Quote Originally Posted by PoolDoc View Post
I'm assuming you -- or someone in your family -- actually wants to USE the pool?

If so, you might want to look at one of the larger Intex metal post pools. They'll set you back less than $1,000. They do work -- ask CarlD. And you or your family can enjoy a pool THIS summer, while you make plans for a more elaborate one later. That's pretty much what CarlD did, though I'm not sure there was a plan; it just worked out that way.

Ben
Plan? Plan? What's a plan?

I actually started with a 15' round Intex Donut pool and we used it happily for 3 summers. You can't really swim much in it (unless you are 5 or 6 years old) but you can splash, float, or, best of all, get on a floating chair, with a nice, tall iced drink, and good tunes or a ball game on the radio! For that, it works just as well as a fancier pool. It's great for cooling down! Plus it's great for learning pool chemistry without too much pain. If you really, Really, REALLY mess up, it's not too tough to drain and refill.

BUT there's a big caveat: You must have a level place for it that deviates from the highest to lowest point by no more than 1/2" to 1"--and that's where it gets tough. I had build a small 16x16 platform that was nearly a foot high at its lowest corner and it was a good bit of work, but it worked for the 3 years. You also have to take the pool down for the winter if you live where it freezes (like here in NJ). But it was CHEAP! And the price on them has come down a lot, while the size has increased. I believe the donuts now go up 24' diameter with 52" depth (actual 48" of water).

I then went to a FantaSea, that I had made in a custom size--16'x40', which is very similar to the Kayak. Yeah, it was expensive. Again, because my yard slopes, I needed to build a base or dig down (and it's tough digging as we have more than our share of rock). The base was expensive, because it had to be bigger than the pool, had to have retaining walls on the low sides (3 of the 4, and half of the 4th). Plus I built it into my deck. But the good thing about FantaSeas is the deck around the pool is a solar panel that heats the water and the water keeps the deck cool enough to walk on in the summer heat. But the solar panels are annoyingly high maintenance. Every season it seems I have to replace one or two (each panel is 2'x4' and there are alot of them).

Actually, once I decided on the FantaSea, everything was carefully planned out, blueprints drawn, and then modified by the town's absurd rules that didn't seem to apply to my neighbors. But, OK. It's going to be its 9th season as soon as I open.

But back to Ben's point: I learned ALL about pool care on the simple, small, inexpensive Intex so when I went to the big pool, I was very comfortable with the chemistry and the mechanics. It's all the same, just bigger. Plus the big pool has a sand filter and that's lots easier for me than the little cartridge filter the Intex came with. It was in the 2nd season with the Intex that I began to post here (I think) and Ben and everyone else were a huge help. Ben was amused (I think) by the Intex Donut because he didn't know much about them (neither did I). It was a GREAT learning pool and lots of fun. I bought my first FAS-DPD test kit for it--and even with onlyh 3500 gallons it was the best investment in pool care! All my water problems vanished!

Carl