Above ground pool... What am I getting myself into?

[mowin]

Client has a above ground pool that was installed by a local company last spring. They are selling the property and the new owners want the pool gone.   

Pool is a 21' all resin frame, top of the line model and they paid almost 9k with water delivery. Pool coming with the pump, filter and manual vacuum.  Clients are having it taken down, and are giving it to me, if I want It.

Obviously have to pay for the installation/water if I choose to take it. I've never had a pool, wife and I have talked about it, but I have no clue what's involved in maintenance or upkeep.  Been watching a bunch of YouTube videos and it doesn't seem to bad.  

Those that have a above ground pool and a manual vac, how long do it take you to clean the pool? Is it worth it to get one of those robot vacuums?  

My hot tub is simple to maintain, but not sure about a pool...

[Splitear]

I vacuum our pool once a week usually. The biggest expense yearly (monetary and time) is opening and closing. Once you get the water in good shape, maintenance is pretty easy. Ours was at the house when we bought it, so I don’t know anything about installation. Our daughter loves it though. 

[Nomad]

Ours is 20 or so,years old , I know as our 31y/o was here today using it and said we got it when she was 11 . Start up ,install, electric , and we did a small deck just big enough to get in and out ,plus store some tubes ,after that yearly cost is low .

Opening and closing is idk a few hours . I never do much chemical wise , some chlorine, and occasionally have the water tested and maybe add some other stuff . In 20,years I’ve had the pump rebuilt and bought a new head . But we use it still do ,heck our kids come back just to use it , today daughters friends were here , 20 years for them too !

Many told me at a certain age kids stop using it etc . That wasn’t our case, but more importantly the Mrs and I use it a lot , she exercises in it daily ,so,for us it works out .

At the time the install wasn’t bad, my buddy did the electric  , and myself and two guys from work knocked out the deck in a day , so materials only .

[mowin]

1 minute ago, Nomad said:

Ours is 20 or so,years old , I know as our 31y/o was here today using it and said we got it when she was 11 . Start up ,install, electric , and we did a small deck just big enough to get in and out ,plus store some tubes ,after that yearly cost is low .

Opening and closing is idk a few hours . I never do much chemical wise , some chlorine, and occasionally have the water tested and maybe add some other stuff . In 20,years I’ve had the pump rebuilt and bought a new head . But we use it still do ,heck our kids come back just to use it , today daughters friends were here , 20 years for them too !

Many told me at a certain age kids stop using it etc . That wasn’t our case, but more importantly the Mrs and I use it a lot , she exercises in it daily ,so,for us it works out .

At the time the install wasn’t bad, my buddy did the electric  , and myself and two guys from work knocked out the deck in a day , so materials only .

I contacted the company that sold the pool and installed it.  Cost for them to install is $1500, and probably another $1000 for water.  So $2500 for a new pool doesn't seem too bad.

I'm sure extending my deck to the pool is not going to be cheap, but we can use the stairs it came with for this season, and hope lumber prices drop some by next spring.  

 

[Nomad]

Interesting , the install doesn’t sound to bad, I just stuck a garden how in mine ,are you on a well or,something ?

[mlammerhirt]

I was wondering the same thing.....why do you need it filled?

Pools are a great addition for the summer. Like a previous poster said...........a few hours in the spring and a few hours in the fall dedicated to opening and closing it. Other than that just some basic upkeep on a weekly basis and the pump and filter takes care of it all.

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[mowin]

1 hour ago, Nomad said:

Interesting , the install doesn’t sound to bad, I just stuck a garden how in mine ,are you on a well or,something ?

Yes, were on a well.  Never had a issue, but 11,000 gal is a lot of water. 

[Lawdwaz]

$1000 for pool water? FJB

[Lawdwaz]

 

[BizCT]

Yes, were on a well.  Never had a issue, but 11,000 gal is a lot of water. 

If you’re not in a hurry and want to save money, have them fill it half way to hold the liner and then add a little yourself each day


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[Moho81]

At that price do it and don’t look back!

I have a love hate relationship with our pool. When something goes wrong it annoys me to no end but honestly it’s never a big deal. Couple hundred bucks a year in chemicals to open maintain and close and that’s it. Some sort of auto vacuum is a life savor for when you get busy and don’t have time.

Did I mention at that price just do it and don’t look back?


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[The_Real_TCIII]

Does that price include getting power to it, to code? That cost my friend quite a bit. He even had to get some outdoor outlets moved higher off the ground


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[wolc123]

I like ours (15 ft diameter x 4 ft deep).  It’s big enough for an adult or two enough to swim in and small enough to easily put up and take down each year.  My wife paid  $ 200  for the package, that included a filter pump, about (5) years ago.  I’d say we got our money’s worth.  I use it almost every day, when the temp is above 80.
 

Maintenance is easy, put a chlorine tablet in the float, and change the filter element every couple weeks.  It is small enough that regular usage  eliminates the need to vacuum.  I extended our back house  deck, with some pt lumber scraps that I had laying around, so the kids don’t track grass clippings from the lawn into it.  Open the sliding door from the house, walk across the deck, and dive in. 
 

I wouldn’t want a bigger one.  We had an 18 footer when I was a kid and that was a pain to maintain.  It needed regular vacuuming and was too big to take down and put up every year.  It had a separate raised deck and grass clippings were an issue.  
 

The toughest part of the setup, for our little 15 footer, was grading a level spot next to the house so that I didn’t need a separate deck.  I only had to do that the first year.  When our kids were younger, we had a 15 ft trampoline that we kept in the pools place (with easy deck access), for the other (8) months of the year. 

 

 

[Merlot]

We had an above ground, 16 foot 4 feet deep. Family enjoyed the pool, but over time, our son lost interest and the wife didn't use it all that much. for me, a lot of upkeep for little use. Happy when the aluminum side blew out during the 18th winter.  

[mowin]

8 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Does that price include getting power to it, to code? That cost my friend quite a bit. He even had to get some outdoor outlets moved higher off the ground


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Electric isn't difficult. Pool requires a dedicated 110/20amp GFI outlet 6' from the pool.  I already have a 20amp cutoff box and the wire.  

[sbuff]

Do it, enjoy it and have fun . You won't ever get one that cheap.  We have a 30' above and someone is in it all summer . A chlorinator is a game changer, drop three tablets in a week and I'm good to go .

[MPHunter]

We had an above ground pool installed last year. Cost $1,100 to run the electric. I paid someone to do it because we obtained a permit from our building department and it had to be done by a licensed electrician. As far as maintaining, I vacuum once a week and drop a couple chlorine tablets in the skimmer basket once a week and that's it.

[The_Real_TCIII]

16 minutes ago, MPHunter said:

We had an above ground pool installed last year. Cost $1,100 to run the electric. I paid someone to do it because we obtained a permit from our building department and it had to be done by a licensed electrician. As far as maintaining, I vacuum once a week and drop a couple chlorine tablets in the skimmer basket once a week and that's it.

Thats how it was for my friend and the town also made him raise the outlets on the outside of his house in case the pool burst and flooded them, his free pool cost $2k in electrical work

[Larry]

Just a pain in the ass glad it's gone. Kids loose interest with all the other things they do.

[The_Real_TCIII]

11 hours ago, BizCT said:

If you’re not in a hurry and want to save money, have them fill it half way to hold the liner and then add a little yourself each day


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We ran a hose from my neighbors house to double up the fill time and he was going to give me the bill. Well it never went up and a couple years later the water dept came and told him his meter hadnt been working for years lol. They replaced it and I got 9,000 gallons of water for free

[Nomad]

36 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Thats how it was for my friend and the town also made him raise the outlets on the outside of his house in case the pool burst and flooded them, his free pool cost $2k in electrical work

I know someone who put one in and the town would come over say do this or that , but there was so much new construction going on they never had the time  to see if anything was done …..

Lots of people run a cord with the ends that nobody will admit exist , till they get to the proper install .

[The_Real_TCIII]

5 minutes ago, Nomad said:

I know someone who put one in and the town would come over say do this or that , but there was so much new construction going on they never had the time  to see if anything was done …..

Lots of people run a cord with the ends that nobody will admit exist , till they get to the proper install .

When my pool went in the inspector was all over me to get it grounded properly. The fence is too close to the water in two areas. Of course the fence guy told me its not his job to know every towns codes. I kind of thought it was...

[Nomad]

5 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

When my pool went in the inspector was all over me to get it grounded properly. The fence is too close to the water in two areas. Of course the fence guy told me its not his job to know every towns codes. I kind of thought it was...

My installer had me layout where the pool would go, so any setbacks being off would be on me .

Doing yard this spring , before the filter and pump were back out , the grounding wire was sticking out of the ground . Mrs Nomad grabs it and starts yanking while saying what’s this doing here !?

[Merlot]

4 hours ago, Nomad said:

My installer had me layout where the pool would go, so any setbacks being off would be on me .

Doing yard this spring , before the filter and pump were back out , the grounding wire was sticking out of the ground . Mrs Nomad grabs it and starts yanking while saying what’s this doing here !?

sounds something like my wife would do.

[MPHunter]

5 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Thats how it was for my friend and the town also made him raise the outlets on the outside of his house in case the pool burst and flooded them, his free pool cost $2k in electrical work

That's interesting he had to raise outlets on his house. Code requires a convenience outlet as well as the outlet the pump plugs into. My convenience outlet is below the pump outlet on the 4x4 post, 6 feet from the pool. There was no requirement for height - just distance from the pool.

Edited July 5, 2022 by MPHunter