Buying an above ground pool!

[lauriefree]

I have just discovered FantaSea and their solar deck. We, too, are interested in the add-a-deck pool. Do you have your pool yet? Anything you can tell me about the company, customer service, shipping, the pool, installation, price, etc. would be really appreciated.

[CarlD]

Our Fanta-Sea Add-a-Deck is going into its 4th season. You can find pics in the "What does your pool look like?" thread.

Island Pools has been very honorable and has stood behind their product. Installation, though, is not a job for the faint-hearted, especially the longer pools. The long girders on my 40'x16' are close to 900 lbs each! You'll need at least 10 strong guys to pick each up--or rent a BobCat (That's what I had to do).

Building it into an exisiting deck is tough because it's hard to get straight EXACTLY how much below the deck the site should be. I ended up having to compensate for it being about an inch higher. Since the town required me to put the fence between the existing deck and the pool, it worked out OK.

Here are the problems I have had:
1) Their best installer is a contractor for them, and while he knows the pools extremely well, he's rather difficult and has lousy client manners. But he knows the pools well, and structurally it's perfect.
2) His sidekicks who did the plumbing did a terrible job and it started leaking immediately. Do not let them use TigerFlex with interior barbed fittings and hose clamps. TigerFlex MUST be used with Schedule 40 glue-on fittings. It should not be a big deal--glue-ons are actually easy as pie to use and they don't cost a lot--and they don't leak. The solar panel connections leaked and Island Pools ended up sending me a full set of extra clamps to double clamp them, which worked. I re-did the main plumbing myself and it's much better.
3) The liner failed 10 days after the install--a bad liner from the factory, not a bad install. Island Pools worked with the liner company to set up a new liner, and a local installer to install the new liner. IP paid for the replacement water.
4) Panels occasionally leak. IP has replaced them for free.

The system works. However, I have found it to work MUCH better by dividing the panels into two separate groups. I have a tee and two valves, one for the NW group, and one for the SE group. Each has its own return at the far end of the pool. Each can be turned on independently, so only the ones in the sun are running, or both together, which flows FAR more water with less resistance than the factory setup. I've talked to them about this and suggested they implement it--If I spent $50 on the extra fittings that's a lot...

Ours is a custom size--32x16 and 40x20 or 40x12 are standard. We have 40x16--not a big deal for them. The liner is custom cut and has a 5 1/2 foot deep end. Despite the issues, we love it. It's hard to tell it's not an IG as we use it as one.

[Watermom]

Whatever you decide to buy, buy the biggest size that you can afford and that you have space for. Nobody ever says they wish they had bought a smaller pool but many people (me included) wish they had gotten a larger one.

Watermom

[lauriefree]

Carl, Thanks for the pictures and the information. Your pool and deck look great. I hope you don't mind if I ask a few more question.

As for the solar deck, since it is just about surrounded by fence, doesn't that kind of encroach on the sun the deck receives? I know there are legal and safety considerations regarding fencing. We do not have a deck at all, and I wonder how we could design one that wouldn't throw too much shade on the panels.

Do you think the money you paid for a solar pool is comparable or better (less) than installing some solar panels separately?

Is the deck the only form of heat you use? It would be so great not to depend on anything else, but I'm probably a couple hundred miles north of you (in the Albany NY area.) I like warm water, hate polluting emissions and paying for fossil fuels.

Does Island pools have a local presence for you, or did you deal with them via the internet and phone? Will they recommend an installer in my area, do you think?

thanks so much.

laurie

[CarlD]

Carl, Thanks for the pictures and the information. Your pool and deck look great. I hope you don't mind if I ask a few more question.

I don't mind. Wow! Chock full of GREAT questions!

As for the solar deck, since it is just about surrounded by fence, doesn't that kind of encroach on the sun the deck receives? I know there are legal and safety considerations regarding fencing. We do not have a deck at all, and I wonder how we could design one that wouldn't throw too much shade on the panels.

Actually, it doesn't encroach as much as you would think, but it's perceptive to pick up on it--I wish I had thought of it and I might have changed the design a little.

However, since my pool is basically an east/west alignment, the north run gets full sun most of the day--that's a 44' length. Most of the day the west end gets good light, too, but it's passing by mid afternoon. Around noon, the east end comes into its own, and later in the day the south run also steps up.

However, were I to do it again, I would extend the decking east and west to move the fence away and give me more space inside the fence--it wouldn't be solar panel, just decking. I intend, this year, next year or the year after ( ) to extend the east end.

But despite that, here in North Central NJ, the water hit 96 degrees last summer and we usually are swimming by May 1 or the following weekend, and swim clear through Sept. If Sept is sunny we can go the whole month but it usually starts raining again. Still, I close around Oct 1. I do use a solar cover as well--I have a 16mil transparent that insulates really well.

As I said, I have divided the system in half: North West and South East so I can control them both, and when they are all full on, I get nearly double the flow. Also I have a couple of panels leaking and I'm waiting for IP to send me new ones. So rather than struggle to drain them, I'm only running the NW section which has no leaks. We've had cold nights into the low 40's and a lot of rain the last few days so the water is only 69-70--too cold!

Do you think the money you paid for a solar pool is comparable or better (less) than installing some solar panels separately?

Frankly, no. Rollable solar panels lying on the ground would be MUCH cheaper. The decking is the same surface area as 3 4'x20' panels. I have 30 2'x4' deck panels--even at the reduced rate of $50 per panel I have over $1500 in deck panels, plus hoses and clamps. It's comparable to a permanent roof-mount system, but not the rollables.

But the benefits are: invisibility--no ugly panels to find space for or to mount. A COOL deck--all that water flowing keeps 'em cool--and my split system is cooler than stock. Easy to fix: I can replace most any panel but the ones where the stairs mount in 15-30 minutes, max.

But the main thing is my wife wouldn't tolerate most AG pools, nor solar panels all over. This pool works like an in-ground but gets taxed like an above ground.

Is the deck the only form of heat you use? It would be so great not to depend on anything else, but I'm probably a couple hundred miles north of you (in the Albany NY area.) I like warm water, hate polluting emissions and paying for fossil fuels.

Yes, the panels and the solar cover are it. I did have the electrician run 240v 40amp cable from the circuit box to the wall nearest the pool, so if I want to put in a heat pump I can. I won't do gas.

In your area, summers are shorter (went to college at Binghamton, my brother went to Union, so I'm somewhat familiar with it.) Your heating problem will be in early June and after Labor day, not July and August.

Does Island pools have a local presence for you, or did you deal with them via the internet and phone? Will they recommend an installer in my area, do you think?

I dealt with them by I'net and phone. Since they ARE expensive pools, plus my site prep was expensive (not to mention all the cedar I bought for the railing and gate), we figured it would be worth it to fly up there to see the pools first-hand. So one spring Sunday I flew to Buffalo, rented a car, and drove up to Grand Island. They gave me the grand tour and I ended up buying a pool--but not until AFTER I had my building plans approved by the town.

Finding a local installer may be a problem, but their contract installer is a lot closer to you than he is to me--he's between Syracuse and Buffalo. I suggest you talk to IP about pools they have sold in your area...they are better informed on that than I am.

It's really funny that I bought a pool designed and built in Grand Island, New York, located between Buffalo and Niagra Falls! That reminds me: Their climate is VERY similar to yours--I think that's why the solar pool was so popular up there.

But I think you are also asking if I would buy this pool again. Yes, I would--and knowing now what I know I would handle the plumbing differently, too.

Hope this helps.

[huskerfan]

I actually had bought a Sharkline AG pool, but sold it and purchased the one I have now, mainly because the lifetime warranty was "prorated/limited". So basically it didn't have a real lifetime warranty. I went with an Echo Canyon made by Artesian from the Pool Place in Chatanooga TN. The quality is awesome and it's a gorgeous pool/liner, and has an actual lifetime warranty on everything except the liner! Truthfully, I think the most important part, like CarlD said - above brands... is getting your ground level no matter what type of pool you have. His post is awesome too- about how you plan to use your pool.

Unfortunately our local pool stores didn't carry anything I liked, and were priced twice as high, so I purchased off the internet. What isn't bought off the internet nowdays?? Also - they didn't like my choice of filter, chemicals... and were quite rude with comments about them, so they truthfully didn't deserve my business anyway. I'm all for shopping locally, but there are exceptions to every rule. It's a big investment - research and get what you want, you're buying it for longterm!