Why don't I want a hard sided pool

[Kindra178]

At a friend's house a couple of years ago, she had several hard sided pools she picked up at the grocery store. The kids loved them. Why don't I want a hard sided pool?

I ask because we were dealing with inflatables yesterday and they were a pain.

[Minnifer]

Interested to see the answers - we had one at my mother's house last summer and the side edges were so sharp I sliced my hand open on it, but I wonder if that's just b/c it was a super cheap one.

Has anyone tried these Sun Smarties Pop-Up Pools? I'm really tempted, although in the catalogue they had an even bigger size that I wanted, so I could stick my big butt in it too :p but it seems not to be on the site anymore).

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=535636

[sariana]

I use an inflatable pool because of lack of storage. I have no place to put a pool that does not collapse.

Otherwise I don't see why it would matter.

[MolieMuts]

I am going to try a small hard sided pool this year. The reason the inflatable and soft sided ones didn't work for us is because our yard is not completely flat. Since our yard isn't level, the water pushes against the side of the pool making it very hard to fill very full, and then the low side would collapse in. If our patio was big enough, it wouldn't be an issue, but we have to put it in the grass. I want to be able to pick one side up and dump it out and lean it against something to dry when they are finished playing.

[newg]

I would rather have a hard-sided pool. Easier to clean in my opinion. We have a blow-up one right now and it's a pain to blow-up, get all of the water out and dry......plus the dogs like to step in it and their nails are going to puncture it soon.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We did an inflatable one at first because of storage and the slippery/yucky edge factor. When we had our 3rd DC on the way, I got a different, older hard sided LT pool with a slide and a sprayer built in. We empty it and cover it with a tarp like our other outdoor toys. It's pretty cool. We have an inflatable for taking to a beach house and using on the deck.

[MommyAllison]

We have a hard sided pool, and love it. The only negatives are

-storage (we keep it in the storage room in our basement from fall-spring, but summer it is going to be out and kinda in the way in the yard/patio)

-and if it's really full, it can be hard to dump out (in this case, I just push one side down so the water can overflow out until it's empty enough to pick up and dump)

HTH

[Tondi G]

we loved our hard sided pool. Our main reason for getting them is that if our dogs get into them they won't puncture it. They don't get lopsided when they are filled. easy to clean... we just use a broom. My boys (when they were little) loved the one we got one year that had a little slide on the side and a sprinkler port to hook up the hose. If you have the space to store one I think they are great and last longer than most inflatibles.