18' above ground pool not level

The basics of swimming pool maintenance.
New swimming pool owner's questions.
Help getting started with daily pool care.
Icon699
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri 08 Jun, 2007 18:59

18' above ground pool not level

Postby Icon699 » Fri 08 Jun, 2007 19:31

MY steel above ground pool is not level by about 3 inches on one end. Is there any danger with this?


K

Postby K » Sat 09 Jun, 2007 08:18

Yes.

I am no expert but every single thing I read when figuring out how to assemble our used a/g said that a tolerance of "not greater than 1"" was the maximum for level.

I don't mean to be alarmist but I recently purchased a used pool ladder from a family that was selling because their five year old pool inexplicably suffered a "wall blow out" -- sending 13k gallons of water, give or take, rushing out. It destroyed everything in it's path - but fortunately flowed DOWNHILL from their home. More fortunately their three young children were not IN the pool at the time.

I don't mean to be alarmist - and certainly go with a Pro opinion, not some random woman on the internet that's owned a "real" pool for 3 months. However, I've experience EZ Up type pools tipping on me. Even 4k of water can be frightening when it decides to all go out at once - if your "babies' are in it at the time - you start to feel very strongly about level.

When constructing our steel above-ground pool, my DH spent an obsessive amount of time laser leveling our pool to under the 1" of tolerance. Nothing is certain, but when it comes to something our kids will be in with their friends, "close enough" is not good enough.

Please call a pro about your pool!
Icon699
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri 08 Jun, 2007 18:59

Postby Icon699 » Sun 17 Jun, 2007 15:57

Talked with a pro and he said it's fine
Slevin
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon 16 Jul, 2007 10:35

Postby Slevin » Mon 16 Jul, 2007 11:46

Icon699 wrote:Talked with a pro and he said it's fine


Let me assure you that it's no fine!! I setup an intex 18'x48" easy set pool on a 2-4" unlevel surface. I got the pool filed up but there was about 8-12" or room left to fill. I couldn't fill it anymore or it would have poured over the side. Anyway, I though this was fine and we swam in it for about a week. The side that was lower than the highest spot of land started to droop to that side. I was messing around in the pool one weekend and sure enough I hit the side of the wall enough to have 5000 gallons of water rush out and I went over the side with it. Luckly enough I have a large piece of property and it did flow downhill.

All in all noone was hurt, but it just goes to show you that even a small unlevel ground will cause problems. I spent the next week leveling that area to about .5-1" of grade change. I refilled the pool and it is 100% better. Has been up for a month and no problems. When full, you can see about 1" difference in water depth on either side.

Make sure your area is absolutely level!!!!

-Bryan
Backglass
Swimming Pool Superstar
Swimming Pool Superstar
Posts: 727
Joined: Tue 29 May, 2007 09:02

Postby Backglass » Mon 16 Jul, 2007 12:13

Icon699 wrote:Talked with a pro and he said it's fine


See if he will sign a document stating this. It will help you with your lawsuit.

;)
===============================
I'm no expert...just a long time pool owner. The real experts are at www . troublefreepool . com

Download Bleachcalc free at troublefreepool . com /files/BleachCalc262.exe and start saving money on chemicals.
brenda

18' above ground pool not level

Postby brenda » Thu 02 Jun, 2011 17:11

My pool is the same way. a couple inches off level & now one side looks like it has a foot or so with no water, while the low side is completly full. My kids still want to try swimming in it. I'm gonna try draining it but the plug is on the ground (fuller end of the pool) - HELP!! Not sure what to do. Jusat paid $120.00 to fill the pool (we have well water) so i'm gonna have to dump this into the ground. OMG!! So freaked out. So, basically this is NOT safe at all?? Damn. I was hoping to try swimming a few days until I could try getting it drained. What do u suggest???
Thanks,
Brenda
Blackstar
Pool Enthusiast
Pool Enthusiast
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat 04 Jun, 2011 10:25
My Pool: 27' X 54" round above ground, Jacuzzi pump. Hayward filter.
Location: Nova Scotia

18' above ground pool not level

Postby Blackstar » Sat 04 Jun, 2011 12:15

I'm new here at the forum and just started reading over some posts. I got my first pool in 2001. It was a 27' X 52" round above ground. We had some bad attitude from the seller/installer and to make a long story short, they left in a hurry without their payment for a completed / installed pool.

Anyway, the pool was installed out of level by 3.5 inches. They said it was fine. I contacted the pool manufacturer and he said get it drained and reinstalled properly ASAP or it WOULD collapse. The installer basically told us it was our pool now and to just pay our bill and go away. It cost me approximately $1500.00 dollars for teardown, reinstall level and refill. The pool has lasted until this past winter when an overload of snow collapsed one side. (Thank God for a great and understanding insurance company :D ).

So, for the price of $120.00 for water as you quoted earlier I would get the pool fixed up and set level. Too bad you don't have a holding tank to transfer the water to. Maybe you could rent an empty tank or tanker truck for a weekend to get the job done. You can syphon the water out using a garden hose if you can't get at the plug.
Meme

Re: 18' above ground pool not level

Postby Meme » Sat 01 Jul, 2017 20:31

Bought the Coleman 18'x48" was unlevel one end about 2 or3 inches had it one week it collapsed and bent 7 legs the legs are not heavy enough to hold the offset weight expensive for parts because of the cost I am fixing it was wondering if putting concrete inside the legs would make them stronger.
lore7460
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue 22 Aug, 2017 13:38
My Pool: 18' Steel above ground pool (Galaxy)

Re: 18' above ground pool not level

Postby lore7460 » Tue 22 Aug, 2017 13:55

I have a 18' above ground pool metal wall and I did the installation myself.
I did the leveling with the long 2x4 and a level; ground was tamped down pretty good and my post blocks were fairly level.
I was half way done filling the pool when i noticed it was off kilter a little.

It looks like what happen was the pool rail was move and it wasn't sitting on the block and as the pool filled the edge of the rail frame hit the block and stopped it from settling over the block. I managed to lift up the lip of the post rail so that it would skid onto the block as a shake the pool and it did just a little. Here are the end results it is still a little off. What do you all think it OK to continue filling?

IMAG0852.jpg
IMAG0852.jpg (383.95 KiB) Viewed 42838 times

This first image shows you the gap difference only about a half inch.
IMAG0851.jpg
IMAG0851.jpg (397 KiB) Viewed 42838 times

IMAG0850.jpg
IMAG0850.jpg (400.16 KiB) Viewed 42838 times
lore7460
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue 22 Aug, 2017 13:38
My Pool: 18' Steel above ground pool (Galaxy)

Re: 18' above ground pool not level

Postby lore7460 » Wed 23 Aug, 2017 14:07

Found another issue with the skimmer. It looks like i was given a butterfly style gasket but was told nothing about it. Instructions said nothing about how to install it.
I'm finding out now that you need to open it up and put it on both sides of the pool wall. Problem was at the time there was no hole in the liner to do this so i didn't even think about it.

Going to try and undo the bolts and get it in there hopefully the liner will cooperate with me.

Return to “Basics for New Pool Owners”

Who is online at the Pool Help Forum

Users browsing this forum: Applebot [Bot] and 17 guests