Greetings, 
I have been reading the forum for a little while now and soon will be ready to start with some questions so, I thought I would introduce myself.
Bought an 8' Intex ring pool from Walmart in the summer of 2011 for our grand kids, then 5 and 3. They had great fun and so did I! Next year got a 12' x 36" Intex metal frame pool. Also visited garage sales and Craigslist ads and got a ton of misc pool items cheap. Poles, nets, hoses galore!, vacuum head, chemicals, brushes, test kits and about 5 other Intex pumps. (All for under $100.) Sorted through and threw out some, but ended up adding a second bigger Intex pump to the pool and did some experimenting with black garden hose for some solar heating. Bought an HTH 6 way test kit at Walmart and used that to guide me. Never had any problems with pool water. Always clear and never saw any algae.
This year I added an Intex SWG and lengthened my solar heating garden hose to 450'. Grand kids had the best time ever in the pool. Started thinking about upgrading for next year. Decided to go to about 18'. Considered an Intex Ultra Frame pool and was just waiting for end of year sale prices. In the meantime I saw a Craigslist ad for an 18' x 48" used pool with a DE filter and gas heater. Went to look at it and decided that the pump and filter alone (2 years old) was close to what he was asking for everything. Bought it and took 3 days disassembling it and carting it home. The heater turned out to be rusted out completely on the bottom and not useable, but not a big deal. Liner is about 6 years old and no visible tears or rips. Pool was about 1/3 full when I saw it. (Not put into service this year.) Steel pool wall is good with no rust. Plastic coping at top was all very brittle and mostly broke apart. About half of the bottom railing and bottom plates are pretty rusty and probably should be replaced. Everything else appears okay at this point.
Seller bought the house 13 years ago and pool was there then. Pool manual says 'Haugh's", but not sure if that's a manufacture or dealer. Have found a couple new bottom rails locally and found a supply of slightly shorter, but same arc rails that may work if that's all I can find. Will have to cut, smooth and join them to get the same length so they join over each bottom plate properly. No luck so far on finding replacement bottom plates but still looking.
Once I am confident that I am in good shape with all the parts, I will file for a permit with the city and start to set it up. I'll also start with the questions here as well!! Lol. :lol:
More than I'm sure anybody wanted to know, but that's my story and why I'm here.
I have learned a lot so far and look forward to learning more.
Paul
I have been reading the forum for a little while now and soon will be ready to start with some questions so, I thought I would introduce myself.
Bought an 8' Intex ring pool from Walmart in the summer of 2011 for our grand kids, then 5 and 3. They had great fun and so did I! Next year got a 12' x 36" Intex metal frame pool. Also visited garage sales and Craigslist ads and got a ton of misc pool items cheap. Poles, nets, hoses galore!, vacuum head, chemicals, brushes, test kits and about 5 other Intex pumps. (All for under $100.) Sorted through and threw out some, but ended up adding a second bigger Intex pump to the pool and did some experimenting with black garden hose for some solar heating. Bought an HTH 6 way test kit at Walmart and used that to guide me. Never had any problems with pool water. Always clear and never saw any algae.
This year I added an Intex SWG and lengthened my solar heating garden hose to 450'. Grand kids had the best time ever in the pool. Started thinking about upgrading for next year. Decided to go to about 18'. Considered an Intex Ultra Frame pool and was just waiting for end of year sale prices. In the meantime I saw a Craigslist ad for an 18' x 48" used pool with a DE filter and gas heater. Went to look at it and decided that the pump and filter alone (2 years old) was close to what he was asking for everything. Bought it and took 3 days disassembling it and carting it home. The heater turned out to be rusted out completely on the bottom and not useable, but not a big deal. Liner is about 6 years old and no visible tears or rips. Pool was about 1/3 full when I saw it. (Not put into service this year.) Steel pool wall is good with no rust. Plastic coping at top was all very brittle and mostly broke apart. About half of the bottom railing and bottom plates are pretty rusty and probably should be replaced. Everything else appears okay at this point.
Seller bought the house 13 years ago and pool was there then. Pool manual says 'Haugh's", but not sure if that's a manufacture or dealer. Have found a couple new bottom rails locally and found a supply of slightly shorter, but same arc rails that may work if that's all I can find. Will have to cut, smooth and join them to get the same length so they join over each bottom plate properly. No luck so far on finding replacement bottom plates but still looking.
Once I am confident that I am in good shape with all the parts, I will file for a permit with the city and start to set it up. I'll also start with the questions here as well!! Lol. :lol:
More than I'm sure anybody wanted to know, but that's my story and why I'm here.
I have learned a lot so far and look forward to learning more.Paul
