I am currently in the process of replacing our 52" x 24' AG pool and wanted to share our story here on TFP. A little background on the project.... We are in the suburbs of Chicago so our pool seasons are not always the best. We moved into our current home with the existing pool already installed. I do not know when it was installed, but by doing some investigation via google earth I can tell it wasn't there in 1998 and was there in 2002. So I am somewhere between 18-14 years old right now, and for the sake of the story I have just decided to call it 16 years old. We have enjoyed the pool for the past 3 summers (since we moved in April of 2013), but we have found the summers have kinda been crappy. Last year our water was only 78 degrees on 4th of July weekend (all we had was a solar cover for warming), which is a bummer.
The current pool was starting to show it's age, the liner had clearly faded from it's original glory. The plastic top rail is starting to "cup" a little bit in a few spots, and the outside of the pool walls are showing some surface rust. The current 1.5 HP pump is whining pretty heavy and the cartage filter housing is fading bad too.
The existing equipment:
We decided that a liner replacement was due and we should probably get ourselves a new filter system too. So this past winter I spent time working on this. I found liners to be $300-$500 depending on what MIL, supplier, and patterns. I also wanted someone to install it for me, so I was looking at $500 +/- to have that done. Now filters and pumps were running $500 -$700 depending on size, type, etc. So I began to do the math. To rehab my 16 year old pool was going to run around $1500.
I was finding my small rehab to cost more than I thought. So I decided to get costs for a whole new pool, just to compare. I would assume if you read the title of my thread, then you know what route we are now going. Needless to say we are in the process of getting a completely new pool.
Started shopping around and feel like I got a great deal from a local bog box pool store (The Great Escape). In late February we bought a whole new pool package which included the following items:
54" Aqualeader Influence AGP (All resin, 7" top rail, 6" uprights - see more detail here)
Stainless Steel Panel
25MIL Unibead Liner
Hayward Wide Mouth Skimmer
Hayward 250 lbs SwimPro Filter with sand
Hayward 2HP - 2-Speed pump
Solar Cover
Kontiki Automatic Cleaner
Zodiac Vision Pro Above Ground System with cartridge
Pool Ladder
Accessory Kit (Skimmer, Vacuum, brush, test strips)
Telescoping Pole
27' Vacuum Hose
4' Filter Hose
Start Up Kit with Chemicals
"Free" Installation (more on that "Free" install later)
Paid $3390 + tax, which seemed like a great value to me. I priced similar all resin pools online and came close to $3000 for all the stuff I was getting, and that didn't include install. I know there is some of the stuff I didn't need since I had it already (solar cover, ladder, chemicals, vacuums, etc.) but I now have a lot a "spare parts" to store in the basement until needed. The same ladder, same skimmer, extra cover will get used some day. I don't need the vision system or cartridge, but I am hoping to sell if off somehow to recoup some money. Anyone know of a place to sell it besides ebay or craigslist? Does TFP have a classified section?
Also, since we are all in for this pool we are also adding a heater. This is something we would have probably done regardless of a new pool or not. I have a Raypak 206 200K BTU Cupronickel digital pool heater here also. I purchased this based off a family friends recommendation (who owns a pool store and does custom IG pool installs, as well as AG pools). I tried to get him to do my install if I went through him, but we unfortunately live too many hours apart for it to work out. I have researched gas line installers and have had estimates from $900-$1500 for my +/-80' run from 3 different people.
Pool install is set for May 5. Gas line and heater hook up on May 9. Time to get moving! I will cover my prep work in my next posting and hopefully get you caught up to current day.
The current pool was starting to show it's age, the liner had clearly faded from it's original glory. The plastic top rail is starting to "cup" a little bit in a few spots, and the outside of the pool walls are showing some surface rust. The current 1.5 HP pump is whining pretty heavy and the cartage filter housing is fading bad too.
The existing equipment:
We decided that a liner replacement was due and we should probably get ourselves a new filter system too. So this past winter I spent time working on this. I found liners to be $300-$500 depending on what MIL, supplier, and patterns. I also wanted someone to install it for me, so I was looking at $500 +/- to have that done. Now filters and pumps were running $500 -$700 depending on size, type, etc. So I began to do the math. To rehab my 16 year old pool was going to run around $1500.
I was finding my small rehab to cost more than I thought. So I decided to get costs for a whole new pool, just to compare. I would assume if you read the title of my thread, then you know what route we are now going. Needless to say we are in the process of getting a completely new pool.
Started shopping around and feel like I got a great deal from a local bog box pool store (The Great Escape). In late February we bought a whole new pool package which included the following items:
54" Aqualeader Influence AGP (All resin, 7" top rail, 6" uprights - see more detail here)
Stainless Steel Panel
25MIL Unibead Liner
Hayward Wide Mouth Skimmer
Hayward 250 lbs SwimPro Filter with sand
Hayward 2HP - 2-Speed pump
Solar Cover
Kontiki Automatic Cleaner
Zodiac Vision Pro Above Ground System with cartridge
Pool Ladder
Accessory Kit (Skimmer, Vacuum, brush, test strips)
Telescoping Pole
27' Vacuum Hose
4' Filter Hose
Start Up Kit with Chemicals
"Free" Installation (more on that "Free" install later)
Paid $3390 + tax, which seemed like a great value to me. I priced similar all resin pools online and came close to $3000 for all the stuff I was getting, and that didn't include install. I know there is some of the stuff I didn't need since I had it already (solar cover, ladder, chemicals, vacuums, etc.) but I now have a lot a "spare parts" to store in the basement until needed. The same ladder, same skimmer, extra cover will get used some day. I don't need the vision system or cartridge, but I am hoping to sell if off somehow to recoup some money. Anyone know of a place to sell it besides ebay or craigslist? Does TFP have a classified section?
Also, since we are all in for this pool we are also adding a heater. This is something we would have probably done regardless of a new pool or not. I have a Raypak 206 200K BTU Cupronickel digital pool heater here also. I purchased this based off a family friends recommendation (who owns a pool store and does custom IG pool installs, as well as AG pools). I tried to get him to do my install if I went through him, but we unfortunately live too many hours apart for it to work out. I have researched gas line installers and have had estimates from $900-$1500 for my +/-80' run from 3 different people.
Pool install is set for May 5. Gas line and heater hook up on May 9. Time to get moving! I will cover my prep work in my next posting and hopefully get you caught up to current day.