Buying First Pool - Please give me feed back on my current plan

[cdods]

Hi,

Buying my first pool. It will be above ground 24' round, since that's what fits (space and budget). I will be building a deck around about 1/3 of the pool.

I'm currently looking at buying online (poolsuppliescanada.ca) and installing it myself, but if any local stores can get close in terms of price, I'll go with them instead. I'd be interested in any feedback anyone has on buying through this or other online companies (that ship to Canada).

I would rather trade up front cost to reduce ongoing costs and maintenance.

Given that, my current plan is as follows. I'd love feedback on these choices.

Pool: Aqua Leader Eternia (Aluminum / Resin) 24’ above ground
Pump: Pentair SuperFlo Variable Speed Pump (342001)
Filter: 175 – 200 sq ft Cartridge filter (TBD)
SWG: Hayward AquaTrol Low Salt Water System for Above Ground Pools
Winter Cover: Eliminator Xtreme Pool Winter Cover. Pulls tight, with Mesh to let water drain. (https://www.poolsuppliescanada.ca/24-round-eliminator-xtreme-winter-cover.html)
Heater: None for now, but plan to have some combination of solar and / or heater in the future.

Piping: 2” rigid PVC (schedule 40)

Specific Questions:
- Any suggestions for a filter?
- Any pro's cons of floor pads and foam cove?
- Is there any value in installing wall foam (particularly to reduce heat loss)

Anything else I should be thinking about?

 

[jasaxon]

Hi,

Buying my first pool. It will be above ground 24' round, since that's what fits (space and budget). I will be building a deck around about 1/3 of the pool.

I'm currently looking at buying online (poolsuppliescanada.ca) and installing it myself, but if any local stores can get close in terms of price, I'll go with them instead. I'd be interested in any feedback anyone has on buying through this or other online companies (that ship to Canada).

I would rather trade up front cost to reduce ongoing costs and maintenance.

Given that, my current plan is as follows. I'd love feedback on these choices.

Pool: Aqua Leader Eternia (Aluminum / Resin) 24’ above ground
Pump: Pentair SuperFlo Variable Speed Pump (342001)
Filter: 175 – 200 sq ft Cartridge filter (TBD)
SWG: Hayward AquaTrol Low Salt Water System for Above Ground Pools
Winter Cover: Eliminator Xtreme Pool Winter Cover. Pulls tight, with Mesh to let water drain. (https://www.poolsuppliescanada.ca/24-round-eliminator-xtreme-winter-cover.html)
Heater: None for now, but plan to have some combination of solar and / or heater in the future.

Piping: 2” rigid PVC (schedule 40)

Specific Questions:
- Any suggestions for a filter?
- Any pro's cons of floor pads and foam cove?
- Is there any value in installing wall foam (particularly to reduce heat loss)

Anything else I should be thinking about?

I am not an expert - first year with a used AGP (upgrade from an intex inflatable ring pool) but I will offer a bit of my experience.

First, make sure you do the proper site work to get your base completely level - this will make everything go so much smoother (aim to get the ground level to the virgin soil to within 1/8" on the entire pool base (you have more forgiveness than that, but the closer you get to that the better everything for the build will go)).
We only have a small (15') round (due to size of yard and other stuff in use (trampoline, swing set, etc)) and used DOW foam sheets for the base (instead of sand). We used the foam cove (bought through amazon which was the cheapest place) and the wall foam (bought through poolsuppliescanada). The foam doesn't really insulate (way to thin) but does give a nice feel to the wall. I will caution you about the liners from poolsuppliescanada - they are very thin (10 gauge - so about 6 mil). We bought our liner from Pioneer Pools and it is a 20 mil liner and wasn't much more that what the price of poolsuppliedcanada was. Just take a look at prices and see if there are cheaper options (online or locally). Poolsuppliescanada did have good prices on other things (plumbing fixtures and the winter cover you mention). They were great to deal with on the few problems I had and even offered a discount code for a future order.

 

[CJadamec]

You have a solid plan. Only note I would make is to get a bigger SWG. With your size pool you should get a SWG rated for 20-30k gallons of water. Oversizing the salt cell prolongs its life and shortens your required pump run time.

Wall foam will do very little if anything to retain heat in the pool. Wall foam just makes the wall feel a little bit softer and look a little smoother.

As filters go one brand is pretty much as good as the next. I would look for the one that is easiest to take apart and service if you are going cartridge. The less tools or fittings you need to take apart the easier it will be to maintain.

As for floor foam and foam coving some people love it and swear by it. I have sand and it was put in by an installer that's what they wanted to use and it works just fine. They both will require a lot of work to install correctly.

If you are aluminum framed don't let any pressure treated lumber touch the pool. The chemicals in the lumber will corrode the pool very very quickly.

You didn't mention which test kit you will be getting.