About This Site
Above ground pools, without the surprises that show up after you buy.
Most above ground pool advice stops right when the real decisions begin: whether the stock pump can actually keep up with the pool you picked, what happens if you bury part of the wall, how long a liner really lasts, and why the water turns green two weeks after opening. Poolslam focuses on those practical details, so buyers and owners can make the call before it costs them money, not after.
What This Site Is
Poolslam is an independent above ground pool resource for US homeowners buying, setting up, equipping, and maintaining an above ground pool. The site covers the decisions that matter before and after the pool goes up: pool type and sizing, ground preparation and assembly, chemical startup, pump and filter sizing, cleaning equipment, covers, heaters, liners, chemical maintenance, troubleshooting, seasonal opening and closing, and safety.
The scope is intentionally narrow. This is not an inground pool site, a hot tub or spa site, a commercial pool resource, or a general backyard living blog. Above ground pools behave differently from inground pools and spas. They fail differently, they get sized wrong differently, and they punish vague buying advice quickly, especially once a pump is undersized or a wall gets buried without the right rating.
How This Site Works
Every guide starts from the pool itself, not from a generic swimming pool overview. Pool type, size, water source, and climate all change what a good setup actually looks like.
Useful pool advice needs numbers: GPH, turnover rate, gallons, chemical ppm ranges, and liner lifespan in years. When the answer depends on pool size or water source, the guide says so.
Above ground pools fail in small, ordinary ways: a skipped sand cove, a stock pump left on a pool it was never rated for, a standard wall buried without a semi-inground rating, or chlorine added without ever checking CYA. Poolslam pays attention to those failure points.
A stock kit can be enough for a smaller pool, but not every kit fits every pool. The goal is to explain when the included pump and filter are enough, when they need an upgrade, and when the box leaves something important out.
Why Poolslam Exists
A lot of buyers do everything the box tells them to and still end up frustrated. They pick a pool that looks right for the yard, set it up by the instructions, fill it, and expect it to stay clear on its own. Then the water turns green two weeks in, the pump runs constantly without keeping up, or a wall that was buried to blend into a slope starts to lean.
That usually is not because the buyer did something wrong. It is because the pool, the pump, and the buying advice never got matched to each other before the purchase. A stock pump is sized for the smallest pool in its product line, not the one most people actually buy. A standard wall is engineered for outward water pressure only, not for being buried. Poolslam exists to put that information ahead of the purchase, not after the pool is already assembled.
Who Is Behind It
Poolslam is written by Pete Sanders, an above ground pool installer with 15 years installing and servicing pools across the Midwest. His work has covered hundreds of setups, from entry-level Intex and Bestway kits to permanent steel wall installations, along with the failure modes that come with all of them: undersized pumps, skipped ground prep, liners cracked from a missing sand cove, and walls buried without the rating for it.
Pete started this site because buyers and new owners kept running into the same problems: a stock pump that could not turn over a 15-foot pool, a wall that was never meant to be buried, and a liner that needed replacing years sooner than anyone expected. You can read more on the author page.
How Advice Is Checked
The site uses a mix of field experience, manufacturer specifications, community evidence, and real owner discussions. Forums like troublefreepool.com, Reddit threads in r/pools and r/abovegroundpools, and Amazon reviews are useful because they show where people actually get stuck, not just what a clean product listing says should happen.
That does not mean every comment becomes a claim. Product specs still matter. Pump GPH, turnover rate, filter requirements, and chemical target ranges need to be checked before they appear in a guide. When the answer changes by pool size, pool type, water source, or climate, the article should make that condition clear instead of pretending one rule fits every backyard.
With Gratitude
Some of the most useful pool knowledge is not polished. It lives in forum threads where someone explains exactly which pump they upgraded to and why, in a review where a buyer admits they buried their pool and regret it, or in a troubleshooting post where an owner finally figures out why their water would not clear no matter how much shock they added.
Those details matter because they are the problems real owners have to solve. Poolslam is better because people take the time to report what worked, what failed, and what they wish they had known before they bought the pool or turned the pump on for the first time.
To every owner who has shared a hard lesson instead of keeping it to themselves: someone else will size their pump correctly because of it.
Get in Touch
Found something wrong, have an above ground pool question, or noticed a product detail that should be checked? Send a note directly.