Greetings from South Florida

[PoolDoc]

Hi Buck;

We can do a lot better helping folks with chemical or general 'its-not-working' sort of questions, than we can "what's the best buy for me" questions.

The reasons are simple: chemistry is universal, but pool selection and quality is local!

In other words, we can tell you, "go buy plain 6% household bleach" and you can do so any where in the US. But, if we tell you the best deal in AG pools is the 30' round "Thundermountain" pool from Joe's Pools in SomeTown, SomeState . . . you can only follow our instructions if you live near "SomeTown".

Also all of us have lots of actual experience with pool chemicals, but none of us have lots of experience buying pools. For example, I have 25 years of experience working with large commercial pools, plus 15 years of experience with the PoolForum and PoolSolutions . . . but I've never bought a pool! And though both my boys are competitive swimmers, and though my wife was a water aerobics instructor for 10 years, we don't have a pool! All my moderators DO have pools, but none have purchased more than 3 pools in their lives.

All that to say . . . the chemical advice you get here is excellent; the operational advice is excellent, the equipment operating advice is very good, the repair advice is good . . . but the new pool purchase advice is pretty spotty!

[BuckBarker]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Researching a purchase is no easy task. Everyone says they have the bestest, longest lasting, easiest to install, etc.
One would think there would be a wealth of pool retailers here but I certainly haven't found them yet. I am certainly leaning toward a 21' resin pool and will probably buy online.

[PoolDoc]

Yeah, unfortunately, there are no "Consumers' Reports" on contractors or pools.

One might think that there'd be a market for a nation-wide reliable builder, but one would be wrong if one thought that! The reasons are complex and confusing, but nearly impossible to overcome.

The unfortunate fact is that there's no easy way to distinguish from a builder who IS selling an excellent product, and one who is not. Many of the best builders I know of are small operations, with very 'homely' sales presentations.

So, the best I can offer is the suggestion that you ACTUALLY check out the references your builder gives, and ask for recent installations like yours. That, and wishing you good luck!

[kelemvor]

You might try Angie's list for reports on contractors. I've definitely filed reports for the guys I've hired for other things; someone may have filed reports for other contractors in your area. Unfortunately it's a pay site, though.