Have 2 teen boys; considering an AG pool purchase

[Pappy]

We live in the Dallas area and we love our 15' x 4' round Intex. I will tell you that with 3 grandkids between 3 and 7 years old, and the 2 of us, the pool is pretty full. I agree with get as big as you can fit. I also very strongly agree with "DO the yard prep" COMPLETELY - FIRST. Our first Intex liner lasted us 5 years (I think 4-6 years is a realistic expectation), probably would have gone another season, but we had a terribly damaging hail storm and we were scared the "top loop" was so badly beaten it might fail. So, that might coincide well with your time frame.

Some things to consider,
What is your water source?
How level is your lot?
Are there home owner's association rules?
Are we willing to make the commitment to spend the time required to maintain a pool?

Our pool was a royal pain in the rear the first season, before we found this site. Since we started following the recommendations found here, the pool has been a great source of pleasure and very easy to maintain. If you will get a good filtration system and follow the advice given here, your pool will be easy to keep and a relatively low source of frustration/stress. No pool is trouble free (maybe if you have a really great "pool guy" that takes care of it for you), because they have to chlorinated, cleaned, etc. The Intex sand filter/pump combo's are not great, but good enough to let you figure out if you want to keep a pool. My personal recommendation is to avoid the Intex cartridge filters. They just aren't big enough to handle a pool much bigger than 4000 gallons.

Another thing to be aware of is that Intex products are PROPRIETARY. It is difficult to use "normal" or "standard" equipment with an Intex system. It can be done, but requires some "engineering" and DIY capabilities. You can download .pdf files of most of the current Intex manuals from the Intex website.

Again, we love our pool, so do our kids (all adults now) and our grand kids, 19 to 3.

My advise? If you have a reasonable source of acceptable fill water - Do your homework. Get every thing ready - all the way ready - including start up supplies. Order the biggest Intex brand pool you can swing. Get an Intex sand filter. (There some pool "kits" that come with the filter and other stuff that may be more economical than piecing stuff together). Get a skimmer basket. Follow PoolDoc's acvice - to the letter - and enjoy a clear, comfortable, easy to keep pool.

[PoolDoc]

Thanks, Pappy. Very useful and to the point!