leveling after pool is filled

[tiffanyleigh0212]

I am new to this forum, so if I'm posting in the wrong area, sorry!

I have a summer escapes metal frame 15' 42". It's my first pool, so I guess I was a little uneducated about setup. My yard is a pretty flat yard, not perfectly flat, but for the most part it is pretty flat so I didn't really think much about leveling. Needless to say, I was WRONG! I started to notice it being unlevel as it was filling, but it didn't seem like much of a difference and the manual mentioned that if it was more than 1-2 inches it was not level enough, this most certainly didn't look like that much, so without measuring, I continued to fill.

Now the pool is filled and I like to think of it as having my shallow end and deep end One side measures 35in. of water and the other side measures 32.5

My biggest concern is safety. I don't know anything about pools and I don't know if the extra weight could collapse the pool or anything. I just need some advice as to is there anything I can do to level it aside from draining it? I wondering if I put a 2x2 under the legs were it's unlevel if that would help level it out? I'd love to hear ANY advice about anything I can do, also if it's safe the way it is now? Thanks!

If seeing pics would help, I can take some.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum :lol: That difference is probably too much. There is a good chance your pool will start to lean more and more to the low side. If you notice the walls start to do that, it is time to drain and relevel or you risk damaging the entire pool. Wish I had better news but I think anything over an inch is too much.

 

[cramar]

I doubt any backyard is adequately level by itself, all yards are *supposed* to be graded away from the building, I did a fast survey of mine and anticipated being out by 4" and it ended up being out by 8".

The base has to be within 1 inch of level, all the pool manufacturers make this statement. If your out by 3+ inches then you are outside of manufacturers recommendation and warranty, you should pull it down and research online about how to level a site, there's lots of videos on you tube showing this.

 

[luvmyintex]

Yeah, go ahead and drain, level the ground, and refill now at the beginning of the summer so you can enjoy your pool the rest of the season. You'll be glad you did.

You can't level it if it's filled. Levelling just the legs won't help since it's the water in the liner that conforms to the shape of the ground, and you could cause the liner to start to tear at the seams from the legs being pulled away too far.

Even if the pool doesn't collapse or pose a major safety problem, your frame pieces will become warped from the uneven weight distribution. Some of the welds in the frame connectors are not that good...mine held up for one summer of unlevel ground but had bent too much to be usable the next year and I had to purchase another intex. I levelled it better last year and the pool was in great shape this year. I levelled it almost perfectly this year! It's worth the extra trouble.

If there's one thing I wish I would've known before setting up my pool the first time is LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL! Good luck!

 

[tiffanyleigh0212]

Thanks for the advice. I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but it's not like a huge drop from one side to the other, it's very gradual. All of the legs around the pool look fine, except 2 look like they might be a little off. Would it be possible to straighten these 2 legs out, and if so would that help the leveling any? I just wanna explore all possibilities before draining

 

[tiffanyleigh0212]

Another question, since it's just one small side of the pool, would it be possible to drain it about half way or maybe a little more than half way and with several people helping, lift the ground cloth and push some dirt under? Like I said, this is my first pool so what i'm saying could sound absolutely crazy! i know doing that wouldn't make it perfectly level, but if it could at least just get it within like 1in to get me through the summer. I'm worried if I drain it all, I won't fill it back up.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Look at it this way. Your pool holds 4800 gals of water. Full that weighs 38,000 lbs. Even half full it's 19,000 lbs. And half of that is still 9,500 lbs.

 

[tiffanyleigh0212]

yeah, makes sense. i've finally come to grips with draining it, but now my concern is how to properly drain. i don't want to over flood my yard and i don't have a long enough hose to reach to the sewer lines or anything. any tips?

 

[Bama Rambler]

More hose! Sorry that's the best I can do.

 

[tiffanyleigh0212]

thanks bama, i got some more lol!! fixing to start draining now and hope to have it back up over the weekend. i'll post pics when i finish!! thanks for the help!!

 

[luvmyintex]

You'll be glad you went through the hassle of draining this early in the season. Get it really level. Dig the high side, don't fill the low. It will be more stable that way. Again, learn from my mistakes!!!