Beginning to research for pool...

[kiotiugly]

Hi again, and thanks for the responses.

We will be using county water to fill the pool - we do have a well, but it is not plentiful enough to fill a pool.

I looked at the pool that was linked in the earlier response, and this is where I get really confused, because I don't know what a good pool is and what one should cost. That one looks like it will cost about $2000 - then I look on another website and see that I can get a "real" 21 x 41 above ground pool for somewhere around $4000, depending on what type of liners/pump/filter/chlorinator/etc. My problem is that I don't know what a "good" one is.

I've watched several online videos regarding above ground pool install (so you know that I'm now and expert!). The site prep doesn't worry me too much - I've prepped sites for my house and barns prior to pouring concrete and other than being tedious and time consuming, it's not too tough (I do have a transit level to help with this).

I've called some local dealers and was not real happy with the conversations that I had. They would ask what I was looking for, and I told them basically what I said above (20 x 40 or so) and they all basically said "Huh, we don't sell those. How 'bout a 30 foot round?" Additionally, the prices that they quoted me were drastically higher than what I've been looking at online, although again, and I can't stress this enough, I don't know if I'm comparing apples to apples in terms of the quality of the components of the pool.

I've read about different materials of construction - steel, aluminum and resin, and also talked to some pool owners here at my work. All of their pools are steel, and one of them is about 15 years old, while the other is only 3, but neither have had issues yet.

I'm just a little relucatant to sink $2,000 into a pool that I may only use a summer and then try to sell...we did get one of the little Intex pools and that was what made everybody say - "Wow, why don't we have a real pool." Additionally, we recently returned from vacation where we swam in pools all week. One reason for the size I was looking at was because one of the pools that we frequently swam in was one of the smaller ones, only about 45' from end to end, and we swam laps in it. I hope that I am not mis-using the term lap swimming - because we are not serious, serious swimmers. It's alot more like swimming from one of the pool to the other, momentarily stopping and turning around, then swimming back - no kick turns and springing off of the end of the pool.

Once again, thanks so much for the help so far. I would love to hear recommendations on brands (and brands to avoid) as well as retailers for them. Additionally, given the size of pool I'm looking at, what should I be looking for in terms of pump and filter, brands and sizes, and what style of filter? How 'bout a chlorinator? What is an indicator of a "good" liner - is there a specific thickness that should be considered the minimum?

When it comes to site work, what is the recommendation for the depth of sand beneath the liner - or is there something better? Is it better to make the edge cove out of sand/earth or use a styrofoam cove - I've seen both on the installation videos that I have watched.

Right now, I still have so many more questions than answers, but am very much enjoying the learning so far.

Again, thanks for the help and advice. Good luck and take care.

[Watermom]

This thread may help you some. http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...ound-Pool-FAQs

I can't help with all of your questions but will give you some opinions on a few of them

I would go with a sand filter if I were you. Sand filters are the easiest to use, and do a pretty good job. I have always had sand filters and never had any trouble. When you have to backwash them, it is a matter of turning the handle on the multi-port valve and that is that. DE and cartridge filters are both, in my opinion, more hassle. I would never want to have either one of them I don't think. Simply my opinion.

I also would not want a chlorinator. The pucks that it uses have CYA in them. Now, all outdoor pools need some CYA but only some. We have people come here all the time who uses trichlor pucks for long periods of time and they can't understand why they get algae. The problem is that as your CYA level rises, so must your chlorine level and most people don't know that. All they know is that they are keeping their chlorine levels the same as they always have and it worked before and now it doesn't and they have a green pool. More about the CYA and chlorine relationship can be found here:> http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

Once you pick out what pool you want, someone here can help with a recommendation for a pump. I will tell you that when it comes to pool pumps, bigger is NOT better. Ideally, you want a smaller pump paired with a big filter. Many places sell pump/filter combos for AG pool packages that are grossly mismatched. Usually a pump that is too big and a filter that is too small. Too much power on the pump will force debris through the sand bed (or destroy a cartridge filter) without actually filtering. We see this ALL the time on the forum.

I'm not sure about the depth of the sand. I can't remember what we have. We do have a foam sand cove on our pool. My liner is 28 mil. It is actually an inground liner (I have a 27ft AG pool) because I didn't like any of the pattern choices they had on the AG pools. I did have to pay more for it but I wanted something I would be happy with.

Another thread you might find useful: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...ng-a-new-liner

Use this to search with instead of the search feature that is part of the forum software. It will search the entire forum plus our sister website www.poolsolutions.com:> http://pool9.net/search/

Hope this helps you some!

[PoolDoc]

@ Watermom: my bad; I read all the stuff about leveling and excavation and missed the "semi-inground" reference. I deleted the posts about in-ground pools.