Swimming Pool or No pool?

[Chris Padilla]

Ponds need kept clean...pools need kept clean. Both require some effort but knowledge is power to work smartly and not necessarily harder.

[Roger Feeley]

Put me in the probably not category. But it really depends on you and your neighborhood.

I used to visit my aunt and uncle in Webster Groves, MO and the folks across the street had a pool. That thing was the center of the neighborhood. They had a regular schedule and a flag system to announce the state of the pool.

Green meant pool was open to all
Yellow flag meant grown-ups only
Red flag meant family time
Checkered flag flew only once a year and that was their annual pool party. Covered dish, pool games, great fun.

But most people sort of keep the pool to themselves and it's kind of a pain. As others have posted, a pool service takes much of the drudgery out.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Roger - thank you for a very good idea with flags. I like it.

Ed.

Put me in the probably not category. But it really depends on you and your neighborhood.

I used to visit my aunt and uncle in Webster Groves, MO and the folks across the street had a pool. That thing was the center of the neighborhood. They had a regular schedule and a flag system to announce the state of the pool.

Green meant pool was open to all
Yellow flag meant grown-ups only
Red flag meant family time
Checkered flag flew only once a year and that was their annual pool party. Covered dish, pool games, great fun.

But most people sort of keep the pool to themselves and it's kind of a pain. As others have posted, a pool service takes much of the drudgery out.

[Chris Parks]

If we wait 20 years, "everyone" will be removing the ECGs to be safe from Iridium hazards, save electricity, or whatever matches the current trend.

Salt water pools have been used in Australia since the 1970's and I see no evidence of using anything else, in fact it is unusual to see any other type installed if the pool is in ground. Above ground pools generally rely on the manual addition of Chlorine by whatever means is chosen. My pool is 21 years old and the water has never been changed and I have had the chlorine generation system renewed once in that time. One thing I do once a year is use a high pressure washer to clean the sides and bottom of the pool. I attach the head of the washer to the long pole we have for the leaf scoop and it is surprising how much dirt is stuck to the surfaces and unseen. We live at the edge of a forest with huge trees surrounding the pool and it lives with a cover on it 24/7. This has an added advantage of stopping water evaporation which will lead to chemical imbalance as well.

[Jim Becker]

The condo we rented in Key West last week for our vacation had a salt pool...it was quite pleasant. That was my first experience with them.

[Chris Padilla]

Salt water pools have been used in Australia since the 1970's and I see no evidence of using anything else, in fact it is unusual to see any other type installed if the pool is in ground. Above ground pools generally rely on the manual addition of Chlorine by whatever means is chosen. My pool is 21 years old and the water has never been changed and I have had the chlorine generation system renewed once in that time. One thing I do once a year is use a high pressure washer to clean the sides and bottom of the pool. I attach the head of the washer to the long pole we have for the leaf scoop and it is surprising how much dirt is stuck to the surfaces and unseen. We live at the edge of a forest with huge trees surrounding the pool and it lives with a cover on it 24/7. This has an added advantage of stopping water evaporation which will lead to chemical imbalance as well.

So the SWG (salt water generator) cell you use lasts you about 10-11 years with no other maintenance? Cells here do not last quite that long from what I can tell and they do need an acid wash 1-2 times per year to get the crud off the electrodes. I'd like to hear more details about Australian salt water pools!

[Chris Padilla]

The condo we rented in Key West last week for our vacation had a salt pool...it was quite pleasant. That was my first experience with them.

Other than the ocean, which is about 10x more salty than a salt water pool (~33,000 ppm salt compared to ~3,300 ppm salt), I have yet to knowingly swim in a salt water pool. I understand that most people like them quite a bit.

[Chris Padilla]

https://www.betzpools.com/blog/salt-...ems-yes-or-no/

An interesting read on salt water pools.

[David Cramer]

I'm in Michigan by the way, so it's not the same for many of the posters who have their pools open year round or close to it. Memorial Day till Labor Day and that's "close" to all you're gonna get, unless El Nino happens this year as they predict it will.

David

[lyda speer]

First you have to be sure whether you need that pool or not. Because swimming pools costs a considerable amount of money. It’s not a big headache if you have a good pool builder Ferrari pools designed pool for my home in Boston. They were really efficient. I have hired them for the maintenance services also. I don’t have nothing much to worry about, other than monitoring the maintenance guy.

[Jim Pastorius]

I made that mistake once.(built in)
There absolutely no financial return on a swimming pool. Especially an in ground.
Also, it is not a 'plus' if/when you ever decide to sell your house.
An above ground can at least be given away or hauled to scrap yard.

[Art Mulder]

I made that mistake once.(built in)
There absolutely no financial return on a swimming pool. Especially an in ground.
Also, it is not a 'plus' if/when you ever decide to sell your house.
An above ground can at least be given away or hauled to scrap yard.

I'm late to this thread, but wanted to pass along an interesting bit of advice that I read on another forum some time ago.

Jim's comment is key. A few other people have also mentioned something similar. (this probably depends on where you live, but ... ) Around here a pool does not affect the price of a house at all. So your house might be worth $300k, and another near identical house on your block with a pool would also have a price pretty close to $300k.

So here is the advice that I heard: *IF* you want an in-ground pool, the smart thing financially is to SELL your house, and find and buy a similar house that ALREADY has a pool. Even with closing costs and moving costs, that is still probably cheaper than the price of putting in a pool.

(Again, that probably depends on where you live, as if you are in a 1million dollar market then those numbers may not work the same.) And also, this is purely a financial measurement. Things like how much you love your house are not counted.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Art, interesting advice, and from financial point of view could be best advice so far. But from my wife' view - never heppend.

Ed.

I'm late to this thread, but wanted topass along an interesting bit of advice that I read on another forum some time ago.

Jim's comment is key. A few other people have also mentioned something similar. (this probably depends on where you live, but ... ) Around here a pool does not affect the price of a house at all. So your house might be worth $300k, and another near identical house on your block with a pool would also have a price pretty close to $300k.

So here is the advice that I heard: *IF* you want an in-ground pool, the smart thing financially is to SELL your house, and find and buy a similar house that ALREADY has a pool. Even with closing costs and moving costs, that is still probably cheaper than the price of putting in a pool.

(Again, that probably depends on where you live, as if you are in a 1million dollar market then those numbers may not work the same.) And also, this is purely a financial measurement. Things like how much you love your house are not counted.

[Ole Anderson]

About the time I went into college, my folks added onto the house for an indoor gunite pool. Being indoors eliminates a lot of the problems, but brings on a whole host of others. It got used a lot, but that was more than 30 years ago. My BIL in TN has one that gets used frequently. My good friend filled theirs in this year now that all 5 kids are no longer home. Personally I have had a Hot Springs spa for 20 years that takes minimal maintenance, I empty it during the cold season, something you can't do with a pool.

A gunite pool can be quite abrasive on your skin, newcomers may go home with bleeding toes. We just got back from a resort in Cancun that had 4 pools, every one was fully lied with one inch ceramic tiles, expensive but seemed a good way to go.

[Barry Richardson]

I just finally (thank god) got rid of my home with a pool. Never again. As some one said early on, a pool is a lot like a boat. A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into, a pool is a hole in the ground you throw money into. We had one built at the insistence of the wife and kids, and it was cool for a while, (about one season) until the novelty wears off. I live in phoenix and you get about 6 months of pool use a year, other parts of the country would be much less. Had a salt system, got tired of fussing with it and replacing components (expensive) so just went to chlorine tabs. I don't like the smell of chlorine or how it dries your skin either, but if you keep it at a proper level it is not bad at all. A lot of people have bad experiences with community or public pools/spas where they keep the chlorine jacked way up to counter accidents in the pool and what not... There is a family owned pool supply/service near me who have been in business since forever, very savvy pool wise, and even though they sell salt systems, they advise against them, the upside is just not worth the downside....