This is my second year with this Intex 18’ x 52” pool and so far I’m extremely satisfied. It came very well packed. Initial set-up is very easy, but ready for water in 60 minutes is far from realistic. Evan having done it once last year, this year still took me 2 hours (by myself). And that doesn’t include the filter and pump set-up. Still not bad though. The directions are clear and straight forward. The parts are solid and correctly made to fit together precisely. (TIP-Use powder on the pipes if they stick to the vinyl when inserting). I was a little apprehensive about a soft sided pool, but it has proven to be durable and sturdy. My pool sits on ¾” foam board with an 18’ Gorilla Pad on top of the foam. It’s a nice smooth comfortable bottom that doesn’t dent. As long as you stretch the pool bottom tight when filling, the only place that the silt will collect is in the middle and along the vinyl seams.
The sand filter is awesome. One 50lb bag of silica sand ($10) is all you need and it last a couple of years. No filter cartridges to replace. Just back-flush once in a while and it’s good as new. My water stays crystal clear. Again, the directions for the filter are outstanding. I believe the 110v power cord is around 20-25ft long. The pump has a timer that once the pump is turned on, it will come on at that time every day. The problem is that if you turn on the pump on manually to vacuum or skim, it cancels the 24hr timer. You then have to reset the timer by turning it back on at the time you want it to come on daily. It’s a very basic timer. I wish they had a separate manual on switch that bypassed the timer switch.
I also use the Intex salt water system chlorinator and it also works great. Very easy to program.
The ladder is not rock solid but it works. I built steps up to the pool this year and clamped the ladder to the deck to stiffen it up.
I did not use the ground cover. It is just a thin cheap tarp. The cover seemed nice But I don’t use that either. It’s kind of a pain to put on and take off. In addition, it has drain holes in it. All the stuff that ends up on the cover ends up in the pool anyway when you are pulling the cover off. With the exception of sticks.
I did take down the pool for the winter and before folding it up, dusted it lightly with baby powder to keep it from sticking together. Just make sure it is completely dry first. Draining the pool was easy until the last few inches because the drain hole is a little high. Getting the rest of the water out of the pool is a pain. The directions also are very clear about winterizing the pool.
Bottom line, the family and I LOVE this pool! We couldn’t wait to set it back up this year. I highly recommend.

This is a lot of money for a lesser pool system but it is working for us. Has been in use only a few days now.

The reason I am not giving it five stars is a) the ladder is a flimsy joke and b) the paper thin ground cloth is virtually useless.

We initially had 4 surprises when it was time to assemble and use the pool (lack of knowledge on our part).
1) There is real work involved preparing the ground for a pool – please ensure you are self-educated here, it was a lot of work but will pay off!
2) The ladder is so poor – we feel it is unsafe to even use. Flimsy, wobbly and the type of plastic rungs that hold or shatter (we won’t be waiting for the latter to occur).
3) Of course we should have thought about it, but you will need to go buy a 50lb bag of #20 silica Sand for pool sand-filters!!
4) The small plastic feet that attach to the bottom of the legs to provide surface area for weight is simply not enough unless you are placing your pool on concrete or otherwise a seriously solid surface. We had to stop filling and place 12″x12″ stones under every leg to prevent sinking into the grass.

Setup time? OK – this is just amateur season – we simply did not know what we were getting into. A bit of research, a few discussions, 6 videos and we began work to PREPARE to have a pool. The ground work is way more important than anything else. The idea to just throw this thing up in a seemingly flat area is not reality if you expect to also put water in it. We leveled the ground, put sand down (an important step if you don’t want to hurt your feet on the bottom of the pool because your feet will feel every tiny imperfection there is, especially any sharp objects like a small rock, etc.), purchased 12″x12″ concrete stones for all 18 legs of the pool. So – it was quite a bit more involved than we thought. Roughly 5.5 hours with 2 people working on it non-stop (this includes ground work). You will need a level to check the pool rails and legs during installation. You will want to double and triple check the legs as you add water because they do tend to shift as things settle.

Assembly of the pool itself was relatively easy. Was a little tough getting started and a little challenging connecting the last “T” connector but other than that, a breeze. Everything is working as advertised and the kids are loving it.

You may want to invest in your own ground cloth. We purchased the Gorilla ground cloth which feels like a very thick felt pad and that really softened the bottom of the pool for your feet.

Since we are on a private well system with low water availability, we paid a pool delivery truck to bring 6k gallons of water and we filled the rest over week between water hose and heavy rain.

Looks nice, is working good for now. We WILL have to replace that ridiculous excuse for a ladder!

I love my pool, & I got major points with my daughter! I’m the best dad in the world, now!

This pool is worth the hard work that goes into putting it up. It took me a few days leveling the yard out to get it just right. Hard work if you’re doing it on your own. My 8 month pregnant wife and I put up the pool all on our own. It was a lot harder than what the you tube videos show but with patience you can get it done. I think we were just really tired because it was the two of us alone, in the heat, on a deadline of getting it put up. The instructions could be written better for the pump. After we recovered from the weekend of leveling the yard and getting the pool up, figuring out the chemicals was a learning curve but attainable. Now, three days later, we swim in our pool every night. Our 4 year old son loves it and it’s perfect size for our family of 3 soon to be 4. We both just got done floating alone with no kid in the pool and gave us flashbacks of being a kid again with no worries lounging in the pool. My wife typically hates summer but now told she officially loves summer again because of this pool. I used to turn up my nose to above ground pools, but life is too short and Arkansas summers are too hot NOT to have a pool in the privacy of your own home! The grey coloring of the pool looks nice and classy too. We debated over memorial days weekend and we are so glad we pulled the trigger and will get to enjoy this pool for the next 7 weeks before our second son is born! This will completely help my son learn how to swim and take the aches and pains of month 8 and 9 of pregnancy for my wife in the middle of the summer.