Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This thing is fantastic. Why did I wait so long to buy one?! In 2021, these things were expensive. North of $1900 I balked. Then, in 2022, the price came back down to less than $1100. I find it to be a value at $1100, and a no-brainer at less than $1000 as it was in early 2020. Beware, setup is not as easy as you might think for most people & properties. The pool and all of its metal braces must be level. For me, this meant digging, tilling, and packing the most level part of my yard. I removed about 2 inches of grass and clay soil to get my spot “perfect”. After I filled the pool, I discovered it was not perfect. In fact it is off by about two inches over the length of the pool, but perfectly level over the width. If you have a perfectly level concrete pad to setup the pool, awesome. Be aware that the actual pad dimensions are 19’10”x9x10”. The area I prepared was marked as 20x11’ and it was just barely big enough. Step one of setup: make a perfectly level 20x11’ pad. Find a mostly flat part of your yard. Don’t build up low areas- the soil will sink. Instead, dig out high areas. In my case, I transported eight 6 cu. ft. wheelbarrows of dirt to other parts of my yard. Step two of setup: lay out the protective tarp and the pool liner. Construct the metal frame. Get a helper. Step three of setup: I was worried about the legs of the pool sinking into the clay when it rains. The bottom of the pool liner is supporting 37,929 lbs and has a surface area of about 21,888 sq. inches. The pressure across the bottom of the pool is about 1.7 pounds per square inch- which is less PSI than my shoes exert on the ground. However, the legs support the lateral loads of the pool with a much smaller footprint. Whenever the water is out of level, the frame does more work to hold the bladder in place. This pool does an exceptional job with frame resilience and load support, but the weak spot for me is the clay soil. I added pressure treated 2”x12”x10” blocks under each leg. This pool has 12 legs. I bought two 8-foot pieces of 2x12 lumber and cut them to 10” blocks. Importantly: avoid lightweight concrete paver blocks. This pool has enough lateral stress to crack those pavers in half. Importantly #2: dig down and set the support blocks level with the pool base. For each one of the 12 blocks, I used a lawn spade and a shovel to dig a 1.75” deep, square-shaped hole, and recessed the blocks into the ground. Do not skimp on the ground preparation steps. Do it right and to perfection. Even if you are meticulous, you’ll likely find opportunities for improvement. You’ll be thankful that you spent the extra effort getting it “perfect” though. Importantly #3: every rock, pebble, piece of hard plastic, root, twig, etc., must go. Be diligent about removing any material that is not dirt. Step three-A (3A) of setup: make the area useful for the long-run. - Spray the ground with weed and grass killer. - Consider adding anti-fatigue mats under the pool base for a nice foot feel and some additional puncture and vegetation protection. I found a fantastic deal at Harbor Freight. Step four of setup: the power plugs for the Intex pump (and saltwater generator) are HUGE and won’t fit in your special GFCI in-use weatherproof box. You can cut plastic boxes to accommodate the plug, but I used a 2-foot 14-3 extension cord. This extension cord connection must be enclosed in a weatherproof box. Amazon has weatherproof extension cord boxes. The built in cords are more than 20 feet long, so setup the pool within about 20 feet of your GFCI protected outlet. Step five of setup: this kit doesn’t come with all of the fancy features that you may want to consider. - I recommend you buy the Intex saltwater generator (SWG)- it will make the pool experience much more pleasant and easy to maintain. * get pool salt if you get the SWG. 115 lbs for this pool. The saltwater generator makes sodium hypochlorite that sanitizes your water. Once the salt is added, it stays in the system. * get Cyanuric acid. It prevents UV light from breaking down the chlorine generated by the saltwater generator. This pool requires 1.1 lbs of CYA initially, so maybe buy a 4-lb bag. * get a pool skimmer. Either the Intex basket filter, the Hayward above ground pool skimmer, or a net. * get a vacuum. I bought a robot one from Amazon and it works great. * get a good test kit. HTH makes a good, inexpensive one that tests for everything and cyanuric acid. * get a cheap 36” kiddie pool to use as a foot bath at the base of the ladder. It’ll help minimize dirt/grass from being tracked into the pool. * get some apparatus to hold your beverages and devices. There are floaty ones and clamp ones available on Amazon. * I paid a little under $1100 for the pool, but my all-in cost (including ground prep and accessories) was north of $2k. Other things to know: - the included ladder supports up to 300 lbs. I’m 255 lbs and it’s… janky and high. But it works fine. - when you are filling the bladder, the pool rails will begin to bow inward. This is normal. When the water is approaching full, the sides will straighten out from the lateral pressure (this is why you need blocks under the legs). - you’ll need to build a sled/platform to place under the pump, filter, and saltwater generator. My platform is 36x18”. - you’ll need to own/buy a level to make the pad flat and level. I used a spare 4x6”x10’ piece of wood, and zip-tied my 4’ level to it. It was useful, but per my previous comments, I still ended up with a pool that wasn’t quite perfect. - the pool frame depth is 52”, but the water depth when full is 45”. - the cover included is not a “solar cover”. At my latitude, the days can be 100°F but the nights still in the 60’s or 70’s °F. The water is cold! You might want a solar heater if you don’t prefer very cold water. - wait at least 24 hours after shocking the water to add algaecide because the chlorine shock will neutralize the algaecide. I think that’s all of the stuff in my brain about this pool. Hopefully this helps! Update, a few days later: the pool temperature is perfect after a couple of days of 90°F weather with high-60’s °F overnight temps. The cover that comes with the pool allowed the top few inches to warm considerably, and the bottom 40 inches of the water column remained cool. Bonus adds: an inflatable water hammock and IP57 rated earbuds set the stage for a relaxing audiobook experience in the midday heat.