Looking for reputable on-line pool companies

[Hoss81]

As the title says, we are a few days away from pulling the trigger on our new 21x41 above ground pool.

Does anyone have any experience with online pool retailers? I live out in the country, will be installing the pool myself with a small army of friends and family, but I still want a quality pool.
I know some folks have suggested Doughboy, but doughboy only distributes through it's dealer channel.

I know a few of the pools I'm looking at are Embassy brands where are manufactured by the same manufacturer that makes doughboy.
Any help on brand names or anything like that would be greatly appreciated.

This will be our first pool purchase, I know very little about pools. The house we purchased last march came with a 21x41 pool that, as some of you may remember, collapsed about 2 months after we got it up and running.
The pool was installed in 1997 and had rusted to the point of failure.

21' x 41' Oval 52" Deep Brentwood Above Ground Pool Kit

Pool Warehouse has free shipping on every 21' x 41' Oval 52" Deep Brentwood Above Ground Pool Kit! Shop now and save on our above ground swimming pools!

www.poolwarehouse.com

This one is, so far, what we have our minds set on. But knowing nothing about pools I just don't know if this is any good or not.

 

[Mdragger88]

Many members here have had great experiences with thepoolfactory.com
They have a large selection of hybrid pools (steel walls w/ resin uprights & top rails)
They also carry a line of completely resin pools - walls & all with a lifetime warranty.
Many of their pools are saltwater friendly.
The pool you linked only has resin connectors. I would not personally want a pool with steel top rails.

 

[Newdude]

Real talk Hoss.

How strict is the budget ?

Do you already know you will be frequent pool use people, or is this the starter/experiment ?

Would you rather save some money now on the chance that early failure has you buying another one in 7-10 years, or would you rather get one to last forever?

There are 3 types of permamant pools :

Steel. (Will fail to rust, how long is anyones guess 7-25 years)
Hybrid. (Industructable resin frame with steel walls that will fail)
Full Resin. (Will literally last forever)

Its probably about $1k at each upgrade for the size you are looking at. Until just a year or two ago, the hybrid was considerd 'resin'. Now that they have resin wall pools too, make sure it specifically says resin wall, or else it could be using the older description of the now hybrid pool. If i was spending steel pool money, i would hands down try to find a way to afford a full resin pool. Depending on the timing, maybe it wouldn't be possible, but man, i'd try.

Also, the liners are all prone to an equal failure rate regardless of wall/ rail type. That is its own equation and you can expect to get anywhere from 7-15 years from them.

 

[Hoss81]

Real talk Hoss.

How strict is the budget ?

Do you already know you will be frequent pool use people, or is this the starter/experiment ?

Would you rather save some money now on the chance that early failure has you buying another one in 7-10 years, or would you rather get one to last forever?

There are 3 types of permamant pools :

Steel. (Will fail to rust, how long is anyones guess 7-25 years)
Hybrid. (Industructable resin frame with steel walls that will fail)
Full Resin. (Will literally last forever)

Its probably about $1k at each upgrade for the size you are looking at. Until just a year or two ago, the hybrid was considerd 'resin'. Now that they have resin wall pools too, make sure it specifically says resin wall, or else it could be using the older description of the now hybrid pool. If i was spending steel pool money, i would hands down try to find a way to afford a full resin pool. Depending on the timing, maybe it wouldn't be possible, but man, i'd try.

Also, the liners are all prone to an equal failure rate regardless of wall/ rail type. That is its own equation and you can expect to get anywhere from 7-15 years from them.

Appreciate the feedback. We are trying to keep it under 7500 all in. We have room on the budget. The bigger kick to the balls is we just bought the house and were not ready to replace the pool. The pool is steel and lasted 23.5 yrs. We only plan to keep the pool for another 15-20 yrs until our kids are out of the house.

There seems to be a huge price jump from $5500 steel pool ($6400 all in with liner, cove foam, skimmer, etc) and a $8500 resin pool.
We are really just lost. We also have to construct an enormous deck that is going to cost easily double the pool just in materials. Its just a big blow to absorb less than 1 yr after we purchased the house.

So yeah, I hear what you are saying. I didnt realize the top rails were steel. I dont want that either. But all the options are out of stock, and if I go with a local dealer I will have to add 10-15% markup on top so thats out of the question.

We aren't looking for a forever pool. As soon as the kids are graduated and out of the house we will tear the entire thing down. Too much time and work without the kids being there.

 

[Mdragger88]

I don’t think the steel of today is the same as the steel of yesteryear no matter what they say it’s coated with. I have a steel wall pool with resin uprights & top rails. I don’t forsee the wall lasting 10yrs - I started seeing rust after the 1st rainy season.
When I bought it 3+ yrs ago the completely resin pools weren’t available. Had I known they were coming out I would have just waited & gotten one. When this one needs replacement I will definitely be going full resin unless i live in a different house that can accommodate an inground pool. As far as work goes - with tfp practices, my swg, & my automated robot there’s not much to it maintenance wise.

 

[Newdude]

The pool is steel and lasted 23.5 yrs.

They build *nothing* like they used to. Heck. Many things have seen a nosedive in just the last 10 years, on TOP of already being sucky compared to yesteryear.

We only plan to keep the pool for another 15-20 yrs until our kids are out of the house

Totally reasonable to expect that from a steel pool. Anything can fail early regardless the discussion, but most won't. If you get most of the time you're expecting, close enough. Besides, when you are down to one kid at home who is actually rarely home...... yeah. You are getting your heavy use in the first bunch of years.

There seems to be a huge price jump from $5500 steel pool ($6400 all in with liner, cove foam, skimmer, etc) and a $8500 resin pool.
We are really just lost. We also have to construct an enormous deck that is going to cost easily double the pool just in materials. Its just a big blow to absorb less than 1 yr after we purchased the house.

Ok, so see ? Exactly why i asked. The budget isnt super tight but has t include other things like the deck. Luckily lumber seems to have returned to normal prices. It was never cheap, but this last year and a half was 3X 'not cheap'

We aren't looking for a forever pool.

Also *exactly* why i asked. And we're making progress in the decision.

So, resin is out and you'll have to weigh the costs of the other 2 based upon whats avaialable, but it seems you have a much better grip on what you're looking at.

Equipment is giong to be tricky also. The packages they include are generally very undersized. You are building a HONKING pool with twice the gallons of many ingrounds, yet properly sized equipment isn't going to be wallet friendly. A variable speed pump (VS from here on out) will be pricey upfront, but literally pay for itself long term. My VS pump saved me $80 a month over many friends and its 10 years old now. With a 5 month season thats $4k that the $1500 pump *saved*. Yours can be cheaper as i had the Cadillac, but it can still be a tough call to further blow the budget, so i'm just throwing it out there.

A large filter is going to need less frequent cleaning. What does the yard look like ? Wide open or lots of trees dropping crud ? 50/50 ? The how-to size a filter guides only factor the gallons of the pool, not the enviornment around it. I am too lazy at the moment to do the math on your round ends so lets just say you will have about 750 sq ft of water to catch falling debris. (Again, thats HONKING big ) Farm dust, pollen and leaves from any tree within 250 feet will have an easy target. (If applicable)

 

[Hoss81]

They build *nothing* like they used to. Heck. Many things have seen a nosedive in just the last 10 years, on TOP of already being sucky compared to yesteryear.

Totally reasonable to expect that from a steel pool. Anything can fail early regardless the discussion, but most won't. If you get most of the time you're expecting, close enough. Besides, when you are down to one kid at home who is actually rarely home...... yeah. You are getting your heavy use in the first bunch of years.

Ok, so see ? Exactly why i asked. The budget isnt super tight but has t include other things like the deck. Luckily lumber seems to have returned to normal prices. It was never cheap, but this last year and a half was 3X 'not cheap'

Also *exactly* why i asked. And we're making progress in the decision.

So, resin is out and you'll have to weigh the costs of the other 2 based upon whats avaialable, but it seems you have a much better grip on what you're looking at.

Equipment is giong to be tricky also. The packages they include are generally very undersized. You are building a HONKING pool with twice the gallons of many ingrounds, yet properly sized equipment isn't going to be wallet friendly. A variable speed pump (VS from here on out) will be pricey upfront, but literally pay for itself long term. My VS pump saved me $80 a month over many friends and its 10 years old now. With a 5 month season thats $4k that the $1500 pump *saved*. Yours can be cheaper as i had the Cadillac, but it can still be a tough call to further blow the budget, so i'm just throwing it out there.

A large filter is going to need less frequent cleaning. What does the yard look like ? Wide open or lots of trees dropping crud ? 50/50 ? The how-to size a filter guides only factor the gallons of the pool, not the enviornment around it. I am too lazy at the moment to do the math on your round ends so lets just say you will have about 750 sq ft of water to catch falling debris. (Again, thats HONKING big ) Farm dust, pollen and leaves from any tree within 250 feet will have an easy target. (If applicable)

As for the pump, the previous pool had a new pump/sand filter that is in perfect working condition so I am reusing that. So no pump or filter needed.

Its a large yard (3acres) with a agriculture sized drainage scale that runs through the yard. When the pool collapsed last year we didn't even get standing water in the yard for more than about 30 minutes. So drainage is also not a problem.

 

[Newdude]

OK that was my next question about the yard being possibly size restricted.


How set are you on the oval ? Is it purely aesthetic ? I ask because the 20x40 (ish) ovals are less common which hurts your availability options. A 30 foot round pool holds a similar amount of water and a 33 would have more, just in a different footprint, and there are probably more to choose from.

 

[Hoss81]

OK that was my next question about the yard being possibly size restricted.


How set are you on the oval ? Is it purely aesthetic ? I ask because the 20x40 (ish) ovals are less common which hurts your availability options. A 30 foot round pool holds a similar amount of water and a 33 would have more, just in a different footprint, and there are probably more to choose from.

We enjoyed playing basketball and volleyball which seems to work better with the oval. That was one of the things I had noticed is the 21x41 aren't super easy to find.

I think the backyard deck and patio is laid out around the 21x41 and we liked that size and footprint.

 

[Hoss81]

The steel top rails seems like a no to me as well. And the more I looked at and researched the design of the uprights, I don't think the Brentwood is the answer.

What about going bigger?

21'x43'x54

The 21'x43'x54" Quest Oval features massive curved resin top ledges that are completely corrosion proof and unmatchable in strength.

www.thepoolfactory.com

That seems better quality, although I don't know I've heard anything about the Wilbar Group pools, but 8" Resin top ledges, 8" uprights.

Thoughts?

 

[Mdragger88]

The steel top rails seems like a no to me as well. And the more I looked at and researched the design of the uprights, I don't think the Brentwood is the answer.

What about going bigger?

21'x43'x54

The 21'x43'x54" Quest Oval features massive curved resin top ledges that are completely corrosion proof and unmatchable in strength.

www.thepoolfactory.com

That seems better quality, although I don't know I've heard anything about the Wilbar Group pools, but 8" Resin top ledges, 8" uprights.

Thoughts?

Wilbar is one of the largest above ground pool manufacturers. They are good quality.

 

[Mdragger88]

Wilbar makes:
Backyard Leisure
Aqua Leader
Vogue
Atlantic
& Sharkline
There’s Possibly others - it would likely be listed in the warranty info

 

[richierich]

Hey Hoss - I got my pool from the pool factory and am very very pleased. I got the saltwater 5000. Everything is resin except the wall.