He gave into his wife's demand for a pool. He searched for pool contractors, picked 3 or 4, got bids, signed on the line which is dotted, and paid a down payment.
The excavator got about 4 feet deep when they realized when the home developer who built the neighborhood did the tree removal, they buried all the tree stumps in my brother's backyard. Added an unforeseen $6k to the bill to remove them.
of your house, and may even lower the market value, depending on the area.
Just do it for the fun, not as an investment, and you will enjoy.
I'd avoid any diving board. Ours came with one and it was dismantled when our boys decided it would be fun to see how far out they could dive (to the shallow end).
Keep a fence around the pool that is hard to unlock. The pool drew our 2 year old daughter like a magnet. One other time neighborhood kids thought it would be funny to lift a little kid over the fence to where our pool was.
Everyone survived, although I had to jump in the pool twice fully clothed to fish out our kids. Even in So Cal New Year's Day is dang cold.
Although I never thought that jt would be so far behind the times.
if so blessed. We don't have the lifestyle that allows Fri exits and Mon returns to and from the lake, so this has been very enjoyable for my spouse, children(grown now) and our grandchildren. I am the caretaker, which is a pain, except the occasional game of "The Lady and the Pool Boy", which I quite fancy.
Seriously, email me and I'll detail 12 years of inground pool experiences, which do involve some of the points others have made here.
Frankly I don't use it as much as we should. We use Home Chef (meal prep service) 3x/week and usually eat out a couple nights a week too.
Part of the issue is my wife doesn't really want to get the charcoal started. But man, that Big Joe is an absolute beast- love having people over to cook pizzas on the pizza stone.
I agree with prior posters that the ROI just isn't there for most people unless you have the money to pay someone else to upkeep it and you don't care what that costs.
I have a pool and spend inordinate amounts of time cleaning and maintaining it. Far more than I appreciated. But it's old and massive so that doesn't help.
But I have little kids and we live in AZ so we'll get years of enjoyment out of it. It's useful for 5 months out of the year. I know adults without children and frankly I don't get it. They rarely use it.
in February. I went down there expecting 85 and sunny and multiple pool days; it was below freezing overnight and never hit 82 the whole time.
Pools everywhere, and not a person in them.
It's frustrating for people who travel in April and the pool isn't open even though its 90 out.
& Liability are ongoing expenses!
Spend your $$$ on a Great Outdoor kitchen & a Hot Tub;
Advice from one who put in a built-in pool 19 yrs and have not gotten the ROI I was expecting!
We hardly ever use the heater. Our water temperature this last weekend was over 90 degrees, so we really could use the chiller.
I also highly recommend the salt chlorine generator. It really cuts down on the chemical costs.
Covered pool in Indianapolis for reference.
It’s been over 90 for a week here in MD and I’m at 82.
Leaving the cover off is a no go with the wife.
18x36 with like a half moon spa feeding into it. Shared heating and filtration systems unless you want spa mode, in which case the waterfalls from spa to pool stop and the heater focuses on the spa.
Auto cover very nice feature. Keeps dirt out, heat in (maybe not a benefit for Southern CA). It also is a very nice safety feature in that you can walk on it (i.e. no young kids can get in if it is closed). Also have in-floor cleaners, which basically do everything for you. We have people open and close it and weekly chem checks, plus then whenever a pump or something dies. Given we are over 10 years now we've replaced a lot.
Our backyard was previously unusable in summer due to southwest exposure, even in Illinois. Sweltering. If kids are the right age, adding a pool is a major plus.
Get some good multi-colored lighting, too (you can select any color you want or have it continually scroll through). Adds a ton at night. Depending on depth consider a slide. Also we have a b-ball hoop "built in" to the walkway around the pool (two bars hold it very sturdily in place but can be removed in winter).
Regarding chem checks I had never wanted to invest the time and effort into becoming independent on this but I'm in the midst of changing pool companies so now might be the time. Still would have to hire for opening and closing and major repairs.
Thing needs constant cleaning and repair. I told him we should drive his old car into it and then fill it in with whatever crap we find around the house.
and not just a subscription to the jelly of the month club (even though it is the gift that gives all year long).
It avoids the need for a fence, reduces evaporation, and has solar heating and heat retention benefits.
The company we used is linked below (we're in San Diego too).
If you move forward with getting one, make sure your builder hides/integrates the tracks into your design rather than sticking the tracks on after the fact.
For me, it was nothing but work (cleaning, checking, painting) and cost (chemicals, parts, beer for my father-in-law who loved fiddling with the damn thing's mechanical systems (which was just as well as I didn't have the time).
Buffalo ain't California and I lost interest in swimming about a half century ago so "your mileage may vary," but for me, never again.
But it is a luxury and an ongoing expense. You just need to accept that.
You will need to decide up front about a salt water system versus typical chlorine. Salt water systems are very popular but need to have fittings and equipment designed for it. Not a big deal if you are starting from scratch.
You should ask up front about the expected life. Pumps probably last about 10 years max. Tile and plaster are about 12-15 years. We just redid ours. Not cheap. The expected life will vary by locale so you should understand what is typical for your area and the construction you use.
Annual chemical bills vary. Where you live you will likely be able to use some of what you are planning for the majority of the year so the chemical bill will be an ongoing expense.
Cleaning and other upkeep are simple, especially if you have a good robot pool sweep. They have improved a lot over the last few years.
We are unable to travel so our backyard is our vacation spot. It is a nice luxury, but is a great alternative to going to a resort for vacation. And I don’t feel guilty if the weather isn’t optimal and I decide not to use it for the weekend.
his Arizona swimming pool into a native pond. So, if this swimming pool thing doesn't work out, I'll have an expert lined up on how to return it to nature.
from all of the trucks and other equipment going back and forth. 2 of my neighbors just had pools put in. Both yards need major landscaping repairs. I myself just completed a major pool renovation including a massive rock boulder waterfall and a new patio area with the TV and sound setup. My lawn was beautiful before the project began but once they brought the machines to the backyard to drop off all of the heavy materials, the lawn was destroyed and had to spend a few grand to have a landscaper fix it.
You won't regret the pool purchase, it's worth every penny if you ask me.
Good luck!
Don't put one in.
It will cost more than you think to keep it up, especially as the equipment ages and if you aren’t handy. Case in point: it costs $200 to get someone to look at my pool heater. I’ve fixed it four times in the past few years for $20 in parts, a few hours of sweating, and by watching a YouTube video.
It will mean that you host the preponderance of any family/friends get togethers (I find this a positive).
Make sure you have a heater unless you live on the sun. You will grow to enjoy the freedom of warming up the water in the early/late season or at night.
Where are you located?
people think a pool adds value when, in fact, it may be the opposite. Depends on where you live, I think. They seem to be ubiquitous in areas with year round heat, but not necessarily a good investment in areas with four real seasons. My brother has one in NJ. Replacing the heater would have cost $5000. Cover was $1000 to replace. His late Labrador used it more than anyone.
In the end homeowners should do what they want. If a family enjoys a pool or you like to swim laps (great exercise), go for it. Just understand the realities.
They love them. It’s awesome. My parents also had a yellow lab in CA who used their pool more than anyone. She would go for a swim whenever she felt like it. For some reason it gave me great joy just to see the dog jump in and doggypaddle around on her own. Aside from the dog I don’t think we used the pool much, but it was great when we did, and from that there are many good memories I still carry.
electric bill. It doesn't seem like you can just turn it on and in a a short time have a nice comfortable water temp.
I can go up 2 degrees an hour in full sun, usually about 1 degree an hour overnight.
The natural gas costs me about $100 for a whole summer of usage. I probably run the heater for 100 hours a season, and a 240K BTU pool heater uses about 2.5 therms of NG per hour. At $0.45-ish per therm, that equates to just over a dollar an hour.
very neat.
Your pool is full of ginger ale and you toggle the nat gas temps to secure rib basting excellence....
You'll have a lot of work to do in terms of cleaning the pool and maintaining the right balance of chemicals. My parents have one and my dad works on it every day for those activities alone.
of the chemical balancing. Supposedly, or so I'm told. That's one of things I'm trying to identify sales pitch vs reality on.
And I work out of my house, so tending to the pool can provide a nice break during the day. I can understand how it might be challenge if I was spending long days away from home though.
...to the pool, cracking open a beer, and checking everything out. It's a nice transition from work to home.
dere?
Thanx fer the invite, pal. Gee whiz.
I propose NDN DAY AT GIGGITY’S! 1:00 to 1:15 pm.
than without. I'm in Southern California / Temecula.
You're the last true family man