Cheapo above ground pool?

[Deleted]

My snobby high school self would be soooo embarrassed that my grown up self is asking this question, as above ground pools are seen as white trashy around here.  But my grown up self doesn't care because we have a huge back yard, I LOVE playing in water in hot Atl summers, and we don't have the $40k+ yet to put in a pool (but hopefully one day!!).  Sooooo, does anyone have something like this?

www.target.com/p/intex-12-x-30-metal-frame-swimming-pool/-/A-13043975#prodSlot=medium_1_2

Is it fun or a pain in the ass?  How do you keep in clean?  Do you use chlorine?

[lucky513]

I've never had one but I remember neighbor kids having one it was pretty fun not sure of the upkeep, I have a neighbor currently that has one in the back yard its kind of an eyesore

[Deleted]

May 22, 2013 16:33:00 GMT -5 lucky513 said:

I've never had one but I remember neighbor kids having one it was pretty fun not sure of the upkeep, I have a neighbor currently that has one in the back yard its kind of an eyesore

Yeah, they really are ugly and I understand why they are generally disliked.  We are about to put up a privacy fence, so the white trash ugliness of our yard shouldn't bother anyone else. 

[Chib]

I had one similar when I was younger I believe it came with a filter and my dad used chlorine as well. It was a fairly easy upkeep.

[lucky513]

what about a splash pad, I heard they are pretty cheap compared to a pool

[VeryViolet]

My mom got one like the target pool when my dad wouldn't let her get a pool membership. She would never call it payback but it definitely was. Lol. We had fun in it but I was older (in college). I think if I had been a little kid I would have been thrilled.

[Deleted]

This is totally the back yard I picture when I think of an above ground pool. lol. I bet these folks really dig Walmart birthday parties. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtHbA8VI0xY

[Deleted]

May 22, 2013 16:38:31 GMT -5 VeryViolet said:

My mom got one like the target pool when my dad wouldn't let her get a pool membership. She would never call it payback but it definitely was. Lol. We had fun in it but I was older (in college). I think if I had been a little kid I would have been thrilled.

Yeah, we're wanting to get it for our kid.  His grandfather sent him a Target gift card for his birthday and we're trying to figure out what to do with it.  DH suggested that we put it toward a small pool.  I know he'd love it - which is the real reason I don't care if it's ugly.

[pantsparty]

We had one of those growing up. I guess it's kind of WT, but kids don't care. Your son will be thrilled to have a pool.

[VeryViolet]

May 22, 2013 16:46:34 GMT -5 @godawgs said:

May 22, 2013 16:38:31 GMT -5 VeryViolet said:

My mom got one like the target pool when my dad wouldn't let her get a pool membership. She would never call it payback but it definitely was. Lol. We had fun in it but I was older (in college). I think if I had been a little kid I would have been thrilled.

Yeah, we're wanting to get it for our kid.  His grandfather sent him a Target gift card for his birthday and we're trying to figure out what to do with it.  DH suggested that we put it toward a small pool.  I know he'd love it - which is the real reason I don't care if it's ugly.

Just get rid of it before he gets to college or it may become the white trash pool where he sits on a float and gets high and drunk with his high school friends.

[Deleted]

May 22, 2013 16:49:17 GMT -5 cjoy said:

Don't worry, your snobby high school self obviously died from horror yesterday over the idea of a preschooler being witness to your bush removal.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using proboards

My high school self didn't even know about bush removal.

[pantsparty]

May 22, 2013 16:51:38 GMT -5 killercupcake said:

May 22, 2013 16:38:31 GMT -5 VeryViolet said:

My mom got one like the target pool when my dad wouldn't let her get a pool membership. She would never call it payback but it definitely was. Lol. We had fun in it but I was older (in college). I think if I had been a little kid I would have been thrilled.

lol We laugh about this story now because my great uncle got help, but...

My great uncle had a gambling problem for years. One day, he dropped like 15k at poker and my great aunt was all "Screw it. If he can spend that much, I can too." So she had an above ground pool and deck put in. It was really nice, too. Aunt took my cousins and I to buy pool toys and swimsuits (We had one of each of those inflatable animals). It was the best summer ever. 

I preferred the alligator, as it was easier to climb on. The killer whale was just a no-go. 

[pantsparty]

May 22, 2013 16:57:58 GMT -5 killercupcake said:

May 22, 2013 16:57:11 GMT -5 pantsparty said:

I preferred the alligator, as it was easier to climb on. The killer whale was just a no-go. 

See, I was all about the killer whale! 

Should we get some and bring them to the pool at the Vegas GTG? I say yes.

YES!!!!

I don't even know how one STAYS on the killer whale. Especially in the middle of a vicious noodle fight.

[Deleted]

When it's not summer, do you just disassemble it and put it away?

It looks like it could be fun.

[Deleted]

May 22, 2013 17:00:33 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

When it's not summer, do you just disassemble it and put it away?

It looks like it could be fun.

When I saw you posted in here, I actually cringed scrolling down anticipating what you might say about this.  lol.  I have no idea if they come down for part of the year.

[Deleted]

My parents have an above ground pool and have for years. That is mostly all you see around here. They shock it once a year, like someone else said, have a little vacuum that looks like a giant bug that hooks up to the filter, and keeps the chlorine bobber in it. They take the bobber out, though, when my niece/nephews are in the pool.


ETA: The one my parents have does not get torn down. Just cleaned, chemical treated (I forget with what, though) and then covered for the winter.

[Deleted]

The one you linked is like the one my aunt/uncle has, and it does get torn down at the end of the season.

[pantsparty]

My parents took ours down in the winter (we lived in Michigan). So I bet you could take this down, too.

[lucky513]

my neighbor had it up all winter

[Deleted]

We have a 12ft above ground pool that we got from Walmart last year. I don't care if it's white trash, I used that thing every day last summer! We treated it with chemicals and it was super easy to maintain. WE cannot have an inground pool because we have a septic system. Most likely when we put in the deck we'll get a more permanent installation pool

[Deleted]

May 22, 2013 17:08:12 GMT -5 @godawgs said:

May 22, 2013 17:00:33 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

When it's not summer, do you just disassemble it and put it away?

It looks like it could be fun.

When I saw you posted in here, I actually cringed scrolling down anticipating what you might say about this.  lol.  I have no idea if they come down for part of the year.

Why?  What did you think I would say?

[Deleted]

May 22, 2013 17:36:58 GMT -5 @champagna said:

Also, pantsparty, white people can't claim all the trashiness. Asians can be trashy, too. Yellow Trash, y'all! lol

(heart) LOL

[Deleted]

May 22, 2013 17:39:02 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

May 22, 2013 17:08:12 GMT -5 @godawgs said:

When I saw you posted in here, I actually cringed scrolling down anticipating what you might say about this.  lol.  I have no idea if they come down for part of the year.

Why?  What did you think I would say?

I just thought you would be horrified and say something a bit snarky.  

[Deleted]

I only save my acerbic wit for special occasions.

[Deleted]

I'm actually seeing some above ground pools that I LIKE!    These are pretty!  Maybe we'll actually consider something like this when we want a "real" pool since it's way cheaper than in ground.

[pantsparty]

May 22, 2013 17:36:58 GMT -5 @champagna said:

Those things are hideous, but I confess that we have one! MH puts it up for the summer and takes it down once the weather cools down. So, it stays up from June- October. It has a cover and he runs a saltwater system in it. He does other little things to maintain it, like testing the water quality, but I don't know the specifics. He takes great pride in the near-crystal clear water. LOL.

Our oldest LOVES it. She is tiny (she's 7, but looks 4 or 5) and I think our little pool made her feel more comfortable in the water. She (finally) agreed to do swim classes last year and ended up having so much fun in the above ground pool last summer.

Also, pantsparty, white people can't claim all the trashiness. Asians can be trashy, too. Yellow Trash, y'all! lol

I had no idea I had a Yellow Trash friend! ::checks box::

[ProfessorArtNerd]

May 22, 2013 17:43:35 GMT -5 @godawgs said:

I'm actually seeing some above ground pools that I LIKE!    These are pretty!  Maybe we'll actually consider something like this when we want a "real" pool since it's way cheaper than in ground.

. My father in law built something like this. They dug a hole, put an above ground pool into it and built decking all around it. So fun. Not too many people in northeast Philly have in-ground pools. We have a white trash ring pool. We throw them out every year. This time we might get the PVC one and store it for the winter. UPGRADE!

[chickadee77]

Haven't read responses, so.

We totally had the soft-sided pool when we lived in KY. We could keep one for 2-3 years, justbdrain it during the winter. The ones with the rods or whatever are no bueno, according to my h, who is the pool expert.

Make sure it is ABSOLUTELY level (we actually had some friends and us pour a concrete pad for ours).

We moved from having a kick-ass in-ground to our "wal-mart pool." We loved ours - it did the trick.

[blueshirt2003]

We had one last summer and it was a lot of work.

We did a salt water system.

We never had the water go bad or get out of control. Learning the science of taking care of it was tedious.

I was so worried about the pool freak collapsing and would have nightmares multiple times through out the summer. It stressed me out quite a bit.

Plan on spending time skimming it manually for a good 20 minutes for bugs every day. Or, if its in the budget get a vacuum thing.

[softspot]

This isn't a great picture, but this is my parents pool & deck. Their pool is like the one KC posted & they have robot cleaner for it. 

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This is an old picture of the back of it, the sides are closed now. 

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