What I have learned about used pools.

[grrrr8stuff]

If buying a used pool on craiglist:
- CHECK YOU LOCAL LAWS REGARDING WHERE TO PLACE THE POOL. I was planing to just install everything without permits and later ran into an issues and found out where I was placing the pool wasnt allowed. I got so disgusted that Im not puting up the new (used) pool and just putting up the old intex for two more years til I save enough for an in ground.

- If you have a sprinkler system take that into account too. My guys were trying to charge me $1800 to move some things around because of he pool. Of course where mine was going it had 4 valve boxes.

- You should be the one taking it down. I bought one from a guy and after looking at everything and doing research I found I was missing several parts. Luckily he took it back but most people will not. This also helps with learned how to put back together.

- Before dismantling the pool you should dig down to the bottom of the pool and inspect the tracks and the bottom of the wall for rust on both sides. I ended up having to buy new tracks. For a 28' pool that turned out to be around $225. I got the pool fr dirt cheap but I was trying to do this a cheaply as possible.

- Give yourself enough time to install. I was trying to put a 28' pool up in 4 weeks before my son's second birthday. Not that big of a deal but the difference from one side to the other was 18" and I was going to dig the hole myself. That would be a month of barely seeing my son which in the end was not worth it to me. You cant get this time back with your little ones.

Hopefully this helps someone out.

 

[Noah_Count]

Some of the ordinances that local municipalities and counties have about pools are ridiculous and archaic but unfortunately you have to play by their rules. I live on a lake which is controlled by Georgia Power. It was fine with Georgia Power if the pool was 50 feet from the shore of the lake but my county said it had to be 100 feet off the shore and could give me no good reason why that if 50 feet was good enough for the power company that it wasn't for them. MY house is actually 100 feet off the water so the pool ended up behind the house instead of where I wanted with a view of the lake. Also with most above ground pools, the fact that the pool wall is four feet high counts as a legitimate "barrier" as long as you have a ladder that can be locked to block access. My county building guy insisted I had to have a fence until I stood him down about it and he checked with the county's attorney and then the fact my ladder locked was good enough. Most counties just "borrow" their pool regs from a generic code book and they don't really know how to interpret them properly.

 

[jer7440]

I had a similar experience buying a used pool. I bought a used, 28' round, AGP at the end of last summer. It came with a deck that goes all the way around the pool, the slide....the whole nine yards. I tore it all down and stored it in my garage all winter, with plans of putting it up this spring. I went to get my permits to put up the pool and I was told there is no way they would approve the pool where I wanted to put it, and my 28' round pool wouldn't fit where the township said i could have a pool. I ended up buying another CL pool...an oval this time. This would fit in the space allowed by the local zoning ordinances. I just found out my zoning permit was approved, now I'm waiting to hear from the building inspector.

I'll have to totally rebuild the deck now as it was for a round pool and not an oval. I'm also thinking that the original 4x4 posts, that the deck was built on, will not meet the building code. This will mean a significant expense to buy 4x6 posts. The cost on this thing just keeps climbing! It seems like there is no such thing as a cheap pool.