Guide · 28 October 2026

Above Ground Pool Recall: Check Your Pool Before Spring

Check the above ground pool recall for your model, strap type, and barrier height, and learn what to do if your pool is listed before your next swim.

Removing the ladder felt like enough. For many owners of 48 inch and taller above ground pools, it was not. In July 2025, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of about 5 million above ground pools that use compression straps. The straps wrap around the outside of the support poles, and a child can use one as a foothold to climb into the pool even after the ladder is gone. The Commission said it believes nine children between 22 months and 3 years old drowned after gaining access through those footholds, in incidents between 2007 and 2022 in California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Missouri. Autumn is the time to do this check, while the pool is closed and before a first swim next spring. The recall covers specific models and strap layouts, not every above ground pool.

Why a missing ladder did not stop access

A ladder is one way in. The recalled design puts a strap on the outside of each vertical leg, which gives a small child a place to put a foot and push up. Once a child is high enough to reach the top rail, the wall height stops being a barrier. The Commission also reported three other incidents in 2011 and 2012 in which children were reported to have used the compression strap to get into a recalled pool.

A pool that looks secure from the patio can still have a climbable side facing a side yard or a garden bed. A chair, a planter, a storage box, or a pump housing left against the wall can help a child climb. The recall does not replace supervision, and it does not make a fence optional. It removes one specific foothold, and it gives owners a free repair kit to do that safely.

The repair kit matters because the strap holds the pool together. Bestway warns owners not to cut the strap off before the repair is in place. The kit uses a rope that attaches to each vertical support pole at ground level and wraps around the pool, taking over the structural job that the strap did. Secure the repair first, then cut and remove the strap. While you wait for a kit, keep children from reaching the pool on their own, or drain the pool until the repair is installed.

Check your pool in ten minutes

Start with the outside of the liner. The brand name and model number are printed there, and Bestway also uses a liner SKU number for its check. Write down the brand, the model, the wall height, and the year you bought it. Then look at the strap itself. If the strap runs around the outside of the legs, your pool matches the recalled layout. If it runs on the inside of the legs, behind a leg sleeve, it matches the layout that later models use and that the recall excludes.

The main July 2025 recall covers Bestway, Intex, and Polygroup pools that are 48 inches or taller and use outside compression straps, sold since 2002. Brand names in that recall include Coleman, Summer Waves, Summer Escapes, Funsicle, and Blue Wave, among others. Check the model against the official list, because the same brand name has been used for pools that are included and pools that are not.

Intex shows how narrow the list can be. Its recall covers 48 inch and 52 inch Metal Frame and Ultra Frame pools sold before 2013, plus 234 Prism Frame and Ultra XTR Frame pools sold online by Intex in 2024 and 2025, and 32 Ultra XTR Frame pools sold by Walmart from February 15 to March 11, 2025. Intex pools sold after 2013, with straps fitted with leg sleeves on the inside of the legs, are not included. Pools shorter than 48 inches are not included either.

Recalls did not stop in July 2025. The Commission listed a SereneLife recall on December 18, 2025, for about 80 pools, models SLPORND15 and SLPORND18, with a refund remedy. It listed an Evajoy recall on February 26, 2026, for about 4,000 pools, with a repair remedy. If you bought a pool late in 2025 or in 2026, or you bought one secondhand, check the current recall pages again, even if you checked last summer.

Keep a photo of the liner label and a photo of the strap. Those two photos answer most of the first questions from a manufacturer, and they help the next owner if you sell the pool later.

If your pool is listed, do this in order

First, contact the manufacturer named in the recall for your brand, not a general retailer, unless the recall page tells you to use the retailer. Bestway, Intex, and Polygroup each run their own repair kit process for the July 2025 recall. Ask for the free repair kit, and confirm the model and liner SKU in writing if the form allows it.

Second, limit access until the repair is done. Lock the gate, remove the ladder or lock the steps, and move climbable objects away from the wall. A cover is an extra layer, not a barrier on its own.

Third, install the kit exactly as instructed, then cut and remove the strap. Do not cut the strap first, because it carries load. After the repair, walk around the pool and check each leg for a strap end left behind, a rope that has slipped, or a leg that has moved. Keep the kit instructions with your pool manual.

Fourth, check the remedy for your specific recall, because it is not always a repair kit. SereneLife offered a refund for its small December 2025 recall, which means the instruction there was to stop using the pool and contact the company. If your recall says refund, follow the refund steps and keep the proof of contact.

If you cannot find your model on any list, keep the photos and the date you checked. A dated note makes the next check faster.

The barrier check that still applies to every pool

Even a pool that is not recalled needs a barrier that works. The Commission barrier guide says the top of a pool barrier should be at least 48 inches above grade, measured on the side away from the pool. Some states, counties, or towns require 60 inches, so check your local rule. The guide also says to remove handholds and footholds and to keep openings small. For a fence of horizontal and vertical members, spacing between vertical members and inside decorative cutouts should not exceed 1 and 3 quarter inches, a size based on the foot width of a young child.

For an above ground pool, the pool wall itself can serve as part of the barrier when it is high enough and the installation meets local rules. The weak point is usually access. Steps or a ladder should be secured, locked, or removed when the pool is not in use, or the steps and ladder should sit inside a barrier that meets the same standard. A self closing and self latching gate helps only if the latch is out of a small child's reach and the gate is never propped open. Check whether it closes on its own from a half open position.

Walk the full barrier line. Look for gaps under the fence, a low spot where soil has settled, a tree limb that now reaches over the fence, and a storage item that has drifted against the outside of the fence. Remove toys from the water and from the deck after use, because a toy in the water invites a child to reach for it. Keep rescue equipment where an adult can reach it fast. A barrier, a locked entry, an alarm, a cover, and adult supervision work as layers.

Autumn is a good time for this walk. Leaves hide a gap and a summer chair stays by the fence. Fix the small items now, while no one is swimming.

Buying used or buying next: what to check first

A used pool can be a good deal, and it can also carry a recall that the seller never saw. Before you pay, ask for the brand, model, liner SKU, purchase year, and a photo of the strap. Run those details against the current recall pages. If the seller says the repair kit was installed, ask for the kit paperwork or a photo of the finished repair, with the strap removed. If the seller cannot provide any of that, do not let children use it until you have done the check yourself.

For a new pool, confirm the strap layout first. Models made since June 2024 by Bestway, for example, put the compression strap on the inside of the vertical legs, and Bestway says its 2025 and 2026 season models in that layout are not included in the recall. Check the model, check the strap photo in the listing, and check the recall page for the brand before you buy. A listing photo that hides the legs tells you nothing.

Budget for the barrier at the same time as the pool. A price that leaves no room for a gate, a lock, an alarm, or a fence repair is not a complete price. If you are comparing brands, you can browse pool brands on our brands directory before you settle on a model, and you can read our winter closing guide at Above-Ground Pool Winterizing: The Closing Checklist for the seasonal steps that sit next to this safety check.

Nine children died after using a foothold that most adults would not have noticed. A ten minute check, a free repair kit, and a barrier walk remove the specific foothold that the recall names, and they leave you with a record for the next owner or for yourself next spring. Check the label, the strap, and the gate, and write down the date.

Sources: the main July 2025 recall notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Commission Safety Barrier Guidelines for Residential Pools, the Intex recall page, Bestway recall questions, the SereneLife recall notice, and the Evajoy recall notice.

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