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How to lay a pool ground cloth

Updated: 21.10.2026

The pool looks slightly uphill until 10 cm of water sits against one wall. How to lay a pool ground cloth is the sequence that stops you filling first and blaming the sheet. The cloth follows the ground. It does not level a slope or carry the water. A litre is about a kilogram, so the patio or the soil is the structure and the sheet is only a layer. The sheets are on the [pool pad comparison](/hub/pool-care/pool-pad). The steps follow Bestway’s UK ground article and an Intex Ultra Frame page for named 2014 models. Use your own manual if it disagrees. A purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The pool looks slightly uphill until 10 cm of water sits against one wall. How to lay a pool ground cloth is the sequence that stops you filling first and blaming the sheet. The cloth follows the ground.

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On this page
  1. 1.Clear the ground before the sheet
  2. 2.Make the patch level
  3. 3.The first 2.5 cm of water
  4. 4.Wrinkles, legs, and storage

Clear the ground before the sheet

Walk the patch and pick out sticks and pebbles before the liner meets them. Bestway’s article starts there. A groundsheet hides a stone, then presses it into the liner once the water is in. PE buyers in this comparison already say the goods are thinner than the photograph. Do not use the cloth to avoid the rake. On concrete, Bestway calls a cloth economical protection and says it may need replacing sooner than foam. Two YISIZES listings say assembly is required while the bullets say unfold. You are opening a sheet on finished ground. Size charts are on the pool pad buying guide.

Make the patch level

A garden can look flat and still send every litre to one side. Bestway’s method is to dig down the high points, then rake and tamp. A straight board and a spirit level show a rise you will not see by eye. Fine sand is a blinding layer on ground you have already levelled, not a fill under one frame foot. Loose sand lets a foot sink, the wall leans, and the cloth is blamed. A level patio slab is ordinary DIY. A new slab, a retaining edge, or a deck that must carry a filled pool is where you stop. Do not treat a US clearance rule as the UK Bestway instruction.
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The first 2.5 cm of water

For the 2014 Intex Ultra Frame models of 18 ft by 52 in and 16 ft by 48 in, put in no more than 1 inch, which is 2.5 cm, and watch it. If the water flows to one side, drain, level or move the pool, and refill. That page says a tilt can bulge the sidewall and can collapse the pool. The limit is for those models. If your manual states another depth, follow it. More water loads the low side. It does not average the depth. RoSPA still says empty a paddling pool after use. A groundsheet does not make an overnight paddling pool safe.

Wrinkles, legs, and storage

If the ground cloth creases the floor, the Intex page says two people pull it from opposite sides while you can still reach. Do not pull a restraining rope. Bestway treats a board under a sinking leg as separate from the sheet. Plastic on soft lawn still leaves a hole, so slide timber under the foot on tamped ground. Rinse if the care line says water or mild soap, dry the sheet, then fold it. A wet fold smells next spring. A spa on decking is a different load, on the hot tub ground mat page.

Common questions

Do I lay the cloth before or after I inflate the ring?
Lay it before the pool goes down, on ground you have already cleared and levelled. Inflating the ring first forces you to drag a cloth under a moving pool, which is how wrinkles and stones get missed. The Intex wrinkle pull is two people taking the cloth from opposite sides if the floor creases after the pool is positioned, not a reason to skip the cloth at the start.
The water is deeper on one side. Do I add more water?
No. On those Intex models you stop at about 2.5 cm, drain, and level or move the pool before you refill. More water loads the low side and can bulge the wall. The cloth cannot push the pool back to level. If your own manual states a different check depth, use that depth and the same drain rule.
The sheet is wrinkled under the liner. What do I do?
After you have accepted that the pool is level, two people pull the cloth from opposite sides, which is the Intex instruction for a ground cloth that is creasing the floor. Do it before the pool is full. Do not pull a restraining rope to flatten the floor. If the crease is actually a stone, drain enough to lift the liner and remove the stone rather than stretching the cloth over it.
Will the cloth stop the frame legs sinking?
It will not. Soft ground lets feet sink, and Bestway treats a board under the leg as separate from the ground cloth. Tamp the soil, then put timber under the foot if the manual or the ground needs it. A sheet between the foot and the lawn does not replace that board.
Can I leave the paddling pool full on the sheet overnight?
RoSPA tells you to empty a paddling pool after use so it is not a drowning risk. The cloth does not change that advice. Overnight water is also a load on whatever slope you missed, and a thin sheet will not hold a pool that is slowly walking downhill.
Where does a professional take over?
Call someone when the level only exists if you excavate, when you need a slab, or when the pool or spa will sit on decking that has to be checked for the filled weight. Sweeping a patio, laying a cloth, and running the shallow-water check are ordinary DIY. The cloth is not the structural design.

Related pages

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Sources

Public UK sources for ground preparation, filled-spa weight, product safety, and the shallow-fill check, taken from the research digest. Listing prices, stars and review counts are from amazon.co.uk on 19 October 2026.

  1. Bestway UK — how to prepare the ground for a pool (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Bestway — 16 ft ground cloth (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. Lay-Z-Spa — setup essentials (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Lay-Z-Spa — FAQ (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK — General Product Safety Regulations 2005, Great Britain (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. RoSPA — drowning prevention (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Intex Ultra Frame pool manual, 2014, ground-cloth page (retrieved 19 October 2026)