Swimming Pool or No pool?

[Mike Henderson]

Here's a good story about the horrors of owning a pool.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/29697757/...e#.Vb_imPlVgSU

Heavy rains + empty pool = big trouble...

When I lived in Florida my neighbor had a company come out to work on their pool. Before the company drained it, they put in shallow wells all around the pool and pumped the ground water out. I asked one of the workmen why they did that and he told me that the pool would pop out of the ground when they drained it if they didn't pump the ground water out.

They had to keep pumping the whole time the pool was empty to keep the water table down around the pool. So the problem of pools popping out is well known in Florida (which has a very high water table). The owners of that house must not have known about it.

Mike

[Florida has lots of heavy rain. All year long, as I remember it. But it must have been seasonal.]

[Ruperto Mendiones]

Living next to a wildfire prone national forest my pool exists solely as a source of water for fire protection. Grandkids haven't used it or been been by for 2 years. Aside from fire protection here in S. Calif., I have little use for a $$pool.

[Rich Enders]

Ruperto,

Wouldn't a cistern be a less expensive way of storing water for fire protection?

[Joe Tilson]

For us it would be more work than enjoyment, after listening to my sister and her husband talk about their pool, and they are in the know about pools.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

It is amazing to see poll result -11 to 1 against it. And only one can't swim.
Thank you everyone for recommendations.
I am still in process of deciding, even my better half already decided for both of us

Ed.

[Dennis Aspö]

I work for a company that builds wooden hot tubs and saunas, and now too plastic lined models (which are far more popular). I think one day I'll build one of those plastic lined models we sell, with a bubble system and filtration, into my deck.

[Val Kosmider]

Built a new house some years ago and installed a pool. Kids loved it, and i really enjoyed it--especially when it was kid free!

Some things which I found to my liking were the vinyl liner---less costly (perceived by the "in the know" bunch as being inferior (sort of like having fabric seats in a car--way more comfortable, but everyone wants leather because it is fashionable!), way more comfortable under foot (soft, versus hard like concrete or fiberglass), easier to maintain (just let the creep crawly go and it stays clean because of the smooth surface), and less maintenance issues --especially in a cold climate.

I used a synthetic chlorine (baquacil) which was a little more costly, but overall gave a better water quality with no chlorine "smell". Sand filter. Gas heater. Solar cover. Rubberized canvas cover for the winter which anchored to permanent bolts in the pool deck. Concrete deck with a cool marble finish so it is not hot underfoot.

I really enjoyed the pool. The operating cost was not crazy...maybe a few hundred bucks a year for chemicals, opening and closing for the season, gas for the heater, and miscellaneous "stuff". It was not a hassle, and the hours of enjoyment--especially after some yard work when you could just jump in and get refreshed were worth whatever effort was required.

I sold the house to a family. Pool was a desirable feature.

[Chris Padilla]

IF one doesn't learn how to properly take care of a pool, it can be a major headache in one's life and I can certainly understand wanting to fill it in.

There is a site on the web call Trouble Free Pools and much like SMC, it is a site of enthusiasts who can help you with issues and they subscribe to an overall KISS (keep it simple simple) method of pool maintenance.

I have found the site quite invaluable.

Back in 1998, we purchased a home (we are still here) and it was perfect except for the figure 8-shaped pool with attached spa. Hmmmm. Well, the rest of the house was perfect and this IS California so it was something I had to learn. Well, the beginning was pretty cool but as soon as I had algae and leaking problems, things turned sour fast and my attitude was to "fill the darn thing in" and "having a pool is a love/hate relationship" and so on.

Well, over the years I've learned a lot but things took a new turn stumbling upon TFP. Now I feel way more in control now that I've been educated. I've never hired anyone to take care of my pool and now I don't need to. In fact, we just sunk $25k into refinishing the pool (new equipment, new plumbing and rerouting, etc.) and another $35k into the landscape around the pool and things are going very well. I did a TON of work on both the pool and landscape myself along with paying pros. Maintaining a pool is still a fair amount of work but it is now down to a science for me and only a few minutes a day.

Knowing what I know now, a pool is no problem. Knowing what I knew 10 years ago, a pool is a major headache and not worth it. It is all about education. Good Luck!!

[Chris Padilla]

Now that I've read some of the replies, let me further add this:

My pool is weirdly but interestingly-shaped: a figure 8 with attached spa w/spillover.

It isn't long enough to swim laps in so that is annoying.

It is strange-shaped so auto pool covers (and I would pay $$$$s for one) will not work.

We have an enormous oak tree in our back yard and it along with the squirrel community constantly rains debris into our pool 365-52-24-7. It doesn't matter if it is the dead of winter and not a leaf to be found...something is falling from this tree into our pool.

Had I designed our pool back in 1978 when it was put in, I would have done the following:

Boring long rectangle long enough to swim laps in AND with an automated pool cover.

The attached spa with a manual cover would be fine. A cover that small is no biggie to handle manually.

[Steve Peterson]

I'd like to try an infinite pool but haven't.

We recently upsized our house and one critical requirement (according to my wife) was to have a pool. My kids are 9 and 11. They are in it all the time.

It is an infinite edge pool. It looks great, but you have to keep the pump running all the time when using the pool or else the catch basin will overflow. The catch basin is the length of the pool and about 2' wide with about 6" of storage. The pool is about 20' wide so it only takes about 10 minutes of kids splashing to drain 1" of water into the catch basin. About half of that will be in the lawn unless the pump is running to keep filling the pool. The kids toys are always falling over the edge. It also leaves an edge that you cannot stand on to use the scrub brush.

To me it seems like a choice of looks over functionality. The infinite edge looks better, but a traditional pool is more functional. I am not sure how much it added to the cost, since it was already built when we bought the house. I would prefer a traditional pool if we ever did it again.

Steve

[David Cramer]

Above ground 16' by 32' Doughboy in Michigan. Have had it for 13 years this summer (Late May till early September). We've had a Polaris Cleaner ($200) since day one. No issues at all. The pool was $2800 13 years ago. Timer on the sand filter (pump). Does not cost that much to run the pump. We have a floating chlorine container that holds 3 hockey puck sizes of Chlorine Tablets. We only put liquid chlorine in it when we open and close it. The tablets lasts for a long time (Sam's Club and Costco sell them in 5 gallon buckets).

Again, this is an above ground pool (42" deep) and although we aren't at the level of poverty, we surely don't have $25,000 to be putting into redoing a pool as that's simply not in the cards. My friend from high school works at Google and he put more than that into his. One day the liner will have to be replaced, but it's still a few years away from that.

We love our pool and are glad that we put it in

Good luck with your decision.

David

It is amazing to see poll result -11 to 1 against it. And only one can't swim.
Thank you everyone for recommendations.
I am still in process of deciding, even my better half already decided for both of us

Ed.

[Robert Payne]

We had a 20' x 40' in-ground pool in the backyard of our home in Rhode Island when my youngest kids were in grade and high school and it was a real blessing. It was cast-in-place concrete and about 32,000 gallons with a nice deck all around. I added an automated chlorination system using a metering pump on a timer and industrial strength bleach (about triple the strength of Clorox) that I bought from an industrial supplier and kept in a 40 gallon heavy plastic garbage can with a lid. The 1-1/2 hp pump was also on a timer and the system had a large sand filter and a 275,000 btu natural gas heater. Once I got the system tuned, it kept the water crystal clear and the kids loved it. It was not a major expense since it was with the house when we bought it and added value when we sold the house ten years later (1975-1985). With some help, I replaced the wooden section of the deck when we sold the house ($2,500 in treated decking). We loved it.

[Rich Enders]

Surprising that the poll at one point was 11 to 1 against. In scanning the two dozen actual responses it seemed that only a few were against.

Actually this is the first time I noticed that there was a poll option. Perhaps that explains the difference.

[Jim Becker]

Swimming pools are very nice to have, but if maintaining a small pond (which are generally self-sufficient) is a pain, then you'll not enjoy pool maintenance one bit. Even with a lot of the available cleaning automation, there's still a lot of things to do on a regular basis. If you do choose to proceed with the pool, opt for a salt water system and avoid the chlorine.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Thank you, Jim - this is what I am planning to choose - salt water pool.
Unfortunately pond is not so small and does require weekly filters cleaning. It is not difficult - but not very rewarding.
Ed.