Help with an Easy Set Pool

Updated on June 19, 2008
J.N. asks from Cleveland, OH
10 answers

I bought an Easy Set Pool for my girls and we do live on a slight slant in our back yard. We put it up and I had problems with the filter first and then the ring had to be inflated about 2 -3 times a day and on Thursday when we csme home our backyard was like a swamp. We are getting another one and we need to know if there is something that we should do or should know before we put the next one up.

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

N.L.

answers from Cleveland on

Hi J., You might want to try to put sand or dirt down under one side to make the ground a little more even, because if there is too much of a slant, it will collapse. We have even used straw before and it's not too pokey! It doesn't have to be perfect. As far as the rim around the top, it must have had holes in it. The pool should come with patches for all parts of the pool. They are very easy to use. It's finding the holes that's difficult. Putting water all over the rim and looking for bubbles might work. Good luck. N. L.

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.S.

answers from Columbus on

This story was written after our true life experience, the theme being "follow directions, if you can understand them!" ~Smile~
The advice others are giving you is very true, sand around the cirumfrance of the outer ring, not a 'bed' of sand under the whole pool...enjoy!
'Inground Pool, or The Pool in the box.'

" Last summer my husband, Greg, "took a dive."
After much pressuring and a serious propaganda campaign, ( we had plastered the refridgerator with pictures cut from department store flyers of happy 'pool people' kneeling in their pools to demonstrate the supposed depth of the refreshing water of their private pool; happy children, moms and dads looking wonderfully trim and fit in their designer swimsuits, volleying beach balls in the vast expanse of their own private backyard liquid sports arena. He got the full effect of this collage whenever he went for a cold drink.) Even the living room wasn't a safe retreat when the pool promoters were on the job:"Look at those people on the TV commercial, Dad, saving money by not paying the ticket prices of amusement parks and the city pool, let alone the gas money spent to get there, but instead enjoying their leasure time in the privacy of their own backyard family pool!"
He gave in to the family's pressures and pleadings and a bought one of those "economical" above ground plastic swimming pools for the kids to cool off in. ( Of course, Mom wasn't disinterested.) The package it came in was impossibly small and narrow- giving rise to the obvious question..."Uh, Dad? How can a SWIMMING POOL come in a box?"As if to allay our fears, the enclosed instructions assured us that "Many hours of happy family fun were contained herein.~Some assembly required."
We optimistically calculated it would take an afternoon to pop the thing together and we'd be swimming in the "family fun" by early evening, well, wouldn't you? After four and a half hours in the sweating heat of the afternoon sun, trying to make sense of English instructions badly translated from Japanese, Dad was having a hard time envisoning the family or the fun. "Some assembly required"? Yeah, right.
After all was said (some not fit to mention!) and done, the brand new blue pool stood proudly on its bed of clean, sifted sand and its fresh, expensive, bone chilling 40,000 gallons of water glinted invitingly in the moonlight.
Too tired to do anything but wipe sweat from his eyes and nod numbly as the kids all "oooed and ahhed", Dad went off to bed to cries of "But why CAN'T we get in tonight? But you SAID it would be done this afternoon !!"
At the break of dawn the next morning the potential swimmers had assembled, wiping sleep from their eager eyes. Inflatable toys and neon- hued styrofoam noodles in hand, they assured Mom that the dew on the ground wasn't really that cold and the steam rising from the pool's surface meant that atleast the water was warmer than the air temperature, so they really should get in.
The phone rang at work exactly six and half minutes later. Dad, just arriving, got the worried voice of Mom on the line, "Honey, the kids jumped in the pool first thing this morning, and started playing that game where they run in a circle and make the water follow them in a wave, you know what I mean? But I made them get right out again and brought them in the house, because the water's doing something strange...its swirling like a whirlpool and it seems to be building momentum!"
Dad, puzzled by this development, not recalling any caution in the pool's English/Japanese instructions about whirlpool warnings- asked "Hmm, well, what's it doing now?" Though he wasn't prepared for the answer.
The children, shivering as if they'd been rescued from sea monster, stood safely wrapped in towels and huddled in the hallway behind her, their eyes wide. Mom stood tiptoe on the side of the tub in the back bathroom, peering out the window into the yard, her voice trembling a little as she said "Whoa..., honey, the water is still swirling in a circle, like when you flush the toilet, one side of the pool is raising up higher into the air and the other is dipping lower to the ground with every revolution. It seems like the weight of the water's circular motion is pushing against the lower wall... Oh, no, the whole thing is getting ready to..." her voice faded to nothingness with an indrawn breath.
"Yes, yes? he asked desperately. "The tide just went out" she replied , in an awestruck whisper, as the 40,000 gallons of water and all Dad's hard work washed out of the yard, lifting and carrying the dog's house with the yipping family pet tethered to it, stopping at the barrier of the cow's fence, rolling through into the field toward the cows, who, startled from their nonchalant grazing by the approaching wall of water, fled in a small stampede.
For future reference, to save anyone else from ever having to go through this tidal wave nightmare, NEVER place an above ground pool on a "soft layer of clean sand." Even with the best intentions, (ours being not tearing the liner with sharp rocks that might work themselves up through the soil and to make a soft bottom for the children's feet)- Just don't do it. The instructions will warn you not to, (if you are bilingual!) In a mixture of languages, they specifically say to "put sand all around the inner circle of the plastic walls in the shape of a V, but under no circumstances under the pool."
We learned our lesson. We salvaged the outer rim by glueing a crack it suffered in the eruption with a sealant called "Goop." The liner wasn't torn, so Dad made a trip to the Rent-All Store and came home with a TeraMite machine. He dug a hole and set the pool walls down two feet into it, before refilling it's massive empty maw with the liquid gold. (The water company loved us that month!) Adding a security fence with a gate and a lock, he dusted his hands on his jeans and was heard to have murmered under his breath
"It's not going anywhere now!"
You can see from the photos, our story did have a happy ending. Summer time became splash-time once again at our house, and we did in fact achieve the promised "many hours of happy family fun".
The kids even went back to school at the end of the summer and told their friends that we have an
in ground pool.
What? ...It's true.

3 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.B.

answers from Toledo on

it sounds like when you set the first one up that something was poking through and caused a leak. my suggestion would be to clear the grass and debris from the pool site and put a layer of sand down on the circumference before you set the new one up. My husband is an expert at pool set up. He helps his father with a pool business in the summer sometimes, so that is what he suggested. good luck.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.G.

answers from Lima on

Even if it is only a 8' or 12ft. diameter pool, put sand on the ground first to level the spot where you want to set it. My husband used a really long level to put down on top of the sand then to make sure it was as level as possible.
SAVE ALL papers and info from the box!!!!!!!!!!!!
To get filter replacements for ours, I had to contact the company as they were not available on the regular market. One filter available at Walmart was about 1/4 inch too tall and there was NO way to make it work. If this is the case, order several replacement filters!!!!!!!!!!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.B.

answers from Cincinnati on

We had a small problem to begin with when we got ours. It was on a slight slant. If they aren't completely level they considered safe. We dug out the area, and spent 3 LONG days making it completely level. We got more dirt to fill in the low spots, and used shovels in the high ones. It was a PAIN but afterwards it has been wonderful. No problems with the filter or the pool falling over. We have set the pool up 3 years in a row now with no other problems. Weeding the area out and putting a tarp on it so that rocks can not make their way to the liner are the only task we do now. It takes about 20 minutes to get the area ready instead of 20 hours. Easy set is easy when there's a place to put it.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.A.

answers from Cleveland on

Hi J.
We had the same problem. There is only one way out. These pools need to be on a totally even ground - the slightest slope will damage your pool, resulting in shaping your pool in an egg shape and then flooding. You need to level out your yard. The easiest way is to use sand on the side were the slant is. Problem with that is, that your lawn will be ruined under the sand - but the same goes for the pool site anyways. We just transformed the pool area into a " beach volley ball" area when it got colder outside and we had to take down the pool.
Good luck
M.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.L.

answers from Canton on

It may take a little work but it will be worth it. Buy 4 2x4's all the same length, (you didn''t mention how big the pool was) set them in the ground forming a box. get playsand and fill the box and level it then set the pool in it and you should be all set.That's just a very basic version. If you need more info your local Lowe's or Home Depot or whichever is near you should have someone there to help you out.Those folks are really cool. Good luck ,hope all goes well and don't forget the sunscreen!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.T.

answers from Cleveland on

YES.. an uneven ground would most likely be the culprit. Add soil or sand to make it even. These quick set pools are GREAT for the kids and I've had one every summer since the first year they came out. But watch the filter. Make sure the top is fully inflated, yet not OVER inflated. It'll cause a hole, even microscopic in the seam and constantly leak air out. If inflated too little the top will not keep the water in. It takes a couple days to figure it all out and find that balance, but once it's up and running there'll be every day swim fests.. Good luck.
A.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.Z.

answers from Columbus on

i have the smaller quickset pool and i loved it last year but now i keep having holes in the inflateble part. i thought i found all the holes and now its worse and i have heard other people having the same problem along with others
i have personally had problems with the tubes connected to the pump and the pool
i just thogtht i'd share this with you in case you have heard other rummers about these pools

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.V.

answers from Indianapolis on

I had the same issue with the one I bought last year. I ended up taking it back to the store, but tried again this year. So far, I've had good luck. I moved it to a different spot in the yard. It may have been returned before. Good luck this time.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions

Related Searches