Those massive above ground pools

[AlanJohnsonsBeemer]

How much effort are they? Is it just a case of filling up at the beginning of summer and then keeping the solar cover on and keeping on top of the chemicals?

I don’t particularly like them, but year 7 DC is just hanging aimlessly about at the park and going into town and I would like our garden to be an attractive place for them and their friends (so that I can keep an eye on them 😂).

We have one a friend gave us and its fairly low maintenance, just a case of keeping up the chlorine levels (you just shove 2 chorine tablets in the floating holder every few days), checking the pump doesn't get blocked and covering it when not in use to avoid the water evaporating too quickly. You also might need to top it up a bit if the kids are particularly splashy😀

We use it loads in the summer and my kids friends love it when they come round, I'd say if you have the space, go for it!

I had one three years running when DCs were young.
They are easy once you've got in the swing of it - you'll get to know the routine. You do need to know the volume of water though if you want to add flocculant (helps keep the water clear), etc. It helps to give the insides and floor a scrub every now and then (or bribe DC to do it?)
You can also look into online solar heaters as well (no idea of price now).
I put mine up on grass and it used to look awful after I'd taken the pool up, but it recovered with a bit of TLC.

Into inline solar heaters....

Thanks both, how deep are your pools?
I am looking at 12 or 15ft in diameter, 12 would be more practical and leave us plenty of garden.

But I am thinking I will need a metre deep rather than 75cm to hold the interest of tweens/young teens…

sorry for the jarring mix of metric and imperial!

I don’t care too much about the lawn, it is a bit rubbish anyway and we are not tackling the garden in earnest until we finish doing up the house.

Easy to look after, but be careful where you situate it.

There are two issues you absolutely must consider before installing one.

First is the weight, once filled, you'll be looking at a minimum of seven or eight tonnes of water, could be ad high as fifteen to twenty tonnes for the bigger ones. Terraced gardens are not suitable and the weight of the pool could cause a retaining wall to collapse. Just be careful where you're putting all that weight.

Secondly, you need to think about what happens if the pool were to split, where is all that water going to go? Your neighbours wouldn't be too happy to have a mini tidal wave crashing through their garden and drowning their flower beds.

Keep it covered when not in use.

No issues with terracing etc, will try figure out which way the flow would more likely go in an accident. Would the gravel boards at the bottom of the fences do anything to keep the problem in my garden? If we end up with a hosepipe ban again, I suppose the neighbours might not mind too much (joke!)

We have one but not in the UK. Ours is up all summer. They're really easy to care for once you get the hang of it. Keeping the pH right is the key to everything, so that's the very first thing you check once it's filled, adjusting it to the right level. Then you 'shock' it, which is just an initial dose of chlorine/bromine. Once that's done, you put in the floating chlorine/bromine dispenser.

After that, it's just a case of running the filter daily, checking the pH and chlorine levels and adjusting the floating chlorine dispenser as necessary. It sounds complicated but probably only takes 5 minutes a day once it's set up.

If you have a paper filter, they need replacing, which, again is a 5 minute job. Covering with a bubble wrap cover will help to keep it warm overnight. The surface will need an occasional skim with a net, and the sides/bottom might need doing. If everyone dips their feet before they get in, it'll stay much cleaner.

Think about what you're going to stand it on - it needs to be level and smooth. We've got rubber matting down underneath and around too, which I'd really recommend. Go for it!

Ours is 1.22m deep btw. An Intex mid range one (prism) and it's very robust.

Thank you, that is the range we are looking at (I think), think we will go for it, will be the fun mum for a change!

Everyone knows who to blame when the weather goes tits up until October

Dd has a 2 x 3 m one, 3rd year now, it’s been great for young Gdcs, esp. during lockdowns when public pools were closed. It’s got a filter and heater, and various chemicals go in, plus the cover at night. When it’s warm enough Gdcs (now 8, 7 and 3 - all swimmers) are straight in it every day after school. V popular with their friends, too.