Liberty Compassion Fiberglass Pool, 12x23 and 12x26

The Compassion is for people who spend more time sitting in a pool than swimming in it, which, honestly, is most people. The seating bench runs the full length, so a group can sit and talk with the water at chest height instead of standing around in the shallow end. Liberty also tags both sizes with a tanning ledge and multiple entry points.

It looks at home behind newer houses with straight lines and big windows. It also works on older lots in places like Cuyahoga Falls or Stow, where the backyard is deeper than it is wide and a 16 ft pool would crowd everything. A 12 ft wide shell leaves room for a walkway on one side and a real patio on the other.

Liberty lists the Compassion 12.23 at 12 ft 3 in by 23 ft 6 in, running from 3 ft 10 in to 5 ft 4 in deep, and about 6,600 gallons. The 12.26 is 12 ft by 26 ft 10 in, runs from 4 ft to 5 ft 8 in, and holds about 7,900 gallons. The extra three feet or so of length and the slightly deeper end are the whole difference, and they cost $3,300 more in our packages.

Neither is deep. Both keep most of the water at a depth where adults can stand, which is what you want for volleyball, for teaching kids to swim or for floating. If you want a real deep end, look at the Valiant or Virtuous instead.

With our 4 ft deck on every side, the 12.23 needs roughly 20 by 32 ft and the 12.26 about 20 by 35 ft. That is modest by pool standards. On a narrow lot, the setback is usually what decides it. Stow allows pools 10 ft from side and rear lines. Strongsville asks for 15 ft from any lot line, including the equipment, so the pump and filter pad has to meet the same line as the pool.

The Compassion is tagged auto cover ready, which matters more than it sounds. A straight-sided pool with a track cover keeps heat in overnight and leaves out, and our spring pollen and fall leaf drop are no joke in a yard with mature maples.

Both packages include the Liberty shell and full installation, a Pentair variable-speed pump, a Pentair DE filter, a pool heater, Pentair MicroBrite color-changing LED lights, the 4 ft concrete wrap deck, a cleaning kit, starter chemicals and the electrical hook-up at the equipment. Every pool gets a 3D design before we dig, and we pull the permits.

We price the site items after we see the yard: the barrier fence, extra decking, spoils haul-off, dewatering if the dig takes on water, and the electrical run from your panel to the pad. Knowing those early is how you avoid surprises halfway through.

Because people sit on that bench, a heater earns its keep here. Many owners also add bubblers on the ledge, a wider patio along the seating side so the conversation can spill out of the pool, and LED lighting scenes run from automation. A salt system is another common request.