Small Pools – Choose Wisely
There is nothing quite as much fun as a pool in the backyard. Friends and family and beat the summer heat and have a blast. The trouble is not everyone has a large back yard for a standard size pool. That’s where small pools come in handy. You just need to choose wisely. Choosing the right pool can be a bit overwhelming. There are just so many choices and so much terminology out there. Terms like return lines, hopper bottom, cover, and skimmer can all sound like a foreign language at first. It really isn’t as difficult as you might think. When it comes to above ground pools you have two shape choices oval and round and both are available in a variety of sizes. If you are looking for small you’ll want to look at anything from 12 feet to 20 feet. Of course there are much larger sizes. The best place to put your pool is in a place that gets the sun for a minimum of 6 hours. It should be a flat area and it should have a fence that is six feet tall. Trees are a real pain around a pool and you need to be completely away from telephone poles or power lines. Steel, resin, or plastic are used for above ground pools. Steel has been used for 40 years, plastic has been around for some time, and resin is relatively new. The benefit to resin over steel is it won’t rust and it is also much more durable and stronger than plastic. The life expectancy is much longer. A steel pool last at most 5 years where as a resin pool could last twice as long. Plastic pools will last a couple of years tops before the plastic gets brittle and breaks. What’s really neat is in the past few years we have seen the depth of these pools climb considerably. From a standard 48 inches to as much as 54 inches. Now that’s impressive! For your pool to hold water it is going to need a vinyl liner. These liners are available in the traditional blue that most of us have come to know and recognize, but they are also available in a variety of patterns including some very exotic patterns. There are liners that look like tiles, liners that look like coral reefs, liners that look like fish are swimming, and plenty of others.
The overlap liner is most common. This style has the liner wrap itself over the top of the pool and it is held on by the top rail. Beaded liners are also used. These liners are also held with a thin top rail strip.
A 20 gauge liner is the minimum you should buy and 25 gauge is even better as it’s that much thicker. Most pools come factory with 20 gauge but you can usually upgrade to 25 for an additional fee. One of the most important pieces to your pool is your filtration system. This might come as a surprise but a good filter system means your pool will stay cleaner and there will be less work for you. There are two types of filers. Cartridge and sand both used in above ground systems. Filter sand is very cheap to buy. The only drawback is that if you don’t take care to clean it regularly it can get really ugly. Cartridge filters wear out and you can expect to spend around $200 or more to replace them. The pump is the heart and soul of your filtration system so don’t go cheap here. Spend the little extra and get the best quality you can. It doesn’t have to be large. A small pool can run sufficiently on a ¾ hp unit. These days small pools are the rave as backyards shrink in size. Even with that smaller yard you can still have a terrific entertainment space.
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