Above ground pool: Have you ever purchased one?

[denisenh]

We are definitely purchasing an above ground pool this year (not a huge one...15' X 48", I imagine) and would like input from people that have purchased pools with and without a "package".
Is their anything that you would have done differently? Any mistakes or gyps? What kind of filter: sand , DCF(?) or cartridge. Have you had success with keeping the water real clean? Did you attempt to install the pool yourself? Is it worth it to hire someone to install it? Any of your tips would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[iluvdisney]

We just took down our 22 yr old above ground Doughboy pool last fall. We did have a sand filter but switched to a cartridge filter about 5 yrs ago and the water was still crystal clear at the end. A solar cover sure helps keep the water temps warmer and helps to keep some of the debris from filling the pool too. It was the best investment we made - got a lot of use and we're in Michigan - summers are not always great but the kids loved having a place to jump in and cool off.

 

[aprilgail2]

I bought one from Island Rec (I do NOT recommend ANYONE going there!) and they did the installation...it was a disaster...they didn't clear the area underneath and within 6 weeks the bottom of the liner had a stick come up through it...they gave me a new liner and offeredto install it for free but I didn't want them touching anything again so I paid someone to do it right! Anyway...I have a cartridge filter and it is GREAT...I have never had any trouble with the water ..my neighbor uses sand and his is always going green while mine stays clear. I also use an ionizing orb and very little chlorine. If you get a solar cover invest in a solar cover reel, it makes it so easy to get the cover on and off...I like my pool water warm and I had it at 90 a few times last year using the solar cover every day.

 

[lsyorke]

We had an Esther Williams at our last house. Loved it!! Professionally installed by a fanatic about being level and perfect. Best suggestion for maintenence is spend the money and buy the vacuum "droid". it walks around the pool and does the dirty work for you. this thing was a lifesaver. I can't say enough good about the Esther Williams. We put up the pool in 1988 and the people who bought our house are still using it and it looks like new.

 

[bjgrazi]

We had a 24' round pool, it was installed for us and we had the center dug deeper with a drain installed, made cleaning much easier. We had a filter that used DE and the pool always sparkled. We also used a solar cover, besides keeping pool water warmer, it also helped keeping it cleaner. If you have trees around it could be a pain.

Our kids used it all the time and I loved on the warm nights being able to swim in the dark with just the tiki lites around the pool.

 

[peg2001]

I've never had a pool (besides a tiny wading pool for the kiddies!) but I did want to say that it is a good idea to investigate the maintenance costs. Whenever I start thinking that I would like a pool, I talk to a co-worker who has one and she quickly disuades me. Her costs are over $1000 per season.

Peggy

 

[denisenh]

Originally posted by peg2001
I've never had a pool (besides a tiny wading pool for the kiddies!) but I did want to say that it is a good idea to investigate the maintenance costs. Whenever I start thinking that I would like a pool, I talk to a co-worker who has one and she quickly disuades me. Her costs are over $1000 per season.

Peggy

ugh!! Holy cow.

This is such a big decision for us. I don't want to make any mistakes in the purchase of the pool as it will cost about $3000 including installation (which nearly doubled the cost) but I think that we will have it and use it for many years. I really did not look into the cost of maintenance, yet anyway.
bjgrazi....that must be the 3rd type of filter , DE... decomposed earth?
Thanks for all the tips.

 

[lsyorke]

$1000/year in maintenence????? Just what were they doing to this pool???? Chemicals are not that expensive!!! I can't remember the exact numbers but it was nowhere near $1000.00. An above ground pool has very little cost outside of chlorine(or your sanitizer of choice). We opened and closed the pool ourselves(24 foot round) and it wasn't really a big problem.There are chemicals for winterizing which I think ran about $50.00 and chloring throughout the year was maybe another $100.00.
In ground pools require alot more maintenence of the hard scape, but above ground is really self contained.

 

[Maude4Disney]

for those of you w/ pools... how much did running the filter raise your elec. costs during the season? We too are thinking of purchasing a pool this summer.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

How does the pool effect your insurance rates? We do not have a fence, so we would have to add that too right?

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by Disneycrazymom
How does the pool effect your insurance rates? We do not have a fence, so we would have to add that too right?

It depends on your towns codes...here we have to have a 4 foot fence for a 4 foot pool...a self latching gate and the pool has to have every brace grounded with number 8 copper wire and the line to the filter buried 18 inches underground. It didn't raise my insurance rates or property taxes. It costs me about 29.00 to open the pool for chemicals and the same to close it. I use very little chlorine since I use the orb so maybe 20 for chlorine during the season....I am on a budget for electric and still pay the same 96.00 I paid prior to having the pool so it doesn't take that much electric...I run the filter 4 hours from 2am-6am.

 

[peg2001]

Originally posted by lsyorke
$1000/year in maintenence????? Just what were they doing to this pool????

LOL. I'll see if I can get some more details from her. I do know that they usually have to make some repairs each year and occasionally have to replace equipment (pumps, filters, etc.). Plus, I know they made a big switch from chlorine to bromine (?) that was expensive. Then, last year, they bought a new piece of equipment that somehow "zapped" the water to keep it clean?!?

Peggy

 

[Pembo]

We have a pool in our future too. My question is round or oval??

Grew up with an oval but you don't see this as much anymore.

 

[lsyorke]

"We do not have a fence, so we would have to add that too right?"

Our pool had a "walk around" that had a fence on it with a small deck. There was a flip up staircase leading to the deck. Final height was 8 ft off the ground to get over the fence on the walk around. This was enough to qualify for NJ safety standards so an additional fence wasn't required. No increase in insurance and I really didn't notice an increase in electricity. We too ran the filter at night(on a timer)

 

[denisenh]

Originally posted by Pembo
We have a pool in our future too. My question is round or oval??

Grew up with an oval but you don't see this as much anymore.

We thought about an oval also. We decided against it because it is much more expensive to buy and because the sides of the pool would require a lot of support on the outside (we were told that an oval pool tries to become a round pool LOL) and that takes up too much room.
If I had a much bigger yard and were willing to spend more, I would go for an oval.