NFT: Thinking warm thoughts - anyone with an above ground pool?

Live in the south now but grew up in a home and we had an above ground in N Jersey. Never drained it but my father would drain some out until it was under the filter system so water did not continue to go through the filter system. He also drained all the filter lines so they would not freeze. We had an insulated cover if I remember correctly? And he would add another chemical to the water prior to covering it up for the winter.

A long time ago I am now 45 but last year went up to see family and passed by the old home and believe it or not it was still there so I guess he did something right.

Not sure this helps but we never had an issue with the pool when I was growing up.

for the money they're fine, but are you sure an in ground pool would impact your property taxes. I just installed one in my house and my town does not consider a pool in property tax assessments. Maybe your town does.

Oddly enough though they do consider the deck an improvement, but not the pool (and the deck cost as much as the pool anyway). but that would be true with an above ground or inground pool.

this winter due to the frost. Yes it was closed correctly. I have to drain and take it down after the thaw.. Not looking forward to it..

We purchased our home in September and it had a very nice above ground pool already installed. I didn't grow up with a pool, so this will be my first time maintaining one.

This winter has already been a pain in the neck with it. I was sucking water off cover after every rain storm. Then, the previous owner really drained the pool way too much so the cover looked to be pulling at the sides. Before we got nailed with the February snow, I loosened the cover and dropped it into the pool. I didn't want to take the chance at ruining the structure.

have the above ground pool that they take down each winter. It's good size and has a ladder needed to get in and all that.

They're decent for little kids.

depends on your target.

for an above ground.. and parts for their products are exclusively theirs and you have to go through Namco for replacement parts. This is more of a pain for filter parts and equipment.. seals, gaskets and stuff will need to be replaced often and the pump and filter element ( if you g element route ) will need to be replaced every couple years.. be sure to take the actual pump if not the whole filter indoors after closing... don't let it sit in the snow...

A lot of people get all caught up in the chemistry aspect of the water and have troubles with clarity and spend a lot of money on chemicals and fighting the balance. Which I think is over rated... after a while you just get it if you will.

. rather, just go to the YMCA or bay/ocean etc.

in Piscataway. Landmark Pools. Great family owned buisness.

.
Link - ( New Window )

In comment 12153586 idiotsavant said:

Quote:

. rather, just go to the YMCA or bay/ocean etc.

The YMCA in summer? That's just awful.

and what I can say in general is that you are better off joining the local pool club. That aside and if you MUST have a pool, then go with the above ground unless a realtor can show you a significant difference in re-sale by having an in ground.

The above ground can cost you just a couple of thousand vs the in ground up to 10 times more.

Above ground loses the heat more at night since there is no insulation on the sides.

Whatever you do, I recommend a solar blanket/cover that you keep on the pool at all times. It keeps the heat in and the sun off of the water which saves on chemicals.

For my above ground, I put a solar panel on my roof (made of plastic and cost me $225). Then, I added a valve that diverted the water from the filter to the roof through PVC. then back to the pool. Total cost for me to do this was about $300. Increased the temp by about 1 degree every two hours.

When I no longer wanted the above ground pool, I dismantled it and sold the aluminum for a profit. When my neighbor had serious problems with his above ground, he finally decided to have it filled in at a cost of $8k.

Expect your electric bill to jump significantly too.

Final note...my kids lost interest at the age of about 13-14.

joining the local pool club is great advise

I'm sure that the inground pool will raise property taxes, checked with the town and apparently there's no way around it (was also the case with the homes I was looking at in the same area).

One of the reason I was looking at the above grounders was the interest factor. The house is walking distance from the beach, but my kids (2 of them at least) are still young and would get a kick out of it for a few years. In 5 years, when my youngest is 11, I'm pretty sure that the novelty factor will have worn off and then it'll be time to consider keeping it around. I'd hate to make the kind of investment an inground pool might take given that factor alone.

Hadn't thought about keeping the water warm, although the solar covers don't add too much cost. I do have a couple of 6A solar panels, might be worth looking into installing them somewhere and running a heater continuously with it.

My one big concern is the cold, I'd hate to put something in and then have old man winter wreck the fucker on me.

my wife and I both grew up with inground pools. In fact my father who is 70 (though he lives in FL) swims every day in his pool.

once my inlaws kids all grew up and no longer visited often they filled in their pool, and it was like 3k, not 8k.

My youngest is in first grade though, so she'll probably still like it for 10 years. But most importantly i like the inground pool. If it was just kids to consider I wouldn't have gotten in it, since they are hard to predict.

I have a salt water pool and there is almost zero maintenance. I check the water a couple times a summer, otherwise it self regulates.

And inground pools are much better.

we do enjoy the beach and live 45 minutes from Cape Cod, 1 hour from Narragansett, RI and 1 hour and 15 min from Newport, RI and visit them often, but the pool at the house is different and not something like one or the other.

Always have your kids around and their friends will want to hang at your house. The bad thing about a pool is that you will always have your kids around and their friends will want to hang at your house.

A nice in ground pool can cost upwards of 50K plus maintenance. We were lucky enough to have a community pool within walking distance. $500 a year for the five years they were into it and I'm up $47,500.
I would go above ground if I had the choice, you still get to be wet in the summertime and they're 70% cheaper.

from the previous owner.. I would have never put one in although my Wife and Son like it very much.. Now that the pool is likely compromised I have to make a decision... Put another exact same size pool in, get a landscaper to fill in and smooth out the large imprint it has made in my back yard, or stare at a 18' x 36' hole / indentation in the ground, My yard has a slope, so some of it is actually in the ground on the right side.

In comment 12153848 Chef said:

Quote:

from the previous owner.. I would have never put one in although my Wife and Son like it very much.. Now that the pool is likely compromised I have to make a decision... Put another exact same size pool in, get a landscaper to fill in and smooth out the large imprint it has made in my back yard, or stare at a 18' x 36' hole / indentation in the ground, My yard has a slope, so some of it is actually in the ground on the right side.

This is what I did Chef. I removed the above ground and then had to fill in a giant hole because the prior owners actually dug two feet down to make the pool deeper. Got a truckload of soil from the local garden center and then hired two of those "evil illegals" to take it all to the backyard and fill in the hole. So, when I sold the aluminum frame for scrap, it paid for the above.

I had one for about 25 years where I raised my family and loved it.
It is much easier to keep a pool clean than it is to get a pool clean.

PH is the first thing to get right, once the PH level is right you can "shock" the pool with Chlorine. Find a good Algaecide and use it to kill algae and then to maintain it. Test your water daily and treat appropriately.

I always got an oversized DE filter, Hayward Perflex was a great filter, I'm not sure what is the top name now but don't scrimp on a filter and run it regularly.

Use a GOOD chlorine, one of PACE quality and avoid at all costs HTH , that stuff is crap. I used to use a company called "In the swim" for most of my pool chemicals.

A solar cover will extend your year by a week on each side but is a pain to put on and remove and looks like hell. If you have a good amount of sunshine on it you will be ok for the most part.

In comment 12153841 oghwga said:

Quote:

Always have your kids around and their friends will want to hang at your house. The bad thing about a pool is that you will always have your kids around and their friends will want to hang at your house. A nice in ground pool can cost upwards of 50K plus maintenance. We were lucky enough to have a community pool within walking distance. $500 a year for the five years they were into it and I'm up $47,500. I would go above ground if I had the choice, you still get to be wet in the summertime and they're 70% cheaper.

That first line is exactly what I was thinking. This is for a summer home, which was purchased so that I can keep the kids close. And if it keeps them and their friends under a watchful eye, I'll consider it money well spent.

The beach is literally a 5 minute walk, but there's times where the beach might not be what they're looking for.

The cost differential to me makes the inground a non-starter. The difference seems to be about 300-400%. The cheapest inground I can get away with will likely run me $15-20k, and I can do a very nice above ground with a composite deck I'll build myself for around $6k. This way if it doesn't get a whole lot of use, it'll be a minimal spend wasted.

is that you have to move your coach and TV outside too.