Doughboy or Esther Williams????

[hrsdennis]

Hoffmans, Prices are an important part of the buying process. I think your research is a great value for many others that are in the market.

I agree with the pp that the Doughboy prices are very steep. I charge $500.00 to install a 24' pool. This does not include sand or electrical but does include all the ground prep.

I could buy that pool from a local store here, wholesale, for about 3000.00. If I added my 500.00 install fee and a couple thousand travel charge, I could come do it and still save you money. Kidding of course.

Thanks for posting all of you usefull findings. I am sure they are helping many.

Dennis

[traceyb]

dennis, Hey thanks for such good info.....If you could point me in the right direction to look online for Esther Wlliams pools to purchase on line, I could then compare to what they are asking. So far the sites i've gone to don't have prices on them.........I am waiting on 2 replies back. Just thought you might know..........I would fly you to southern IL and feed you a great steak if you installed my pool w/ dirtwork for $500........................

[zephans]

...If you could point me in the right direction to look online for Esther Wlliams pools to purchase on line, I could then compare to what they are asking. So far the sites i've gone to don't have prices on them...

I second this request.
ALL: Anyone dealt with online dealer selling JW or EW pools?

I haven't found any online dealer with prices and I have no local dealers in western Washington. Seattle area is not easy to find close neighbor that knows this stuff .

I agree Aluminum is probably longer lasting. However I am primarily concerned with next 20 years of service. Anything past that is bonus for me. (That said the Lomart pro-rated warranty after 3 years kinda worries me.)

[denanbob]

I haven't found any online dealer with prices and I have no local dealers in western Washington.

Does this mean you went to delairgroup.com and typed in your zip code and nothing came up? Just wasn't sure if you knew they had that service or not. We bought our EW pool used from somebody (it is 10 years old and a classic oval 15x30) but I used the dealer search feature to find someone who could order replacement parts for me since the bottom wall channel needed replacing. The guy that helped me told me EW pools are a top of the line pool and told me we got a steal of a deal ($500 for pool, new Dynamo 1.5 hp pump and new Star DE filter, solar and winter covers, and maintenence stuff). I was really concerned buying a 10 year old pool but this guy put my fears to rest. And he really had nothing to gain from me because I was only ordering $40 worth of parts from him. LOL. Good luck with your search!

[traceyb]

You put the nail the rest of the way in man. I am sold on the EW. Living in small south. IL, there seem to be many dealers, however the one I am going through is pushing 20+ years now and have the EW pool. I know "lifetime" means lifetime, but for christ sake, when I'm 60 + who cares.......I know by then I got my $'s worth .>>Imagine AG pools in 15-30 years............

[gpshemi]

I think you're right. I think they'll all last a long time. However, my grandparents are in their mid 70's and just opened their pool again this year. I think you may want to swim when you're 60. 60 isn't that old anymore.

In any event, I bought mine for my kids mostly. I'm not so interested in swimming in it in 30-40 years from now. Yet, one other thing to think about is the chance of blowing out the sides and sending 1000's of gallons, perhaps tens of 1000's, of water in my house, my barn, my neighbors place, or any other place for that matter. I'm my case it's in the back yard and would wash right down into our 1 acre pond. No big deal. Not all places are set up that way. I had a relative who lived on a hill and set his up above the house. You guessed it. Side blew out and it all rushed in the siding door. It's just not worth the agrevation & mess down the road.

gpshemi

[zephans]

My pool area is about 20' from my Tri-level house and 2.5' higher than my bottom story, so flooding is a significant concern. (Thanks for making me think more about disaster planning!) I think failures are much less likely than they appear in postings... but spectacularly catastrophic and quite memorable. You've got me thinking more seriously about aluminum now .

Yes, I checked www.Delairgroup.com Web site and no JW dealers in my area. I did find one EW dealer 41 miles away (in Gig Harbor). I'd prefer larger scale internet-based dealer for better price as long as I confirm make/model reputation and that it fits my needs. But at least now I know where I can go look at their pools in a showroom.

Speaking of needs I noticed EW and JW don't have any 12'x24' models. 15' is their narrowest oval. I'm not sure I even have 15' between my deck and my neighbor's fence, let alone whatever space is required between fence and pool (I need to look up Snohomish County building code ). I'll re-measure but I'll start looking for other known good brand/model aluminum pools. So far I found Wil-Bar Orleans 12'x24'x54" aluminum with 3/lifetime prorated warranty. I haven't researched Wil-Bar yet but a pro-rated lifetime warranty sounds odd.

As for pool lifespan note that average home is owned for 7 years. I strongly suspect pool owners are way above average (especially given the thoughful and dedicated support in this forum). The point is many people won't stay in the same house past 10-15 years. You could take your pool with you but I suspect it is better to sell it with the house and use the cash to buy a new pool for new location.

Whenever someone talks about lifetime warranty I immediately look at lifetime of the company. Have they been in business long enough to make "lifetime" meaningful?


FYI: Swim Artesian (mentioned near top of this thread) has steel wall pools with a lifetime non-prorated warranty. I was surprised that they don't have company history on their Web site. However I did an MSN Search and per http://www.parkcrossing.net/document...March_2003.pdf page 4 Artesian Pools (same name on www.swimartisean.com) was established by Rod Worthington in 1976 (30 years ago) and received national recognition for outstanding design and installation in 2002 from Natioinal Swimming Pool Institute's Awards of Excellence competition. That plus raves about their Echo Canyon model pool from at least one person on poolforum tells me Artesian Pools are fairly trustworthy.

before I make final purchase decision I will do a search on poolforum.com for the specific make/model to get reviews and sense of popularity . Since chances are slim that I can see product in a showroom before I buy I will not buy anything that does not have at least one person on this forum that has and likes the model.

Thanks for reading my ramblings and still posting replies!
-Zephan Schroeder
12'x24'x52" (or possibly 54")... details to come when finalized .

[gwrace1]

You put the nail the rest of the way in man. I am sold on the EW. Living in small south. IL, there seem to be many dealers, however the one I am going through is pushing 20+ years now and have the EW pool. I know "lifetime" means lifetime, but for christ sake, when I'm 60 + who cares.......I know by then I got my $'s worth .>>Imagine AG pools in 15-30 years............

The warranty means a lot if you ever have to replace something. The time, effort, expense and labor is no fun. It means draining the pool and replacing the liner along with whatever parts are needed. ITS A LOT OF WORK!