I'm a little slow in posting these but here is our pool install that we started the first week of June!

After much debate and with much anxiety we pulled the trigger and ordered our pool online from Family Pool Fun. We got the 52" Barbados 24' round. Initially we were going to install the pool ourselves to save money as we were trying to install the pool as "cheaply" as possible. After ordering we read some horror stories online about this company so we freaked out. We tried calling and were put off by the "unprofessionalism" of how they answered the phone, etc. Never could we talk to someone when we called, they had to call us back. After speaking to a couple of people one lady finally made us feel okay with the order, she said she would cancel the order and refund the money if we wanted but she reassured us she would follow our order every step of the way and my husband trusted her so he did not cancel. We were very nervous our pool would take forever to come to us, but the order went through with no problem and we got our pool with no problems what so ever. Like I said I have seen some great reviews with this company and some horrible reviews. Luckily we had no problems, but if you want to order with an online company it is always a risk.

I was expecting a ton of boxes since it was being delivered on a tractor trailer but surprisingly there wasn't much to the order.


Our yard is covered in oak trees so it was easy to decide where to install the pool.....in the sun!


Living in South Alabama the heat is unbearable so we chickened out from installing the pool and hired someone to do the dirty- HOT work. We are so glad we did!!










Of course my son could not wait so he had to try it out before it was full!!

That was just step one. Next came building the deck. I learned a lot during the process! First thing I learned was staking things out does not give you the proper prospective of how large your deck will actually be!! My husband staked things out and told me it would be plenty big, but I pouted and finally got my way with him making it larger. Once we started building the deck I realized he was right all along ha ha. That is okay we ended up with a great sized deck!!

This is the where we planned on building the deck:


This is during the installation of the posts:



The process took a little longer then expected due to many pool breaks


We learned quickly it was more efficient to work at night due to the heat:


My husband wanted the stained look so instead of getting treated wood we bought untreated wood and stained and treated EACH AND EVERY PIECE. NEVER AGAIN WILL I DO THAT AGAIN. The deck building took sooooo much longer then anticipated due to this extra step.






Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on stairs to go in the deck we rigged the stairs that came with the pool so that we could attach them to the deck. We just cut off the back part and built up wood to screw the stairs to the deck.


We put the deck under the top of the pool rim so that we could replace the liner easily when needed:


Here are some overall shots. We still have some finish work to do, but at this point we are just enjoying our pool and will finish up things when the weather gets cooler!!

looks good! I want to build a similar deck, can you post some pics of the framing underneath?

Geez it looks kind of horrible looking at it, but it is sturdy, sturdy, sturdy. We did get lazy with staining and sealing the untreated wood, but as soon as it cools down we are going to tape the pool off and spray the underside.

you said horror stories, was that about familypoolfun or the brand of pool?

Thanks for posting all the pics!

I read bad "horror stories" about the company online, this was after I read a bunch of good reviews. We took our chances and everything ended up working out perfectly with the company. The pool is awesome!

Very nice pictures! Enjoy your pool,
Jan

thanks for posting the pics!

This is exactly like the deck I want to make! Hope you don't mind but I saved your pics to use to design mine! One question...How tall is your pool? and how tall are the stairs you bought? I seem to keep coming up short if I buy the prebuilt stringers from lowes.

No I don't mind at all!! My pool is 52" tall. The stringers were too short for us also so my husband built up the bottom and then attached them. We then covered the front of the step with a board so it looks nice. We will eventually enclose the sides of the stairs as well so you can't stand on the side and see. The bottom step is a little bit larger then the others, but it is not enough to mess you up when walking up or down. I'm sure a professional deck builder would not do it this way, but we were all about making whatever work for us as easy as possible!!

Well i am not hiring anyone and the stairs were the most questionable part of my plans! My pool is only 48" so i bet it would work out just right! I'm just excited to see that an average joe built exactly what I want. Thanks!

Looks great, How did she survive the storm that came through a few weeks back???

great job on the deck and pool next year you can sit and enjoy

Awesome job, looks great, when I put up my 21 footer I want to build one similar, how did ya'll make the curves around the pool underneath the deck where the support 2 x 6 s are running since you cannot run them straight once you get around the pool. Appreciate the pics of the underneath too.

To make the curves we laid the board up on the supports and then penciled the curve on the board then made a cut. Our boards were long so we had plenty of room to make a cut then push the board under the white part. If I didn't answer what you are asking just let me know and I will let me husband look at the question and let him answer!

Oh yes just average joes made it work! It is not perfect but we got the job done! Good luck with yours and let us know how it goes!

Oh it was fine! It was really just a bad thunderstorm that lasted days and days ha ha. I didn't think it would ever stop raining. Luckily the wind was not an issue but I am sure it will withstand high winds, we just have to worry about the old oak trees all over our property falling on top of the deck and pool.

Tks for the nfo maajick that helps too for the surface boards, I was trying to ask how he did the joists or support boards under the surface boards next to the pool when it curves. The 2 x 6s u cannot see above the deck, only from underneath the deck that holds up the surface boards where he might have done a diagonal joist/brace/studs so when u walk on the surface boards, near the pool at the far corners of the deck, the surface boards dont bend down. I have built a few simple decks over the years but never had to curve around something like a pool, my old decks were always square. Sorry I didn't explain better, I appreciate the help. Like under here away from the center of the deck where the pool starts to curve.

He originally made a square with the posts. It did have some give in the boards when just that was done so then we just cut some boards and ran them at an angle from the support beams to the piece of wood that capped all the sides of the deck (basically the kick board of the top step). We just pieced it together as we went and added support as need. I know this is not the "proper" way but it worked for us, especially considering those corners are not really walked or stood on.

Maybe this pic will help some (good grief the picture looks awful):