pools, last year(we but we didnt have the 18' we had the 12'). We tried digging out from around/under the pool to even it out. We had what we thought was a level spot. .....we couldnt find the level. Any way, we ended up having to dump alot of it out and keep trying. It finally worked. But then we didnt have a ground cover (this was out first year haveing one and didnt realize how flimsy those things were), so about 2 weeks later, we ended up with grass poking holes in the bottom of the pool and slowly draining it for us. This year we spent the xtra money and got a metal frame pool. It is more forgiving on uneven spots. Good luck.
The ground has to be ABSOLUTELY flat or the pool will "creep" and eventually collapse. Do not let kids in if it is really leaning. We went through this 3 times last summer. The ground HAS to be level from the start. We tried everything else imagineable!
We just have an 8' pool and a 10', but when ours fell over about half the water came out and then my husband and I got sand and he lifted the sides as I shoveled sand under the outside edge and we worked our way around the pool till it was even. Stayed up the rest of last summer. We haven't got it up yet this year. Been to windy on our days off.
I hate to say that you will have to empty it and level it. This happened to me a few years back and I ended up having to have sand brought in and spent all day with a level and a two by four. Once it is level it will fill up just fine. Even the slightest bit unlevel will make it sit lop sided. Bummer huh?
Happened to me about 3 years ago and we had to dump it. If it isn't to bad, I would just leave it as long as it covers the filter. Good Luck!
We have a Intex Easy Set pool and so far LOVE it! There's no way to move it without the risk of tearing the vinyl liner with water inside it. Next time, only allow about an inch of water to determine if your ground is level and the water is the same all the way around. You may have to buy some sand and fill in any low spot on the pool site.
Dump it, move it to a more level spot. We moved ours 3 times last year. If kids are in it at the time it falls over it could trap them inside and drown them. That's what the web site says. It is worth the effort just to not have that worry.
Have a fun wet summer.
We have the Intex Easy Set soft side pool in the 18 x 42. The ground has to be level for the thing to sit properly. I had to dig up the grass and level the ground before ever setting up the pool. Our yard didn't seem too unlevel, but it has to be nearly perfect for these pools. The leveling work was a pain, but now we are using the pool for the 3rd summer with no issues at all. My 5 year-old son loves it. I would very highly reccomend these pools to anyone. There is some hard work initially, but after that, you just enjoy it for years to come. It's fairly easy to take down for the winter and put back up in the summer. I do have to say that I have never been able to figure out how to get the skimmer to work properly, though. It always seems to pop up out of the water, which makes the pump stop. In three years, I have never used it. It's not a huge deal, though.
Hello J.,
Our family had the same problem! Not sure if your soft side pool is the blow up ring and fills with water or has the poles that hold it up. (We have had both) Set up area MUST be level. We did have to dump water and level up ground with sand. Maybe a neighbor, church friend or family member could help you. Its some trouble to do but on the up side when its ready its tons of great family fun!
Safe Happy Summer,
L.
