Used Pool Installation

by David Burnett
(Lexington,SC,USA)

I just purchased a 2 year old pool in good shape. I would like your opinion on a couple of things I'm planning on doing before and during the install.

I am going to prime and paint all the rails with rustoleum as well as around the skimmer, return and bottom half of pool wall. Also, what do you think of the foam for the walls?

I know this may be a bit of overkill but I would like my $600.00 investment to last for 10 more years. Our old pool did 13years. One more question, beaded or overlap liner? Thanks for any suggestions. I enjoyed reading your site.

Hi David and thanks. The only reason I would ever recommend a beaded liner is if you are planning a deck that would prevent the rails from being removed in the future. An example of a good place to use a beaded liner is on this page.

Above Ground Pool, Deck and Awning

There are so many advantages to using an overlap liner. They are much easier to install wrinkle free and they cost less. Those are just two of the many, but pretty good ones.

Wall foam is used mainly for insulation. If you plan to heat your pool with a solar cover, solar panels or a gas heater they would be useful. I don't feel the foam would protect your wall enough to make it last longer. The best thing to make you wall last longer is to repair any liner leaks quickly. Don't let the skimmer or return leak and pay attention to your water level. If you know you are losing water, find the hole and repair it.

If you use the wall foam be sure and cut it several inches from the top of the wall. If left to high it will get in the way of the coping and make setting the liner a real pain.

Here are a few pages related to overlap liners that might help you make up your mind and also help in the installation process.

Overlap Liners

Above Ground Pool Liner Installation

Expandable Liner Installation

Pool Dismantled and Reistalled Many Times

by Anne

How comfortable would you be with an above ground oval 15' x 30' pool dismantled and reinstalled professionally 4 times in one year?

Should I be concerned with the structure and has it been compromised by repeated installations?

Hi Anne. The key word is professionally. If this is the case it would not bother me a bit.

If it were not so professionally done I would just be concerned with how badly the wall was damaged. Smoothing out a damaged wall would not bother me any, and probably not shorten the life of the pool by much, but it would reduce the value of it.

Now, if you are talking about a pool you bought and payed to have installed, and the same company has now reinstalled it for the forth time, I think I would begin to get concerned. But if the pool were professionally installed it would have just taken one time.

If this same company keeps sending out amateurs to install the pool, I would begin to get real concerned.

If I were buying the pool, I would just look for the usual stuff. The condition of the wall is important. The condition of the top rails and uprights might also be a concern.

If you are careful, the only damage that should be done to a pool might be a little loss of paint. If the pool is resin that should not even be an issue.

Free Oval Pool Problems

by Stacy
(Warren, MI)

I received an Oval Pool for Free. The person that we got it from said it was a 15 x 24 (he put in a liner the year before and it ripped. We leveled the ground and laid the rails down and a couple of issues.

1) Pool length is measuring 26 1/2 feet long

2) We have no idea what size liner to buy

3) There are 3 braces on each side and I thought they would be in the middle of the pool. One side of the pool measure 9'6" and the other side measures 10'. Is that going to be a problem? We keep trying to adjust the bottom rails to see if that is a problem.

Someone told me I should put the pool walls up to find out how long it is?!?!?!

Please help. I am paying over $500 for electrical $200 for a liner $115 for sand , and $42.00 to rent a sod cutter and I'm seriously running out of money.

Hi Stacy. Oval pools are complicated, there is no way around that. There are usually several different length of bottom rails. It sounds like you may have some in the wrong places. There are sides and ends and sometimes transitions. They are all different lengths.

Be sure to square your braces once they are set in place. Braces that are not square will cause nothing but problems as you progress through the installation.

Take a tape from the outer edge of an end brace the the other side opposite brace. Now switch ends and cross again. The measurements need to be the same. Slide the brace assembly of one side in the direction that will even this measurement.

The other thing I would do would be to build the pool complete, wall, rods, uprights and top rails, everything. Make sure it all fits and looks good, then measure for the liner.

26' 6" would indicate a 27' foot liner, just like 14' 8" across would indicate a 15' wide liner. They are seldom exact, but are usually pretty close to one of the popular sizes.

27ft Above Ground Pool Installation

by Rose
(Nova Scotia Canada)

How many people do you need to install a 27ft above ground pool? We purchased a second hand one and need to get it set up. The ground work is done.

Hi Rose. How many people you have is not nearly as important as having at least one person that knows what he, or she, is doing. During the slower times of our pool season my wife and I build them by ourselves. If she is not available to help I do them myself. During our busy time I may have up to four helpers to speed things up.

To work alone you need to know exactly what you are doing, and have plenty of knowledge in how to get it done, without getting in a bind needing extra hands. Two people get the job done just fine. There is no part of the pool that two people cannot lift, or work together, to assemble.

The worst pool disasters can happen because of to many drinking helpers, or to many know it all helpers. The stories I could tell could go on forever. I have seen so many pool disasters caused by drinking buddies or know it all relatives. One person can do the entire job, if need be.

I do, however, prefer working with my wife. She is just plain fun to be around and she does a great job.

Trojan Radiant

by Kathy
(Catskill ny)

Hello, I have an old (disassembled) Trojan -Radiant keystone style pool. All of the extruded aluminum is in good shape. The pool has the insulated panels, foam on the inside, metal sheath.

I purchased this used pool with the thought of setting it into the slope in my yard.

My husband does not think the pool is worth installing due to it's age. The metal sheets do have some rust pitting, but I thought the rolled foam between the liner and the wall would solve the problem. Radiant/keystone,
Previously Trojan pools, are advertised as being relatively easy to put up. The panels are inserted into aluminum track and joined together with splines.

My two questions: Do you think a pool this age ,frame and walls only, I will obviously but a new liner filter etc.
is worth installing? Have you ever relocated a pool of this type.

And in terms of setting into slope, manufacture says no retaining wall necessary.

Hi Kathy. It sounds to me like the pool should be just fine to put up. They were a good quality pool and age should not make a difference.

The foam should protect the liner so no problem there. The back fill should be done after the pool is full. The leveled area should be several feet larger than the pool size to make installation easier.