Ever put in a pool?

$20,000 is a cheap pool. You don't want to cheap out if you've got to live with it for 10 years.

Having said that, Moddy's right. And I'll add one more bit of information. Pool builders are known as the flakiest contractors around. The next pool that's finished "on-time" will be the first. A neighbor got a husband of his wife's co-worker to put it in. A year later, he still had a hole in his back yard. When a different guy came in to finish it, he had to all but start over. The first guy hadn't gotten the plumbing right, or put in the right number of pumps or anything. And it took the second guy about 9 months to do it. Pool guys are just flaky.

 

I'm estimating it's going to cost us $150 a month in electricity, $50 a month to heat it for half the year. We'll be in an area that's unmetered for water, so cost for us there. But you should count that into your monthly expense.
Get yourself a pool service. That's another $75-$100 a month.

 

Count me in as someone for the pool club. For $800/yr. you get unlimited use (plus 5 very nice tennis courts) and none of the headaches. Went with my boys both Sat. and Sun. and came home. Great. 5 min. drive each way, great way to meet new people in the neighborhood.

 

Here is a sobering fact: on average, if you both own a gun and have a swimming pool in the backyard, the swimming pool is about 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun is.

 

We didn't need to know that.

 

Then it's settled. 86 the pool, get the kid an AK. That's what freedom has, after all.

 

I feel I have to represent the meager pro-pool contingent here.

I'm currently renting a house with a pool in the back yard, so I don't know all of the costs associated with a pool. The pool guy, chemicals, etc. are included in the rent. And we don't have to pay homeowners liability. We do have to pay the water and electric though. Our pool is unheated, but we were able to get a solar blanket off of craiglslist for free and it works great. (If you do get/or have a pool, I highly recommend getting one of those blankets. It can really help save money on heating, water, chemicals.)

Anyhow, I'm a swimmer, so I always wanted a place with a pool. After reading this thread, I've been surprised out how many people would find a pool in their backyard unappealing. And you all do make valid points about cost, resale value, maintenance, etc.

Here's some of the reasons as a swimmer and pool enthusiast why I'm happy though to finally have a pool in my own backyard:

* As a swimmer, I always became frustrated with the pool schedules at the gym. Sometimes it seemed that lap swim was only from 9:15-9:25 am on the first Thursday after a new moon. Now, I swim whenever I want.

* I've also had pools as part of an apartment complex or the neighborhood pool. Inevitably though, when I try to do laps, some little kiddies (or sometimes some not so little kiddies) start horsing around and get in the way. I'd try my best to swim around them, but sometimes I feared someone would do a cannonball right into me and I wouldn't be able to get out of the way fast enough. With my own pool, I don't have to worry about that.

* It's really nice to not have to schlep down the block, a few miles, whatever and change in a lockeroom or restroom just to take a quick dip in the pool. Now I can just change in my house, walk to the backyard and hop right in even for just a few mintues and it still feels "worth" it.

* Most pools in gyms and apartment complexes and neighborhood pools have hours. I can take a late-night dip whenever I want.

* With the way my pool and my TV in my living room is set up, I can watch TV from the pool.

* Not to get R-rated, but there are certain things you can't do in a public pool that you can do in a pool in your own backyard.

To dog428, I seem to remember on a house buying and selling thread you were talking about buying and selling houses and trying to tradeup to a dreamhouse (if I remember correctly.) If that's the case and if you were thinking of adding a pool as an investment, after reading this thread, I don't know if I'd do that if I were you. If you're thinking of adding a pool because you want a pool though, I just wanted to point out some of the reasons why I, at least, enjoy finally having a pool in my backyard.

To Moddy, we get the hot tub that we got for free off craigslist hooked up on Thursday

That pool set in the deck that Jay spoke of though sounded really cool.

 

20 is about average down here

 

Yeesh, for another 20 I got a lake in the backyard about 190 miles long.