Steel vs. Aluminum vs. Resin

[ShelleyAnn]

I was just told by a pool salesman to avoid a resin top rail here in Colorado because the sun will bake it and make it crack. The other options are steel and aluminum. Does anyone believe his claim of the resin being a bad choice? I know one of the selling points aluminum pool manufacturers use is that it is stronger pound for pound than steel. Does that matter for me?

Thanks for all your opinions

[matt4x4]

He probaly does not sell resin pools!
In my opinion, resin is the way to go, first off it's white, does not attract much if any heat - mine's never even warm.
UV protectants are put in the resin and will likely outlast your wall, mine's going on 3 yrs, no sign of any aging to the resin.
I doubt that a manufacturer would give you 30 years warranty if the salesmans claims are correct.

[NWMNMom]

I also had one tell me NEVER order anything resin because we are in the north and it would crack the first freeze or in the spring if the ground shifts at all. How can that be? They sure sell a lot of them other places, but apparently not at HIS shop. I see that one up in Winnipeg sells oodles of them, Gee, colder up there than here (not by much) Could this be resin envy? They don't have them so they have to bad mouth it?

We really wanted to go with a resin bottom rail or aluminum to avoid corrosion where it meets the ground, vs just galvanized stell with coatings. We ended up with one that has an aluminum bottom rail weather coated and has lifetime guarantee on the rail, bottom plates, etc. against corrosion. Other parts are resin, steel and hybrid, however. The guy at that shop also had the same pool at $1,500 more than where I ordered it, then of course, plus tax AND having to go get ourselves 125 miles away. No thanks.

[CarlD]

Hype, hype, hype! Sure, pound for pound aluminum is a strong as steel (not stronger). But pound for pound it has 3 times the volume! This can be bad, it can be good. It can simply take up more space, or it can be crafted into stronger shapes. But the metal itself is much softer than steel, is not quite as elastic, and WILL corrode if not properly anodized.

But, if it's a well-made pool, it's a well-made pool--aluminum, steel or resin.

Salesmen ALWAYS say the other guy's product is garbage. The dumb ones try to tell you that what YOU have is garbage--like you'll want to buy from someone who just called you an idiot. In the golden age of audio stores, dumb salesmen would always say "Oh, if you listen to these EPI/Infinity/Polk (pick the brand) speakers you'll throw rocks through your Advent/Boston Acoustics (my preferred speakers)." "Oh, your Dynaco/Marantz amp is junk. You need the new Harman-Kardon/Audio Dynamics with 1400 watts per channel. That will REALLY make your apartment sing!"

Besides, these pool store guys will tell you you'll damage your pool if you use bleach to chlorinate...

[matt4x4]

I also forgot to mention this:
My RESIN pool can support a 250 lb person sitting in the center of the top rail without any deflection (so I think it will actually hold 300+ lbs), I'd like to see that on the typical extruded aluminum channel, I've seen them bend under my weight which is a measly 180 lbs in comparison.
The bottom track on mine is resin as well, we have harsh winters here in Ontario, this winter was especially harsh with regards to freezing and cold because we got NO snow, so nothing was insulated from those harsh humid winds, my resin would probably have been at temperatures around -20 to -30 Fahrenheit many days, I think at some point this winter the entire pool was a block of ice which rarely happens, yet, miraculously there is absolutely no damage to teh pool, resin, walls etc.
But since the salesman told you it was cr@p, I better go get a new one....

[gwrace1]

We elected to go with a combination steel and resin pool. It has the resin lower rail and boots across the bottom. It also has resin top seats. The pool came with a life time non prorated warranty from Artesian. I don't think you can do better than that. Here in the South Texas sun plastic and resins do not fair well. All you have to do is look at car interiors to see the affects of the sun.