Backyard Masters

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alpha

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Jan 11, 2010
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I''m getting ready to buy an above ground pool, yeah I know it's an odd time of year for that but I found a local dealer, Backyard Masters, with some crazy discounts and spring delivery. So my questions are as follows;

1. Does anyone have any info on Backyard Masters? I know they have several locations acroos Long Island where I am located, and they have allot of stuff on display in their showroom including pools. I'm curious if anyone else has bought from them.

2. How hard is it to put together an above ground pool (16' round)? Do I need to have them install it for me or is it something I can do myself?

Thanks for any help you guys can give me.
 
welcome to TFP neighbor :wave: Is that the store name or the pool manufacturer? How good is the deal? Putting up a AGP is quite simple but requires patience and proper site prep. If you google it there are ton's of how-to's.

Also, my advice, get the biggest pool you can afford or fit comfortably in the yard :goodjob: I remeber my LI days and depending where you are at 16' is about right but a 21'-24' would be even better.

Hope it all works out for ya
 
Backyard Masters is the retailers name. The pool I'm looking at is a Doughboy and the price is significantly less than what similar stores are offering so I'm comfortable with that. The 16' is about as big as I can really fit, the wife has her own plans for the rest of yard. I'm gonna do some research as you suggest, on doing the install myself although the thought makes me a bit nervous lol. Have you installed one yourself? If so, about how long did it take and did you need to get someone in for grading etc.? Thanks again, and I'll get back to my research.
 
I put one of these together myself and I didn't have any experience in building anything. So yes it's doable. Is it a tough job? Yes it is. You really have to make sure the site is prepared well and your definitely gonna need at least one helper. There are some parts you just cant do with 2 hands. I did find some useful guides online and allot of the whole process was self explanatory. Anyway the job came out fine and the pool is still standing 3 years later. Would I do it again? Only if I had lots of time on my hands. It was definitely a project. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.
 
I hadn't even thought to look for the actual manuals. Good Idea. I'm gonna take a look at the site you mentioned now. Thans for all your help guys. I'll let you know how it turns out. If anyone else has any ideas or things i should consider, feel free to let me know.
 
Welcome Alpha! :-D

I think if you could negotiate a bit more room for your pool -- say another 5 or 6' -- that you'll be happier with your pool in the long run. 16' is a bit small and will feel even smaller once you're swimming.

Welcome Dan0! :-D

Always good to have the straight scoop from someone who has done it before. Welcome to the forum.
 
I would love to have the extra room but negotiating with my wife is about as productive as trying to convince a rattlesnake to become a vegetarian. Still its worth a shot, maybe I could get a deal on an oval. I believe they had an Esther Williams as well. Are the ovals any harder/easier to put together?
 
Get a sack of flour or some powdered chalk (think chalk line re-fill) and mark and 18' circle in the yard where you plan to put the pool. That will give you an idea of how small 16' round pool will be and may help in the negotiations for more space. Try and make a scale drawing of the current layout of your yard. Note where all the plants & trees are, yard entry points, sources of water and electricity. Make a couple of copies of that layout and use one to add in all the improvements you want to make to help you visualize how it will look when finished. My 21' pool was professionally installed and no one had told me to plan the layout first, so I had to make several "on the spot" decisions that I probably would have made differently if I had planned it out ahead of time. I would have oriented the equipment pad differently, put the ladder in a different spot and not built so close to the fence! If you even think you may consider adding a deck in the future be sure you will have plenty of room for construction! Good luck!
 
Ground prep is still the same for oval as appose to round. The only difference is the uprights on the sides.
They have to be level and straight. They also may need more room on the outside if they have gussets.
If your going to spend time building the pool, you should make sure you get what you want. No going back when it's installed.
 

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We had the 16' Intex pool for years and while it was wet, it really was too small for even just hubby and I to float around in and enjoy a beverage. DH got my 28 foot Doughboy used and I thought it would be too big, most everyone here assured me it would NOT be the case and they were right! Pools are one of those times were bigger is almost always better. My 28ft pool took up a lot of yard, but there is less to mow now. Lay out a few pool floats and see how close you really are in the 16' pool. A 24' would beeven better, still bigger but not too big to manage. Once you get your pool up it won't be often that it will be just you plus one in the pool either. We now have company all summer long due to the pool and thats ok too.

One more thing you and a friend or 2 can build the pool. We knew nothing about it before we tackled our project. We did ours ourself. There is so much help on this site, they will walk you thru it. Its a great thing to have your own bit of paradise in your own back yard. Good Luck in your build, Kim
 
First off I want to thank you guys for all the info. I went out and bought some chalk and mapped out the area as suggested and you were so right. In doing so I was also able to convince the boss (wife) to give me a little extra room.

I ended up going with the 12' x 24' oval. It will almost fit into the original area we planned, so the boss only had to give up a couple extra feet. I just put a deposit on the pool over the weekend and I have yet to decide whether to tackle the project myself or have Backyard Masters do the install.

I have not looked at the actual manuals for the pool yet, I guess that's the next step. So here are my other questions:

1. Does it make a difference if I install it over the winter so it's ready to go? Or is there any benefit to waiting till spring?

2. How long is this gonna take me to do by myself? Honestly.

3. Am I going to need to hire a contractor for any part of this, ie. electrical etc.? And if so what kind of cost will that incur?

Thanks again for all your help. I would have ended up stuck with a much smaller pool than I really want, if not for your great advice.
 
Some things to consider to help you decide whether to do it yourself or not
1. How level is your yard? You are going to have to be able to get the ground perfectly level and stable before you put up the pool. You will also need a compacted sand bed for the floor of the pool, and some sort of chemical or fabric weed blocker under that to protect your liner.
2. What kind of stuff is in the yard now? Big trees have big roots systems and any roots in the way when leveling the site will have to be removed. Also clay soil and rocky soil are harder to dig than sandy soil.
3 What will you use to level the ground? If you have relatively flat land and no trees or rocks to deal with you may be able to use a sod cutter to prep the site. Otherwise you may need a backhoe. Have you ever driven a backhoe?
4. If you need a backhoe, will you need to remove any fencing or sheds to access the yard?
5. Do you have some friends available to help out? At least 4 sets of hands is helpful, 2 sets of hands are absolutely necessary! This is not a 1 man operation!
6. How much time do you have available? Take whatever estimate of time needed to get the pool up and running and then double it. This is new territory for you and you will likely be slower than the instructions predict.
7. How is the weather in your area and how long will it stay favorable for outside projects? If you live where it freezes quite a bit the ground may be harder and the materials for they pool will be less pliable in cold weather. Also if the weather changes frequently you don't want to leave anything out in the rain/snow that shouldn't be there.
8. How much is your time worth to you? Find out the estimate for professional installation, find out what all that includes, and see how it compares to the cost of materials and rental equipment you would need anyway.

Do some careful research and put it all on paper so you can compare apples to apples for the cost of professional installation vs do-it-yourself.
 
If the ground is not very level and you have trees to deal with, I would just hire that out. It's not cheap to rent a Bobcat or Backhoe if you have never used them before. If the ground is somewhat level with no trees and you know how to use a Bobcat, then I say rent the Bobcat and go at it. You will need a helper to spot you on grade.
Not sure about building the pool in the winter. Your location in Long Island suggest that the winters are cold. Digging in frozen soil is a tough thing to do. I would wait until the ground thaws unless you are having a mild winter. Past couple of weeks were very cold in North Carolina. Everything from that point on is not that hard. You only need a helper when putting up the wall. The size pool you mentiond 12'x24' is not that bad. I would say that you can do it in one weekend with a good helper.
:whip:
Electrical will require a GFCI outlet and switch to be wired next to the pump. Then outdoor wire will have to be buried back to the house and tied into the breaker panel. Do you have enought breaker space on your panel for another circuit?
Check to see if the pool pump is 220v or 110v. 220V will need a double pole breaker taking up two places on the panel, 110v will need single pole breaker taking one place on the panel. You will also have to know the amount of amperage that is needed for your pump.If the box that contains the GFCI outlet at the pump is metal, then you will need to bond the box to the ground wire. (GFCI = Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt) If you know local code and are comfortable with doing it yourself, then go for it. Otherwise, get and electrician so you don't have to worry about it.

I put a subpanel on the outside wall and connected everything to that. I also checked the main panel for the amount of amperage it has just to make sure we didn't overload the panel.
:goodjob:

Other than ground prep and electrical, everything else is not that bad.
 
Hubby and I found a contractor that cut us a discount for helping. We really thought we could do it ourselves, but we needed some help with ground leveling as the pool was put in on a small incline.

We put in a used pool and had taken it apart ourselves so we knew kind of how it would go back together.. even so, we had some aha moments when he was going through the process of putting it back together.

I think we were really fortunate that we found someone willing to work with us. We originally asked him to come and level the ground for us and that we would do the rest. That was the biggest part of the job so he was charging more for that than the labor putting the pool up.... he told us he would just stay and help us until we got to filling the liner.

Hubby and I definately pulled our weight, we are typically do it your-selfers, and I think we were glad at the end of the day we had help. Not because it was entirely too hard, but because he'd been doing it long enough that some of his ideas made things much easier than we would have.
 
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