ideas for cheap leveling fill for under a pool?

[Carson Dyle]

If you want to create a permanent level spot, nothing wrong with using dirt. Compact it, then put a layer of sand on top. If the platform will be temporary, use just sand.

 

[Jumpem]

Make sure it is legal for you to have it. You may have to empty it every time you are done with it to keep from being liable if a kid falls into it.

 

[TwiceOver]

Since you are just going to kill a huge round spot of grass, why not just dig up what area you need level? Mark off the area, measure for level, take from high spot, put in low spot.

 

[JEDIYoda]

yeah but costco and walgreens already have back to school stuff out

we already knew you would know that......let me ask you a question?
Did your parents get you the big box of Crayola crayons this year??

 

[rsbennett00]

Yep, and according to the almanac, 2014 is the last summer ever. Err, uh, during the winter time, the sand will dissolve in the snow and he'll need to replace all of it next year.

Lol.

 

[wabbitslayer]

1. those Intex pools are not very good...and their filter systems SUCK. Way under-powered and under-sized for the volume of water they have to handle.

slight disagreement with you...the pools themselves are great...but the filters you buy with the pools aren't large enough by any means. So if somebody gets one they should plan on spending that much more on another, better filter.

Also....if you haven't set one of these up before, you have no idea just how serious they are when they say LEVEL. I set up a 15x36" about a month or so ago, we can only fill it up about 30" deep b/c it isn't perfectly level. And that is with about 4 tons of sand spread out underneath it.

 

[DrPizza]

slight disagreement with you...the pools themselves are great...but the filters you buy with the pools aren't large enough by any means. So if somebody gets one they should plan on spending that much more on another, better filter.

Also....if you haven't set one of these up before, you have no idea just how serious they are when they say LEVEL. I set up a 15x36" about a month or so ago, we can only fill it up about 30" deep b/c it isn't perfectly level. And that is with about 4 tons of sand spread out underneath it.

Did you think that the surface of water would follow the gradual 6" slope?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Had too

ROFL!!! :biggrin:

 

[BoomerD]

Did you think that the surface of water would follow the gradual 6" slope?

Well...if you only fill it on one side...()

 

[LookBehindYou]

If you are buying sand to level the ground, you are doing it wrong and it is UNSAFE!!. Dig out the high spot, don't fill the low spots. The sand should ONLY be used to smooth out the bottom so nothing pokes the liner, also you can use the foam insulation boards if you'd like. If you need tips on other things to do when setting it up, making the ground level, etc., check out troublefreepool.com The forum there has a section for above ground pools.

Again, it is extremely important that you level the ground the right way. I believe within 1" is the only acceptable allowance. You really don't want to be the guy that has a few small kids in his pool only to see it collapse and have 10000 gallons of water with some kids come flowing to your house or fence or whatever else is near. Even if you compact the dirt a lot, it'll still settle and cause an issue. The only time I've seen or heard of people adding is usually a really small amount of crusher rock to fix a very small area, and that is still debatable.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

packing peanuts

 

[slag]

If you are buying sand to level the ground, you are doing it wrong and it is UNSAFE!!. Dig out the high spot, don't fill the low spots. The sand should ONLY be used to smooth out the bottom so nothing pokes the liner, also you can use the foam insulation boards if you'd like. If you need tips on other things to do when setting it up, making the ground level, etc., check out troublefreepool.com The forum there has a section for above ground pools.

Again, it is extremely important that you level the ground the right way. I believe within 1" is the only acceptable allowance. You really don't want to be the guy that has a few small kids in his pool only to see it collapse and have 10000 gallons of water with some kids come flowing to your house or fence or whatever else is near. Even if you compact the dirt a lot, it'll still settle and cause an issue. The only time I've seen or heard of people adding is usually a really small amount of crusher rock to fix a very small area, and that is still debatable.

Not always feasible. Our back yard slopes. We dug down to bedrock and couldn't go any lower and it still wasn't level We lined the low lying areas with pavers (about 8 of them, and filled in around with sand. We then laid heavy duty 8mil? thick plastic on top of that and filled the pool. It worked well.

 

[cabri]

If you are buying sand to level the ground, you are doing it wrong and it is UNSAFE!!. Dig out the high spot, don't fill the low spots. The sand should ONLY be used to smooth out the bottom so nothing pokes the liner, also you can use the foam insulation boards if you'd like. If you need tips on other things to do when setting it up, making the ground level, etc., check out troublefreepool.com The forum there has a section for above ground pools.

Again, it is extremely important that you level the ground the right way. I believe within 1" is the only acceptable allowance. You really don't want to be the guy that has a few small kids in his pool only to see it collapse and have 10000 gallons of water with some kids come flowing to your house or fence or whatever else is near. Even if you compact the dirt a lot, it'll still settle and cause an issue. The only time I've seen or heard of people adding is usually a really small amount of crusher rock to fix a very small area, and that is still debatable.

Not always feasible. Our back yard slopes. We dug down to bedrock and couldn't go any lower and it still wasn't level We lined the low lying areas with pavers (about 8 of them, and filled in around with sand. We then laid heavy duty 8mil? thick plastic on top of that and filled the pool. It worked well.

I suspect that he was implying that you should not use the sand to try to bring up to level; only for smoothing. Sand can compact and move; leaving you with the same situation as before, but this time you have the water load to remove before you can adjust.

 

[slag]

I suspect that he was implying that you should not use the sand to try to bring up to level; only for smoothing. Sand can compact and move; leaving you with the same situation as before, but this time you have the water load to remove before you can adjust.

Well yeah, that's pretty obvious by just looking at sand. That's why you have to have a barrier to hold the sand in.

 

[Captante]

When I installed my 15 foot above-ground about 10 years ago I leveled it to within approx 1 inch and made a base of vermiculite concrete... super strong and still has some give to it. It was a ton of work though.

I've had to replace the liner a couple times but the structure is still going strong ... of course the pool itself was made by Cornelius not Intex which may have a lot to do with that.