Advice on a New Pool

[michelle73]

Hi,

My husband and I are considering purchasing a vinyl, polymer wall in-ground pool. We think we have narrowed it down to Kafko, Pacific, Regatta and Ft. Wayne Pools. Does anyone have any feedback regarding any of these brands of pools?

Also, we are thinking that we want a heater and an automatic pool cover. However, the price for the cover is half the price of the pool that we are looking at. Any opinion on whether this is worth the price?

Thanks!

Michelle

[georgiapoollover]

our pool is almost complete. Our pool builder uses Kafko. We have a steel wall pool. A 14 X 28 Oasis. Right now, we are filling it up as we speak. We have gray curved steps and a gray contour swim out in the deeper end. So far, all is well...except that puir builder took a long time. Its been about 6 weeks so far cause they have been busy. We built our own inground about 3 years ago. I would NEVER do that again.

[michelle73]

Dear Georgiapoollover,

Thank you for your resonse. It sounds like paying the extra 15K to 20K is worth it to NOT build your own pool!

Why did you choose Kafko? I understand you are using galvanized walls, but overall, why Kakko? Did you research other brands?

[induce]

We used Ft Wayne on the 1st pool. It was a great kit and the install and builder were fine. We moved to a farm and are getting ready to build the 2nd pool. I think this time we are going to ask for a Pacific kit, as we like the shapes better. Both kits use ribbed polymer walls. (no rust) In Tennessee, the metal walls rust behind the liner.......
I think Ft Wayne and Pacific are part of a bigger single company.
Last time we used a Tara liner and it was also great. We used the B-B-B method and it did not fade at all.

[RavenNS]

Is the idea of an automatic cover because you want one of those covers that an elephant can stand on?
or because you think a solar reel might be difficult for you?

Automatic covers are often "pretty" & I have no idea if the last well or have malfuctions much, ( I suppose amount of use & weather/temp conditons would factor),
but you would save a fortune by going with a fence and a good solar cover & reel.

I'm only an average height ( or a bit shorter) woman and I have no problem rolling & unrolling my cover. I have a Lazy "L" pool & have to fold over the cover in the deep end to almost half the pool ( folding past the diving board), in order to make the big turn... this makes the cover much heavier ( or rather, bulkier) & yet it still takes less then a minute to do this & wind-it-up.
unrolling is just as easy.

imo, cranking the handle twenty plus times is worth saving the thousands of dollars that a fully-automated cover costs... ( bet I can get the cover on & off faster than most automated systems as well...lol)
, but that's just my opinion :-)

ps- as for heaters... heat pumps save you dollars in the long run!

[michelle73]

Automatic covers are expensive - BUT, we have a 2-year old, a 5-year old, and a 7-year old. Our worst nightmare is one of our kids drowning. We are also told that we will save a considerable amount of money in chemicals, water (evaporation), and heat. (That's what the sales guys said...)

We anticipate the cover being opened when the kids want to swim - then, if they decide to go ride bikes, the cover is closed; they want to swim again later in the day, we open the pool, they want to go on the swingset - the cover closes.

These are our thoughts, however we know that hindsight is always 20/20. What do you all think?