Narrowing down potential homes... do I want a pool?

[naaman]

Off the top of my head, I say, "YES! I want a pool!" But there are some things I do not know.

Primarily, for those of you who have pools, what do you dislike about having a pool?

What should I ask about a pool that comes with a prospective home?

What's the upkeep like?

Of course, the budget is also a factor. It's looking like in order to get into a house large enough to fit my family, I'll be increasing my monthly expenses compared to renting (though, if I continued to rent, I'd need to find a bigger place, anyway, which will also result in an expense increase). But what kind of expense is a pool?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LoveNSXs]

It might be a little easier nowadays... not sure. I remember our pool back in the day. We had lots of trees around our backyard so we spent a lot of time cleaning/scooping leaves. then winter time, you gotta properly cover it up. maybe drain too? wouldn't want it to freeze and break anything

 

[Big_D]

Pools are great and you use them a lot when you first get one but over the years you use them less.
You are better off buying a home with a existing pool then putting one in to the tune of $30k-$50k for a nice size.
Price is usually determined by the linear foot around the circumference.
I have heard that one can spend $50k+ on a tropical oasis but usually only realize a $10k bump on the appraisal when its time to sell the home.

On a prospective purchase I would ask how many gallons the pool is and what kind of filtration it has. When was the pool installed? Did they use a pool service?
Something else to consider is you want the pool on the south or west side of the house to get the most sun exposure.

I had a vacation home in Lake Havasu City with a 15,000 gallon play pool with diatemacious earth filtration, no heat using chlorine.
In the winter when I didnt use it I had to run the pump 4 hours a day to cycle and filter the water. During the summer time I was told to run the pump 6-8 hours a day.
I took my water in regularly for testing to figure out what it needed.
After a few years I had to drain the pool when the total dissolved solids reached a certain point which renders the chemicals inneffective.

When I was there on the weekends I would brush/descale the water line to remove lime scale....weekly if possible.
I had a self cleaning system with the pop-up heads to clean the bottom but every month or so I would brush the bottom toward the drain.
The DE filter needs to be backflushed every few months and every couple of years the filter media replaced.
Chemicals can get pricey to get it going at first but once you get it established its less.
My electric bills were probably ~$80-100 more a month on average because of the pool without any heating and I didnt have a hot tub either.

Like someone mentioned, leaves and dirt blow into the pool constantly. I ended up removing some nearby trees to reduce the leaves in the pool.
I had a bubble pack type cover that helped a little. We covered the pool when not in use. Helps to keep it warm also.
Another thing I didnt like is when critters would fall in a drown...retrieving them was nasty.
Also small children I always worry about around the pool if it is not secured with a perimeter fence.
I think the homeowners insurance is more due to the liability.

I have heard the saline pools are less chemically intensive and lower maintenance.
I think the next house I buy will have a saline pool with solar heating to enjoy it more in the winter.

There is something to be said about floating on a raft with a cold beverage in your own pool at the end of the day to reduce the work stress!

UPDATE:
Here are some good links for Pros & Cons: Funny one article says pool homes increase your number of potential buyers, and one says no...I tend to think you reduce your overall total of potential buyers with a pool.

http://homebuying.about.com/od/buyingahome/qt/071707-SwimPool.htm

http://freshome.com/2010/07/05/the-pros-and-cons-owning-a-swimming-pool-home/

http://www.excelinspects.com/excel/swimming-pool-pros-and-cons.html

 

[RSO 34]

I spent around 100k building mine and refuse to do any maintenance since if I have any free time I would rather be in it rather than taking care of it. I open it for a 16 week season each year (I'm in NY) and if nothing breaks it runs me about $3500 per season (opening, closing, weekly maintenance and propane to heat).

 

[heySkippy]

We've had a pool for 15 years and wouldn't have it any other way. Of course, we are in Florida so it's open year round, even though it's rarely used between November and February. My wife does 90% or more of the maintenance which I would guess isn't more than an hour or two per week. More in the summer, less in the winter.

It's not terribly expensive, but there is some cost in chemicals. I would guess about $150 per year for chlorine, stabilizer, and acid. On the other hand, we've refinished the pool twice at considerable expense. The first time we used Marcite which was cheap but didn't last. The second time we used some pebble-crete tech that is much, much more durable and still looks good as new 5 years later. If we'd spent the extra money the first time, we could have saved the second round.

I've also rebuilt the deck twice, which wasn't cheap. Again, if I'd "done it right" the first time I wouldn't have had to do it again. Bottom line for pool decks in Florida is avoid wood. Go for cement or pavers and be done with it.

Anyway, we love our pool. From mid-May through September we'll use it several times a week and we've had some epic parties. Your mileage may vary, but we think it's well worth the time + expense.

"After" picture from the last deck build - http://techquarium.com/gallery2z/d/39394-2/DSC_7514.jpg

edit to add: Talk to your property insurance company about the pool and its accessories. We have that slide and we found that limits the number of carriers who will even talk to us. Also, I consider a large fence absolutely necessary, at least in a small lot neighborhood like we're in. Also, we have an Umbrella policy that extends our liability limits (I have bad dreams about a party guest cracking his head or breaking a neck at a party). Last thing, most pools down here are caged, but we hate that. We want maximum sun and a caged pool just doesn't give us that.

 

[willabeest]

i took care of 2 different pools for a combined total of 20 years. in the bay area of california, for every pool that is dug one is filled in with dirt. they are GREAT if you have kids age 4 to 18 or so. once the kids are gone they are a major PITA. they add nothing to your house resale value. IMHO once the kids are out of the house (assuming no grandkids) you are much better off with a very large hot tub.

 

[naaman]

I feel like if I had to choose between a pool and a hot tub, I'd take the hot tub. On the other hand, I feel that a pool is better for gatherings/parties, etc, as Skippy mentioned.

As for the weather, I'm in Arizona, so the pool would "be open" year round, seeing little use between December and February.

 

[heySkippy]

We also have a big hot tub. It sits empty from March to November. I kept it up all year the first couple years but after the "new" wore off nobody wanted to go in hot water when it wasn't at least cool outside. Sitting in a hot tub full of lukewarm or even cool water when it's hot outside just isn't the same.

On the other hand, an empty hot tub makes a rockin' cooler. 800 pounds of ice and as many cans/bottle of beverages as you could possibly ever need and the party is on! Stays cold for days.

 

[solidol]

I would much rather build sauna/hot tub.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Had one for the first ten years I was in the home I have today. Did not quite spend like RSO, but it was costly. Now at the time my kids were 6-16 years old and it was well worth it. After that, I installed central air in the house and it was like "What pool?". the following year between the kids getting older and the cool house, the pool came down and the expense was over. So I guess my point it, it is very high value for the kids, with heavy usage for that time period, after that my experience was throwing money in a water hole.

JMO,

Regards,
LarryB

 

[91 X]

I guess it depends on where you live..here in sunny Temecula I wouldn't live here with out one...we bought out here in a new development 9 years ago and had a custom one built with pebble tech, salt system and built in spa...@ $50,000 luckily we made enough money on the sale of our previous house to where we just paid cash for it... But like I said, it depends on where you live as far as use to cost ratio goes....we use our pool April -November and the spa year round...to me it is the best part of our house, it lets you enjoy the back yard instead of ignore it...the kids love it obviously and the upkeep is minimal, sweep it once a day and brush it once a week...clean the filters every 3-6 months....

I love my pool, been worth every penny IMO ....

 

[gleibig]

Put in a nice koi pond.

 

[Wizard]

I guess it depends on where you live..here in sunny Temecula I wouldn't live here with out one...we bought out here in a new development 9 years ago and had a custom one built with pebble tech, salt system and built in spa...@ $50,000 luckily we made enough money on the sale of our previous house to where we just paid cash for it... But like I said, it depends on where you live as far as use to cost ratio goes....we use our pool April -November and the spa year round...to me it is the best part of our house, it lets you enjoy the back yard instead of ignore it...the kids love it obviously and the upkeep is minimal, sweep it once a day and brush it once a week...clean the filters every 3-6 months....

I love my pool, been worth every penny IMO ....

I live in the next town over. I have the opposite viewpoint of you. My house came with this crazy 75k pebble tech pool with waterfall from the jacuzzi. I thought it was cool at first, but having to maintain it for the past 9 years has become a pain and I find it very expensive. Water evaporates like crazy...I feel guilty when I have to fill the pool with water and leave the spicket open for 30 minutes just to get back what I lost. Besides the water expense, maintenance costs, electricity to run the pump, and chemicals to keep it perfect aren't cheap either. Maintenance eats up a lot of free time too, even with the cool little droid robot cruising around the pool doing most of the work. Cleaning the main pool filter take 3 hours and is dirty job. I just dropped $1,300 for a new pump because my old one gave up the ghost.

As I get older, I think private pools should be banned, or maybe those with them should be taxed heavily. Such a waste of valuable water, especially here in CA where we're going through a drought and our reservoirs are millions of gallons short of where they should be.

If you figure out the average cost per swim, you'll be flabbergasted at how high that number is. Needless to say, I will never buy a home again with a pool.

 

[OptiCole]

I grew up with a pool and during summers I used it all the time. Then, as I got older into middle school and high school I rarely used it. A friend of mine had a pool and ended up filling it in with dirt as the cost to use ratio wasn't worth it. My wife's parents have a house with a pool and though they spend $xx per month to maintain it, it hasn't been used in about seven years. Even then, growing up they barely used it.

I just bought a new home last summer and made an offer on a place with a pool in the backyard but it went off the market. I envisioned grand parties where people would be over for BBQs and we'd hop in the pool, spray water at each other (wait is this a rap video I am dreaming about?) Back to reality, but then we ended up not getting the house. We bought a few houses down and I am happy that we didn't get a pool. In my neck of the woods, land comes at a premium and I enjoying having backyard space to entertain. Lot sizes are about 5,000 sq. ft so a pool substantially decreases usable space (the place we offered was a 9k lot) From what I recall, housing insurance is more expensive as well. In my opinion, the return on investment combined with maintenance makes it not worth it especially when my community has a wading pool and a swimming pool that I can access. The local gym also has a lap pool, Jacuzzi, steam room, and sauna as well. I could use those at a fraction of the cost and use my money somewhere else.

Then again, I don't have $xxx,xxx burning a hole in my pocket. If I did have that combined with a large dead space in my yard, I'd entertain the idea much more. I'd probably want to include a built in slide, rock to jump off, and put the spa in the grotto that's hidden from the neighbors with a nice waterfall. Add ambient lighting, underwater speakers and a lazy river and we're good to go.

Something like that with a few minor tweaks.

However, with my yard space and budget I'd have to settle for this. Therefore, the gym and community pool it is!

 

[SFNSXguy]

Our pool gets used from April thru September (heated only by solar panels). It has a motorized cover (wouldn't have a pool without one -- for safety reasons and to keep leaves and dirt out). I think it's great exercise (I try to swim 4 or more days a week), but it is costly. $120/mo for a pool service - plus $140 once a year to clean the filter. The real cost is the electricity to run the system -- ours runs 6 hours a day year round. The new pumps are a great deal cheaper to operate (cut our electrical bill in half) and are a great deal quieter - can barely hear it.
All things considered, if I was going to do it today I'd do a big "swim against the current"-type big hot tub/pool.
YMMV

 

[naaman]

Well, I've got kids, so that's a reason to consider a pool. A motorized cover is something I had not considered. I think I would prefer that instead of a fence, unless I had a really nice fence that actually looked good and enhanced the aesthetics of the back yard.

We also would like to use our house to entertain frequently. A pool would, I think, enhance the fucntionality of the house in that regard.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to deal with the upkeep. I wish I could "try it out" 90 days risk free .

 

[91 X]

I live in the next town over. I have the opposite viewpoint of you. My house came with this crazy 75k pebble tech pool with waterfall from the jacuzzi. I thought it was cool at first, but having to maintain it for the past 9 years has become a pain and I find it very expensive. Water evaporates like crazy...I feel guilty when I have to fill the pool with water and leave the spicket open for 30 minutes just to get back what I lost. Besides the water expense, maintenance costs, electricity to run the pump, and chemicals to keep it perfect aren't cheap either. Maintenance eats up a lot of free time too, even with the cool little droid robot cruising around the pool doing most of the work. Cleaning the main pool filter take 3 hours and is dirty job. I just dropped $1,300 for a new pump because my old one gave up the ghost.

As I get older, I think private pools should be banned, or maybe those with them should be taxed heavily. Such a waste of valuable water, especially here in CA where we're going through a drought and our reservoirs are millions of gallons short of where they should be.

If you figure out the average cost per swim, you'll be flabbergasted at how high that number is. Needless to say, I will never buy a home again with a pool.

Are you in Murrieta ? Would love to check out your GPW...wanna trade for a week or so???:tongue:

My pool has an auto fill so I don't notice the evaporation but my water bill is normal about $40-60 per month, so it don't think it uses too much... We went solar last year so the electric bill is much much better now..no more $450 bills in the summer time:biggrin:

 

[naaman]

So, I made an offer on a house today that has a modest sized pool and no hot tub. The pool is already fenced, and there is little outdoor barbecue station in the fenced area as well. The lot is almost 11000 sq.ft, and the fenced area takes up about 1/3 of the yard, leaving plenty of run-around-room for my little ones. Should know tomorrow if my offer is accepted.

 

[Vega$ NSX]

I had a pool in Vegas. Never again. Some things to keep in mind:

1) Most people think you can get the most use out of a pool in a hot desert climate. Not true. Because of the depressed wet bulb/humidity, the actual standing temperature of the pool is much colder than you would think. On a 100 degree day, the average water temperature is in the low 70's. That makes for an uncomfortable delta in temperature. In other words, your body will be conditioned for the heat (dilated blood vessels etc.) and so when you step into your pool it's going to feel like ice water relatively speaking. Likewise, when you get out of the pool it's going to feel like you stepped into a blast freezer, until the water eventually evaporates and it's like you are in an oven again. I can tell you the pools in more humid climates are vastly more comfortable.
2) Likewise the evaporation rate will be out of this world, so if your water rates are high, your bill is going to be pretty high to make up all the evaporated water usage.
3) Again, with high evaporation rates come very difficult chemical balance. Like a glass with sugar in it, as the water evaporates, the concentration of the chemicals in the water get higher. Getting the right water chemistry is much more difficult in a dry climate. If you try to maintain your pool yourself, be prepared to shell out a lot of money in chemicals and get frustrated often.
4) Your water will most likely be high in calcium carbonate (as with most desert climates). The scale build up will be the bane of your existence. Once the scale builds, it's like concrete. And boy does it build up fast (See: high evaporation rate discussion above.)
5) The most annoying part of cleaning the pool is the filters/diatomaceous earth. Leaves, bugs, rocks are easy. Cleaning the filters takes a lot of time and makes a mess. Because the desert is so sandy, the filters load up fast.

Personally, I'd discourage you from owning a pool. But I'll be the first to admit that there is no way I would have taken anyone's word for it without experiencing it myself. So ... get the pool. Have fun with it. Get sick of it. Get it out of your system. And then you can say never again. :biggrin:

 

[naaman]

LOL! Well, if the appraisal comes in close enough to the asking price, then I'm stuck with the pool! Oh well. Such is life. Might just have to budget for a "pool guy" once a month or so...

 

[Hard Five]

LOL! Well, if the appraisal comes in close enough to the asking price, then I'm stuck with the pool! Oh well. Such is life. Might just have to budget for a "pool guy" once a month or so...

I've seen a lot of porb in my day so I'm an unofficial expert... Don't schedule the "pool boy" to come by on the wife's day off. They are apparently irresistible. :biggrin:

 

[cmthomson]

go salt, fibreglas, cartridge, variable speed

The cost and effort of a pool depends greatly on its construction.

When I bought my house 20+ years ago, it came with an in-ground gunnite/plaster pool using DE filtration, grossly inefficient pumps and heater, and a weekly service to maintain the chlorine level (plus using the floater with tablets). What a PITA. Algae blooms, shock treatments, filter breakdowns, heater failure, on and on. 2000W+ to run!

When the plaster got so stained from a particularly nasty variant of red algae, I decided to blow a few thousand to get it resurfaced in fibreglas and converted to a salt system with a cartridge filter (the heater had already been replaced).

What a difference! Except for major chemical adjustment each spring (the winter rains dilute everything), I now spend a only few minutes twice a week to monitor the chemistry and clean the generator cell, and about 20 minutes a month rinsing the filter cartridge. No tablets or liquids. And with the new variable-speed low-flow (Intelliflo) pump, it's quiet and only takes 200-300W.

 

[naaman]

Good to know! I may have to do some research on what the pool needs and put out some cash up front in order to keep long term costs down.

I've seen a lot of porb in my day so I'm an unofficial expert... Don't schedule the "pool boy" to come by on the wife's day off. They are apparently irresistible. :biggrin:

:biggrin: Best typo ever!

 

[Vanishing Point]

When we bought our current home with a pool we had a pool PPI of sorts done on the system. It was money well spent as they checked the entire system out prior to our purchase. And deficiencies are noted and evaluated with the cost to repair/ replace any part(s).

 

[naaman]

Yes, we are having ours inspected as well.