Manly Kiddie Pool

kwolfe · Apr 9, 2007

My wife and I have been kicking around the thought of getting and inground pool all winter long. we finally decided to put it off for a year or two. However, she does want me to buy/build a kiddie pool that will be enjoyed by my 3 and 1 year old this and next summer.

My wife is a stay at home mom, so since she will be using it most of the time, she would like something easy to get the kids in and out of. My thought is to build an in ground wading pool for the them. Max depth would be around 18"-20". I was thinking about buying a fiberglass fish pond, however they do not seem to come big enough. I guess I could get two and cut out the adjacent walls and expoxy them together. My 3 year old loves going to his garndpa's house, because he already has a small fiberglass pond. That kid can stay in their for hours.

I am interested to see what creative solutions you guys have to offer and if anyone has attempted this in the past.

B8FISH · Apr 9, 2007

What about one of those "Aero pools"? I know it's above ground but you could move it to where you wanted and drain/replace the water pretty easy. I think you can get them for less than $150.00

AlanB · Apr 9, 2007

Why not just build a pond? Something along the lines of an Aquascapes designs pond, then kind of "finish it out" such as plants and fish, when you are done and have a regular pool?

Ray2310 · Apr 9, 2007

Have you looked at these? My wife talked me into one a couple years ago. Nice for cooling down after working outside in the summer.

Intex Easy Set Pool

scott_vt · Apr 9, 2007

Afternoon kwolfe,
I think Ray provided a real good link to some inexpensive wading pools. We had one horribly hot summer at our Vt house and my wife went out and bought a very inexpensive inflatable kiddie pool about 4 ft by 8 ft and mayve 14" deep. We put it up behind the house and it was a lifesaver that summer with the heat we had !

Did a little work and then jump in and have a cold one to cool off the insides also !

BTW it can be drained easily and refilled in no time at all !

Jimbrown · Apr 9, 2007

Might want to look at someting like this. Dig hole the size you want put in liner use stepping tones pavers for decking.
Fish Grade PVC Pond Liners- Unit Liner Company

EddieWalker · Apr 9, 2007

If your set on digging a hole in the ground, get one of the Koi or goldfish preformed ponds. They come in some pretty big sizes and they even have a step to get in and out!!

Last year my wife brought home a cheap blow up pool. I think it was less then $40 from Walmart, but I'm not positive. The kids were 5 and 8 last summer and they spend hours and hours in there every weekend!!! For fun, I dumped dishwashing soap in there to create a super bubble bath, and they loved that too!! We gave them some sidewalk chalk that kept them busy too. They would splash around play games that only made sense to them and then draw on the concrete. When they got hot, they jumped back into the pool.

The only real drawback was that we had to dump it after the weekend or it would turn gree with alge. It was easy to dump and keep clean, but if I forgot to drain it, the alge would take an hour to scrub off. Then I'd dump some soap into the water when they played to be sure they didn't drink any of the water and didn't get sick. It worked, they never got sick, just very, very tan. hahaha

It never leaked by the end of summer when it was time to put it away. Instead of cleaning it, folding it up and finding a place to store it, we just tossed it in the burn pile. This year they are having fun swimming in the pond, so that's even better!!!!

Eddie

SnoFalls · Apr 9, 2007

We setup one of those intex polls during the summer months (no kids, just me and the wife

). It's nice that it's easily drained and storable for the winter. I think ours is an 8' and was cheep that we'll just replace if it gets worn out.

I'm contemplating making a solar water heater this year to plumb into the filter pump to kick start the water to a warmer temp ...

The "filter" on those is a joke. We generally empty/clean about once a month. Having an inlet/outlet does open up possibilities for heat or better filters or ...

kwolfe · Apr 9, 2007

Guys,
Thanks for all the suggestions, keep them coming. My brother in law bought one of the inflatable, pools with the filter system. They really work well, however the wife has crossed that off the list since they are too deep and not that easy to drap two kids in and out of by herself.

The pond liner is and idea. I wanted to go with fiberglass because it looks so easy. Dig a big hole and backfill.

The liner would however allow me to do any size wanted.

Eddie, we had one those pools last year. Who knows, we may wind up getting another if all else fails. This idea just seemed like a fun project to do. Especially since I got the wife's blessing.

Kevin

scott_vt · Apr 9, 2007

Afternoon Eddie,
Thats about the same size we have, except we put ours away, didnt want to buy another one the following year !

Kwolfe,
One drawback to the fiberglass small ponds, is that in your area, the frost can actually lift that whole thing out of the ground ! It may or may not happen, but your in Pa and it can get pretty cold in your local, frost is a possibility !