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It's time to get a pool!

jpr62902

jpr62902

Jeanclaude Spam Banhammer
Last summer was brutal here in the midwest. 90 degree temps on September 30th! I'm a small handful of years away from retirement and I want a POOL! We think a fiberglass mold is the best way to go along with a salt water chlorinator and heat pump to extend the dipping season. The wife is pert near insistent on the automatic\electric pool cover. Given this limited list of parameters, are there any tips that current or former pool owners can offer to make this selection\installation process go any easier? It seems the contractors only want to be responsible for their limited part of the job (pool installers don't answer to electricians, concrete guys are separate, as are fencing and landscaping contractors). I don't want to be a general contractor, when I don't know shi!t about pool installs.
 
It's 35F outside. Kinda hard to consider pool design here in St Louis MO.

But go with Fibre glass for sure. Diatomaceous filter system as well.
A pool heater? Of Course.

oversize everything and you will have lower maintenance costs.
 
When in California, we had a huge pool. 40,000 gallon. We were in the desert. We lost about an inch per day. It was a chlorine pool.

First thing I did was fabricate an automatic electronic fill system.

Then I got rid of the chlorine. I installed a Natures2 silver iodide system. All we needed was a floater with one tablet of chlorine in it. I'm not sure if it's available anymore. All i had to do was change the cartridge twice a year.

This was about 25 years ago.
 
We had a pool growing up. I spent too many years being the pool maintenance boy. Never again. Although, I think the systems are better these days. My dad used to make me scrub the tiles around the perimeter by hand.

It was fun to have but I don't want to be the pool boy ever again.
 
Had one it my previous home 40000 gallon with a 10’ deep end, it was fun when the kids were little, but became like a boat later on, work time 10x enjoyment time. I don’t have one now and don’t miss it.
 
Pool's in the ground, filled and the hardscape is now getting installed. Any recommendations for test kits? The Taylor Drip kits seem to be the top brand - but which one? they range from $17 to over a hundred. Here's the pool at night with R2Dpool going for a swim:

20250522_222545.jpg
 
Boating season here has sucked big time. Only in the water twice so far this summer. Never had a summer like this. Rain and when it's not raining high water or crap in the water from the rain. Plus ... we are getting older. So, now we are considering a pool.

What type did you go with JP? It looks nice. Are those tanning ledges in the corners? What depth did you go with?
 
Latham Olympia 12'. It also comes in 14' and 16' widths. Our yard is smaller so we went with a smaller (7600 gal.) fiberglass pool. It's only about 5'6" deep, so no diving. Those could be tanning ledges - for infants. ;) We have a salt chlorinator (Bob's right - seems to be fool proof), heat pump and auto cover. We spent almost as much on the hardscape around the pool as we did for the pool itself, but it turned out pretty nice.20250717_212348.jpg
 
Very close to what I'm thinking. 3' at both ends slopping to 5' or 5'6" in the middle. I think it's called a sport pool great for volleyball and stuff like that. No diving and that's okay by me.
Yours looks fantastic. The hardscape makes it and I can sure see how that cost about as much as the pool.
Wife is gung ho for a pool. I'm leaning that way but hate to spend that much on it all.
Do you use it as often as you thought you would?
 
I wish I had an auto cover!

We used to put a cover on the pool, had a manual reel. Gave up on that. So we have unnecessary evaporation, excess leaves, etc. I don't even cover our pool during the summer months. Not a wise choice, but I don't want to cut up the patio to have an auto cover installed. Maybe someday I'll have it done?

Autocovers on really irregular shaped pools like mine were not really a thing back when we built ours.

Fiberglass + salt generator is the ticket to idiot proof. Good choices. Landscape around your pool looks great too.
 
I guess I don't really have a sense of how much I thought we would use it. I know I don't dread yard work anymore. Heck, I even look forward to it. Work for 30 mins., then take a dip and rehydrate. Lather, rinse, repeat. We had a friend over for dinner last week and I grilled fajitas by the pool. After dinner, we sipped on some nice whisky in the pool while solving the world's problems. Lifestyles of the not so rich and not so famous! :)
 
Well ... I guess it's not time for a pool for me. Just a pool we could probably do. But to add in the nice hardscapes like you and bob have around your pools I'm over 100k. I cannot do that.
So .... wife still wants to get wet. We might go with a nice above ground. pool. I have to regroup and start looking into that option. Fun fun. NOT.
 
Doc said:
Well ... I guess it's not time for a pool for me. Just a pool we could probably do. But to add in the nice hardscapes like you and bob have around your pools I'm over 100k. I cannot do that.
So .... wife still wants to get wet. We might go with a nice above ground. pool. I have to regroup and start looking into that option. Fun fun. NOT.
Click to expand...
A pond would be a nice addition to your place. ;)
For those of you with pools - do you spend more time cleaning it than you do swimming?
 
Doc said:
Well ... I guess it's not time for a pool for me. Just a pool we could probably do. But to add in the nice hardscapes like you and bob have around your pools I'm over 100k. . .
Click to expand...
Pretty sure I spent more on the pool, hardscape and landscape than I did contracting the 5 bay + apartment over garage/workshop.
 
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Doc said:
Well ... I guess it's not time for a pool for me. Just a pool we could probably do. But to add in the nice hardscapes like you and bob have around your pools I'm over 100k. I cannot do that.
So .... wife still wants to get wet. We might go with a nice above ground. pool. I have to regroup and start looking into that option. Fun fun. NOT.
Click to expand...

🤔🫢...There are other ways! Just saying...
 
bczoom said:
A pond would be a nice addition to your place. ;)
For those of you with pools - do you spend more time cleaning it than you do swimming?
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Not so much, but we have a robot to vacuum the thing. When I'm cooling off between yard work stints, I usually grab the skimmer or the brush and do a little cleaning while I'm in the pool.
 
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pirate_girl said:
Nice ceeement pond Jimmy lol
Click to expand...
A very nice one.
I wanted one but found them way to expensive for my pocket book.
Checked on above ground and figured that better than nothing.
Made contact with pool supply stores in my area. Prices and timelines were similar. They could do one for me in 3 to 6 months.
While asking questions on FB I found a pool installer there who travels all over installing pools. He gave a lot of great advice way before I inquired about him installing a pool for us.
In the end I decided to buy from Discount Pools Direct. I bought a 18'x33'x54" pool. Ordered on a Wednesday. It arrived Monday August 11th. Installer came up from TN the same day. Arrived at 8pm and laid out where pool would sit (marking it with spray paint). Had the pool installed by Saturday Aug 16th (we had heavy rains on Weds or else he would have finished sooner). Finished filling the pool on Sunday and we were swimming Sunday afternoon. 10 days from ordering to installed. Amazingly fast process. Still shocked.
Deck contractor arrived Friday night to give an estimate and get us on his schedule. Now a two month wait for the deck. Such is life.

Pool.jpeg
 
Back when we lived in Bolingbrook Il. I bought an 18 foot Diameter X 4 foot deep above ground pool kit. Because the frame and sides were all made of aluminum, I elected to bury it about halfway in the ground. The top plates were six inches wide, perfect seating. I also dug an additional 12 inches tapered to the center.

This made the sides very stable and access quite easy. I bought an oversized Diatomaceous earth filter ( For a 24footpool) and the result was a pool that lasted for many many years. Despite several subsequent owners after we moved away, it was still operating at least15 years later.

When buying a pool, don't go cheap and;
Over build everything
 
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jpr62902 said:
Not so much, but we have a robot to vacuum the thing. When I'm cooling off between yard work stints, I usually grab the skimmer or the brush and do a little cleaning while I'm in the pool.
Click to expand...

Oooh I always wanted one of those when we had our above ground pool. It took so long in the heat to try to clean it!!
 
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