Best Above Ground Pool Pad Review (Comparison Table and Guide)
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If you’re in need of the best above ground pool pad for your pool, check out our guide to know of our favorite products and variants, plus our buying guide.
What is a pool pad? While most people do have an above ground pool, they also tend to take for granted the pool pad. They don’t know that pool pads are vital in keeping the above ground pool intact. That’s why it’s important to have the best above ground pool pad if you have an above ground pool.
But what is the best pad for above ground pool to buy?
Let’s check out what our little review has to say:
Why Buy a Pool Pad?
So far, we’ve been talking about buying the best above ground pool floor pad the market has to offer.
But you may be asking yourself why should you buy a pool pad in the first place?
What if you don’t have a pool pad?
Well, we should first consider what a pool pad does for the pool. The best above ground pool bottom pad provides protection for your above ground pool by separating the pool base from the soil base of the pool.
With a good pool pad, the water will not leak out and touch the steel frame. You see, if ever water leaks out of the pool, the steel frame will eventually wear out through rust. The pool pad prevents that from happening.
With that in mind, the importance of a pool pad is to simply protect your pool. That’s why you have to buy the best above ground pool floor padding you can find.
Comparison Table Of The Best Above Ground Pool Pad
Now that we’ve established why pool pads are so important, let’s take a look at some of our choices for the best above ground pool liner pad.
We’ve listed our choices in the table below so you can differentiate them:
Picture | Model | Padding Material | Price |
---|---|---|---|
GLI Round Armor Shield Floor Pad | Polypropylene Geotextile Material | ||
Blue Wave Round Liner Pad | Geotextile Material | ||
Quality Pool Products Round Elephant Guard Pad | Geotextile Material | ||
Rhino Pad Oval Pool Liner Pad Eco-Friendly Material | Recycled Geotextile Material | ||
Blue Wave Gorilla Floor Padding | Geotextile Material |
The Best Above Ground Pool Pad Buying Guide
The products we’ve mentioned above are the five best ones that we’ve picked out based on our experience with them and reviews of other users.
With this list, you can at least narrow down your choices. Of course, you’re only going to need one so that you need to choose the best one.
How do you choose the best one, anyway?
The simplest way is to follow some criteria. If you don’t have one yet, we’ve already got one that can help you.
Check out the factors below:
Material
Probably the most important factor to consider is the material used to make the pool pad. Generally, you’ll find most pool pads today being made out of geotextile material. That’s because geotextile material is known as one of the most durable materials in the market.
In fact, geotextile is actually designed to resist any impact from other external objects like rocks and even the weather. That makes it one of the best materials for pool pads.
On the other side of the coin, you also have pool pads made of polyester geotextile. This is also a pretty strong material but is more lightweight compared to original geotextile. Also, you may find geotextile to be a bit tougher.
In the end, the choice really depends on what you’re looking at for protection. Simply choose the one that’s suited to your preferences.
Water Resistance
You’d be surprised to find out that not all pool pads are actually water resistant. Obviously, the pool pads that aren’t can’t provide that much protection from leaks. What we suggest is that you buy a pool pad that has a “vapor barrier”.
This one specifically prevents water from leaking out of the material and onto the frame. This is the type of water resistance that you need from a pool pad.
Cushion
Another thing you’ll need to take into consideration is the cushion of the pool pad. Since you’ll technically be stepping on the pool pad when you swim, it’ll be nice if the surface is pretty soft. That’s why the cushion is so important.
All you need to do is find the one with the best cushion feature and see, which one’s softness fits your preference.
Size
The last thing that you need to take into consideration is the size of the pool pad. Obviously, this factor will be based on the size of your pool.
Thus, before you buy your pool pad, simply measure the size of your pool and buy the one that fits accordingly.
If you want to know the top pool cleaning tools, we suggest you read our article about the best telescopic pool pole and pool algaecide!
5 Amazing Above Ground Pool Pad Reviews
#1 GLI Round Armor Shield Floor Pad
When it comes to overall durability, this is a pretty good choice. It’s great as protection for vinyl swimming pool liners and strong enough to protect from rocks, acid, mold, and other undesirable material. With the combination of strength and cushion ability, it is actually one of the best pads to put under above ground pool.
Via: Amazon.com
Best Features:
#2 Blue Wave Round Liner Pad
This felt material is actually really good for protecting your pool against punctures from sharp objects. If you always seem to step on something sharp that comes from below your pool, we think we’d best recommend this liner pad.
Via: Amazon.com
Best Features:
#3 Quality Pool Products Round Elephant Guard Pad
The unique thing about this pool pad is that it comes with mold and mildew growth inhibitors. This means that when you put it under your pool, you can expect none of these things to stick. It’s actually the best pad for under above ground pool if you’re worried of molds.
Via: Amazon.com
Best Features:
#4 Rhino Pad Oval Pool Liner Pad Eco-Friendly Material
If you support the environmental movement, you’ll like this liner pad. It’s actually made out of 45% industrialized recycled material along with other materials used in making geotextile fabric. Because of that, it prevents mold and mildew, plus it serves as a durable protective layer.
Via: Amazon.com
Best Features:
#5 Blue Wave Gorilla Floor Padding
The Blue wave Gorilla floor padding is a pretty heavy-duty floor padding that isn’t used for cushioning but used for overall protection. If you have nuts, rocks, pebbles, and other hard objects, you can count on the thickness of this padding to ensure that you won’t feel them when you step on the pool floor.
Via: Amazon.com
Best Features:
Conclusion
By far, these 5 products are the best pool pads that you can find in the market. If you were to choose the best above ground pool pad out of the 5 choices, we may recommend the Rhino Pad Oval Pool Liner Pad Eco-Friendly Material.
Aside from being eco-friendly, it’s strong, easy to trim, very resistant to mold and mildew, can last very long, and has a strong vapor barrier bottom, preventing the water from leaking out and causing the steel frame to rust or corrode. We can say that it provides the most value for money.
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