"Free Pool"

My brother just took me to look at a pool that he can get for "free". It is a 24' round aluminum AG pool, it appears to be buried about 1 to 1.5 feet in the ground, and just from sighting around the top of the pool, it appears to be up and down out of level approximately 4" at random. Generally an extremely poor installation to say the least. The pump, and filter look very small for the pool, and the skimmer opening is probably a six inch square, seems small to me for such a large pool.

So here it is, it is my estimation that he would need a new liner for sure, and also that he would need a new pump and filter. With this said, is it really worth it to dig up the old pool and install it at his house? I feel that it would be better to get a new pool instead. What do you think?

Now it gets better... This house, a guy we go to church with bought it, has an indoor pool, inground, in addition to the outdoor AG pool. The guy who bought the house plans on filling in the indoor pool. The indoor pool is severely neglected, there is no liner in it, and it is bone dry, possibly for years. It was dark in the pump room, but I did see a filter, and a heater, I did not see a pump, but I was standing behind him looking over his shoulder as he lit the area with a lighter, so there may have been one. I would estimate this pool to be around 20x40 4' shallow, and 10' deep end. The equiptment for a pool this size would probably be extreme overkill for the 24' AG, and the expense of running it may make it not worth taking.

Personally, I would forget about it, everything is questionable, half of the stuff may not even work for all I know, and he wants my help with things.

Given the sad story above, what shall we do?

Thanks
Steve

Edit, I forgot to meantion, the owner also took the liberty of starting to drain the pool through the bottom drain, without taking the winter cover off, so as the water went down, the winter cover went down with the water in it, and pulled the sides in a bit, when I saw that we decided to remove the cover and leave it in the pool for later removal/ dealing with.
Does this compromise the integrity of the wall and top rail and other related structural elements, compounding the general vertical inconsitencies of the initial install?

Hi, Steve,

I'm not an AG pool guy, but reading between the lines of your post, it sounds like you and I are on the same page.

It sounds like you would be opening a can of worms. You may start with a 300-400 fix-up and then find another couple hundred...then another couple hundred....then....

It would seem to me, that this pool has been buried for years, and the bottom rails are more than likely trashed, I may have talked him out of it. I hope. Although, I personally am interested in the indoor equiptment if he wants to toss it. I have a sand filter now, and if the one in there is a DE, I may want to give it a go. I would not be opposed to valving both of them and using the DE just to clear things up occasionally. If that is what it was, I am going back either tuesday or friday. He wants the heater reguardless though, for when he does get a pool. I don't mind, I already have one.

Such a shame though, filling in a perfectly good inground pool. It does need a new liner and some TLC, but what an asset for a house to have...

Actually, I am not sure that a pool (inground or above ground) is much of an asset to a house, unless, of course, the owner enjoys and uses it. When my friend spoke to his relator to sell his home, the relator told him if he wanted his asking price to fill in his inground pool. (He did, and the house sold without it) I am fixing up my inground, and have already been fully warned by several sources that it is not going to be any substantial increase in value (resale) to my home. It is good for people who enjoy them, but not an assured asset to a home. Too many people don't want the bother.

I got my pool for "free" last year. 300.00 dollar liner, 100.00 worth of sand, and a priceless amount of sweat and labor (self install). For me, it was worth it but, this pool was in pretty good shape. It was not sunk into the ground and the bottom rails were still in only fair shape so I would say you are correct that the rails on the one you are looking at are probably trash. The bottom of the siding may also be beyond repair. I had to put some sheet aluminum to cover some small pinholes, they were near the bottom so the sheet slid into the bottom rail and it worked out nice. My intentions were to have this pool for a few years and if I still used it, buy some thing new but while I was going through all that work to install I really wished it was for something brand new. :)

Other problems you may run into: The screws that hold the top rail on, mine had a few that were so bad they broke upon removal, I was able to get neopreme replacements at HomeDepot so not such a big deal.

Keep this in mind, last year I was at Namco and they had a 3,000.00 floor model on sale for 1,200.00, very nice unit compared to what I have. It's a long stretch from 500.00 to 1,200.00 but may be worth concidering.

Edit: In my area, a pool actually depreciates the homes value.

Wayne

I guess the value a pool adds to your home depends on the area. Here in Central Florida if you have a decent sized IG pool that is upkept it adds about $.50 on the dollar to the value of the house. So if you spend $40K on a pool it will immediately raise the value about $20K. Although if you have an AG pool it will decrease the value of your home.

If your after a free pool - just keep looking. There will be a few around ready for the taking.

Just drive around a while looking for an AG that still has the winter cover on it. The just go knock on the door, and ask if they want to get rid of it.

I had a friend here in town that did just that, found a pool and a willing homeowner in about 2 hours. He had a totally free 24' round AG with pump, filter and pool that was only a few years old. His only cost of course was time, his labor, and a new liner for like $200.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PhantomAndy

If your after a free pool - just keep looking. There will be a few around ready for the taking.

Just drive around a while looking for an AG that still has the winter cover on it. The just go knock on the door, and ask if they want to get rid of it.

I had a friend here in town that did just that, found a pool and a willing homeowner in about 2 hours. He had a totally free 24' round AG with pump, filter and pool that was only a few years old. His only cost of course was time, his labor, and a new liner for like $200.

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That is an excellent idea, I am going to have to tell him to do just that, he could find one that was not buried to the gills in the ground with a newer looking filter and stuff. Thanks alot.
steve

Just another tip - a good target is often homes that are for sale. Many times owners trying to sell would rather get rid of the pool to help keep from turning off some buyers.