Considering an above ground pool

[momofonly]

Hi, this is my first post. I'm considering getting an above ground pool. Right now, our family of three has a summer membership to a local pool club (seasonal, outdoors). The cost for the season of about 9-10 weeks is $875. One of the things I'm trying to figure out is if running a small above ground pool will cost less than $875 per year.

The biggest expense for installing a pool for us will be extending our fence and leveling the area where the pool would go. We would have a professional level the area, rather than trying to do it ourselves.

I only need a depth about 3 to 3 1/2 feet- enough to tread water and paddle around a little, and shallow enough so that my 8 y.o. daughter can stand up with her head above water. I'm thinking an 18 foot diameter would probably be more than enough for us.

Another thing I'm trying to figure out is whether one of those easy-set, inflate as you fill it type pools would work as long as we got the ground professionally leveled. A few years ago we got one of those, but since the ground wasn't level it folded over on itself and got all gross on the sides and we had to get rid of it. We really didn't know what we were doing, either.

My husband thinks if we're going to pay for extended fencing and professional ground leveling, we should get a better quality, sturdy pool that will be more permanent. He also thinks that maintaining any pool is going to be a lot of work. I'm not sure what qualifies as a lot of work. How much time does it take to maintain a small above ground pool?

Any input, advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[BigDave]

I had a few intex donuts before we got our traditioinal AG installed last year. I think it's a great way to explore whether you really want to own / operate a pool. It's also probably the only way to get 3-3.5 feet. Most traditional AG pools are closer to 4 feet. It's also probably the only way to have it useable this summer (may be too late for that as well). 18' is a nice size, my donuts were 12', 13', and 15'.

I know what you mean about the yuck under the donut, you'll probably have that on a perfectly level pool as well. I dipped a towel in pool water and wiped it down once a week.

If you learn the method of pool care that's taught here, you'll likely find that maintaining a pool is alot closer to easy than hard. It takes me 3-5 minutes a day to maintain my water - by comparison it takes me 10 minutes to remove or replace the solar cover. As for cost: this season it looks like I'll spend 80-100 dollars on chemicals for my 12x24 oval AG, I don't have numbers for electricity and make-up water.

If you do decide to "take the plunge", we'll be here to help you.

Since you're planning, let me say that planning your fill and startup is as important as planning the installation. If you wait till it's filled and then say "hmm, I think we need chlorine or something.", you'll be behind from the start.

In my opinion the most important Pool Chemical for new pools is a Taylor k-2006 test kit (accept no substitutes). Next is water.

Good luck! let us know.

[AnnaK]

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

I agree with your husband. If you're going to spend the money to have the fence extended and the ground leveled you might as well go with a more permanent, larger pool. You will ultimately be happier with it than a smaller pool which will be drained and stored at the end of each season.

Our AGP is 15x30 and holds around 12,500 gallons. My annual maintenance cost is less than $150. That covers liquid chlorine, test kit refills, and what grocery store ingredients I may need at the beginning of the season to balance the water. Since we top off/refill with well water we don't have the expense of municipal water. Its functional depth is about 4' - how tall are 8 year olds?

I spend an absolute maximum of five minutes a day on pool maintenance: testing the water, adding chlorine, brushing the pool bottom, and sometimes skimming leaves or bugs off the surface. I don't use an automatic cleaner; instead, I vacuum by hand every couple weeks or so, as needed. That takes about 45 minutes and is very relaxing for me (because the pool is then "closed" and is mine, all mine <G>). A permanent AGP does not get fully drained in the winter. You drain down some of the water but leave the majority in the pool.

Installing an above-ground pool can get a little pricey. Ground preparation, the pool and equipment, a deck, if that's what you want, landscaping the exterior, building permits and so forth, and it would take some years to break even with the annual membership to the swim club. But it would be YOUR pool and you would know the water is clean and sanitary, you are not limited as to when to use the pool, you decide who gets in the pool, and best of all: no driving to the swim club.

The other option is a temporary pool for a couple of seasons to see how easy maintenance really is and whether you like doing it.

Regardless of what you decide, we can help you by teaching you how to maintain the water and troubleshoot the equipment, if that should become necessary. In all honesty, time and money spent on pool maintenance are a non-issue.

[Watermom]

Most traditional AG pools are closer to 4 feet.

Actually, the 48" wall AG pools hold about 3.5 feet of water since you don't fill them to the top of the wall.

[BigDave]

Agreed but I mentioned it because momofonly showed some concern about depth. Neither of my 8 year olds had any trouble in our 54" wall pool last year but they are "Big" too.

[momofonly]

Thanks! So much great advice already! I thought I had written an answer before, but I don't know what happened to it. My daughter is 4 ft 3 inches, but we wouldn't be getting a pool until next summer since we already paid for the pool club membership for the season. Can you fill an above ground pool that's four feet deep to only 3 1/2, or will it cause problems? Is it possible to set up an Intex pool without filling it all the way to capacity? (I hope this posts this time!)

[AnnaK]

In order for the pump and skimmer to work properly a pool must be filled to a certain depth, usually to just above the middle of the skimmer. A pool with 48" sides probably has a functional water depth of 46". By next summer your daughter will definitely be tall enough to keep her head above water.

[Watermom]

Not that it is a big deal, but I don't think a 48" wall has only 2 inches from the middle of the skimmer to the top of the wall. I think it is more like 6 inches. At least my old pool with 48" walls did. My new pool has 54" walls and again, the water level is more than 2 inches below the top of the wall.

[AnnaK]

Typo. 42" would be closer to reality.

[momofonly]

Thanks again for all of the info. I think we will go with a more permanent one. I'm unsure of the first steps to take. I will need the ground leveled before anything. I'm not even sure how to find someone to do that. Do the pool dealers typically do the prep work of leveling and fencing? Do I need to start looking months in advance? How can I get a price quote to make sure that I can even afford to do this? (I'm thinking a ballpark figure.) My husband thinks we should work on leveling the ground in the fall. Any info, tips, etc. are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[AnnaK]

I can tell you how I approached it.

I checked with my township about fencing requirements, building codes, that sort of thing. They had a nice handout for pools, in-ground as well as above ground. Then I went to several pool stores, the ones which have pools set up outside, and just started talking to the people. I learned about steel sided, aluminum sided, round/oval, Intex, different kind of vinyl liners, different ways of preparing the ground, underlayers, coves, pumps/filters/lights. It was a process that took many weeks because with each new thing I learned at a dealership I went to the Internet and read more about it.

The dealers in this area don't do the installations but they did give me installers' contact info. The first one I called for a quote was a complete dud. I knew we wouldn't be a good match when he drove up to the house in a black Hummer with naked lady decals on the windows. He wore a gold Rolex. I concluded he had too much money, I wasn't going to help him upgrade to platinum, and I knew I could not relate to that man. His visit was but brief. The second builder let me talk and ask many questions, explained why some of what I wanted would work and some other things might be more difficult. Our property is challenging because it's on a steep hill with an evil slope in the backyard which ends in a plateau on top. "Can you put a pool up there?" I asked him. "Anything can be done," he replied. His bid was reasonable. I hired him.

The pool builder will prepare the ground. He may be able to help with the fence via subcontracting, or you can call a few fence companies for bids. The pool dealers will have installers' names, or you can look in the Yellow Pages (focus on Above Ground). Phone them, make an appointment, talk to the people. Make notes. This is a good time of year, their schedules aren't as tight anymore. Our pool was put up in September 2005. You can do the fence now and the pool in autumn which is a better season in the Northeast than spring when things are either frozen or muddy. Or you can get on the builder's schedule for next summer but may have to make a downpayment, and what if he goes out of business?

I asked our builder for a quote to include everything: pool, equipment, lumber for the deck, but to split it out so I could compare. I ultimately opted to buy everything from him because he was willing to work with me on costs after I showed him some of the prices I could get for comparable equipment elsewhere. How are your negotiation skills? Our guy is a local contractor; he had given me references whom I called and visited and talked to about follow-up. If something goes wrong, was he responsive when you called him? I checked his BBB record, I looked up public records–they're out there for free when you know where to look.

Yes, it could take months, the research. One easy way is to drive around your area and knock on doors where you see pools that you like. Talk to the homeowners, ask them about the pros and cons of their pool, who built it for you, are you happy with it? We LOVE showing off our pools :)

[momofonly]

Thanks, Anna! That's a lot of helpful tips. I think I have an idea of where to start now.

[SafetyBob]

Anna pretty much hit it on the mark. Depending on what you guys are willing to do as part of the "upgrade", will determine how much professional help you will have to pay for. May I suggest that after you find out if there is/are and code requirements for you community for AG pools, decide if you want to do the fence yourself first (remember you can usually rent diggers for the post holes), and you guys could also level too, but that could involve very heavy labor intensive work, unless you are absolutely penny pinching, find a contractor to do the leveling and no doubt install sand for the pool bottom to rest on top of. A deck is not a necessity depending on how you like to use your pool, but with a reasonably tall one (how close are those neighbors?), a big well designed deck could make the yard/pool area into a terrific recreation area for you. Now is the time to consider those things......walkway to it too?

Preparation and planning will make this upgrade manageable. My only concern with a permanent installed AG pool would be liner replacement, but that was laid to rest during a visit to relatives recently.....their dealer purchased pool has a fold over liner so easy replacement is designed in....others will most likely comment on this though.

You will more than likely blow 2 seasons or more cash down for the pool and all the goodies.....money well spent with the pool being yours, YOU know what chemicals are in it and how clean it is, and YOU know who is in it, and finally, nothing and I mean nothing beats walking out the back door and less than 30 seconds later being in YOUR OWN pool.

Oh, I was going to end with something like plan, plan, plan but instead please consider tree locations in your pool placement. Since you have the time you could move the location or perhaps remove a tree to make upkeep easier OR plan on buying that cover for it like I do mine to keep the tree crap out.

Good luck,

Bob E.

[momofonly]

Yes, to my own pool being a great advantage, especially no diapers in my own pool! I plan to have a "no babies/toddlers wearing diapers in the pool" rule. (Hopefully no one will be offended.) Thankfully, most of my friends don't have kids still in diapers.