Welcome to Life at the Holman's.


This blog is my way of sharing some of my thoughts and ideas. As the children age and become independent, I find myself with an empty space. Years of homeschooling and child-rearing focus has transitioned to more time to focus on the things I enjoy. One of my greatest pleasures is cooking. I enjoy making sweet treats for my family and friends and preparing meals that bring a smile to my husband's face. I like finding new ideas that help to make life easier. Enjoy!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Fun in the Sun! - Setting up the Intex Pool

My kids, like many others, love to swim.  My daughter should have been born with fins.  Last year, we purchased a pool pass for our local public pool.  We would go to the pool at least 5 days a week from 1 to 5 pm and swim, and a couple of times, we went to the 7 to 9 pm evening swim.  The kids really enjoyed their time there.  We would take our snacks and just make a day of it.

This year, we realized that because of our schedules, it was just not possible to go to the pool as much as we knew the kids would like.  So, we decided to purchase a small pool.  We went to the store with the intentions of getting the 8 foot by 30 inch Intex pool that was on sale for $25. However, after thinking it over and figuring in the discount that Jason receives where he works, we opted to go with the next size up, and we only paid $66 for it.  It is a 12 foot by 36 inch Easy Set Intex pool. While this is still not a huge pool, we thought it would be great for this year and would allow us to decide if we really wanted to invest in a bigger pool for next year.

This post will take you through our step by step set-up of our pool...Here goes!

We (or rather Jason) leveled us a spot.

Easy Set Intex Pool  12 ft. X 36 in.
All the instruction booklets and an instruction DVD


Out of the box

Lay down the ground cover

Unfold the liner and air up the ring
(We used our vacuum cleaner in the "reverse mode" to air up our ring.) 

Attach the filter
(Make sure the hoses are connected the right way...we had ours backwards at first.)

Fill the pool with 1 inch of water to make sure you are good and level. We were a little slanted (about a half inch to an inch difference), but it did not really mattern in the end.  Also make sure the liner is free of wrinkles on the bottom.

Make sure the openings are all covered (the drain opening as well as the filter openings) and continue filling the pool (Allow your two children who are dying to get in to quietly play in the pool!  The deeper the pool got...the less quiet the kids got!).

Getting closer...


DONE!


I have to say that overall this was a very easy process (at least for me it was...I did not have to do much).  It is a very inexpensive way to have a pool at home for the kids to get wet in.  They have enough room to "swim" around and "dive" for things.  My kiddos have literally spent all day in the pool at this point.
One thing to remember is that your pump has to be "primed" in order to get the air out and allow it to work properly.  There is an air release valve that you just unscrew.  Wait until the water begins coming out of the air valve and then screw it back down to close it again.  This will get all the air out of the pump and the lines and allow the water to flow through.  Also, the 1/2" to 1" off in leveling did not seem to effect the pool.  So, I would just suggest that you have a fairly level area that will not allow the pool to tilt, and an area that is free of any puncturing debris including some really stiff grass areas or roots.

I would definitely recommend this pool (at this point) based on the ease of set up and the inexpensive purchase price.  I will post again further down the road as to how well it holds up and how well the filter works.  

2 comments:

Brenda Hasty said...

I must have done something wrong. I posted comment and lost it. If this shows up twice I am sorry. Just wanted to say that the kids seem like they are going to enjoy the summer. I know my husband has said if the pool needed replacing he would take it out but I don't see that happening. Our grandkids enjoy it and when the turth know we enjoy it also. We purchased a floattron and this has made the maintance so much easier. Also we hardly use any clorine. It also stays cleaner. Have a good summer.

Jamie said...

We had one before we moved. Then my husband mistakenly shot thru the container one day during target practice. I LOVED ours! The 12 foot is plenty big for an air mattress for you and the kids can still play. The depth is perfect too I think. If you can't keep it clean, don't let that discourage you too much from getting a larger pool. I would recommend one of the nice ones with a large filter though, I don't think they sell them at walmart, but at the pool stores.