Hello all im josh. My family purchased an intex 18'x48' last September. We set it up and it performed great for the rest of season. The location we chose for the pool used to be a play set area made by the previous owners so it has about 4-5in of bark. (It was a fast set up for kids bday party we had just bought the house)

We set up the pool on the tarp provided ladt year with no leak problems however it was pretty uneven as you probably figured. So I discovered this site and before setting it up this year I want to do things right.

My question is can I put sand on top of the bark? Or would you advise to remove bark then level then fill with sand? Will be renting a compactor for the job if that helps...