I have a black top back yard. The whole yard slopes. Not one area is completely or even nearly level. You can't even tell it's sloped until you set down a pool and realize your about 2 to 3 inches off.
Last year I bought my boys(now 4 yrs old) a 8 foot round x 18 " deep snap set pool. Vinyl bottom, plastic sides. I don't trust them with anything blow up. Bad enough they rammed their dump trucks into the sides of this pool and put holes in it, so I had to buy another.
I have a few questions. Since I rent and don't pay water, I need to keep my landlords water bill low. Which means I cannot be dumping hundreds of gallons of water every few days. I need to filter. Last summer we used a pond pump my mother gave me with the net bag from the small pool vac tied to the outlet. I could set it in the pool to pump under the water or I could set it up to skim the surface at night. It really did keep this little pool clean(except fot he sand from the sandbox but hoping the boys are "older" now and will not dump little shovels full of sand into the pool). It was great a circulating the water. But, It was a lot of work. And the pump has since died. Kaput. We also used the "Small pool" chemical kits bought at walmart.
As far as electric usage goes. That pond pump ran up our bill. Would buying a small pool pump be better for our electric bill? Or should I just purchase another pond pump. Either one would only run when no one was in the pool. Think I will also purchase a cover this year.
If a small pool pump would be better(and work better to circulate the water) can the hoses be dangled over the side of the pool(remember it's only 18inches high)? I read in another thread that it worked for someone else after they bleed the air out of the line. Thinking with buying new filters that the pond pump idea is probably more cost effective even with the electric bill. But not having ever been a pool with pump owner, I don't know.
Would it be better for us to just take the plunge and buy the Intex 10' x 30" Metal Frame Swimming Pool? Maybe next year?
Lastly, with our back yard all black top, how best to level this or any pool? We have foam rubber "ABC's" puzzle floor mats that we were using under the pool and if the yard was level these would be great. Nice and soft. I plan to use them again, and buy more for a larger area to walk on on hot black top. We tried to use sand to level this little pool last year but every time the boys splashed the sand washed out from under the foam pads and pool. The sand it's self was really hard to level too. Does anyone have any innovative ideas of how to level on black top? Pavers are not an option because they would have to be leveled, and on black top, that's nearly impossible. Especially without sand that will just wash out when they splash in the pool.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Last year I bought my boys(now 4 yrs old) a 8 foot round x 18 " deep snap set pool. Vinyl bottom, plastic sides. I don't trust them with anything blow up. Bad enough they rammed their dump trucks into the sides of this pool and put holes in it, so I had to buy another.
I have a few questions. Since I rent and don't pay water, I need to keep my landlords water bill low. Which means I cannot be dumping hundreds of gallons of water every few days. I need to filter. Last summer we used a pond pump my mother gave me with the net bag from the small pool vac tied to the outlet. I could set it in the pool to pump under the water or I could set it up to skim the surface at night. It really did keep this little pool clean(except fot he sand from the sandbox but hoping the boys are "older" now and will not dump little shovels full of sand into the pool). It was great a circulating the water. But, It was a lot of work. And the pump has since died. Kaput. We also used the "Small pool" chemical kits bought at walmart.
As far as electric usage goes. That pond pump ran up our bill. Would buying a small pool pump be better for our electric bill? Or should I just purchase another pond pump. Either one would only run when no one was in the pool. Think I will also purchase a cover this year.
If a small pool pump would be better(and work better to circulate the water) can the hoses be dangled over the side of the pool(remember it's only 18inches high)? I read in another thread that it worked for someone else after they bleed the air out of the line. Thinking with buying new filters that the pond pump idea is probably more cost effective even with the electric bill. But not having ever been a pool with pump owner, I don't know.
Would it be better for us to just take the plunge and buy the Intex 10' x 30" Metal Frame Swimming Pool? Maybe next year?
Lastly, with our back yard all black top, how best to level this or any pool? We have foam rubber "ABC's" puzzle floor mats that we were using under the pool and if the yard was level these would be great. Nice and soft. I plan to use them again, and buy more for a larger area to walk on on hot black top. We tried to use sand to level this little pool last year but every time the boys splashed the sand washed out from under the foam pads and pool. The sand it's self was really hard to level too. Does anyone have any innovative ideas of how to level on black top? Pavers are not an option because they would have to be leveled, and on black top, that's nearly impossible. Especially without sand that will just wash out when they splash in the pool.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.