Inground pool??

[brymolmom]

Accidentally posted this in RESTAURANTS at first, didn't get any replies there...Hopefully my budget boarders will come through with some info:

Well, since this purchase is the opposite of budget, not positive it belongs on this board...But we don't want to go overboard on it. DH and I are in the beginning stages of planning for an inground pool. We currently have a round above ground...It needs a new liner after this season...And we don't want to put the money into it since we've always really wanted an in-ground (just kept this one because the house had it when we bought it 13 years ago). Anyway, for those who have BTDT...Would you care to share some thoughts/ideas/things to avoid? For example:

1) Do you like the size you got? Would you do it differently now?
2) What kind did you get (liner, etc?)? Happy with that choice?
3) Any 'gotchas' that you ran into that you could share so that I can try to avoid them?
4) Thoughts on time of year? I'm thinking that we would want it started in September...Would it be best money-wise to wait until the end of summer to start shopping around? Maybe business will be slow and we might end up with a bit of a better deal?
6) If you don't mind sharing, could you share approximate costs that you paid (and if you are comfortable, please specify type of pool and size, etc for comparison purposes).
7) We currently have a large deck with a section that steps up and has access to our above ground...I'm having trouble envisioning the new setup with an in-ground...Did you keep your deck? Just have all concrete out to the pool? We'll likely have to get rid of part of our deck....But not sure if it's just better to get rid of the whole thing (but then will need significant steps up to our 2 sliding glass doors to the kitchen).

Thanks for any info you can share.

 

[sandy6879]

This is very dependent on where you live. We are from CT, moved to AZ 3 years ago. We installed an in-ground pool here and it was $22,500 for one with a rock waterfall, plaster (I don't care for pebble tec), and it's about 80' perimeter.

Now, in CT, that same pool would easily have been in the 40k-50k range.

We did what's referred to as a play pool, deepest area is in the middle, just about 5' deep. Reason being, we wanted to be able to hang out in the pool everywhere, not be confined to one side because the other was too deep.

Many of your questions regarding the deck would probably need to be answered by the pool company rep who could take a look at it. They *should* give you a free consult and come visit your yard to give you an accurate quote and drawing of the plans.

The gotchas we ran into - several pool companies have a special to add this or that, and then you get a package price, but if you don't add all of it, then the base price of the pool is higher. We stayed away from those companies. We were pretty specific about what we wanted. We chose to not do an in-floor cleaning system because, should any of those parts break, that means draining the pool and digging it up for repairs. Having a regular pool vacuum system made more sense to us. We also saw no reason for the crazy LED controls - again, nice to have, but if they break, expensive to repair.

Our whole process started in end of September and it was done and complete on the day after Thanksgiving. Prices didn't matter here on the time of year, we started looking for quotes in July.

Good luck to you - it's a stressful process during the build, as you look around the yard and see the mess, but it's fantastic once it's done.

 

[lorilori]

We love our pool. It's a 14 X 28 kidney-shaped fiberglass pool. No rough surfaces or liners to deal with, super easy to maintain. Pool company came out on a Wednesday in March to dig the hole, pool was delivered the next day and they set it the day after that. Concrete took a few days after that. This was a few years ago and it cost around $24,000. We added extra concrete decking and tile around the top. Have fun!

 

[MAJPLO]

First I should say that we did not have this pool put in ourselves. But some of the things I have found....
Size-too big. It is 26,000 gallons and we really do not need that size. When we need chemicals we need MORE; when we need to scrub it, it takes longer, etc.
Gotchas- we have an in floor filtering system. I love it and we don't have to use one of those plug in pool sweeps. The problem is that no one seems to be very familiar with them. So if anything goes wrong with it, it has been incredibly difficult to find anyone who can do anything about it. The pump was installed too close to the outside wall of the house. This makes it very difficult to take it apart to clean the filters. I would have installed the pool somewhere else in the yard to make it easier to have other things going on (fence, more grass, etc)
We do not have a deck, just cement with some grass on the side of the yard.

 

[msmama]

My house came with the pool. Honestly, I'll never buy a house with a pool again. Pain in the you know what.

My advice though - go with a "standard" shape pool. Mine is custom built shape (with what seems to be leftover parts as it is such a ridiculous shape) and because of that EVERYTHING else costs more - the cover needs to be replaced - an extra $1000 more than a normal cover. The liner will probably need replacing in a year or two and it's probably going to be over $3000.

You mentioned your so when you're thinking about things, add "poolscaping" into your total budget. You'll probably need some kind of surround, whether just cement or more decking or bricks or something. That kind of stuff can add up quickly.

 

[OklahomaTourist]

Accidentally posted this in RESTAURANTS at first, didn't get any replies there...Hopefully my budget boarders will come through with some info:

Well, since this purchase is the opposite of budget, not positive it belongs on this board...But we don't want to go overboard on it. DH and I are in the beginning stages of planning for an inground pool. We currently have a round above ground...It needs a new liner after this season...And we don't want to put the money into it since we've always really wanted an in-ground (just kept this one because the house had it when we bought it 13 years ago). Anyway, for those who have BTDT...Would you care to share some thoughts/ideas/things to avoid? For example:

1) Do you like the size you got? Would you do it differently now?
2) What kind did you get (liner, etc?)? Happy with that choice?
3) Any 'gotchas' that you ran into that you could share so that I can try to avoid them?
4) Thoughts on time of year? I'm thinking that we would want it started in September...Would it be best money-wise to wait until the end of summer to start shopping around? Maybe business will be slow and we might end up with a bit of a better deal?
6) If you don't mind sharing, could you share approximate costs that you paid (and if you are comfortable, please specify type of pool and size, etc for comparison purposes).
7) We currently have a large deck with a section that steps up and has access to our above ground...I'm having trouble envisioning the new setup with an in-ground...Did you keep your deck? Just have all concrete out to the pool? We'll likely have to get rid of part of our deck....But not sure if it's just better to get rid of the whole thing (but then will need significant steps up to our 2 sliding glass doors to the kitchen).

Thanks for any info you can share.

Having grown up with a pool as a kid, I've come to some not-unbiased conclusions about having one in your home.

You know how people say that the happiest two days in a boat owner's life are 1) the day he buys a boat, and 2) the day he sells it? I think home pool owners are like that, except the only way they ever experience #2 is if they A) fill in the pool with dirt, or B) sell the house. My mom, now 76, drained her pool, dismantled the pumps and external equipment, and covered the thing up permanently years ago. And real estate agents I've spoken with tell me that permanent, in-ground pools are a huge liability these days when it comes to selling a home. They actually reduce home value.

Having grown up around a home in-ground pool, I realized pretty darned quickly that I wanted nothing to do with one as an adult. They are insidiously expensive to maintain, can be a deceptively huge drain on time to keep clean, chemically balanced, and protected from neighbors/onlookers/stray animals, and the cost/benefit ratio borders on the infinitely high. For the number of minutes you actually spend in the pool enjoying it racked against how much money you spend building and maintaining it, you could have a luxury lifetime membership at a really nice health spa and have the option of walking away from it at any time. Not so if you build one.

If an individual is manifestly flush with cash such that they can call Bob's Pool Service and say "make this thing swimmable 24x7 from May to August and send me a bill," great. Go for it. Power to you. But if someone asks me about having a pool, I tell them precisely this - only if you can afford the maintenance. And keep in mind that eventually the kids grow up, and the time spent *in* the pool starts dropping, and something like 90% of your time is spent in nothing but maintenance, and money is spent variously in heating, pumping, and lighting.

I realize chemical treatments and automated cleaners have improved immensely in the last couple of decades, so perhaps the issue as a contemporary matter isn't as severe as it once was. No matter to me. It's just a hassle that, if asked, I encourage people to avoid. The hassle factor and expense are just sky high, and the benefits fleeting at best. The times spent in that idyllic scenario on a little floaty raft reading a book and sipping a mint julep amid a bobbing blue summer-bathed pool are, in reality, few and far between.

 

[mickeygaga]

We replaced an above ground pool with an inground 3 years ago and I love, love, love it. All I can say is get what you want now, you are limited if you want to add things later. I made sure to get all the lighting, fountains, and the best liner. I love the ambiance of the pool. Honestly, I find caring for our inground pool easier than the above. We were required to attend a "chemical maintenance tutorial" after installation. They educated us on every gizmo, chemical, alkalinity, and maintenance protocol. All I can say is be prepared for a higher electric bill, and gas bill if heating often. One more thing, our property taxes were raised because of the pool and all the cement/patio we installed. We our having our pool opened today. We pay extra for the company to open and close every year and we maintain it throughout. Worth every penny. Good luck.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Here's my 2 cents....Be aware of the maintenence. We put in a largish rectangular pool. The pool and filter alone cost $13,000, 19 years ago. We have 4 kids so definitely worth the money, HOWEVER, the cost of the cement and fencing was close to $10,000 on top of that and we do not have anything special, plain concrete 4 foot apron and a white wood picket fence. We replaced the liner 4 years ago due to normal wear and I think that cost us an additional $4,000. Truthfully, the concrete needs to be all redone now too, but that will be done next year when we hopefully have the house paid off. We live in NE and kids used it daily when they were younger from June to mid Septermber. There were years when no one used the pool and I honestly thought it was a waste of money. From the early teen years they seemed to go through a period were they were just not interested. Now they are older teens through mid 20's and like to sunbathe and dip in pool and have their friends over a few times a week. Also, DH has more free time now and likes to at least jump in and do a few laps before and after work. I would stick to a regular shape if you have parties or lots of kids or like to do laps. Friends of ours have a kidney shaped pool and don't like it outside of just the 2 of them taking a dip.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

We were considering this a few years ago. Then my best friend did it and it made my decision so easy. No Way!

Cost- $80,000 after pool, cementing around pool, winter cover, thermal cover, fence, landscaping and taking down a few trees. In addition, yearly cost of paying someone to open/close pool each year and about $1000 in chemicals and heating each year.

Work- The hours spent caring for the pool are many. In addition, BF has also become the babysitter of the neighborhood. Constantly has neighborhood kids drop by without their parents and she must stay by the pool to supervise.

Hidden Costs- BF and her family home are now the place to be all summer. The money they spend entertaining all their friends/neighbors is not to be believed. Do you only bring food out for your kid's lunch if the neighbors are there? How often is the family cookout at your house? Even if everyone brings something it does not take care of everything!

Now my BF is a teacher and home all summer so she has the time. However, they never go away in the summer because there are only so many weeks to enjoy the pool

We opted, instead, to join the local pool club. For $1,000 a season we get full use of a Olympic size pool that we don't take care of at all. There are also 8 tennis courts and swim/tennis lessons are included in the membership. There are basketball and volleyball courts and a grill if we would rather buy lunch. There are multi social events over the summer and my kids always have a friend around when we go. We can spend the day (my DH is also a teacher with summers off) or go for a dip after dinner. When when we are done- we go home to peace and quiet! SOLD!

Good luck in your pool choices, but be sure to look at all the costs and all the issues involved!

 

[lorilori]

Thought I'd chime back in here to say that our pool has NONE of the issues mentioned above and that's why we chose a Viking fiberglass. Grew up with concrete, didn't like all the little crevices where things could grow or the rough surface although I'm sure by now they're smoother. Friends have an inground with liner, don't like the algae that seems to come up just below the rim every year and all the chlorine they're always dumping in. Fiberglass is like a huge bathtub in the backyard and is super, super easy to maintain with very little chemicals. I know because I'm the only one here 'allowed' to maintain it, lol!

 

[holden]

Another vote for fiberglass here! We love our fiberglass pool. It's medium size (don't remember the # of gallons) - not too big. The brand is Trilogy.

One thing I would recommend is getting a salt water system. That's what we did and we love it! No damage to hair, bathingsuits, etc. We also have a solar heater, which we love.

Overall cost (incl fence, landscaping, "bubblers", etc.) was about $80,000 three years ago.

 

[Dsnyfireman]

We just went the opposite way. Had a 21' by 41' inground pool and now haves 24' round above ground. Our in ground needed a liner and it was over $6000 to do! The pool was about 25 years old and the plastic sides behind the liner were bad too so it was not worth repair. But if I was to do it again I would go with the one piece in ground with no liner. More money up front but will out last you and me both ! Here in maine some of the in ground pools have issues with ground water pushing up on the liner so a lot go with u above ground but I prefer an in ground if money wasn't issue!

 

[okeydokey]

We bought a kit online a couple of year ago and my husband and his friends installed it. It was very labor intensive, but we have a large l-shaped vinyl liner pool that we Love!!!!.

It was about $14,000 to do it this way, with salt chlorinator. The L shape gives you a lot of shallow, which is where most folks hang out.

The biggest expense, outside of the kit itself, was concrete for the footers and then again for the patio.

We got our kit at polarpools.com

 

[Colleen27]

Having grown up with a pool as a kid, I've come to some not-unbiased conclusions about having one in your home.

You know how people say that the happiest two days in a boat owner's life are 1) the day he buys a boat, and 2) the day he sells it? I think home pool owners are like that, except the only way they ever experience #2 is if they A) fill in the pool with dirt, or B) sell the house. My mom, now 76, drained her pool, dismantled the pumps and external equipment, and covered the thing up permanently years ago. And real estate agents I've spoken with tell me that permanent, in-ground pools are a huge liability these days when it comes to selling a home. They actually reduce home value.

This is my perspective too. We considered adding a pool here and literally every single friend or relative we know with an in-ground pool discouraged us - the cost, the upkeep, the short season. I haven't heard a single encouraging opinion, not even from the relatives that are so flush with cash that they just pay someone to handle it all - they have a huge yard with a lot of cool recreational stuff (hammocks, a tiki bar, treehouse, playscape, horseshoe pits, etc) but feel like they enjoy it less because someone always has to have an eye on the kids in the pool.

Needless to say we decided against investing in an in-ground pool. Dividing the upfront cost + homeowners insurance increase + annual upkeep by the number of days we're likely to use it here in Michigan was the nail in the coffin - the per-use number was staggering! And I'm saying this as a not especially frugal person - I loved owning a hole in the water into which we poured our money and can't wait to buy another boat!

 

[Tinkmom]

When we moved from a house with a pool to one without, we IMMEDIATELY had one installed. Having a pool has been wonderful for our family. Instead of schlepping the kids and all their stuff somewhere else, it is just in our back yard. Easy to have friends over to socialize. Lots of fresh air and exercise and just pleasant to sit by or in the water.

Granted, I live in the deep south, so we have a fairly long season in which we can use it. Also, I recommend a salt-water system. SOOOO much easier and cheaper to maintain, while no chlorine smell and damage to swimsuits, hair, skin, etc.

 

[Disflyer]

To help answer some questions here is our experience. We put in a small-ish play pool last spring, it is about 12,500 gallons and so far I really enjoy it. The upkeep is simple, weekly water checks and the occasional scrubbing but it gives me something to do early in the morning when the kids are sleeping or watching 'toons.

As far as the cost goes, I suggest looking up some pool discussions for your area to see what the average cost is. We paid about 20k for just the pool last year. We are in TX and have a gunite pool, we added pebble and some upgrades to the equipment to be energy efficient. With that said the majority of our improvement budget went to the decking, landscape, and fire pit. Then we upgraded all the rockwork around the pool as well. So the total cost was more than the 20k for the pool. Just keep that in mind, we could have done the pool and decking and some landscape for about 24k but we wanted to upgrade the living space outside.

Also operating costs are not all that out of whack. We pay approximately $20 more in water each month, electric varies but averages around $25 more per month. Chemical costs are not as high as I was expecting, I pay about $250 for a years worth of acid, phosphate remover, and chlorine a year. An option is to install a salt reactor which uses regular water softener salt to convert to chlorine, you still need to buy chlorine to shock weekly and the up front cost is around $2,500 more so right there I am looking at a 10 year payback and that is if the ionizer lasts 10 years. If you can have a gunite pool I would suggest pebble tech or pebble scheen, the longevity of that plaster is 15-25 years with proper maintenance instead of plaster at about 7 or fiberglass a little more than 10.

The only thing different I would do would be to opt out of our waterfall feature, it adds too much air to the pool and causes the PH to go out of balance if it is on too long, also when it is windy there is a lot more water loss.

Additionally the filter will have an unexpected cost, the filters need to be changed every couple of years and are pretty expensive at a little over $100 per filter (there are 4 on our pool).

Just do your homework, just like you did when you purchased your house make a list of must haves and nice to haves. For us the best upgrade we did was to go with the pentair high effiency pump. It uses magnets to operate and the costs associated with it are on average 60% lower than a Hayward pump. Plus it has really great safety features that shut the pump off when it loses suction so if by chance somebody gets stuck on the drain the pump will automatically shut off and free the person.

 

[woodkins]

We are in NY (long island) so prices are generally high here. We have a 20x40 mountain lake (free form) shape pool. It is a vinyl lined pool, shallow end is 4' and goes to 8' deep. We have stairs built into the shallow end that span the width of the pool and are covered by the liner which is great for sitting and lounging on. In the deep end we have a bench built into the side wall so you can sit there as well. These are two great features we love. We have a heater as well as salt water generator. We use a automatic pool robot to vacuum on a regular basis.

The pool itself was about $30k. We have a large waterfall & paver patio surrounding. The patio with landscaping (specimen trees, plants etc.) was about another $45k.

We love having the convenience of the pool out back & the resort feel that the landscaping etc gives us. It is like walking out to our own mini vacation.

 

[brymolmom]

Thanks for all the replies/ideas so far. Can't wait to let DH read them all.

Some thoughts:
1) We will be maintaining this ourselves...Of course, when I say this - I mean DH will be maintaining it. We have a great pool backyard...no trees...sun all day long.
2) We love to entertain. I probably have my family over during the summer at least once a week - so there will be 15 or so of us here.
3) Totally 'get' the poster who said something about the budget side of having people over all the time. But I'm not shy - If it gets out of control I'll have no problem saying 'kids - go home for lunch and then come on back after if you want to swim again'. Then I'll bring freeze pops out and share for an afternoon snack (I can handle $5 for 100 of them).
4) I would love it if my kids spent a lot of time at home with their friends. They are 9 and almost 11 now...Coming up on the times when I really want to know who they're hanging out with, etc.
5) My next door neighbor already comes out and offers to watch the kids in the pool when her boy is over...Says 'you can go in and do whatever you need to do - I'll take a turn' - So I think I'm good there.

The cost is the main stopping point right now....

 

[MrsPete]

We're in the process of planning a retirement home, and we want to include a SMALL pool. For several reasons, most of them mentioned here already, we've decided that a fiberglass pool is the best choice.

However, I think I also want a "sun shelf" -- I think they go by other names, but you know what I mean: A 6-10" shallow "shelf" big enough for maybe two lounge chairs. I'm thinking that we'd use this pretty frequently -- not particularly for sunbathing, as the name implies -- but for just sitting in a lawn chair with our feet in the water, for letting the dog come in to cool off, for letting small children have a decent-sized spot to play. Oh, and I want 1-2 "bubblers".

QUESTION: IF we go with fiberglass, and I'm pretty sure we will, I'm thinking we can't have the sun shelf too. True or false?

I'm still very new to this venture and am VERY open to thoughts
.

 

[princesspiglet]

Thanks for all the replies/ideas so far. Can't wait to let DH read them all.

Some thoughts:
1) We will be maintaining this ourselves...Of course, when I say this - I mean DH will be maintaining it. We have a great pool backyard...no trees...sun all day long. We maintain our pool also. Much cheaper and easier.
2) We love to entertain. I probably have my family over during the summer at least once a week - so there will be 15 or so of us here. We have 2-3 big parties a summer and lots of smaller ones. No one EVER comes over without being invited, even though I have given my closest friends the combination to the lock on the fence.
3) Totally 'get' the poster who said something about the budget side of having people over all the time. But I'm not shy - If it gets out of control I'll have no problem saying 'kids - go home for lunch and then come on back after if you want to swim again'. Then I'll bring freeze pops out and share for an afternoon snack (I can handle $5 for 100 of them). Like I said above, I never have kids coming over without being invited, but I do have a 6ft tall privacay fence surrounding the pool and keep the gate closed at all times.
4) I would love it if my kids spent a lot of time at home with their friends. They are 9 and almost 11 now...Coming up on the times when I really want to know who they're hanging out with, etc. I have a 10 year old DD and she LOVES having her friends over to swim. Every weekend we usually have 2-3 kids over.
5) My next door neighbor already comes out and offers to watch the kids in the pool when her boy is over...Says 'you can go in and do whatever you need to do - I'll take a turn' - So I think I'm good there. Same thing here.
The cost is the main stopping point right now....

See my comments above in red. We bought our house in April 2009 and it came with a kidney shaped 21,000 gallon concrete in-ground pool. As soon as I saw the pool I knew I wanted that house- even though I hadn't even stepped foot into it yet! Anyway, it is now our 5th summer with the pool and we still love it. We open it in the middle of May and close it end of October. I was told by our realtor that it cost $41k to build. It has a spillover spa attached and a slide at the deep end (no pic of the slide though!) The kids love the slide and spend hours on it. I can't imagine not having one. We love it!