rw-Pools, anyone ever put one in?

Our house had a pool when we bought it so I can't say about the cost of putting on in.  As much as I LOVE having a pool, I am not sure that I would buy another house with one.  It would really just depend.  It seems like there is always something wrong with it! 

As far as monthly costs go, if you do your own chemicals and cleaning, it can be very cheap.  I always rented before we had a house with a pool, and the A/C systems were old, so when we moved to this house with a brand new A/C and pool, I didn't notice a significant jump in price on electricity.  Our water bills is slightly higher in the Summer because ours is in full sun and tends to need water added a few times a week, as well as the splashing that comes with swimming.

If you pay someone for just chemicals, you are looking at $100 a month.  For cleaning add another $50-$80.  We used to use a cheaper chemical company but the type of chlorine they were using was ruining our vinyl liner.  I pay someone to do chemicals and backwash when needed and we sweep the sides etc ourselves.  Definately have a pool vacuum installed on it's own motor if you have a full size pool put in.  It makes keeping it clean so much easier! 

I can't remember if it changed our homeowner's policy but you will have added liability with a pool, and I am not sure that it will increase the property value much.  It also means that when you do sell, there is only a certain market of people that will buy your house as a lot of people don't want a pool at all. 

Oh, and I know we have never met in person, but you are more than welcome to use ours anytime you want!  :)   

Anecdotally from two different pool owners, both say it is easier & cheaper, maintenance-wise, to go with a saltwater system rather than the traditional chlorine/chemical system.  BF's brother converted his pool to saltwater and said it's the best decision he made for the pool.  My brother's neighbor had his pool put in after he bought his house, and said hands down he wanted the saltwater system.  Also, I know those little vacuum things that wander around the pool floor are well-received by a few folks I know who have them.

Oh yes, I have also heard great things about saltwater systems so it is definately worth exploring that option!

aerial1313

Anecdotally from two different pool owners, both say it is easier & cheaper, maintenance-wise, to go with a saltwater system rather than the traditional chlorine/chemical system.

We put our pool in after we bought the house and went with the saltwater system. I love it and wouldn't consider anything else. We never have to buy or use chlorine, never have the smell or any of the other yuck that comes from it either.

Our pool was pricey, about $48K, but it included a free-form pool, spa, fiber optic lights, a sheer descent waterfall and a ton of decking. We really spluged on just about every option, but I've never regretted it. We wanted a beach entry but they take up a lot of area, so we went with the carribean steps and I'm so glad we did. Maintenance isn't bad at all, but then DH does it and doesn't seem to mind. We don't have any trees or shrubs that cause us to have to skim or sweep it much. We add muratic acid now and then, but it's easy to test for it and dispense it. We add a big bag of rock salt about once a year and a water softener type of stuff no more than once a year. I can't really tell you how much it's raised our electric bill but it hasn't been significant. Where I live, almost every home has a pool, and if I had kids, I wouldn't hesitate. DH uses it more than I do, but I get a lot of pleasure just from the view of it. It makes the yard look like paradise :)

Oh - on the timing. Ours was on track to be finished in about 6 weeks but then the light they ordered for the waterfall was wrong. While they reordered it, we started getting rain and seepage underground and it ended up being an extra month or more. I ultimately had to be the wicked witch to get it finished and it confirmed what everyone had warned me about. It never goes as smoothly as planned.

There're a bunch of variables LOL. I know for certain tho it'd do squat for our resale...so we'd need to be fully committed to staying put for a good long while.

The homes in this area that HAVE pools and are around the same size are really only $10-20K more than this one...so the question is, should we just MOVE. LOL. I hate moving...but I LOVE...looking at houses...

We'd need to stay near the kids school to...and I don't even wanna THINK about selling this house LOL. The market is not as  bad as elsewhere but still...showings...the stuff of nightmares!!

Looks like we'd be looking at, at LEAST $30K for a smallish fiberglass pool. *sigh* I could do A LOT for the yard without a pool to make it more enjoyable for that amt. Covered patio...outdoor kitchen...deck...

Not sure if it is even of interest, but have you looked into an above ground pool, or even a hot tub?  When I was young, my parent's bought a pool for my brother and I that was big enough for us to swim in, but was more temporary like THESE.  And like I said, you are more than welcome to come over and swim with the kids this Summer!  With a little notice, we could even fire the grill up and get our drink on with the mens!  :)

They guesstimate that you can get about an 80% return on it in our area and homes with pools are definitely more appealing, but yeah, it's not a great investment if you're planning to move. When we bought this home, it was my dream home and I couldn't imagine ever wanting anything different. Well we've actually gone thru a couple of phases where we were looking at other homes with more land. Nothing came of it but it does go to show that things can change on a dime.

boneyjean

Not sure if it is even of interest, but have you looked into an above ground pool, or even a hot tub? 

I briefly considered it but LORD they are so awful looking! Our neighbor has one in the back...on of those BIG inflatable ones? ugh. I can't imagine anything that hideous in my yard.I am also sure Miss Cleo would find SOME way to ruin it....probably dig under it and collapse the danged thing. lol.

Thank you Sarah for the offer. I might take you up on it...Lily and Eli just really adore swimming and are getting pretty good at it too with all their lessons.

It's so weird the changes you go thru...when we were looking I did NOT want a pool period full stop because of safety issues and now? *sigh*

It's tough because our yard is so BIG right now...there's plenty of room and I can even see just where I'd put it. Plenty of run space left over for kids and dogs...

My cousins have an in-ground, not sure how much it cost but they put it in themselves and I'd say it was worth it because of how much they and our entire extended family uses it.  It is not too big and just a rectangle, but it has nice tile around the water line and the rest is some sort of finished cement, it's not slippery/plastic-y like some pools I've been in.  They have this barracuda thing that is in it all the time, cleaning the bottom and sides.  They also have a nice deck, hot tub, and sweet grilling setup so their house is like the party house, we use it when they are at their cottage.  Most of the other people I know/knew with pools filled them in, but this is Michigan so they only get used June - Sept and are probably a bitch to keep because of the winter permafrost.

I remember you mentioning that when we got ours.  We just recently installed a wrought iron fence around ours as a permanent fixture for safety reasons.  It sure makes it nice in the backyard because now we can go out there and play and not worry about Devin or anyone else's kids wandering into the pool and don't have to watch their every move!  Our backyard has been our focus on projects this year too and it excites me to no end, even though at this point the projects are on a super strict budget!  If you really do want a pool, but don't want to make the investment, you can find something that will work.  I have seen above ground pools surronded by a raised deck that were really nice.  Also, as I was browsing through that link, I saw one that was actually wood I think.  It might be worth exploring more because it would certainly be a much smaller investment while still accomplishing what you hope for and even be pleasing to the eye and Cleo proof!  hehehe

When I was a kid, we had an above-ground pool that we installed.  My dad wanted a deep end, so he and my mom dug part of it to 10' and it sloped from the shallow end at 4' all the way down.  It was oval and decent sized for a family of 4.  We had help to put the sides up because it would be physically impossible for one person to do.  Even though we lived in Michigan, we got a ton of use out of that pool.

As an adult, when I lived in Virginia Beach, my then dh wanted a pool, so we put up a round above-ground pool that was 4' deep all the way around.  Putting the sides up nearly caused us to divorce.  And our yard had a lot of trees, so guess who spent a ton of time cleaning and caring for it?  Not him.  We took it down after 2 years because of the hassle.  Not to mention my wench neighbor with her 3 brats who wanted to dump them on me while she spent time trying to lure my dh to bed.

Inflatable pools, what inflatable will they think of next?  Did anyone see a recent America's Funniest Videos?  I was channel surfing, stopped briefly on this show, and there was an inflatable pool, maybe 4' deep, and about 6 or 8 kids playing in it.  One of the larger kids leaned on the side and some of the water started to spill out.  Next thing you saw was water and kids flowing right over the side.

In the city I live in, a traditional above-ground pool or in-ground must be surrounded by a 4-foot fence with a locking gate, and that fence has to be so many feet from the pool.  So if your backyard is fenced, you have to have another fence around the pool.  I think that's why people like those stupid inflatables - code enforcement doesn't count them as a permanent structure and you don't have to spend more money on fencing it in.

Hmm...the fake wood one doesn't give me as many horrified shudders as the others...hmm. Deck you say? Hmm...

That is all I will add. oh and that if my parents had gotten us a pool - I would have loved them more. :P LOL.