I hope I understand how this forum works - looks like a good source of information that I'm looking for, so here goes...

My family and I are looking to install a pool at our home within the next year. We live in the middle of our 140 acre farm and have plenty of space in our yard. Our intended uses will be primarily for the four of us to enjoy, with the occasional friendly get together being held.

I would like to handle as much of the install as possible to save money. I'm an experienced do-it-yourselfer, having built our house from basement to roof and everything in between. I have a backhoe, bulldozer and dump truck and am very experienced with plumbing, electrical, carpentry and concrete. So far as I am aware, we have no zoning restrictions and have county-supplied water available.

I am dumb as a post about swimming pools!

Right now, we are envisioning something in the range of a 16' to 20' wide by 30' to 40' long rectangular shaped pool. My wife and I would like to be able to swim laps for exercise. Our plan also includes a semi-in ground installation. We have a gently sloping hillside behind our house that I would like to level off an area and install the pool there. At that point, we would like to install a deck around it and give the appearance of an in ground pool. We've looked online and seen some above ground pools that are intended for this purpose - some even with in-wall steps.

So the long and the short of it - or long and longer of it - where do I start? We have some pool stores about an hour away and I was going to call them to see what they might recommend. I'm not opposed to buying from the internet either, especially to save money. I have access to a place to unload a semi with a forktruck, so shipping would not be too much of an issue.

I would really like to hear recommendations about brands of pools, all of the associated equipment, and recommended retailers. Also, any advice that I can get from folks who have gone through the same thing.

We recently purchase a little Intex pool so that we could cool off this summer and get used to maintaining pool water, at least on a small scale.

I really appreciate any information that I can get and look forward to learning about pools.

Thanks.