The grandkids are growing like weeds so the next pool will be deeper. 54" is the deepest I've seen, is it worth it over a 48 inch? Appreciate any thoughts/experiences on the subject. Thx!
AGP Depth - 54" vs 48"
- Thread starter Poolzzz
- Start date
My wife likes to float on top, but I like to be on the bottom of a pool.
I even challenge my grand daughter (now 21 years old) to competitions on who can stay on the bottom the longest. She has not figured out how I can hold my breath for so long, and not be breathing heavy when I do come up.
My pool is 52" only because that is as deep as Intex makes. I am still trying to figure out how to cut the bottom of it so I can sink a 15-18' intex into the ground below it to give me a total of 8+ feet without losing any water. ( I have been trying to work this out for a couple of years now.)
My vote is for the 54".
I even challenge my grand daughter (now 21 years old) to competitions on who can stay on the bottom the longest. She has not figured out how I can hold my breath for so long, and not be breathing heavy when I do come up.
My pool is 52" only because that is as deep as Intex makes. I am still trying to figure out how to cut the bottom of it so I can sink a 15-18' intex into the ground below it to give me a total of 8+ feet without losing any water. ( I have been trying to work this out for a couple of years now.)
My vote is for the 54".
My motto is deeper all the time!
Don't only look at Intex pools.....there are some brands that allow for "deep" ends when you dig down for them.
Maddie
Don't only look at Intex pools.....there are some brands that allow for "deep" ends when you dig down for them.
Maddie
CJadamec
TFP Expert
With above ground pools you need to look closely at wall height and actual water depth.
With a 54" wall you will get around 48-50" of water. You can't bring the water all the way to the top of the wall and the wall height is measured to the top of the rail.
I would always say get the deeper pool if its in the budget. However given the choice between a well built 52" pool vs a lower quality 54" for the same money I would go with the better quality 52".
At least that's how I settled on my pool.
With a 54" wall you will get around 48-50" of water. You can't bring the water all the way to the top of the wall and the wall height is measured to the top of the rail.
I would always say get the deeper pool if its in the budget. However given the choice between a well built 52" pool vs a lower quality 54" for the same money I would go with the better quality 52".
At least that's how I settled on my pool.
I've had a 24'×48" pool and a 24'×54" pool and I love the 54" so much better. It hits me right around the chest area verses the 48" which is right below my chest/ mid to high waist. I can scoot around on my knees in a 48" but not in a 54". I'm 5'5". The kids will grow. I'd go with the 54".
Thanks all. Makes sense, even 4 foot water depth doesn't seem all that much, especially with growing kids. Nice if knees don't touch the floor, being 5' 10" every inch might count.
The kids sure like jumping. They fall off everything! Lol. 48" water still seems a bit shallow so have been toying with dishing out the center. Not thinking of doing anything major, just whatever the stock liner can handle. It may not be enough to bother with. Anyone done that? Worth the hassle? Thoughts?
The kids sure like jumping. They fall off everything! Lol. 48" water still seems a bit shallow so have been toying with dishing out the center. Not thinking of doing anything major, just whatever the stock liner can handle. It may not be enough to bother with. Anyone done that? Worth the hassle? Thoughts?
I dished out mine 8-9 inches in the center, 6' tall water hits just below my armpits.
Kids jump, if I had a dollar for every time I yelled don't jump off the ladder, I would have paid for a fancy cement pond by now. The wife asked me if we could have a deck, I told her we have enough trouble training the varmits to not jump off of the ladder, 4' of water is not enough cushion.
When I was younger I had a friend who suffered a neck injury jumping into 3' of water in a 60' deep lake, he ended up quadriplegic, @ 17 years old.
Kids jump, if I had a dollar for every time I yelled don't jump off the ladder, I would have paid for a fancy cement pond by now. The wife asked me if we could have a deck, I told her we have enough trouble training the varmits to not jump off of the ladder, 4' of water is not enough cushion.
When I was younger I had a friend who suffered a neck injury jumping into 3' of water in a 60' deep lake, he ended up quadriplegic, @ 17 years old.
Having done it, do you think you could have gone deeper than 8-9 inches?
Water depth of 48 inches going to 60 in the center sounds good if the stock liner can handle it.
Water depth of 48 inches going to 60 in the center sounds good if the stock liner can handle it.
They don't recommend dishing a stock Intex liner more then 9", if I remember rightly.
If you are going to dish out a deep end, you need a traditional hard wall AGP with a special expandable liner. Soft wall Intex style pools are not designed to be dished out.
CJadamec
TFP Expert
Also if you want to dish out the center an oval pool more than likely won't work. Most oval pools have ties that run under the pool to join the two long walls.
Thanks I appreciate the input but what do you mean exactly? LF above just said he successfully dished his intex out 9 inches. I've been searching and haven't found anyone having a problem doing this. I also haven't found anyone failing an attempt at 12 inches (unfortunately haven't found anyone trying either! ). It seems people don't really know the limits but I'm still looking.
Expandable liners are interesting. Some say they are special in that they are expandable material but others say they are identical material to standard liners. Some say they have extra material on the bottom but others say the extra material is only on the sides. Clear as mud. Maybe it varies. I suspect factory deep end pools may have extra bottom material but probably generic aftermarket ones simply have more side material. I'd like to see a few close up. Going more than a foot deep probably requires more material from somewhere. I see where many people have successfully put in expandable liners in intex pools so appears quite doable if one wanted to go that route. I don't know I need it that deep.
Yes that's a problem with the newer buttress free designs. I've been looking at that too and there are instructions for cutting the straps, attaching them to a cement block and burying it as described here: PSC Ep. 50: Can I use an expandable liner with my oval pool? - INYOPools.com
Edit: Actually I misread your post slightly. I see you are talking about dishing out the center area. That would be a lot of straps to cut and I don't know if anyone has done that. Most do it on one end so have minimal straps to cut. I'd be afraid to cut ALL the straps although that's not based on any analysis or experience...maybe the solution linked above would allow it I don't know.
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CJadamec
TFP Expert
I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say cutting any of the joining straps or modifications to the pressure plate in a butress free oval pool is a bad idea.
Maybe I've been working with cranes to long but doing something like that just screams liability issues.
Maybe, although Wilbar International provides instructions how to do it for their pools and apparently honors the warranty when done.
I guess if one is suitably paranoid they should stay with manufacturers who officially support deep ends such as Wilbar or Doughboy.
I guess if one is suitably paranoid they should stay with manufacturers who officially support deep ends such as Wilbar or Doughboy.
This thread has taken a different turn but just another aspect: I chose 48" because max water height is 42" which is a classification dividing line for NEC (and many local building) codes. I wanted to remain classified as a storable (temporary) pool to have less strict code requirements. There are other requirements for storable pool, not just depth, but its the main one.
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