Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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.