Backyard Swimmin' Hole

Product Description

It was a tough call which of the Perfect 10 happy families splashing around in the Intex Easy Set Pool to pick as the product's featured photo, but I ultimately decided the blonde MILF in the winning shot was a better... [Read more]

Top Reviews

Great fun for 4 months...
by Kyra Siebert (3 out of 5 stars)
November 9, 2015

It was a good little pool but it only lasted one summer. It was fairly easy to set it up, it took about 3-4 hours and feeding the neighborhood guys beers for an afternoon. I usually let the pump run overnight when we had been in it during the day and it kept it pretty clean. Make sure you get some kind of skimmer for leaves and bugs. You have to walk around the edges and push\shake the ring to get all of the junk out from underneath it so you can skim it out, a lot collects under there and if you don't get it out before you get in it will all come flying out when kids start doing kid stuff...all the bugs.

I only used chlorine and the occasional shock if I we had forgotten to add chlorine or went away on vacation, but I don't like a lot of chemicals in the water.
I went to a local ReStore and bought a large piece of used carpet to put underneath, and that worked great in my bumpy lawn. You really do need to try and get it as level as possible. When I tried to set it up this year it wasn't close to level and was a nightmare.

I thought that I had stored it pretty well over the winter but I had two holes in the main pool. They patched very easily. The ring is an entirely different thing. I found about 8 littke holes that I patched up using soapy water so I decided to fill the pool up and open it up. I think we got 3-4 uses with me having to pump up the ring every day, and not being able to find any other holes, before we called it. Then we came out a few days later and the *bad word* pool had dumped all the water out and flooded my backyard.

So, I'm torn between two and three stars it was great last year but it was a pretty big investment (I bought stairs, a solar cover, all the toys, chemicals, testers, thermometer, etc.)for 4 months of fun.
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Fun while it lasted, then the smell of death.
by J. Thomas (3 out of 5 stars)
October 6, 2014

Was fun while it lasted.

We purchased this as the "big" gift for my sons 5th birthday as he really wanted a pool but our budget limited us on what we could do. After reading the reviews and the price on this pool, we figured we'd give it a shot.

The smell of the thing out of the box was awful but to be expected for vinyl. The set up was a bit cumbersome to get everything spread out while filling up and boy oh boy did it take way more water than I assumed it would of (1,485 gal. to be exact in case you were wondering).

Right off the bat I was concerned with the slight lean the pool made with gravity pulling at it. My yard is actually very flat but does have a slight grading away from the house to keep water from sitting up against it when it rains. Even with this slight grading away from the house though, this thing had a decent lean once filled up. No biggie I figured, it'd just remain like that until we were done using it for the summer.

Once it was filled, it took way longer than I would have thought for the middle of summer heat to warm it up enough to be bearable. It was probably a good 2 weeks until it was really OK to go into temp wise but after 1 full week until it was bearable at all.

We had it set up and were using it nearly every day and heavily on the weekends for about a month when one day, I happened to look out a 2nd floor window in my house and saw the whole thing was empty.

I guess gravity finally won the battle and was enough to finally put the thing over to the point that it caused some waterfall action and dumped nearly every bit of water out of it in the middle of the night. The weirdest part was it didn't even rain or anything like that the night prior.

My son was pretty devastated to say the least but there was no way I was about to fill up another 1,500 gallons worth of water for 1 more month of use before the weather cooled up to much.

The real fun started when I lifted it up. Words cannot begin to describe the wretched death smell that slammed me in the face the moment I lifted it up to dump the rest of the water out. It was as if a skunk died under the thing and began to decompose. Was truly the single worst smell I've had the displeasure of experiencing in my life. The smell would not quit either. I scrubbed the bottom of the pool and draped it over my sons trampoline and let it bake in the sun for a good week. I was sure I'd have to toss the pool due to the smell but thankfully it actually went away over time. The dead grass under where the pool was on the other hand, held onto that death smell for a very long time. It was so bad that when I'd get home after work in the evenings and go to check the mail, I could smell the death scent strongly all the way at the front of my property. Thats when I decided enough was enough and took to the internet to see what to do. A number of sites were useless as it was what to do beforehand to avoid this outcome (which is to dump literally 4 tons of sand on your yard then place this thing on that!) but I finally was able to piece together a plan of attack. I took a stiff rake and while gagging and dry heaving from the smell the whole time, I broke apart the matted down rotting grass. I then took a bag of top soil and worked that into the whole area. I think watered it slightly. It worked amazingly. Within another day or two after 2 solid weeks of death smells, the odor was finally gone!!

Let this be a warning to those interested in buying this pool. 1: Do not place it on top of grass, you're neighbors will thank you later. 2: Get a big level and make sure the area you place the pool is as flat as you can possible accomplish. If you do those 2 things first, you'll have yourself a great little retreat in the backyard.
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I love this pool!
by JG (5 out of 5 stars)
July 14, 2014

I set it up by myself, took about an hour to get all the wrinkles out. It could be done quicker but I was taking my time and being really diligent. I did not have to prepare the land beyond sweeping because it went on a concrete patio. The patio has a slight grade for drainage. I would guess about a 1" to 1.5" difference in elevation. It is not noticeable once the pool is filled.

Pump was easy to hook up. I put ¼ of a 3" chlorine tab (walmart hth) in a floater and it seems to be working well. Next time I will buy the 1" tabs for conviennence. It is hot (95-100+) where I live and the pool gets direct sunlight all day. I shock it with 3.5 cups of regular bleach (cheap walmart brand @ 8.25%) once a week and it stays crystal clear....so far. I have not tested the water chemistry yet but will when I get my tester kit ( in the mail). I run the pump 3 hours a night as directed. So far I am very happy with the pool.

I am happy to answer any questions.
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Beware of the Plastic Hose Clamps
by Just Dude (3 out of 5 stars)
July 4, 2014

Pool is what they say it is. It's good to sit in on a hot day.

The only problem we had with the install, was the plastic hose clamps that came with it. Apparently, they use these now, instead of the metal ones. I didn't want to use them, but gave them a try anyway. They were all as tight as they could go, I know because I was very skeptical of using them.

As soon as the sun and the heat of the day hit them, the plastic expanded and the hoses flew off the filter pump. The pump flew back into the fence around the pool. Good thing no one was around it. Then half the pool water drained out of the opened hoses and we had to refill the pool again. I examined the plastic clamps on the hoses after they came off the pump and they were as tight as they could possibly go.

Before you set it up, I would suggest you use metal hose clamps.
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Best. Purchase
by QueenShannonNinja (5 out of 5 stars)
July 31, 2014

Best. Purchase. Ever.

We bought this for backyard fun for our 5 & 7 year old boys and it's been the biggest hit we've had. They swim every day after camp or daycare, continue to ask to use it, and haven't had one issue.

Setting it up has not been the easiest, finding a perfectly level & flat surface in our backyard was a challenge. We did the best we could, and it's still a total oval. Seems to be working after 2 solid weeks of use.

The pump is keeping the debris out of the water (as well as using the solar cover) and as long as I skim it every other day it's good to go. I'm still working on the ph of it - but it's getting there.

Not sure how it will pack up at the end of the season, but I'm okay with that. For roughly $60 we've saved $10/day going to the public pool and my boys are none the wiser.

Buy it, you won't be disappointed.
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GREAT PURCHASE!!!
by N. D. Krustchinsky (5 out of 5 stars)
August 19, 2017

This was the best gift I could ever have given to my niece with her small three children. So far it has held up all summer. Her cat put three tiny holes in it that were patched with an Intex patch...no problem. Must have a smooth bottom for the pool..very important. I bought a solar cover later that is awesome. I highly recommend this pool. BTW...her children are girls...not boys....in case that helps any!
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So much fun, very well built and totally eliminates my hot flashes!! :)
by smalldogs (5 out of 5 stars)
October 26, 2014

OMG, this pool literally changed my life! First, it's much bigger than it appears in this photo. I can sit on one end, my husband on the other, and our feet aren't even close to touching. After 4 years of extremely hot weather here in LA, and 14 years of peri-menopause, this is the ONLY thing I've found that will cool off my core when I'm having a hot flash. I spent the entire summer in it! Since we're in it a lot, we got the bigger filter, and a salt water conversion pump. And now that it's Autumn, I just bought a solar panel heater for it.

If you know any women who can't find relief from hot flashes, tell them about this pool.
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Great pool for little kids and lounging for adults!
by Janice S (5 out of 5 stars)
September 7, 2014

I bought this for our unusually hot summer in the Pacific Northwest. Great for cooling off! My 3-year-old granddaughter is learning to swim and it is perfect for her. Be sure to set it up on a level surface as instructed. I didn't and it was okay, but wasn't as full as it could have been. Also, more difficult to empty because the plug was so close to the ground. These issues were not a fault of the pool, but of the way I set it up. Next year I will make sure it is level before filling. Make sure to keep the patch kit for the top ring. I have cats and they poked a few holes in it. The patch kit worked great to fix the little pinholes. We had fun with this pool!
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Worth the $100, great for little ones (it's a $100 blow-up pool)
by Brian (4 out of 5 stars)
June 1, 2015

I put this pool on a a ground level deck that was almost perfectly level and so far great results. Like others have said not 30 inches deep in water that is why 4 stars, if it was actually 3 feet deep i would be very happy. MY kids love being in the water so this pool will do this year and so far they are very happy, only been up a week. This is a $100 pool don't have super high expectations if you understand what you are buying you will be happy. If this last all summer without ripping I will have gotten my money's worth. I recommend this to anyone with levle ground and children 2-6 preferably girls, the 6yr old boys in my neighborhood would destroy this and almost have already
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Great pool for little ones!
by TysMom (4 out of 5 stars)
July 21, 2013

We love this pool! I got it for my 3 and 9 year olds and they both have a blast it is large enough for them to play in and not bump into each other and the depth is just right so that the 9 year old can have fun but its not too deep for the 3 year old. I purchased an inexpensive net and vacuum and have only had to put a floating chlorine tablet holder in to keep the water clean and clear haven't even hooked up the pump yet. I subtracted a star because as the other reviewers state it has to be on a perfectly level surface you can't be off by much less than 1/4" or it slopes and the water will push to one side of the wall I learned this by Having set up and then having to take down and relevel was off by 1/2" other than the level issue though follow the directions and it is easy to set up but I can't reiterate this enough you need a level surface or the pool will not work and be a huge disappointment! Oh and get the solar cover it is worth the $15

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