Customer Reviews

Intex Easy Set 15-Foot-by-42-Inch Round Pool Set

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I purchased this pool last year for my family. It might only take 15 minutes to set up if you have help...it took more than 15 minutes just to get the ground cloth the way I wanted it. Your ground MUST, MUST, MUST be level. If it's off more than 1 inch you're in trouble. Don't try filling it higher than the instructions say or you'll have one of your children going over the top (which they loved and asked if they could do again, I said no) with 100 gallons of water or so. The instructions say to run the filter for something like 5-6 hours per day. No, you need to run the filter 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Forget the little floating Chlorine tablet thing. Go buy the small 1 inch chlorine tablets and fill the center of the filter after it's in the pump container with the tablet. Refill every 2-3 weeks when you change or clean the filter. You can take the filter out and clean it with the hose and/or soap and water/hose instead of putting out $7.00 every 3 weeks for a new filter. I've learned all this by doing it the wrong way and then talking with the pool guys and learning the right way. But after it's all set up and going it's so much fun, even for the adults. You just have to be committed to keeping it going. And you save water by not having to dump it out every few days.

This is not really a swimming pool, but an overgrown splash pool. But, if you have young kids, hot weather, and don't have many, many thousands of dollars laying around to invest in a real swimming pool, It seems like a promisingly cool toy to have; however, with all the maintenance this thing has been, I'm still waiting for the "fun" part to kick in...

Can I give it zero stars for "how much trouble is this toy?"

Mine is the 15' diameter by (nominal) 42" depth, and came in a set with ladder, cover, ground cloth, pump with two filter cartridges, and skimmer/vacuum set.

THE BAD:
WARNING 1: You have read this warning in other reviews, but it cannot be repeated often enough...YOU MUST HAVE FIRM, LEVEL GROUND. We have operated this toy for only two months now, and have had to drain, dig and/or backfill the ground, and refill three times already. With just two or three inches "off level" across the 15' width of the toy, this large "bag of water" slowly, inevitably, "crept" in the direction of the low spot, eventually sagging and spilling over on that side. You can simulate the effect by filling a zip-lock bag with water, carefully setting on a tray, then slowly tilting the tray. Be warned!!!

WARNING 2: The filter pump is a joke. It has NO POWER. You could run it 24/7, but you will STILL be vacuuming 3 TIMES DAILY to pick up the grass, soil and other detritus from the bottom, and skimming CONSTANTLY. When you do vacuum, you will have to stop 5 or 6 times per session to dismantle the hosing and clean out all the gunk from the "pinch points" that seem specifically designed to clog up. Each time you undo the hoses, half the gunk you just vaccumed will spew back into the water. Also, you'd think they could put an extra foot or two on the vacuum hose, so that you could actually REACH the opposite side of the toy (the floor on that side is pretty much permanantly dirty). Finally, you'd better pray you got all the creases and folds out when you set up, or else your vacuuming will be quite frustrating.

WARNING 3: Use a tarp of some kind as a ground cloth, and consider it disposable. We set this up on our lawn...and after only about one week we had to drain and refill (see above). In that short time, the area under the tarp became unspeakably filthy, slimy, smelly...something like sewage sludge. You do NOT want such gunk touching the bottom of the pool itself, nor do you want to try to recycle the tarp. Get a new tarp each time you re-set the pool. Also, use some kind of stakes (like those green ones for landscape fabric) to hold down your tarp...it makes unfurling and spreading out the toy much easier!

WARNING 4: As others have stated, this toy comes with NO chemicals or test kit items. These are, of course, essential. How much would it have cost for them to throw in a few test strips, a rip-top packet of algaecide and a small bag of stabilized chlorine shock, just to get the newbie started?

THE GOOD:
DURABILITY: This toy has already endured three take-down/set-ups, and almost constant use by up to six kids at a time...not to mention two dogs who want to get at that previously mentioned smelly area underneath by pawing at the ground right where it meets the vinyl, AND those same kids using the filled pool as a backstop for hardball pitching practice...without bursting a seam. I am mightily impressed by this, as I frankly didn't expect this contraption to hold water in the first place.

EDUCATIONAL: This toy has really helped boost my childrens' confidence in the water. Heck, they've even had some fun...of course, they don't have to maintain the thing...

IN SUMMARY:
Your kids will love this toy and will love you for buying it. You will love it for the first week or two, but will quickly grow to hate the sight of the thing (unless you really like to do extra, unrewarding work around the house on a daily basis using inadequate tools...but hey, who doesn't!).

A fun pool and you get what you expect. Not too deep for little kids and deep enough to go under water and swim for bigger kids. However you really MUST put this on flat ground, even 2-3 inches difference in height side to side makes a big difference. I had to empty the pool and level the site after setting it up initially. Also I recommend a floating (constant) chlorine supply to avoid algae, which you can get at any pool store and run the filter more frequently than the instructions say. A little extra maintenance is worth it. My kids 9 and 11 really had fun.

After reading all of the reviews, I want to offer a little help to those having trouble. First, this is an EXCELLENT pool when used correctly. Several times it has been mentioned that you need 100% level ground. This is not true. What happens is that when the pool starts to fill, you MUST be sure that the bottom seams are where they are supposed to be. This is what causes probably 60% of leaning pools. If the seams are uneven, then the pool will lean. Simple as that. It took us a while to figure that out, because it's not extremely obvious when you're setting it up. Secondly, I'm sure there have been some problems with seams splitting, but I offer this...PLEASE make sure that you have an INTEX EASY SET POOL and not the AQUA SIMPLE SET POOL. They look almost identical, but the Aqua brand is highly inferior. I have many friends who took the cheaper Aqua pools after seeing mine and thought they had the same thing. The seams split on every one of them. So, make sure you have the right brand. The most important thing I can tell you is to watch the video. You can't just spread it out and leave the hose running in it. The most important step is to start smoothing it out when the water gets a few inches high and then continue to do so until there's enough water that you can't move it anymore. This is vital to keeping the pool level and free of creases. We have had our pool for four years and have a VERY uneven yard. We have two kids (10 and 5) and the entire neighborhood swims in it (I had 8 kids in there yesterday). We've never had a problem after the first year when we finally wised up and watched the video. The most important part of any pool is proper set-up and maintanance. If you're willing to put in the work, the rewards are sweet.

We originally, back in 2002, bought the 10' pool. My oldest child was 5 that year, youngest child was 2, and the three of us used the pool every day all summer long. We loved it, though it was slightly lopsided from being not perfectly level. I added powdered chlorine every 3 or 4 days we never had any trouble with keeping the pool clean. The next year we knew to set it on more level ground, so built up one side of the ground with a plywood platform. No problem.... pool was perfectly level. We used it again all summer long. The following summer we had a slight problem, as the ring developed a leak. It actually didn't cause as much trouble as it could have, we just inflated the ring every couple of days with our electric air compressor. The other problem was that the pool was getting to be a little small for us.
So, this past summer we bought the 15'. Knowing, from previous experience, that the ground would need to be completely level, we planned for a local contractor to drop a load of gravel. Well, as pool time approached we decided to save a few dollars, and bought our own sand. We bought thirty, 40 pound bags of white play sand at the store ($2.29/bag, so grand total of $68.70 plus tax). It was more than enough to fill in the low spots in the yard. We then spread out the tarp and went to work!

Setting up the pool was NOT the challenge that some other people say it is. We got it spread out level, started filling it, and AS IT FILLED we continued to flatten out any wrinkles in the floor. It was filled to the top in a few hours. we then added the solar blanket that we had purchased, and waited a few days for the water to warm up.
I have to say that this was easily the best purchase I have made in a LONG time! This pool was big enough for me, my husband, and three children to actually SWIM in all summer. We again used the powdered chlorine for routine chlorination. We ended up removing the filter basket and hooking the hoses directly to the filter. It meant an extra five minutes of skimming the pool by hand every day, something I honestly didn't mind. We algae treated every couple of weeks as a preventative treatment, and the pool stayed sparkling clean all summer (with water temperature hovering right around 80 degrees, thanks to the solar blanket!)

I cannot understand the challenges some people have with their pools. If you follow instructions then it is NOT difficult!
I would definitely recommend this to anyone, and will purchase another, slightly larger, when all of my little ones grow.
Great pool!

This pool is great!! We read everyones' comments, we watched the video, and read the directions before starting to set up this pool. We prepped the ground where a former pool had been. Made it as level as possible and flattened the ground out. From the time we started to lay the tarp to the time we started to fill the pool was 15 minutes. My 12 year old daughter & I set this pool up. It wasn't filled with water until the next day, almost 4,000 gallons will not come out of a garden hose fast. Advice for making sure the pool is level....pay attention to where the water goes in the pool while you are filling it. If the water evenly distributes itself, then the pool is level. If you have a bunch of water at one end and none at the other, STOP, the pool is not level. Set it up right the first time and you will love this pool!!

HI, as a 17 year above ground 28 ft pool veteran, i am looking into getting one of these pools for our own yard (since grandma moved). the reviews are promising. I too am concerned about the holes though. The best way to fix those kind of holes is to make a slurry of dish washing liquid and paint it on, you can use some red food coloring in it to help you make sure you dont miss a spot. the airholes will make bubbles you can see and patch. as for holes in the base there is some great underwater patch stuff you can get a a pool store, works for years! an added bonus of the dish soap is that if it gets into the pool it makes everything go to the sides and into the filter, it's the neatest trick. been doing that for regular maintanance for years, plus mosquitos can't lay eggs on water that has a soap film.

We bought this last year in march and couldn't wait to set it up come summer time. Yes, setting it up was harder and took longer than 15 minutes, but it was because I did put carpet under the pool as said by other users and found that was an amazing idea, the carpet made the bottom softer and also kept all sorts of stuff from coming through the pool. I did learn that with our 4 kids and oursleves plus anyone else coming over ( once you get the pool your house is the place to be ) we had to replace the filter every week NOT every 3 weeks like it says. Plus we used the powder chlorine for the first month then got smart and got a floater which for us was perfect and kept the water at the right level all summer. I would wash out the filter every other day or sometimes daily but that doesnt take long, and was super easy to do. If my kids didnt keep jumping in and putting grass in the pool i wouldnt have had to do it that often, but they enjoyed it. It provides lots of family time and even my 2 yr old would ask to go every day. My husband and I are excited to have summer come, just so we can put it up. I would recommened this to anyone that is wanting to invest the little bit of time it takes to have a clear blue and wonderful pool.

Great pool. Owned same one for 4 years. Just threw out and buying another tomorrow but bigger. Sure,I found some small holes during the year but patched them up and was ready to go. You do have to use chemicals to keep it clear and clean, but any pool you have to. I probally spend 1 1/2 hours a week on upkeep but the time is very well worth it. Kids are in it all the time by themselves or with friends. I use the same filter a lot longer than recommended though but I soak in shock for 5 minutes and rinse off with a garden hose. Buy a test kit to check the water twice a week. Takes 5 minutes. My wife and I enjoy the pool too. Dry the pool completely and store in a large bin for the winter for years of fun. Cant wait till tomorrow.

I got this pool a while ago and have been very pleased with the results. Easy instructions make this pool simple to set up. It holds about 3110 gal. of water. WARNING: Do not fill the ring up 100%. It will explode. The instructions don't warn you of it but it can happen. Luckily I never had to experience a bursted bubble. The reason why I rated the education value at a three was because it can help you learn to swim (with a teacher). I would also rate it as a 5 for simple set up.