Above ground pools

[LeeB]

Fishing for info and opinions again. Tell me about your above ground pool. Pros, cons. Who makes the best one.

[whiskers]

only ever had an in ground so take with a grain of salt my view of pools in general. money  pit, time consuming, death trap for kids and pets. check out insurance, annual power consumption, maintenance and chemicals. think liability if your neighbor's kid breaks his neck in your pool...

[Roxie]

I was surprised at how much time and money it took to keep the ph, clean and filter going.  One day I came home from work, and found that a hunter had shot the pool, low to the ground, and water was everywhere.  It didn't break my heart to give it away to someone who thought they could repair it.  Never again. 

[WV Sawmiller]

    Don't own one but had to maintain several in-ground pools for camps/homes I built or ran around the world. Found them to be a pain and always said if I bought a home with one I'd fill it in and plant tomatoes.

    Whiskers & Roxie are spot on with the hassles and costs. If you haven't run one before check long and hard before committing to one.

[kensfarm]

Have an Intec pool w/ the solid top frame..  $300.. 5 or 6 years ago?  I use a regular pool sand filter pump.. easier to keep clean..  had to switch out the hose connections w/ hottub type.. so I could use regular threads.      I belled the pool floor so it is deeper then the 48 inches.  The intec filter setups only last so long.  I had the inflatable top ones.. but the racoons kept climbing up on them. 

I think my brother had to spend $5K on a new liner for his in-ground pool.   Plus it's a source of emergency water..  nice to be able to cool down in hot sun.  I leave it up all winter.. I'm loving it.

[thecfarm]

Wife had one at her house,we don't have one here. Seem like I was the one cleaning it,with about 4 other people using it,seem like I was the one maintaining it. Should of had a little bit bigger motor for the pump. The crud would ALMOST get to the suction part. Lacked about 6 feet. I think a bigger motor would of helped on the cleaning part. I kinda liked it,but not enough to get one here,but had to take a shower before I could get in the pool. Cut wood all day and I was a sight for the pool.  ;D

[Brucer]

My in-laws had one but found the maintenance increasingly difficult for the amount of use it was getting. The guy who lives next to my mill site bought a large inflatable one about 5 years ago. He hasn't bothered to set it up the last two years.

My neighbour had an inground pool when I bought this place. The next owner was always complaining about all his friends wanting to come over and use it. The next owner used it for two years and then let it sit empty after that. The next owner dug it up and put in lawn.

I'd say take a good hard look at the maintenance (time & cost) and the insurance. Then think about how much you would really use it.

[Chuck White]

A pool requires a lot of routine maintenance.

Clorine, Algaecide, Ph + & - are the biggest concerns in this area.

Rain will really raise cane on the different chemical levels in a pool, and when it rains a lot, you will need to drain off some of the water (so far this summer I've drained of around 18-20 inches of rain water) and along with some of the water, goes some of the chemicals.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from getting a pool, but they do demand your attention.

Last summer, I was in the pool 3 times and two of those times were to vacuum the debris off the bottom of the pool.

We had our pool installed in 2003 and 3 years ago replace the liner.

[clearcut]

You may want to look around on the Trouble Free Pool forum, especially when narrowing down your choices.

     http://www.troublefreepool.com

I started using their Pool School method of maintenance on an in-ground vinyl lined pool, and the water is absolutely clear with some relatively easy maintenance. An accurate test kit helps greatly.

Pros - keeps the kids happy, great to cool off on the blazing hot days we get here.

Cons - Pool specific items are priced ridiculously high. I needed a 2.5" O-ring. Went to the pool store and they wanted $36.00! I told the pool guy that someone must have misplaced the decimal point, but "No", he said, "that is the correct price". Went down the road to the auto parts store - $3.79 + tax.

Just paid $19 for a specialty brass nut that I could not find a generic equivalent for.

The pump runs for many hours per day and can have a big impact on your electric bill.

[WmFritz]

One thing about pools is the more they're used, the easier the maintenance is.
A solar cover will keep evaporation loss down equaling less chemicals going back in. Running the filter pump at night when rates are lower will help the power bill.

[thecfarm]

Just to touch on the chemicals part,we went with the maintenance plan from the pool place,and it worked great. Seem like $300 than for the summer. Yes,we had to go back and get some more,but for the most part it worked great. I forgot now what it all was,but every week put so much of this and a every 2 weeks do this. Of course we tested it every time to make sure we was all set. No green water for us.  : The pool place we went to was a good one. We brought one of those vacuums that would go around the pool all by itself. Worked real good,but the hose had to be just right to get it to go all around the pool.

[Ford_man]

My brother had one , he said he should have dug a pond and put fish in it , said it would have been more fun and less work and expense.

[xlogger]

One was here at this home when we got it, put lots of money in it and used very little after first year. I've not open it for 3 years now, wish she would just agree to fill it in. We do have a hot tub, and I like that.

[Remle]

The only thing good about above ground pool's is the side walls make great cover's for air drying stacks of wood..yes I own one, spent about $350 so far in chemicals and countless hours of time so the grand kids can swim, maybe 6 times so far and when the liner gives out it will become a cover.. ;) ;)

[Jeff]

We have had an above ground pool for 20 years. Last year was the first time we had to put a new liner in it. Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is in taking care of one other than opening it in the spring, and closing it in the fall.   High maintanance issues are usually related to the choices made when you set it up. Namely where. If you have a lot of trees around, than you have a lot of debris falling in it. Thats our major issue. Debris from trees is what can screw up your PH levels.  If you have good quality water to start, and a good location to set the pool up in, at least in my view, its not that big of a deal. Maybe an hour a week of time to take care of it. That hour is generally when I get my pool time. I vacuum ours from IN the pool. I get cooled off, and get the pool clean at the same time.

I'd say our pool costs less than $50 a year for chemicals. An added expense for us this year, is that our 20 year old pump burned up friday. New one coming today. that was $179.00.

[sbishop]

What everyone else said...maintenance isn't so bad, we have a salt water pool...once you get it going in the spring...its not too bad to keep going all summer...PH is the key!

we purchased a used (8 years old) pool 3 years ago...it looks new, we put a new liner and away we went...not sure if I will have it around once the kids get older.

will the pool be setup near trees...debris will keep you busy cleaning it.

[Sixacresand]

Unless you have children and/or teenagers to keep it clean, the best above ground pools are the ones left on the shelf at Walmart.  I thrive to never clean another pool.  I could be wrong.   

[drobertson]

Good friends of ours has one, a 30' dia.  He claims its not bad to maintain, and they use it all summer long, we have cook outs through the summer with them, and with a nice deck around them, they are very enjoyable.  I maintained a private club pool growing up, it was a big one that held swim meets and diving events.  They were a breeze to clean I thought. Brother Steve has an in ground I helped with as well.  I figure if the pool is used, then the work if you call it that is worth it.  If it just sits, then it would clearly be a waste of money.  We plan on getting one next summer, with the kids moving back home, (hopefully), 

[HP]

Yes, pools can be a pain in many ways, but if you have children, they can be a life saver.  We haven't had a pool for some years, but we had pools for many years, and our three sons learned to swim at a very early age.  We would never of had time to take them to public pools, etc.  All three of them earned life saving badges in the Boy Scouts.  It gave us peace of mind knowing that if they were out around water they could take care of themselves.  We bought our first pool around 1965.

[Jeff]

The other advantage when you have younguns and a pool, you pretty much know where your kids are going to be during the summer, as every one wqnts to go to YOUR house rather than your kids go somewhere else. The pool has worked out well for us, but now days, it does not get used to much. The biggest use is at the pigroast now.

[Mooseherder]

We put a Fiberglass pool in ground about 20 years ago. I did it owner builder hiring out the excavation and electric.  There wasn't much to excavate and we brought in about ten loads of fill because our house was already sitting high up on a house pad.  The plumbing was done by a worker from the Pool company who sold us the pool.  I did the concrete with a couple of friends.  One of them was doing it for a living.  We followed his direction and it has worked out well.
My wife uses it most everyday except winter time.  I was using it just a few times a year up until this summer.  Our Granddaughter who just learned how to swim comes over almost every day.  She loves it and drags me along and I have been enjoying it with her.  I've used it more this year than all the previous added together.  My wife takes care of it for the most part.  I am the pool filter cleaner though.  Really easy to take care especially with an inline kreepy crawler.  This thing is one heck of a bug killer.  It's killed more bugs than McDonald's has sold hamburgers.  At this point I'm glad we have it.  I'll be using later. ;)

[LeeB]

Jeff, what size is your pool?

[Larry]

What's wrong with Crooked Creek?  No maintenance required and if ya gotta go...head downstream. ;D

[LeeB]

Not a DanG thing as far as I'm concerned. Lindy on the other hand seems to think she needs a pool. Something about snakes and other assorted critters in the creek. If momma ain't happy, daddy never hears the end of it.

[Jeff]

Jeff, what size is your pool?

Our pool is 15 by 30, oblong. If I were to do it over, I'd go with round. Easier set up, plus you can make it deeper easier if you like. Oblong pools have under the liner strap tie supports, and knee supports on the outside. The steel straps that hold the sides together make it impossible to deepen the pool, other than in one very small area between the last cross strap and the end of the pool.   The other thing notable when setting up, is to make sure your skimmer is opposite the direction of your prevailing winds. This helps keep the pool clean, and on the round pool, having your bottom taper to a deep spot in the center, helps make cleaning a breeze as debris will migrate to that spot.