janicediane, that was exactly the same question I was going to ask. The great difference in price is going to be a deciding factor for me too. My problem with the aboveground pool is how can I make it blend in to the rest of my garden landscape. For aesthetic reason, I think it would be nice to have a deck built around it. Have you heard of onground pools? They're a little cheaper than the inground pools, but the above ground pools will definitely be the most economical. These are some of my basic observations, but I'm sure some of the people here who have aboveground pools installed can provide more insight?

I am a new AG pool owner. We bought one at the end of July 2006. We simply couldn't afford an inground pool, and we weren't going to buy a cheap AG pool. If we bought, we were going to buy the best quality AG pool we could. Looked into the prices, and the largest oval AG pool made of the best materials (extruded aluminum) was going to run us about $15k installed. Still a bit high for us. But one of the pool companies we got a free estimate from came back to us with a deal too good to refuse. He sold us his top line pool for $10500, nearly 1/3 off the price, just so he could get his pool into our nice new subdivision. 3 days later, the pool was being installed.

Now to my points.

We rushed to get it installed. A mistake in hindsight. We weren't prepared with the building/electrical permits prior to installation. We ran the pump off an extension cord to the outlet on the side of the house for the 2 months we had the pool open last summer. Think about that. Are you going to have your electrical connection to the pump ready in advance? You should really have a master plan about how you want your pool to be incorporated into your yardscape. Our pool came with a fantail deck (arcing along one end of the pool). I would have preferred a squared off rectangular deck with carpeting on it, but that was not available with this pool dealer. The access ladder that raises up and locks to the pool deck was not in accordance with the state/town building code. And this pool dealer is based in the state (MA). 4 months after the pool install, we ended up expanding our wood deck over to join with the aluminum pool deck. With better planning and available cash, we would have maybe purchased a pool without a deck and just expanded our wood deck to the pool. As it is now, our wood deck adjoins the aluminum pool deck. It's not aesthetically perfect, but totally serviceable at this time. With more $$ down the road, we will probably trash the aluminum deck and expand the wood deck some more. The SW corner of the pool is where our yard begins to gradually slope off. I had to encase the pool with landscape timbers and crushed stone to make it look nice and to also ensure that the soil wouldn't get washed away from that corner. What are you going to want for landscaping around your pool? Shrubs/plants.etc. Think about that, and if you are going to put them in from the beginning or phase them in over time. OK, back to the pool itself. Call all your friends who own pools and get educated about the pool chems. Research online about pool care. You gotta balance your pH first in order for the chlorine to work right. I suffered a late season algae bloom prior to closing that took me 2 weeks to clear up. Turns out I wasn't putting in nearly enough shock. Struggled to get the chemicals right before winterizing the pool. Now comes my cover situation. The free cover I got from the pool dealer was the correct size for my 15x30 pool, BUT it did't take into account the wraparound promenade deck and fencing that came with our pool. I had to buy an even bigger oval pool cover. Even with the bigger cover, the promenade deckis attached right up against the edge of the pool, so there is no space to tuck the pool cover down in between them and simply apply the winch and cable to fasten it. And the attached fencing and supports also prohibited me from draping the cover over the outside of the promenade deck. Attempting to just weave the cover cable thru the grommets and in and out of the the supports did nothing to prevent the wind from turning my cover into a spinnaker sail!! And leaving it subject to the wind like that, I didn't want that to possibly compromise the structure of the supports. Our back yard is wide open for hundreds of feet, totally exposed to the wind; no trees. I bought some of those water bags to fill up and lay down aroudn the promenade deck. They sucked! Wind was still able to get under the cover and the water bags would get lifted and fall over the sides of the pool on the ground or hanging around the deck/fence supports. Most of them developed leaks. I ended up criss-crossing the pool cover with rope to try to keep the cover from flapping in the wind so much. Totally have to re-assess how I will cover the pool again this fall. My air pillow (ice equalizer) ended up bursting in January. Nothing I could do about it by then, with the pool already frozen. But while the pillow isn't supposed to burst, I think it did its job in doing so. Once the water freezes, it doesn't expand some more, unless we were to have a massive winter thaw and re-freeze. Didn't happen. OK, next. I discovered there is a filter basket in the pump itself. Went to clean it when I noticed the suction pressure was off. Read the manual on how to do it. Didn't quite work as stated. Nearly lost a ton of water (and my life!) from the pool as it came gushing out all around the pump, which, of course, was plugged in and running. Would strongly recommend a ball valve be placed between the skimmer unit and the hose to the pump. I am planning to do this now prior to opening the pool. And now to my latest and greatest problem. Again, being a rookie pool owner, just not knowing enough, and getting simple, general advice and instructions from a young guy at NAMCO has me facing th epossibility of having to replace my 9 month old liner!! Here's what I did. When prepping to close the pool last fall, i bough one of those year round skimmer face plates that protect the skimmer from ice damage with a simple tupperware-like cover that seals the opening of the skimmer box. No need to lower the pool water below the skimmer!! Except that the skimmer gaskets that sit on either side of the liner also are supposed to be replaced. Well, the water was still half way up the skimmer, so I couldn't possibly take out the old gaskets and apply silicone sealants to new gaskets and get them in place and put on the new skimmer face plate with the water like that. SO I just put on the new skimmer faceplate, screwing it in rather quickly. The seal on the old gasket already compromised, the pool water leaked out until the level was just below the skimmer box. I would deal with it in the spring. Dealt with it last week. Took off the new faceplate and old gaskets on either side of the liner, began prepping the new gaskets with silicone sealant, by the time I was ready to insert the new gaskets, the liner around the skimmer opening had begun to pull away, so the screw holes in the liner were out of alignment. Impossible for me to try to stretch it back into place AND screw the faceplate in. Even with help, the hands would be in the way. That's when I began lowering water, thinking I might get some slack on the liner. NO WAY! Kept emptying to a bouta foot left in the pool. Research on the web and a couple calls to local pool stores pointed out that draining all the water forma vinyl liner pool can have the effect of shrinking the liner, such that it is pulling away from the skimmer screw holes. Not an easy fix. Heat up the liner with a hair dryer to gain some stretch to it? Apply a large vinyl patch and then cut out the new hole for the skimmer opening? Finally called my pool company that we bought from. STUPID!! Why didn't I call them first??? They said they would have done the skimmer plate replacement for us for free or little money. As it stands now, the service dept guy recommended I try the large patch method first, as the cheapest method. He gave me detailed instructions. Worst case scenario, I have to replace the entire liner. With my pro-rated warranty, they tell me $735 will get me a new liner and the install. UGH!!!

Plan ahead. Be a visionary. And learn from my mistakes.

Powiebaby,

Wow, looks like you've just got a lot of hands-on on your AG pool. Thanks for the detailed write up about your experience, but sorry to hear that it gave you so many challenges. So, did it work out for you at last? If you were to do it again, will you still do the AG pool? I went to look at the doughboy website. The pools look different. They can be placed in the ground. Do you know if these are easier to manage? Also, is it possible to build a cage on an AG pool? If you have a picture to include of your pool, that would be nice.

Powiebaby, thanks for your insight. I've had inground pools before, so i think i know the basics of pool care, but you've added some dimensions of planning i hadn't thought about. i thought my biggest concern would be landscaping.

i've decided to hold off on doing anything this year. need more research when i'm not in a rush to take advantage of summer. also, having had inground, i just don't think i'd like above ground. i like the idea of putting above ground unit in the ground. i'll just have to be nice to my ex-in-laws so i can use their pool. :-)

Homeproj, what do you mean about a "cage" on an AG pool. do you mean like a screened enclosure to keep out critters and leaves? i know you can do that if you have a structure around it, such as a deck.