So I started this thread back in September and haven't really done anything with it or the pool since. We had a very warm fall and were able to continue swimming in the pool into the middle of October which is pretty unusual here in central KY. I took down the seasonal Coleman pool and threw it away as the liner was pretty much shot with the leaking/patched windows. Other than draining and storing the remaining equipment I haven't really done much regarding the new pool except purchasing a nice set of wedding cake steps on Facebook marketplace for $75 bucks. Pretty good deal I thought.
Before I start with the new pool I thought I would get you up to speed on my ongoing back yard project. My wife and I purchased our home in 2012, just 2 months prior to her giving birth to our triplet daughters.
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At that time the home did not have a usable, family friendly deck or backyard. In the Summer of 2015, we decided we had both the time and desire to begin to transform the backyard into a usable family space. In the summer of 2015 I began by expanding the existing 12x16 deck that was about 10' off the ground on the stair side by adding a 16x16 to the left side and a 20x16 across the front. I also re-graded the yard under the decks to promote drainage away from the basement of the house.
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These decks were stepped down from each other and allowed me to build down and away from the house to get closer to the actual grade.
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As you can see the yard still had a pretty good slope and there was not a good place for a swing set for the kids. In the spring of 2016 we decided to continue the work by terracing our backyard to create usable flat areas and to make the yard much more inviting.
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As you can see the little ones were already hinting at their desire for a swimming pool...
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So the next year I had to oblige with a bigger pool.
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This small pool is what kicked off our desire to have a pool at home rather than keep going to the country club. It was so easy to use, we were in it all the time with the kids. I even made a little sand filter out of a bucket and a small sump pump to keep it clean. It worked fairly well. For the summer of 2018 we decided to drop the country club and try a seasonal pool. We continued to love it. I installed a 18' Coleman pool and upgraded to an Intex sand filter and SWG. In the spring of 2019 I added a Hayward gas pool heater. With the help of Pool School and the calculators maintaining this setup was a breeze.
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