Step by step how we lowered our 16x32 above ground pool down in the ground and built a deck around it to look and feel like an in ground pool for a fraction of the cost.
Good idea! It will also help with any roots growing into the bottom of the pool seeking water. I had that happen once, and had to replace the liner. To avoid it from happening again, I placed a heavy tarp on the ground prior to replacing the liner. But, if you place insulation boards first, then you would need to dig a littler deeper than the sides to accommodate for the extra height which would make the sides walls bulge out a bit. I've built 3 of these pools.
We are in Florida Sand and shell pieces = crap. I am a carpet installer, so dropping my above ground pool 1/2 way we decided to used carpet and pad on carpet pad
La rissa because it won’t last it’s foolish waste of money..I’ll stick with my real in ground mine will last forever plus this is a great cost for a pool that wasn’t structurally ment to be in ground so it will break from pressure.
@@SuperTamig what's so hard to understand that not everyone has money to get an in ground pool installed? He saved 30k doing it this way. Sure, if he saved up for a long time, maybe he could come up with 60k but it seems to me that he wanted a pool sooner rather than later.
In-ground pools, especially in CA, are sooo expensive if you want a decent sized pool for a large backyard so this is a great alternative (my husband and I are hoping to do this). Thanks for taking the time to make time video!
I understand the cost of installing a fiberglass pool, but it seems like the intex pool can easily rip or get a leak and I'm not sure how you would repair it-?
@@jolson1053 We used our Intex daily for 5 summers and it never got a leak and still had some good life in it when we sold it, but.. many report about 5 years before needing to replace an Intex liner. Usually, that's a few hundred dollars for the large frame, but with Covid, hot tub and pool prices are up 5 to 10 fold. Crazy times.
This is not a good idea, this is making stupidity seem really smart and just because somebody has a camera and a bad idea doesn’t mean they should go on RU-vid and tell everybody it’s a great idea, this pool we caved in and deteriorated within two years, but thanks for encouraging these idiots to make this great video
Built a similar pool but learned (fast) that we needed to add a sump pit and pump for when it rains. Had a couple good down pours over one weekend and the pool supports were in a foot of water. Those supports would become rusty trash in no time
Those Intex pools rust out pretty fast unless you use rust remover on the inside and then spray the insides of each leg with a waterproof rustproof paint. I know, we lost one a few years ago when one of the legs failed. We bought a second one and it was rusty inside the legs out of the box. We took the time to treat the new legs and so far it has been great. Our first Intex pool was exactly like the one you have up and it lasted over 7 years so the newer one that failed was a big surprise. Enjoy your pool.
We had an 18f by 24f intex and had it dug down in and it lasted for the last 10 years b4 we moved to our new house loved it! Probably had another 10 years in it!!
I always wondered if this could be done. Thanks for you and your commenters for all the good tips and inspiration! Cool seeing your son so excited about this project! Hope you guys are enjoying it!
@@christinafreer3907 wow! That’s awesome. Based on our experience, definitely do the pavers. Those legs put a lot of pressure on the ground and need the stability a
I'm a builder in Fort Worth, TX and I've been watching this since last year. I knew it was a great idea when I saw it but wanted to wait until this year to do it so I could think it through to customize it for my yard. I would do treated lumber too, but with my connections, I'm having my bricklayers put the 8x16 concrete blocks up for my retaining wall.. Right now we have the hole ready and got the blocks delivered the other day. That day it started to rain and been raining so we have 6" of water in there now on soil that doesn't drain well so I definitely will be making a catch basin for a sump pump. :)..Thanks again for the idea.
Awesome!!! I think brick is a great idea, especially considering the price of lumber. We did install an automatic pump. The only time it kicks on is this time of the year when our water table is higher, but that’s it. Maybe a month of it kicking on a little. Hope you enjoy yours. We certainly don’t regret doing it.
That is really cool. Great idea to submerge a pool and protect it from the elements of weather, here in the uk, it is wet most of the year and we have normally 1 week that is hot enough to enjoy the sun, our gardens are tiny so I might chose to do this with a paddling pool. But thanks for sharing and I’m sure it will last many years to enjoy.
We put in a pool just like this about 7 years ago. All worked well until a few days ago when the legs collapsed from internal corrosion. We used a saltwater system and the water had leached into the legs. Unfortunately, INTEX doesn't have any parts to repair it with now. We did get a lot of use from the pool. It was only partially sunk into the ground with a large deck built around it.
Isabelle Hyder thank you! It’s been about a year and we are still loving it. The water is a bit colder than the adults want right now, but the kids could care less. Thanks for the nice comment!
This was very helpful me and my family have just bought a house with alot of space and we want to I install a pool but think custom pools are too expensive, I was searching for videos like this we are getting a pool that is. Exactly like yours thanks 😊
Congrats on the new house! Ours is going into its third season and it’s still great. Minor adjustments here and there, but so much less expense than a concrete or other permanent ones. Permanent ones are nice, but not on the budget. Lol
Dude...I'm jealous...seriously. This is EXACTLY what we had planned and attempted to do with ours. Problem was the ground where we live. Ground is not perfect level (slight slope to property) and hit hard pan about 3 feet down on one side of the dig... old creek bed. Could not get any further down without spending close to another 1K on bigger excavation equipment. So...now we have a deck that is about 1 foot off the ground on the back end and 3 on the other...maybe next time...next house. LOL. Great job!
Jonathan Clark thank you! I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, but at least you did what you could. We are blessed with good soil. Is yours the same size as ours?
i really like what you did here. It's cost effective and a beautiful result. i have to agree with others on insulation boards on the floor with stabilised sand. Also the pump is known to be way undersized for this poolsize and accesories like skimmers etc. are a must :) Hope you'll enjoy this summer.
@@TheTrentTribe aha...true ! Hope we'll see an update this summer on the pool status 👌😎 I have a similar project in mind but i don't know if i'm up to the job tbh. 🤯
Love this! The naysayers saying "just get an inground pool" obviously havent priced them lately. We looked into having one slightly smaller than yours put in and was quoted in the 40-55k range! No freaking thank you.
That is crazy expensive.,didn't know pools were so expensive there here in South Africa we build a concrete pool and with all the best equipment for about R250000. Which is about 13500 dollars.
Hell thats not bad. My area we're talking 60-80k. Now there are a lot of variables that come into play. Quality of materials, Concrete or fiberglass, size of pool, what you're digging through(clay or stone).
I think this turned out great I wondered if this was an option considering in ground pool are a lot more costly than above ground my only concern is repairs in the future but definitely something to think about
Definitely not a long term solution. But again even if you have to pop out a few boards and buy an entire new pool for 1k what's the big deal? Me personally I would do a proper inground. But I see the appeal of something like this
The only thing I might've done differently would be to foam board under and around the pool sides, and to throw a little stone down under the pump to keep it out of the mud. Might need a sump pump at some point also
Not bad at all to be around 7k. I have been looking at small kidney bean shaped fiberglass pools and they cost 15k and that's you doing the install and no concrete around the pool. Your pool comes at half the price with a deck, so great job. It also doesn't look like ot would be too hard to just swap out the pool when it is needed either. Thanks for the upload
James B thank you. I don’t believe it will be difficult to change it out when that day comes. A new pool that size runs $1k or so and even if we had to do that every five years, we still feel like it’s a good deal. But our last intex lasted for 8-9 years and still had life in it.
Perfect video. So many ppl could learn from you. (I wish) your music was low👍 , your to the point👍, and you weren’t moving the camera (me) every where👍. Thank you
😍Awesome job!!! 7k vs 40k is what I can afford!!! I'd been looking for a video like this for couple years now because I have neighbors that I don't want peering 🤓 at me if this was above ground with decking. I've had round Intex pool that lasted 5yrs until I moved. Oh and its had to find an an intex in stock now!!!! probably because of you.... 😂😂😂
Misty Smith lol. I hope it’s not because of us. 😂😂😂 If we had done it above ground we would have the same issues with neighbors. Hope your project turns out well.
We did the same thing in our backyard and had good results. My only comment is this: if you're going to go through all the cost and effort for this type of endeavor, invest in a better pool than an Intex "bag of water". We selected an aluminum pool - more costly, but a stronger design that doesn't have any concerns over rusting (unlike steel walled pools).
@@christinafreer3907 unfortunately no, this past year has been a trying year for most. I have however recently priced those blocks and in my area I can get 2’x2’x6’ for about 50 dollars.
Jessica B thank you! This past winter we just covered it and let it be. I think this winter we may try something different like getting a better cover.
That's cool! Looks beautiful. I hope y'all have a blast. I have always wanted to do a natural pool in my backyard. Same concept as digging a big hole but using pool liner material and surrounding plants to keep it clean . My biggest concern with using a frame pool is the structure tends to rust after a few years.
David Fulfer thanks! We look for this one to rust after a few years, hopefully we can get 5 years out of this frame. Replacing it isn’t too expensive and shouldn’t be hard to do with a few extra hands. Love the idea you have about surrounding it with plants. That would be super!
This looks like a great idea! I was wondering, did you put some sort of access hatch in the deck to be able to service the pump or get to the pvc pipe when necessary?
@@TheTrentTribe Make sure to get some lights in that thing! I've cut holes in my liner and put recessed rear-access spa lights in mine. But to be safe, Intex sells magnetic induction leds, which would be less risky in your case!
@@TheTrentTribe These are the fixtures I used. They have an o-ring, and screw tighting clamp. Rear access. You can go on ebay and pick any 12v LED to fit inside. If you're good with electronics - wiring a couple 12v MR16 lamps is easy as most garden lighting is 12v. I siliconed my globe up and made it watertight from the rear as well. Looks great! Lastly, I chose the Mi-light MR16 RGB-CCT globe. Its RGB, but can produce cool + Warm white. RF controlled. What I made up is generally more advanced than most pool lighting on the market in terms of control and colour options. www.directpoolsupplies.com.au/balboa-onga-classic-front-and-rear-acess-spa-light
as a kid we had one that was half sunk in... I loved it! But the thing is if it starts leaking or anything which above grounds are prone to do it is much more difficult to fix it.
Always interesting to see the creativity of other DIY'ers. I would add though for anyone else that is going to follow suit; those metal railings should have been grounded because they are less than 5' from the pool edge. Maybe they did and just didn't mention it in the how to video, but that doesn't meet code without it. Definitely an interesting and much nicer way to use an above ground pool product. I'd be curious how well it is holding up. In my region there is way too much freeze / thaw and I don't think it would hold up over time.
Erin Klein Dillard I grew up on a hillside like that. We would camp out and end up in the bottom of the tent. Lol Not sure why we didn’t find a better camping spot, but it was fun none the less.
Hi Trent, Great project. Great video. And kudos to you for remaining polite and helpful when answering rude and repetitious comments and questions. Bless you for that. My Intex 16' x 32' pool is sitting in my garage just waiting for the Michigan weather to warm up a little, then I plan to do something very similar to what you did. Where I'm putting my pool has a significant grade so I am going to excavate using a skid steer working from the low end, then that end will remain open when I'm done. I spent a couple of hours reading the more useful questions together with your replies. I have a couple of questions of my own. My experience with a wood retaining wall is that over time it will start to tip over slightly from the soil pressure, even if you use tie-backs (or “dead-men”), which I noticed you didn't. If your deck is attached to the retaining wall this could start to push the deck an inch or two over the pool, over time. The video didn't show the deck joists being actually attached to your retaining wall. Are they connected or did you let the deck just sit on the retaining wall, anchored by the outer posts to avoid this possible “creep” issue? Another question about the retaining wall posts. You mention using a bag of concrete. Is this one bag per post, used dry, as I have heard others use? Did you use any kind of footing pad beneath each post? And what diameter post hole auger did you use? Deck planks - why 2x8 near the pool and 2x6 around the outside? Sorry for being so wordy but want to try and get all my ducks in a row. Thanks, Steve.
Hey! Thanks for watching and the comment. We just allowed the deck to rest on those walls like you mentioned. We also used one large bag of concrete per pole, poured it in dry and then wet it down with a hose.
No footing and I’m not sure on the auger. We borrowed that from a friend. The 2x8 for us was just a matter of letting a little hang over so there wouldn’t be a gap in between the pool and the deck. That way no toes or little feet would slip down in a crack. We really just figured it out as we went along. Lol
Ty Vaughn we have really good soil where we live, but we did put in a sump pump to drain any water that was to get in that area. So far so good for us.
@@greatwhitescuba2987 lol. Totally get it. We have been busy with other projects, but we plan on making a video about our trap door and some recent changes we made to the pump. Hopefully before the end of this month.
This pool runs around $4,000 and lasts about ten years. You can buy a similar permanent pool kit for about twice that if you want to do all this work. You then have a liner that lasts about 20 years. If you have kids, 10 years is a long time if that's the reason you want the pool.
saggy_dimes this pool actually cost us just under $1000 and around $7000 total to do it all. Quotes for permanent pools and installation were coming in around $40k. We can buy another pool when it comes time and still come out way cheaper. Fun project as well. Thanks for the comment.
Awesome Idea we plan on doing something like this we don't have money to buy fiber glass or build a real pool at the time so thank you for this video gives me great ideas
Bruce Bigbie thank you! Just a thought, wonder if you put a small pump in if that would automatically drain it for you? A friend of ours did that and it works great!
Little confused about the post setting method. Earlier in the video, mention of setting the post straight before pouring concrete...but then later in the video, there's a reference to setting the post on top of a concrete cap. These are two very different things, I thought. I only wanted to mention (for sake of others) that you should never set a wooden post directly in concrete, even if it is pressure treated. It will last longer than non-treated, but eventually, it will rot. Use mechanical fasteners, galvanized set in the concrete, and then attach posts with that. I also would have gone with a fiberglass shell as opposed to the cheap vinyl pool. All that effort merits a better quality product that will last. Looks like they can be had for ~$5k for a 16x32, per Google search. Hope it lasts for you, but I'd be nervous as hell using that pool in this manner lol
jw11432 thanks for the comment. The pool legs (which may be what you’re referring to) are on concrete pads. The wooden post are in concrete. Good advice on the post, we just chose to go this way because we’ve had good experience like this and we were shooting for inexpensive. The lowest quote on a totally finished pool for us was $30k, but one around this size total all in was closer to $40k.
Rev Jayy Music so far any that has gotten in has drained out for me because my soil is sandy. Sometimes if the pool is full it will spillover into the corners, but other than that it hasn’t been a problem. We were prepared to install a pump if that was going to be a problem, but it hasn’t been. Hope that helps.
1 I have one of these pools and yes you can leave them up during the winter. I see a bunch of ppl commenting who have never owned one. Great build man. And awesome video. Ingore the pea brains.
This looks amazing! Well done guys! I do however have a question or more a thought. Here in Australia we would not be allowed to have the fence around the pool because it is something that children can easily climb. We can have other fences and it is a requirement that fences go around our pools for safety but I just wondered if this was different in America?
Krystal Goss thank you. We have a fenced in back yard as well as the fence around the pool. It works for us, but maybe not for everyone. We started to go with vertical pickets, but they warp so easy. You could do these vertical instead of horizontal.
That's counter-intuitive though... many places in the US require a fence to keep toddlers from accidentally falling in. If a kid can climb the thing then they can probably either swim or are old enough to not be accidentally falling in. It's mainly intended for the rug rats. Unless I'm missing something the Aussie rule just sounds so ass-backwards to me lol
I live in the sacramento valley, very hot summers, have had an above ground intex pool for about 10 years, I don't take it down during the winter.... This is a good idea as most damage will be caused by the sun... And this hides it....
@@nicholaskorner2258 I have had an inground pool for 25 years and have only had to repair or replace motors. The house is from the 80s.. so it's been in existence for even longer..I dont see how spending thousands to dig and thousands more for materials and then building the patio.. while the work is nice and top notch.. it's not appealing to the eye either. It's out of place with the rest of the house. They can do what they want cuz Merica! But it just seems that money could have been used to invest in a real pool. But that wouldn't have been such an interesting RU-vid video I guess.
Luvetta Jarmon thank you! We’ve had a good experience with our last intex, which lasted 8-9 years. But we just replace it when it’s worn. $1k replaces it, which is still a great deal.
Mike Dye we did this in a week, which I thought was great. Our soil is sandy, so it drains well. I guess you would have to make adjustments if your soil isn’t. So far ours has done exceptionally well.
Antonio Lopez materials were $5k. We did a lot of our own labor, but that still run us $2k bringing our total to $7k. We have and are still enjoying it. So far so good. Thanks for the comment!
Looks amazing!! Do you have any issues with water pooling in the space between the retaining wall & the pool? I guess you could always pump out the water if needed.
Kristen Norton we didn’t at all last pool season. Someone did a similar project that lives near us and she had a few issues. She installed an automatic pump and that fixed it. We went ahead and did the same thing this year, but just as precaution because our water table is high right now from tons of rain over the last few months.
@I L They're not aluminum... they're steel: "The Intex® Ultra Frame Pool is constructed of high grade steel that is powder coated for rust resistance."
Moe that’s easy to say but the cost of the inground pool is like 4 times what this costs them- especially if they had the equipment (and people to help!) to do it themselves!
