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Above Ground Pool Buying Guide for Cincinnati Backyards
Most people shopping for an above ground pool start with the wrong question. They ask which pool is best. The better question is which pool fits the yard they have, because in Greater Cincinnati the yard decides more than the brochure does. A lot that drops two feet from the patio to the back fence, clay that holds water for three days after a storm, a sewer easement nobody remembered: those pick your size and shape long before you get to wall patterns.
We have been selling pools from Reading Road since 1966, and we sell, deliver and install above ground pools in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky today. This above ground pool buying guide is the conversation we have with a family at the counter, in the order we have it: size, shape, frame, wall height, the ground it sits on, the rules, and the honest cases where a different kind of pool is the better buy.
The short version
- Measure the level, buildable part of your yard before you look at models. Subtract setbacks, easements and at least three feet of working room all the way around, and what is left is your real maximum pool size.
- Round pools give you the most water and the simplest structure for the money. Buy an oval only when the yard is too narrow for the round you want.
- Resin frames do not rust and stay cooler to the touch. Steel frames are stiffer and sit at the value end of the lineup. If you want a salt system, lean resin and read the warranty on that exact model first.
- A 52 inch wall is the right default for most families. The water line sits roughly half a foot below the top rail, so the wall height is never the swim depth.
- On Cincinnati clay, the pad matters more than the pool. Level by digging the high side down, never by filling the low side up, and give rainwater somewhere to go that is not the base of the wall.
What size above ground pool should you get?
Choose the largest pool that fits the level part of your yard after setbacks, easements and three feet of clearance on every side. For most Cincinnati families that lands between an 18 and a 24 foot round. Go bigger only if you host often, and smaller only if the yard forces it.
Above ground pool sizes are listed by the wall dimension, so a 24 foot round is 24 feet of pool plus the top rail, plus the room you need to walk around it, service the pump and keep the fence line clear. On paper a 27 foot round fits a 40 foot yard. On the ground, once the setback and the downspout drain and the neighbor’s maple are accounted for, it often does not.
So measure first. Walk the yard with a tape and mark the area that is close to level, clear of overhead wires and outside any easement on your plat. Then size the pool to how you will use it, not to the biggest circle that fits.
| How the pool gets used | Round size that usually fits it | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| A couple, or two small kids cooling off | 15 to 18 feet | Easy to heat, easy to cover, quick to clean. Feels small fast once the kids hit ten. |
| A family of four or five, real swimming and games | 21 to 24 feet | The size we see regretted least. Room for a volleyball net and a float at the same time. |
| The house every cousin and neighbor comes to | 27 feet and up | More water to treat and a bigger cover to handle. Make sure the yard and the pad can carry it. |
Model lines cover that whole range. Our featured Doughboy model, the Autumn Breeze, is built in rounds from 12 to 28 feet plus a long list of ovals, and every one of the 16 models we list is made in both round and oval. The size also sets your chemical routine for the next twenty summers. A bigger pool is more forgiving of a missed day and more expensive to shock, which is why we point new owners to our guide on how much chlorine to add by pool size before they decide.
Round or oval: which shape fits your yard?
Buy a round pool unless your yard is too narrow for one. A round wall carries water pressure evenly, so it needs less structure, installs faster and gives you more swimming area for what you spend. An oval earns its place on long, narrow lots where a round of the same water area will not fit.
A round pool is a hoop. The water pushes out equally in every direction and the wall holds it in tension, which is about as simple as a structure gets. An oval has two long straight sides, and straight sides want to bow. Every oval solves that with extra framing: side braces that angle out from the wall, straps that run under the pool floor, or both.
That framing is the question to ask about any oval before you fall for the shape. Braces that stick out add width to the footprint, sometimes a few feet per side, and on a narrow Cincinnati lot that can erase the reason you wanted an oval in the first place. Other designs tuck the support under the pool and keep the sides tight. Ask us which system a given model uses and what the true outside footprint is, then measure that number against your yard, not the swim dimension.
Where ovals win: side yards and deep narrow lots in older neighborhoods, anywhere a deck will run along one long side, and families who want to swim short laps. Where they lose: more parts, more leveling points and a more demanding install.
Resin, steel or hybrid: which frame holds up in Ohio?
Resin frames resist rust and stay cooler in the sun, which makes them the safer long-term choice in our wet springs and the better match for salt systems. Steel frames are stiffer and usually the value choice, and they last when the base drains well. Hybrids put resin where hands and water touch and steel where strength matters.
Every above ground pool is a steel or resin skeleton holding a wall and a vinyl liner. The frame parts are the top rails you sit on, the uprights around the outside and the bottom track on the ground. The lineup we carry runs all three ways: all-resin frames, all-steel frames and a hybrid with resin top rails over steel uprights.
Here is how we would choose between them for a Cincinnati yard. Steel fails from the bottom. The parts that sit closest to wet ground and catch splashed pool water are the first to show corrosion, and our clay keeps that ground wet. If your yard drains well and you keep the water balanced, a coated steel pool gives you long service and the strongest feel under a leaning teenager. If your pad sits in a low spot, or you already know you will run a salt chlorine generator, resin is worth the step up because there is less metal to attack.
One caution on salt, because it gets oversold. Salt water and metal are a bad pairing over time, and some pool warranties say so in plain language. Before you buy a salt system for any above ground pool, read the warranty for that specific model, or ask us to pull it. Do not take anybody’s word on it, including ours, when the document is right there.
Warranty length varies a lot from model to model, even inside one brand. Compare it on the same line as the price tag, and ask what is covered in full and what is prorated. The model list on our above ground pools page shows the frame type, wall height and warranty term for each pool side by side.
How tall should the wall be: 48, 52 or 54 inches?
Pick a 52 inch wall unless you have a specific reason not to. It gives adults water at about chest height, it is the height most models and accessories are built around, and it leaves room for the water line to sit safely below the skimmer. A 54 inch wall suits taller families who mostly swim.
Wall height is not water depth. The water line sits roughly half a foot below the top rail so the skimmer can work, which means a 48 inch wall swims shallower than people expect and a 54 inch wall is deeper than a small child can stand in. Most of the models we carry are 52 inch pools, two of the steel models are also made at 48, and two of the resin models offer 54.
Think about who is in the pool most. Small kids for the next five years: 48 or 52 is plenty, and a lower wall is easier to cover in the fall. Teenagers and adults who play volleyball and swim: 52 or 54. And whatever the wall height, an above ground pool is never a diving pool. Nobody goes in head first, ever, and that rule gets taught on day one.
What site prep does an above ground pool need on Cincinnati clay?
The pool needs a firm, undisturbed pad that is level to within about an inch across the whole footprint, with sod removed and rainwater directed away from the wall. Level by cutting the high side down to the low side. Never build the low side up with loose fill, because fill settles and the pool goes with it.
This is the section that separates a pool that lasts from a pool that leans by its third summer. An above ground pool is thousands of gallons of water in a thin wall, and water finds level whether the wall is level or not. If one side sits two inches low, the water climbs that side, the load goes uneven and the wall and liner are stressed every day the pool is full.
Three things about local ground make this harder here than the brochure suggests.
- Slope. Very few yards in Anderson Township, Fort Thomas or the west side hills are as flat as they look from the deck. A string line across 24 feet regularly shows a foot or more of fall. That whole difference has to come out of the high side.
- Clay. Our soil holds water and moves when it freezes. A pad cut into clay can become a shallow bowl that collects every storm, so the cut needs a way to drain, usually a slight swale or a gravel edge on the uphill side.
- What is underground. Call 811 a few business days before anyone digs, in Ohio or Kentucky. Gas, electric and cable get marked for free. Private lines, old drain tile and septic fields do not, so check your own records too.
On top of the pad goes a smooth base under the liner and a solid footing under each upright, set flush so nothing rocks. Our crews install on a properly prepared, level site, so when you order, ask us exactly who is doing the site prep and what finished condition the pad needs to be in. Get that answer before the pool is delivered, not the morning of the install. And once it is up, it stays full: we cover why you never drain one for winter in our post on winterizing an above ground pool through freeze-thaw.
Do you need a permit or a fence for an above ground pool here?
Very likely yes to a permit, and the fence answer depends on where you live. Rules are set by your city, township or county, and many treat any pool that holds more than about two feet of water as a regulated swimming pool. Call your building department before you order, not after.
Greater Cincinnati is seven counties and dozens of municipalities across two states, and they do not agree with each other. Some want a zoning certificate and a site plan showing setbacks. Some count a pool wall of four feet or taller as the safety barrier as long as the ladder locks or lifts out, and others want a separate fence no matter what the wall measures. If you are in a subdivision, the HOA covenants are a second set of rules, and a few of them do not allow above ground pools at all. Find that out first.
Two things are consistent everywhere. The pump needs a proper outdoor circuit with ground-fault protection, and the pool has to be bonded, both done by a licensed electrician. An extension cord across the lawn is not a plan. And the pool has to sit clear of overhead power lines. Our post on pool permits and setback rules around Cincinnati was written for inground builds, but the setback and easement logic in it applies to any pool.
What comes with the pool, and what will you add?
A pool purchase normally covers the wall, frame and liner, and usually a pump, filter, skimmer and ladder as a package. Entry steps, a winter cover, a cleaner, test supplies and startup chemicals are often separate. Ask for the package in writing, item by item, so two quotes can be compared honestly.
This is where shopping by sticker goes wrong, especially against big-box and online pools. Two pools with the same size on the tag can differ in filter size, liner thickness and whether the ladder is one you would actually let your mother use. Ask these questions of anyone you buy from, us included:
- What pump and filter are included, and is the filter sand or cartridge?
- What liner comes with it, and how does it attach to the wall?
- Is the entry a basic A-frame ladder or walk-in steps, and does it lock or lift out to satisfy the barrier rule?
- Who delivers it, who installs it, and who handles a warranty claim in year six?
- What do I need on day one that is not on this list?
The last answer usually includes a winter cover, a test kit and opening chemicals, all of which are on the shelf in our pool supplies department, plus a cleaner if you would rather not vacuum by hand. A robotic pool cleaner is the single upgrade above ground owners tell us they wish they had bought the first year. When the cover wears out years from now, we handle pool cover replacement too.
When is an above ground pool the wrong choice?
Skip an above ground pool if your yard has a steep grade, if your HOA prohibits them, or if you want a built-in look with a deep end. On a real slope, a semi-inground pool that is cut into the hill is usually the better and safer answer than forcing a level pad.
We would rather lose a sale than set a pool where it should not go. If leveling your pad means cutting more than a couple of feet into a hillside, you are building a retaining problem, and the money is better spent on one of our semi-inground pools, which are engineered to sit partly in the ground and hold a slope. We explain that trade in our post on why semi-inground pools suit Cincinnati backyards. One steel model in our above ground lineup, the Doughboy Palm Shore, is also built to be partially buried, which can split the difference on a mild grade.
If you want a deep end, a diving board, a sun shelf or a pool that reads as part of the landscape, look at the inground pools we build instead, and read our comparison of above ground vs. inground pools before you decide. An above ground pool is the right buy when you want real swimming in the yard you have, on a sensible budget, without a months-long construction project. It is the wrong buy when you are hoping it will pass for something else.
When should you buy an above ground pool in Cincinnati?
Do your planning in fall and winter and aim to have decisions made before spring. The pool itself goes up quickly. What takes time is the measuring, the call to the building department, the electrician and the site prep, and all of that is easier before every other family in town starts calling.
The off-season is when you can do this without pressure. Measure the yard while the leaves are down and you can see the grade. Call your building department and your HOA. Come sit with us, look at the wall patterns and frames in person, and put hands on a resin rail and a steel one. Then you are ready when the ground is workable instead of starting from zero on the first warm Saturday in May.
It is also the right time to think about year two. Somebody has to close the pool every fall and open it every spring. Plenty of our customers do it themselves, and plenty hand it to our crew through our pool opening and closing service. Either way, our service department and free in-store water testing come with buying from a store you can drive to.
Bring your yard measurements to Reading Road
If you take one thing from this guide, make it the tape measure. Bring us the dimensions of the level part of your yard, a rough sketch of where the house, the fence and the downspouts are, and a couple of phone photos. We will tell you what fits, which frame we would put there and what the pad needs, and we will tell you if we think a different kind of pool is the smarter move.
Cincinnati Pool and Patio is at 10731 Reading Road in Evendale, and you can reach us at (513) 554-0000. Start with the above ground pool quote form if you already know the size you want, or contact us with questions first.
Frequently asked questions
A quality above ground pool lasts for decades when it sits on a level, well drained pad and the water is kept balanced. The frame and wall usually outlive the liner, which is a replaceable part. Manufacturer warranties on the models we carry differ by model, so compare the warranty term and what it covers before you choose.
Only after the slope is removed from the pad. The ground under the pool has to be level to within about an inch, and the right way to get there is to dig the high side down, not to fill the low side. If that cut is more than a couple of feet deep, a semi-inground pool is usually the better choice for the yard.
For our wet springs, clay soil and freeze-thaw winters, a resin or hybrid frame on a pad that drains well is the lowest risk choice, because the parts closest to wet ground do not rust. A coated steel pool also holds up here when the base stays dry and the pool is kept full and covered through winter.
Often yes, but check the warranty for the exact model first. Salt is hard on metal parts, and some pool warranties limit or exclude salt systems. Resin framed pools are the better match for salt. If you already own a steel pool, ask before you add a salt chlorine generator.
Yes, and it should. An above ground pool is designed to stay full through winter because the water supports the wall and the liner. You lower the water to the level your closing method calls for, protect the skimmer and plumbing, add winter chemicals and cover it. Draining it is what causes damage.