Short Introduction...

Afternoon all, I figured I would introduce myself here...

Well, as it stands we purchased a home in 2012 that had a 16x32 in-ground pool removed literally two days before we looked at the property. The place was a foreclosure and due the the real-estate market the bank decided that after two years on the market that the pool needed to be filled in to sell the place. Unfortunately for us, we want a pool. So we are putting a new one in...

So, the plan for this summer is a 27ft x 54" above ground Sharkline Morada pool, along with a 1200 sq/ft paver patio made with 4" x 8" Holland pavers in red/black with a charcoal border. The interesting part is that I want to re-utilize the equipment pad at the back of the garage, about 70ft away from where the pool will be.

Now, I have already somewhat "started" on the project by sourcing the pool and equipment, all the materials for the landscaping part and all the materials for the pool installation. I also decided to run new 2" Sch40 PVC for this pool instead of using the old (and buried) 1.5" poly pool lines.

For plumbing I am running 3 2" PVC lines, already installed under the walkway in back next to the equipment pad (which was a royal PITA since I used a 2" iron pipe cut at a 60 degree angle and knife-edged to bore through not only the heavy clay soil, but also the 5 existing 1.5" poly lines that were used for the old in-ground pool). Next I have to trench out to the pool location and lay the remaining 2" PVC out to there. I also have to install 1" gas line to support the outdoor kitchen I have planned for next year.

For the pool the used equipment I sourced was:

- Sharkline Morada 27ft x 54" pool with resin bottom rail and plates, steel uprights, steel top plates, steel reinforcing ring and resin upper rails. (good condition, all new hardware, included a solar cover and cover air pillow for winter, cleaning tools along with a return-powered water fountain)
- Sta-Rite System 3 S7M120 300sq/ft cartridge filter (used 1 year and sat for 10 unused, new o-rings throughout, cartridges cleaned and then acid-bathed and are pretty clean, will clean and acid-bathe again prior to closing)
- Jandy Lite 2 250k BTU natural gas pool heater (milivolt unit, was originally a propane unit, drilled the orifices, reamed the pilot, switched the regulator to natural gas with conversion kit, all was new except the heat exchanger was used for 2 seasons)
- Sta-Rite Cristal-Flo T-210WF 2.18sq/ft sand filter (got it with the pool and will keep it on-hand as a backup)

The new pool equipment I purchased:

- Grand Tile beaded pool liner
- Bead Receivers
- Foam Cove
- Wall Foam w/spray adhesive
- Hayward widemouth skimmer kit w/return fitting
- Burndy water bonding plate that mounts to the skimmer
- Confer 7200 pool ladder
- 250 ft of 8-gauge bonding wire w/lugs and split bolts
- Pentair Dynamo 1.5hp 2-speed pool pump w/whip for hardwire installation
- Murray 15-amp GFCI circuit breaker (for pump installation with already existing Intermatic timer)
- 200lbs of HTH filter sand
- all new pressure gauges, unions and fittings for the System3 and Cristal-Flo filters
- rainshield kit, heat exchanger baffles/end rails/clips, limit switch clip and a Vent Cap kit for the Jandy Lite 2 heater
- fabricated new flanges for the Jandy Lite 2 heater
- 210 ft of sch 40 PVC 2" pipe, a ton of couplers, using only street and sweep elbows, no hard 90s if I can help it (I may need to use a few at the equipment pad to plumb between the equipment)
- a bunch of black pipe and fittings needed to plumb the gas heater (already done)

I still need to pickup the foam floor material for the pool, but that is about it. I also have a supply of chemicals to start the pool up (I also have a 8ft x 10ft 10-person hot tub, so I have a stockpile of chemicals on hand). I do need to pickup a Taylor testkit though.

For the landscaping portion, I have the following:

- 5400 4" x 8" x 2-3/8" Holland pavers
- 18 yards of crushed limstone (1/4" traffic-bond)
- 30 50lb bags of polymeric sand
- 300ft of paver edging
- edging spikes

The pool will sit on 4-6 inches of vibratory compacted crushed limestone. The paver ring around the pool along with the patio will be sitting on 2-4 inches of vibratory compacted crushed limestone. All if it is being setup as the highest-point in the yard and with the polymeric sand and limestone it is being established as a complete watershed area. I am sure once we are done with the pool and patio I will need at least 10-13 yards of topsoil to redo not only the rest of the yard, but also the sideyard where the trucks and equipment have driven in.

I tried to be as frugal as possible and sourced only used equipment that was reliable and dependable long-term. The pool itself is in excellent shape with a minimal of scratches. The resin parts are all solid (only had to order 2 replacement bottom plates due to cracks and the rest are perfect) and it should last at least 3-5 years (at which point I won't mind buying a new pool and replacing it). I got the pool, the sand filter and a bunch of other stuff for $400 so I can't complain (considering it was already taken down). I have about $515 total into those items with the $400 and new unions, bottom plates, sand for the filter and hardware. The System 3 cartridge filter was a great deal at $100. I did have to buy a 30gal garbage can to give them an acid-bath and the chemicals, including the unions and o-rings (along with the $100 initial purchase) I figure I have $160 total into that. The heater was another good deal at $280, but considering all the extra parts I had to order for it I didn't get off easy on that one, since I think the total including parts for it is right around $600. Still not bad for a heater that is 70% new and costs over $1900 originally.

So, for $515+$160+$600 = $1275 for the used pool, equipment and all the stuff to redo all of it to "like-new" condition is pretty good in my book.

The remaining pool stuff I got some pretty good deals on brand new, such as the Pentair Dynamo 1.5hp 2-speed pump for $160 shipped. As a grand-total for pool equipment (including the pool permit) I do believe I am right around the $2400 mark. I think I did quite well for a setup that is on the upper-end of equipment specs and "new" where it counts.

Now, the amount of labor involved in redoing everything is a totally different subject matter...

Oh, and don't get me started on this wet-blanket of a "summer" we are having... I had to wait until last Friday for them to deliver the traffic-bond since they wouldn't drive on "turf" with loads that big before then, since the trucks would just sink.

I am glad I have the heater though... If I get it all up and done this year I am afraid I will have to run it to get the pool "swimmable" for a couple of weeks before the kids have to go back to school. And even then if we get the cold we had last year as soon as we did I am thinking it will be an early closing too... :(

I will post pics and more details as things progress...

Dennis