A Million Questions???? Trying to do AG semi-inground

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L

lmfoss

0
Jul 24, 2010
9
Sandwich, IL
Pool Size
15
Hi,

We are not new to pools just new to trying this semi-inground thing. I have tried to research until my brain hurts :hammer: Previously we had a 12 x 24 Doughboy and a 24' round no-name pool that came with the house, different houses than where we live now. The Doughboy had a hopper deep end and we never had any problems with it and even moved it to our next house but we have been told Doughboy has had lawsuits over the expandable liner/deep end. Anyway, we have been looking for a pool for this backyard that is mostly covered by septic fields.

We have room we think for either a 16 x 32 AGP or a 15 x 30 semi-inground (due to septic and code we can't do actual IG). We looked at the Doughboys again but the independent installer they use is totally unresponsive and besdies we got sold on the semi-inground which the 16 x 32 would be too big for. We are looking at the Bermuda pool (aluminum) by I think Sharkline or Blue Wave? and the Ultimate pool by Fox Pools. Both can be semi-inground with a dishout to 6' in the middle . We are totally newbies to these pools so would love some input. Also what type/brand of pump/filter system would be best for this pool? We are only sinking it 2 ft so we hope we won't have to upgrade to inground pump/filter system, another $500.. We have been looking at a sand filter w/Zeosand but what brand? We figure size should be 22"-24". How do Waterway,Hayward, Sta-Rite, Pentair systems compare in quality? The pool place is pushing Waterway but we want to do this right. After reading some, we figure 2 spd pump is the way to go but what hp and brand?

Then what does anyone know about Pool Crete? We have been told we should have that for a bottom but it will add $1400 to the install. Is it worth that? And main drain we never had that before either, seems like that would void the liner warranty plus again costs more for installation. Do we really need that in only 6' deep water? We didn't have it in our 7' deep Doughboy but sometimes I thought it might be a good idea. Since it looks like we may not get this completed until fall, any advice on natural gas heaters might be good too. We have one from a friend getting rid of a pool but have no idea whether it runs or not, not electronic ignition type. We really need help asap so we can make some decisions. :) Thanks!!!
 
Filters and pumps are both well understood mature technologies. All of the brands are fairly similar, with quality varying far more between model lines within a single brand than it does between brands.

As a general rule you want the smallest possible pump and the largest possible filter. Pool stores almost always sell systems setup exactly wrong, with a large pumps and small filter. Look for a 3/4 HP or 1 HP two speed pump and the largest filter you have room for and can afford.

Zeosand tends to get very mixed reviews, with about half the people loving it, and about 1/4 really hating it. When it works, it is great, and when it has problems it is terrible. Because of that we don't recommend using Zeosand.

Keep in mind that gas heat is very expensive to run. If you do get a gas heater, get a large one so the pool will heat more quickly and you can only heat it when you are actually going to swim.

A main drain is nice, but hardly required, the same with pool crete. I recommend pool crete and no drain, but you can go either way on both.
 
Great! That helps a lot. I think I had read about the 2 spd being good here at TFP. What about the pool itself? Does anyone have any experience with either the Bermuda or Ultimate pool? We like the idea of the aluminum because we are sinking it 2 ft but the steel Ultimate is supposedly made like inground walls. Bad thing we have found with the Ultimate is that it needs a concrete collar around it which would make removing it if we ever had to, a pain. Also they are telling us that a regular expandable liner is not something we will like because it will have wrinkles so they want us to get a custom made liner. Any thoughts on that or these two pools please let me know. We are open to any AG pool that can tolerate being partially inground and a deep end to at least 6' we would actually prefer 7' and comes in either 13 x 30/32 or 15 x 30/32 Any advice is greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!!!
 
We are thinking about a semi-inground install too. From what I can tell the Bermuda is exactly the same as the Sharkline Oasis, which is about the same as the Pool Factory king george. The Pool Factory sold their newest design, the EZ-panel pool to Wilbar so I am guessing they also sold the design of the king george. All the online dealers that sell the Bermuda that have links to a PDF manual from Wilbar. But, when you go to Wilbar's website none of their lines have a pool listed as the Bermuda. I have seen the pool listed as a wilbar, sharkline, blue haven and sun sports but cannot find it on any of their websites. There is also a pool listed as the Trinidad 54 that is also the exact same construction. Very confusing isn't it?

I have a local dealer showing me the Ultimate pool but I didn't like it any more than the pool we are leaning towards, the radiant metric. The EZ panel pool comes in the sizes you are looking for too and you can do a deep end but they are pretty pricey.
 
Hey UPSguy! We used to live in Temperance, MI just across the border from you. We saw the EZ panel pools too but you are right if you don't get a small rectangular one they are more pricey. Of course the Ultimate and Bermuda aren't cheap either compared to regular AG pools. The place we are dealing with is pushing the Ultimate but it is going to come down to which one can go in the ground without a large digout around it as we only have a foot to spare between septic field and patio and I don't want either one damaged. We found it was way too pricey to move the field. The Bermuda that we saw online was listed as a Blue Wave pool but I cannot track them down online. I would like to see the MFG site, that's for sure. And you're right it is all very confusing and what we wanted seemed so simple when we first started. If it wasn't for the doggone septic we could have just gone with the Doughboy which was our first choice and been done with it a year ago. Thanks for all your help it is much appreciated!! Any advice on heaters? :)
 
carls241 said:
What pool did you go with. I live in Temperance, MI Now........just off Sterns and Lewis.
I am looking at the Bermuda 18x33 and ready to pull the trigger./...Any advise?
Click to expand...

Welcome Carl. You will probably get more responses if you start your own thread. The OP has not been online in 4 years and probably did not go through with the plans.
 
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