Above Ground Pool

[Halfathumb]

Looking forward to next season. Any advice, suggestions etc. appreciated. I installed one over 30 years ago. I have the basics down as far as preparing the ground and bringing in sand. What about the siding material, aluminum, steel or something else? Also, any nice to know info.

[K. L. McReynolds]

Check with your local codes dept. Most areas require a fence around a pool. Several folks in the Off Topic have pools, might venture down there(we don't bite much, mostly just barking and growling).

[Herb G]

Run your power circuit this year while the ground is warm & easy to dig.
I used a 1" conduit & pulled #10 AWG copper for a 20A circuit. Make sure to install a switch before the pump so you can quickly turn it off if needed.
I mounted the switch on the house, then ran the conduit out the bottom to the plug by the pool.
Drive a couple of ground rods & make sure to ground the metal parts of the pool to the rods. The life you save might be your own.
Make sure to install a correct brand GFIC breaker in your panel to feed the pool. Do not install anything else on the circuit, or tap into an existing circuit.
Do it right or don't bother.

Do not cheap out & run #14 AWG wire, because it will just pop the breaker all the time. Make sure you get a sand filter for it. You will probably get a cheapy 1/2 hp pump with it, which will work, but isn't enough to change the water frequently.

I upped my pump to a 1 HP pump, and the water clarity issues cleared up overnight with the larger pump.
While you're already digging, install a 2" PVC drain line so when you back flush the filter, you aren't dumping chlorinated water on your lawn.
Run it to someplace unobjectionable so the water won't ruin your lawn.

The pool kit will come with the siding material in the kit. Make sure to buy a solar cover, and a really good winter cover. Buy the float pillows for the winter cover when you buy the pool so you don't have to run out at the end of the season trying to buy some only to find out nobody has them in stock.

That should keep you busy for the rest of this summer anyway.

[TDKPE]

On the issue of electrical, I'll second the suggestion (requirement, actually, at least in NY) to use conduit, especially since you will probably need 240V for the pump, and 120V for the 15A or 20A GFCI receptacle that's supposed to be not less than 6 ft, nor more than 20 ft, from the inside wall of the pool (that's capable of 42" water depth or more), which have to be on separate circuits.  Makes it easy to pull wires, especially after the fact.  I'm pretty rusty on pools, so do research this before getting too far into the electrical bits.  The local Authority has to sign off on it, so make sure you run it past the electrical department once you sketch it out.

[rwe2156]

On the electrical, we mounted a panel on the house that contained a timer switch for the pump.  If you have a light in the pool you have to figure for that, too.

You should be able to find installation instructions form the manufacturer.

[Halfathumb]

Thanks for all responses. As Herb suggests '"Do it right or don't bother." I always go by that on almost everything. A lot of good stuff here, this why I posted this.

Any suggestions on what or what not to buy when it comes to siding of the pool?

Jim

[cndamm]

The best advice  I can give is to buy a Doughboy. Ours back in MI was put in back in 1995 the new owner emailed me some questions last week and said it is still going strong. Ours was 28' round and was 8' deep. The installers said they could have gone 12' as Doughboy is the only AG pool with a liner that can stretch/

[crokett™]

I've put up 2 AG pools, and the round and oval ones will have a steel wall - it's a big rolled up piece of sheet steel. I've not seen one yet that's aluminum. I'm not sure it would be strong enough. As you get closer to install time after you pick the pool you want I can give you some installation specifics.

As to the electrical, herb is not correct. You don't want to ground the pool, you want to bond all the metal and (and the water) to the pump motor, which will be grounded back to the house. there will be a bonding screw on the motor for this specific purpose. This means a bonding wire (usually bare #6 copper) is run around the pool and connected to several points along the way. The pool manufacturer will have specific instructions. You don't need ground rods, the wire will be buried the entire way. You can bond the wall by adding a piece of wire or a ring terminal under one of the bolts at the seam in the wall then connecting that back to your bonding wire. To bond the water, insert a brass nipple somewhere into your plumbing and clamp a wire to that. FWIW my pump motor and SWG do just fine on a 20A circuit. I wouldn't try to size your electrical until you have the pump motor and know what you really need. I have my pump on a timer, it makes things much easier. I have a box with duplex receptacles out at the pool and have wired one set of receptacles to the timer and the other set as always on.

Check out troublefreepool.com. There's a wealth of knowledge on that site. Also read through the Pool School, you'll save yourself a lot of time and money in pool chemicals doing it the TFP way. I'd also recommend a salt water chlorine generator if it's in your budget.

[fixtureman]

I put one in way back in 1980 that was all aluminum.