Above-ground pool...suggestions?

[coachgrd]

Before I make any big purchases, I always find myself checking the archives here to see what's worked (and what hasn't) for you guys. This place is as good as Consumer Reports!

At any rate, my wife and I are looking to get an above ground pool for next summer. I've never had a pool but I do understand the amount work involved in maintaining them. I have no problem with that. I'm not quite sure what to be looking for in an above ground pool. Do any of you know? What are good brand names? When is the best time to purchase one? If I buy one now can I arrange to have it installed in the late spring? What's a good size? (We have 3 kids...7,4, & 2) Oval or circle?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Oh, and one more thing...do you heat your pool and by what means? Are you happy with this heating system?

 

[Taylortractornut]

we had a metal walled 4 by 24 one for 15 years it rusted out on one side where the bolts and the filter intakes went. THeres where the corrosion resisant seal is broken. we could have saved ours with galvaninved sheatin the that spot but mom and had were getting a divorce and no one really had time to fix it. They are great fun to have and in the lake about 4 or 5 feet is the max I usually go to any way.

 

[rozett]

We had an above ground at our last house for over ten years. I can not remember the brand name, but let me offer some advice.

Find a reputable pool shop and pay the extra money to buy a quality pool and filtration system. We had ours for 12 years before we sold the house. We still had the original liner and no significant problems. They came in and prepared the site properly and finished it with a generous layer of stone dust set with a laser level.

I offered the same advice to our neighbor, but she chose to go to one of the economy pool stores (NAMCO). After replacing the liner for the third time in five years, she finally gave up. They didn't do the site prep properly, the filter was under-sized, and the pool was leveled 'by sight'. In the end, she spent more money than we did and only had the pool for 5 years vs. our 12 and counting.

 

[Gatorboy]

Just make sure you are happy with the decision that it will be used for only about 3 months a year. The other 9 months it's just a lawn ornament.

 

[Volfandt]

The two best times in an above ground pool owners life is when he buys it and when he gets rid of it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Even when everyone tires of it, it'll still need vaccumed and fed chemicals. My 24' generally went through a 5 gal bucket of chlorine sticks a season ($50).
If you have trees nearby, the pool will attract the leaves like a magnet.

I just took mine down after 11 yrs of service and am looking for fill dirt. A coworker w/two younguns is coming to pick it up. Theres some surface rust but the liner doesn't leak and it's worth it to him cause it's a freebee.

In the good, better, best category, Doughboy is a best brand (or was back when I was shopp'n). My pool was made by Swim n' Play and is a good. There was probably $1k in price difference between them.

Get the largest skimmer that'll come with it that also has the built in vaccum port. These will make cleaning easier and brother you will be spending lots of time cleaning.

Some utilities will cut you some slack if you contact them before filling and tell them your filling a pool. Mine dropped the sewer charge after 10kgals and since a 24' holds approx 15k gals, there was alittle savings there.

Good luck
Volfandt

 

[bmac]

<font color="blue"> We have 3 kids...7,4, & 2 </font>

My recommendation is to make sure ALL children are reasonably strong swimmers before buying the pool. Kids can and do get out of sight of even the best parents. And pools attract toddlers. Read way too often about young children being found on the bottom of a pool. Also, you need to arrange for a fence if your yard doesn't already have one. And it needs to stay locked. You are responsible for the neighborhood kids as well as your own. I know you didn't ask for this kind of information and you probably already knew it, but I decided to post it anyway. Good luck.

 

[MossRoad]

Oh, common, Dave. We got at least.... 4 months out of ours this year. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[mathey]

Pool Forum Website

tons of great info here on all aspects of pools and pool ownership, including DIY water testing and using low cost chemicals from the grocery store as opposed to high cost pool store methods

 

[fishman]

Only 3 months! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

It was 107 at my house yesterday, and yes we went swimming in our little 16' x 3' deep easy-set pool. Been swimming in it since late April. Admittedly, the water was cold in April.

But we can get 5 months easy here in Texas, maybe 6 if you're a hardy soul.

 

[gsxr1100]

I LOVE pools..

I love them so much my inground pool now has Scotts best grass seed and inground sprinklers over it; After the 140 yards to fill in the hole are removing it.

Now that is a nice pool! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif