Is an In-Floor Cleaning System worth the $

[Watermom]

It's been there for close to a year now

WOW. Unobservant doesn't really cover it, does it? (Maybe we'll blame it on chemo-brain. I'm certainly not gonna claim it could be from old age since I am only .... uhhh ...29!)

[joe1028]

hello,
just joined pool forum and you're my first reply to a thread.
i live in florida and have an in ground cleaning system by a&a manufacturing with gamma 3 pop up heads, these heads are adjustable in size to control pressure. the system is 5 years old and works great.

[waste]

Welcome joe1028!

Like I said, some have ones that work, and others don't. I'm glad! that yours does as it's supposed to!

Unfortunately, a LOT of folks don't have your good experience

(note - there is a LOT of extra piping involved in one of these and that can cause additional problems - the pipes are buried and not readily accessible if one breaks- folks who don't have 'deep freeze' winters are more likely to have less problems than those in that have a deeper frost line)

FWIW- I was 'certified on the "Caretaker 99" systems in '91

[steveinaz]

In have in-floor jets. They work well, but still have a few "dead spots." It won't end a need to vacuum weekly, but there isn't much to vacuum. My system is real easy to maintain and seems durable, but with hindsight I probably wouldn't do it again just due to the additional costs, and it's more plumbing runs to worry about. The heads are very simple to disassemble w/o tools, and it doesn't appear that anything can wear out on them. Having said that, I do like the way it circulates the warm top water thru the bottom--so would be a good system to have if you heat your pool. We have no deep water "cold spots" thanks to the ground up circulation.

Also keep in mind, I'm not a "bells & whistles" kinda guy--I like things simple and durable.

VERDICT?

Heated pool: Sure, as long as the extra expense is worth it to you (Mine was $2500)
Non-heated: Spend the money elsewhere

[waste]

I wouldn't buy a pop up system just to heat the water. There are alternatives namely, in floor returns and low wall returns. In mild climates, I'd opt for the floor returns but would choose the low wall returns up north.

Of course with any of these options you should still have regular returns to provide top circulation which will help force floating debris to the skimmers before it sinks and needs to be dealt with by the pop ups or vacuuming.