Do you have one of those ? I looked into them years ago, and at the time they were quoting me $40K - which seemed excessive to me considering they are an oversize hot tub, essentially. Up to 20 I can see the value vs a pool, but at 40 (might have been with a little bit of decking), ouch....

If you have personal experience with those I'm all ears, thx !

Not gonna happen. Mrs. WD is not asking for one, and the point of this is to please her.

My thought on the resin uprights and top rail is they'll be susceptible to damage, not that the metal ones aren't as well but I mean cracking from the cold temps we have here if pulled on by the winter cover. I have had a few of my uprights get tweaked during the winter from high winds causing the cover to pull on the uprights but they are easily straightened in the spring. The top rails being resin would concern me if you had kids in the pool. I cringe watching some kids pull themselves up on the top rails and lean over them, they really aren't designed for that.

I use a friend of mines twice a week. I love it. He and I have the same hip issues and it helps to share the pain. He is also recently divorced so it helps him to have me around once or twice a week. He is moving to Florida this Fall.

Because of that, we are saving up for a redo of the back yard/deck, etc. and we will get one. I know a lot of folks my age with grown kids that are literally filling in their 20 year-old in ground pools because they never use them and they are a lot of work and expense to maintain.

I see this too with friends and family filling in old pools, so an upground pool makes so much more sense to me at $5000, instead of $25,000, and easily removable if the situation changes.

Buy an oversized water filter.
Your pool will have sparkling clean water.

So the pool has been up for a year now and we haven't experienced much drama. I lost about a foot of water over the winter, moles dug around under the edge so their are 1" deep divots in the bottom of the pool liner here and there. A few weeks ago the return hose came off and drained the pool down to the eyeball thing. Other than that, it's been an OK experience. I picked away at building the deck all summer and have it more than half finished. Maintaining the water chemistry hasn't been a big deal. With the deck and all I figure I've put in about 5 hours of work for every hour I spent in the pool. But the neighbor and grandkids have really been enjoying it.
Thanks to everyone for their advice.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1567210682.jpg

Looks great, Patrick - appreciate the update.

And your lawn looks amazing....like a pool table almost!

But most importantly, is Mrs. WD happy ? An update for me as well...I was able to get my sand filter/pump running properly (after the rain finally stopped in early July), and it is a godsend. On an 18' pool it only runs about an hour or two a day, and is easily 10x more effective at cleaning. I bought a https://www.amazon.com/Intex-28001E-Auto-Pool-Cleaner/dp/B00GSPHSRO Intex pool robot cleaner on clearance for $50. It has made a huge difference, and I only run it about once a week while I am in the pool.

No. She had surgery on her hand in early July and has been banned from the pool (doctor's orders) ever since. She spent that 90+ degree weather in July and August just looking at the pool. :mad:

I can see not getting her arm in. Can't you rig up an arm float?

Beautiful back yard! You just can’t beat a nice view like that.

My only advice: do not use trichlor tablets. They were made by the devil!

we tried taping a nitrile glove to her hand and keeping it out of the water. The weather was hot and humid. The glove didn't leak, but her hand wasn't dry - not by a long shot.

We get the liquid chlorine for pools at Menards. It is $3 per gallon. We do use the tablets for keeping the cyanuric acid at the proper levels.

You know, you could use cyanuric acid. :)

Whats the beef with trichlor? I'm always learning pool stuff.

The bonding agent for tricholor is CYA as I understand it. You can get too much CYA which can cause a rash and makes it really difficult to reach shock level.

We have had an AG softsided pool for the last few years. The kids love it, and I enjoy it too.

I've been taking it down every winter, but am considering leaving it up this year.

I've found that I use trichlor tablets until the CYA/Stabilizer is at the right level, baking soda to set the PH and Alkalinity, then I use cheap azz chlorine bleach from Y'All Mart for the rest of the year. The "cleaning" bleach is only a buck sixty-two per gallon and I use about a gallon a week.

I replaced the old underpowered pump/filter with one that doubles the flow and it's been amazing at keeping the water sparkling clear.

Just my experience. I've found that I like putting a cold brewski in my flamingo floating coozie and cleaning the pool a couple times a week after work. A very relaxing, almost meditative chore.

Been using the BBB method since I put up my AGP a few years ago. I do the same thing as you with the pucks early on. I typically don't worry about CYA when I open the pool in the spring I just add bleach and monitor. Once I go on vacation I put the pucks in. When I get back, my CYA is right and I go about my normal routine. I buy my chlorine from Rural King every spring. I think it's a 10% solution but I know it's stronger than standard laundry bleach. It normally costs around $9/case. I think I'm switching to a saltwater system next year.

I don't have to clean the pool. I have a "pool robot" I drop in and it does the work for me. I do however get to relax in a reclining deck chair sipping a homebrew while it does the work.

Sounds like a winner to me!