Ever put in a pool?

[dog428]

We're about to buy a house after finally selling being on the verge of selling our house and we'd like to put in a pool soon after we move in.

Obviously, having never done this, almost any advice would be welcomed.

I'm looking for approximate cost, first off. I know that relies a good deal on the size, shape and make of pool, but a ballpark figure would be fine. We're just not sure what a standard pool would cost.

Also, some things to ask for would be good. I have no idea about equipment and what should be included in the basic pool package.

I guess what I'm saying is, educate me.

 

[Bubbler]

Does the inflatable variety count? If so, I'm here for all your questions.

 

[dog428]

Does the inflatable variety count? If so, I'm here for all your questions.

There are inflatable pools?

 

[Bubbler]

Does the inflatable variety count? If so, I'm here for all your questions.

There are inflatable pools?

Yeah. Kiddie pools. I think they make them for adults now. Beer drinkin' was never more refreshin'.

 

[Clever username]

Wait a minute. Regarding the original question of this thread, I have a question of my own: How in the hell can a journalist afford to put in and maintain a pool?

 

[ifilus]

Have you checked with you homeowner's insurance carrier?

 

[chazp]

Wait a minute. Regarding the original question of this thread, I have a question of my own: How in the hell can a journalist afford to put in and maintain a pool?

[blue] He didn't say what size pool. Most of us could afford to put in a kiddie pool.[/blue]

 

[FileNotFound]

Depends on what part of the country you're in ... down in Florida, in-ground pool installation starts at around $16K and moves up from there, depending on bells, whistles, etc.

 

[trifectarich]

Here in Florida most pools are 12 or 15 feet by 25 or 30. Prices range from $20,000 to $25,000, and prices go up with more bells and whistles (free-form rather than rectangular, spa, etc.). They say prices go down in the offseason, but I don't know this to be factual. I'm sure there are key questions to ask pool contractors, but I've not gone through this process.

Please pass along the good and bad when you get it done.

 

[Moderator1]

Join the neighborhood pool. They clean it for you, they pick up the liability and all that. I never known someone with a pool who didn't declare it to be a money sucking pain in the ass. A hole in the ground in which you throw money (kind of like a boat, except no hole in the ground).

Friend of my son was at a neighbor's pool and busted his head pretty good. Neighbors are sweating liability something fierce. Animals wander in and drown, people pee in the thing *** no way. Just no way.

That said, count on 20 grand unless you want a really horse**** pool.

Only hole that big going into my backyard is my grave.

 

[spnited]

And remember, in-ground pool hurts your resale value because most people don't want to be bothered wtih all the BS Moddy just listed.

 

[JR]

My sister has a pool in their suburban backyard.

It was great when their kids were young but now even though it hardly gets used, they still have to maintain it so it doesn't turn into a swamp.

And Spinited is right. Don't put one in unless you're planning on staying in the house until you die.

 

[bostonbred]

It was great when their kids were young but now even though it hardly gets used, they still have to maintain it so it doesn't turn into a swamp.

That's exactly what happens, especially when you have young kids. Gets used tons for a good while, then just kind of sits there when they hit 13 or so and have other things to do during the summer.

 

[JayFarrar]

One friend's house was on a hill and they couldn't do an in-ground pool since the back yard was at an angle. So what they did was make the pool part of their deck and it was above ground. Even though it looked like it was below ground and it was also much cheaper, maybe a grand, plus the cost of the deck.
The pool was at most five feet deep, but it was perfect for pool parties. In the winter, they just drained it and the deck was built with a cover for the hole where the pool would have been. So then it looked like a giant deck and you wouldn't even know it had a pool underneath.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

And remember, in-ground pool hurts your resale value because most people don't want to be bothered wtih all the BS Moddy just listed.

Young parents moving down here salivate at the sight of a pool, without knowing of which Moddy (mostly accurately) speaks.

They figure that it's one less contracting quagmire to deal with later on.

 

[Perry White]

It was great when their kids were young but now even though it hardly gets used, they still have to maintain it so it doesn't turn into a swamp.

That's exactly what happens, especially when you have young kids. Gets used tons for a good while, then just kind of sits there when they hit 13 or so and have other things to do during the summer.

Very, very true.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

When I was growing up, everyone in my grandparents' neighborhood had a pool. My grandparents did, the next-door neighbors did, someone across the lane did, someone behind us did. It was MADNESS. Also hella fun. All had diving boards, two of them had slides.

We'd play basketball and volleyball in it 24-7 during the summer months, but nothing beat 500. Someone got on the diving board and threw a ball (usually a softer volleyball) to a bunch of kids (anywhere from four to 12) in the shallow end. You got 100 points if you caught it in the air, 50 if you got to it after it hit the water. Person who retrieved the ball got to throw. First to 500 points (duh) wins. That game made you a man, whether you had the proper genitalia or not.

Liability? Lia-what now?

The adults wanted to float around and work on their tan, but **** 'em, a pool is to have fun in.

Now I'm in my 30s and the diving board has a massive crack in it that makes it pretty much impossible to use. Most of my cousins (I'm the oldest in my generation) are past that point in their lives, too. Oh, I'll get in the pool when I visit my grandparents this year, and we might squeeze in a couple of games of volleyball when two of my cousins from out-of-town come up for their yearly visit. And one year that pool's not going to open; my grandparents will have moved on, passed on or just decided it wasn't worth the effort. And that's going to be a sad ****ing watershed moment in my life, because it'll be another nail in the coffin of my youth. The funnest, too.

I just joined the YMCA, so I can do laps in their indoor pool. Just try getting a game of 500 going, though.

Look, there's a zillion reasons not to have a pool. It's a lawsuit or accidental death waiting to happen. It's a ****load of money that results in your house losing value. It takes regular chlorination and vaccuming and ph chemicals and the occasional removal of a mole. Logically, there's no good excuse to install a pool.

Do it anyway. Like there's a monetary value you can slap on a birthday party by the pool.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Join the neighborhood pool. They clean it for you, they pick up the liability and all that. I never known someone with a pool who didn't declare it to be a money sucking pain in the ass. A hole in the ground in which you throw money (kind of like a boat, except no hole in the ground).

That said, count on 20 grand unless you want a really horse**** pool.

What Moddy has said above. Verbatim.

Parents bought a house with a pool 20 years ago, and are now in the process of trying to get it sold. Mother was all enthused about the idea of a pool in the backyard. Neighbors of mine before I moved discouraged the idea.

Neighbors were absolutely right. Pools pretty much help define the term "overrated." My mother isn't even home very often, and no one else really gives a rat's a_s about much back there. It's kept strictly because it would otherwise turn into a swamp and will be on the market forever ...

Oh, and what S-P said - hurting resale value - also stands. I suspect at least two or three buyers have been scared off by the pool ... or maybe it was the kid in the house now. :-\

 

[trifectarich]

My realtor gave me information a year ago that said, according to the National Association of Realtors (or something similar), in-ground pools increase the value of the property about 7-8 percent. I'm sure those stats vary according to geography and the approximate value of the home.

 

[joe]

I **** in a pool once. Turned out to be a Baby Ruth.