vettechick99
<font color=purple>Why do I open these threads?<br
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 8,085
It's summa time!!
Wow, that's a big sun.
It's time to Booze 'n Grub. And by grub I mean eat that strawberry garnish.
Bettah. That pic's ok being big.
So did you know that you can bury an above-ground pool? And at a fraction of the cost of an in-ground?
I sound like a commercial.
But you can. Did you know? I didn't know that until this year.
DH and I could never justify the cost of an in-ground pool at our current house. We have a smallish, starter house and always hoped to save up for and build a forever home. But a recent death in the family has now turned this starter house into a forever home. I'm ok with that. Quaint is the new small.
But we really wanted an IGP. I am off during the summers and here alone with two kids. All. Day. Long. You can only watch so much Bubble Guppies and make so much homemade play doh before you want to jab a sparkly princess wand into your eye.
So go outside, right? Um, noooo. It gets so flippin' hot in Georgia you just can't go outside to play on the swing set. Like that idea ended in February. Down here, if you plan to be outside you need to be in, on, or under water. So I started looking at feasible ways to get a nice pool because throwing $30k into a pool wasn't great financial sense at my quaint home.
After learning from a friend that you could bury AGPs (and hello, AGPs are economical), I started researching some options. Some AGPs you can't bury at all. Let me rephrase that. According to many manufacturers, you can't bury any of them. But there are a few that you shouldn't bury. Those are usually the less expensive ones. And by less expensive I still mean several mortgage payments.
But you can bury some types of the stronger AGPs (shhhh) a few feet down and back fill the dirt. You will still have to step up and into the pool, but it isn't majorly blocking any views in your yard, which has to be a major feng shui faux pas. Cuervo. Just to throw another language in there.
So here is an example of a semi-buried AGP. It is 21' round, 52" deep. She had it buried professionally. I don't know what she spent, but I am estimating about $5-6k. A quality pool is about $2-3k, accessories are another $1k, and you can spend $1-2k on install and landscaping. I think she did a nice job landscaping.
Or this one. You can build the deck up to the lip of the pool. This set-up is probably more expensive because of all the decking. Cha-ching.
You can also completely bury AGPs. These pools are much more expensive because you need something sturdy to keep all that earth from stressing the pool structure. You also don't want any erosion.
Here is one that is completely buried. I found this one online so I don't know the cost, but they needed a high-end AGP and added a concrete deck. I'm really diggin' that basketball net though. Whoosh.
Now drawbacks to using an AGP.
1. You normally only get one depth - somewhere between 48-54". In some special cases you can build a deep end. But let's stick to the idea that you can only do one depth because then I'll have to talk about liners and such and I've only had one cup of coffee today.
2. Shape. Your shape is limited too - pretty much just round or oval. Oval or round. If you have your heart set on a kidney, or a stomach, you're outta luck. But there are tons of sizes. 18' round up to 18' x 33' oval. 33' is long, people. That's 5.5 of your man friends laying down head to feet.
Knowing those drawbacks, you still have to realize that burying an AGP is 50-75% savings, depending on the options you choose. So is it worth it?
We decided it was and figured we could afford a nice AGP and DH would bury it as far as he could. He would build up a short deck and that would extend our outdoor living area because we already have a deck.
DH didn't have any specific knowledge on burying a pool. I mean he buried our cat earlier this year (RIP Clarice), but it's not exactly the same. But he does know his way around heavy equipment and has built decks. We figured with that knowledge, help from his handy friends, and several cases of beer, we could make it happen. And by we I mean him. I'll be inside. Haven't you heard how hot it is?
Next up: Kids picking noses and me picking out pools
Wow, that's a big sun.
It's time to Booze 'n Grub. And by grub I mean eat that strawberry garnish.
Bettah. That pic's ok being big.
So did you know that you can bury an above-ground pool? And at a fraction of the cost of an in-ground?
I sound like a commercial.
But you can. Did you know? I didn't know that until this year.
DH and I could never justify the cost of an in-ground pool at our current house. We have a smallish, starter house and always hoped to save up for and build a forever home. But a recent death in the family has now turned this starter house into a forever home. I'm ok with that. Quaint is the new small.
But we really wanted an IGP. I am off during the summers and here alone with two kids. All. Day. Long. You can only watch so much Bubble Guppies and make so much homemade play doh before you want to jab a sparkly princess wand into your eye.
So go outside, right? Um, noooo. It gets so flippin' hot in Georgia you just can't go outside to play on the swing set. Like that idea ended in February. Down here, if you plan to be outside you need to be in, on, or under water. So I started looking at feasible ways to get a nice pool because throwing $30k into a pool wasn't great financial sense at my quaint home.
After learning from a friend that you could bury AGPs (and hello, AGPs are economical), I started researching some options. Some AGPs you can't bury at all. Let me rephrase that. According to many manufacturers, you can't bury any of them. But there are a few that you shouldn't bury. Those are usually the less expensive ones. And by less expensive I still mean several mortgage payments.
But you can bury some types of the stronger AGPs (shhhh) a few feet down and back fill the dirt. You will still have to step up and into the pool, but it isn't majorly blocking any views in your yard, which has to be a major feng shui faux pas. Cuervo. Just to throw another language in there.
So here is an example of a semi-buried AGP. It is 21' round, 52" deep. She had it buried professionally. I don't know what she spent, but I am estimating about $5-6k. A quality pool is about $2-3k, accessories are another $1k, and you can spend $1-2k on install and landscaping. I think she did a nice job landscaping.
Or this one. You can build the deck up to the lip of the pool. This set-up is probably more expensive because of all the decking. Cha-ching.
You can also completely bury AGPs. These pools are much more expensive because you need something sturdy to keep all that earth from stressing the pool structure. You also don't want any erosion.
Here is one that is completely buried. I found this one online so I don't know the cost, but they needed a high-end AGP and added a concrete deck. I'm really diggin' that basketball net though. Whoosh.
Now drawbacks to using an AGP.
1. You normally only get one depth - somewhere between 48-54". In some special cases you can build a deep end. But let's stick to the idea that you can only do one depth because then I'll have to talk about liners and such and I've only had one cup of coffee today.
2. Shape. Your shape is limited too - pretty much just round or oval. Oval or round. If you have your heart set on a kidney, or a stomach, you're outta luck. But there are tons of sizes. 18' round up to 18' x 33' oval. 33' is long, people. That's 5.5 of your man friends laying down head to feet.
Knowing those drawbacks, you still have to realize that burying an AGP is 50-75% savings, depending on the options you choose. So is it worth it?
We decided it was and figured we could afford a nice AGP and DH would bury it as far as he could. He would build up a short deck and that would extend our outdoor living area because we already have a deck.
DH didn't have any specific knowledge on burying a pool. I mean he buried our cat earlier this year (RIP Clarice), but it's not exactly the same. But he does know his way around heavy equipment and has built decks. We figured with that knowledge, help from his handy friends, and several cases of beer, we could make it happen. And by we I mean him. I'll be inside. Haven't you heard how hot it is?
Next up: Kids picking noses and me picking out pools
. Anyway, I was really surprised at how into above ground pools people get, even the cheap Intex pools! The decks and landscaping were impressive! My daughter's best friend has a sunken/buried AGP in their backyard. It has cement around it. Looks very nice! They have a corner lot. We also live on a corner lot and I measured out our side yard to see if we could put an inground pool in. We can actually fit a small (narrow) one, but the depth would only be 6 ft and I would want at least 8 ft deep. I was looking at the kits you can buy. If you can do it yourself I think you save about 50%. I think your plan to bury an AGP is smart 
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<---- fiddle!
