Intex as a brand

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douglasj76

douglasj76

0
Aug 27, 2017
52
Westlake, Ohio
I see so many pool owners in here that choose this brand for their above ground pools. What is the reason? To me they seem like a cheap brand. Are they really that great of a value compared to other brands? Especially when you get into large sizes... Wouldn't you want something with more substantial construction? What am I missing.
 
I think the price tag is the largest driver.
Although it appears that their metal quality has gone down in recent years based on the rapid rusting that is now prevalent.
 
I bought my 18' x 48" Intex Ultra Frame as an impulse buy for less than $400. I figured if I got 2 years out of it, and the family enjoyed it, we did good.

Four years later it is still going strong. We swim every chance we get. Sure, I've put money into it with a better pump and filter, and solar, but the pool shell remains in good shape.

If it were not for the price, I would have never bought it, or any big pool for that matter.

I'll tell you this..... the inside of my Intex is no different than any other AGP, and by the smiles on the kids faces, I'd say they agree.
 
Mine was actually a gift. I doubt I would have ever bought one on my own. But after having it for 5 years now, I actually like the liner better than the thin stuff in a regular ABG pool. I keep reading that the newer Intexes have lower quality steel now so I am not sure what to do next. There is a supposedly superior brand of these types of pools (I call them bags of water on sticks) but they are quite a bit more expensive - into the realm of steel walled pools.

My real fantasy is a concrete/gunite ABG pool. LOL I love that so little dirt and stuff can fall in, and I have an aversion to digging holes.
 
I think the AGP manufacturers have hit a cross-roads. 1980's everyone had a metal AGP. Anything vinyl was a kiddie blow up pool that lasted 1 season. Other the years, the vinyl has increased in quality. 12' round. Then got bigger and bigger as they found ways to make the vinyl strong enough. And the price point is cheap enough. And then on the metal side, the metal is getting thinner and thinner. Thanks China.

And then you have the internet and online shopping: I am putting up a AGP and stopped in 2 pool stores, looking for advice on filters, ladders, etc. BOTH stores basically told me, "yeah, we don't do much with AGP's, our business is with custom in-grounds....". And looking in their showroom, it photo after photo of incredible inground pools and $16K jacuzzi tubs on a special sale for "only" $12K. Yeah, ok.

I think Intex and the ability to basically buy a really nice decent size pool, online, delivered to your door, for the do-it-yourselfer to set up has totally changed the market.

Is there another vinyl brand other then Intex? I don't know of any at all. For many, to buy a pool for $400 to $700, and even upgrade the filter and and be done for a grand total less then $1000 is amazing. I think the smallest of metal AGP's start at like $1600 without pump/filter/ladder....
 
Our Intex pool is at LEAST 5 years old... I have had it for 4 years, and the previous owners had it for at least 1 before that, but I think 2.
The wife and I have been talking lately about the life of our Intex pool, and how to prolong it.
I already have an overlap liner in the pool, not for any leaks that happened (there were none), but more for aesthetics, as the Intex liner had gone white, and had a few rough patches on the bottom. My original Intex liner is still VERY capable even after all this time.
I am concerned with the metal frame rusting out from under it.
I am considering making a new frame from steel (Iron) gas pipe, and using PVC to cover the pipe, especially around the ring that supports the liner to give it a thicker pipe to hang from (picture the difference of clothes hanging on a thin wire hanger vs. a wooden one).
I think the gas pipe would out-last the liner, and may give me yet another 5-6 years with this pool. It would most certainly out last the steel that the current Intex pools come with.
 
Isn't the biggest thing to consider with an Intex pool, or really any pool, is if, and when the wall rips/errupts etc, where will all that water go? Off in the backyard into the woods, no big deal. Over the patio, thru the slider doors and into the entire downstairs level of the house. Big big deal.. Each person situation is different.
 
doogiegh said:
Isn't the biggest thing to consider with an Intex pool, or really any pool, is if, and when the wall rips/errupts etc, where will all that water go? Off in the backyard into the woods, no big deal. Over the patio, thru the slider doors and into the entire downstairs level of the house. Big big deal.. Each person situation is different.
Click to expand...
That's what I would be afraid of. I once saw a 80 ft oak tree fall on a 27 ft above ground pool in a storm. Incredible all the water.
 
On the forum, I think I have see more pictures of regular AG pools failing than the Intex pools ... perhaps because the owners of the AG pools feel they should last longer than the owners of the Intex and they rust out? I don't know.

Based on the pictures of the newer Intex metal frames rusting, perhaps we will start to see them failing in another year or so.
 

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