Anyone on here have a pool?

[PorkPieGuy]

A little background about me:

I was a lifeguard and lifeguard instructor for ten years of my life. During that time, I actually received a CPO Certification (it was called something else then, but still). I really loved my job at the time. However, as time moved on, I swore up and down that I would never have a pool.

Fast forward about 15 years and three kids later (currently ages 10, 7, and 5). We bought a 20' round above ground pool from Sam's club last year. Before I bought it, I dreaded it. However, last summer was absolutely the best summer of my life! The kids and I were in the pool every day we could last summer, and we had an absolutely fantastic time. We are all chomping at the bit to get it set back up this year! We can't wait.

My wife and I will be pretty much out of debt within the next year or two except for the mortgage (barring any emergency), and we are kicking around the idea of getting a pool. We are looking at possibly getting a Fox Pool from a local dealer. We have a friend that had a pool installed by the same company, and they couldn't be happier. We used this same company for our pool supplies last year, and they were very helpful, and even suggested supplies for us that they didn't have in stock but told us what places sold them. They answered a lot of questions about our pool, and were just all around good folks.

Like I said, we are just in the planning and thinking stages right now weighing all of our options. We've researched the costs, and it would basically cost the same that it would if we were to take two 1-week trips to Disney (that's driving, not flying). Going into it knowing the potential maintenance, safety concerns, etc., I feel like I'm a step ahead of your average pool owner. I don't want to put money into this if it's going to be a "fun first year, boring every other year after" scenario, but last year was so much fun, I'm not sure it's going to be like that. I'm also very familiar with safety concerns. We are thinking about something that goes to maybe 5 feet at the deepest. Like I said, we are still thinking about it at this point. I realize that it's not practical, but sometimes you just gotta jump and give it a shot.

So for those that have first-hand experience, what's pool ownership been like for you?

[TominNJ]

We had an above ground and it was used a lot when the kids were small. We stayed away from an in ground pool because of the real estate tax increase (taxes here are absurd). There are also liability and increased homeowner insurance costs to consider. You're married to an inground pool after it's installed. Not easy to get rid of it.

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by TominNJ

We had an above ground and it was used a lot when the kids were small. We stayed away from an in ground pool because of the real estate tax increase (taxes here are absurd). There are also liability and increased homeowner insurance costs to consider. You're married to an inground pool after it's installed. Not easy to get rid of it.

Thank you!!!!

I DO need to check on insurance increases. I know they are hard to get rid of. I knew of a family that ended up just filling theirs with dirt and turned it into their yard. You can't even tell it was there.

Thanks again. This is helpful!

With the Fox pool, we can actually build a deck around it if we want.

Im just four months into pool ownership and I have nothing but positive things to say about it. Where I live in SW Florida I cannot imagine not having a pool. Ours is small by most people's standards I suppose,as it's only 9600 gallons. It's plenty big for the three of us though so we couldn't be happier.

Funny thing about in ground pools here, the water temp mirrors the temp of the Gulf of Mexico. Right now my pool is 72 deg and so is the Gulf. I have a pool heater but haven't used it yet as I hear they can be costly to run.

I have a guy servicing the pool for $85.00 a month,but that's temporary until he teaches me what I need to know to do it myself.

Anyway, we couldn't be happier!

[Pura Vida]

I'm on the west coast, so my pool experience is much different. Most are in-ground and get more use, due to the milder climate (also, don't have to drain it!). We bought two houses that already had pools, and we built our current pool / backyard. Our kids (11yo, 8yo) continue to enjoy the pool, and with the addition of a hot tub in this house, we are in water all 12 months. YMMV, but our mileage is pretty good.

[Acousticado]

I 'had' a conventional inground swimming pool for about 23 years. Although we had our share of fun with it, depending on individual circumstances, they can be a little maintenance and problematic, or a lot. In my case, I had a lot of maintenance and problems with it over the years.

When it experienced winter ice damage in 2014, my wife and I had a decision to make...
- fix it at great expense with the same chlorine system;
- fix it at great expense with a salt water system (it's not really a slat water system...rather than typical chlorine, salt in the form of sodium chloride is used which gets converted to chlorine, so it's really still chlorinated water).
- convert it to an 'organic swimming pond' which relies on aquatic plants and substrate, and heavy aeration rather than chemicals of any kind so you swim in the cleanest lake type water you'll ever experience. It can be expensive if you follow approaches that most swimming pond contractors utilize (e.g. Aquascape Inc.), but the methods developed by David Pagan-Butler in the U.K. are much more economical and sensible. His processes are what I followed as I set-out to convert my own pool over a two season period. It would've been much easier to tackle it as a new project. Still, I succeeded and have since enjoyed not only the natural beauty of the swimming pond and environment, but in water gardening which is not a chore at all. Thanks f build correctly, an organic swimming pond is less maintenance and cost than a conventional pool.

To at least know more, I invite you to have a look at a thread I posted here about my own project. Here's the link: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...+swimming+pond

Before:

After:


From there, if you're interested in exploring what is possible and maybe even order David's guide and DVD (which a contractor could follow if you didn't want to do it yourself), here's a link to David's Facebook site. https://www.facebook.com/pg/organicp...=page_internal

Good luck with whatever approach you decide to take.

[cattzap]

We had an above ground pool. Still do but I recently took it down. The last of 2 kids at home doesn't use it anymore and the wife ran off a few months ago with the coffee pot so I just took it down. it was great while we were using it. Maintenance wasn't that bad as long as you stayed on top of it.

[buddyhu]

When I was a kid in Southern California, we had an above ground pool...I think it was a Doughboy. Used it for many years, and it was a great pleasure for the entire family (including the dog). We stopped putting it up when I reached my teens (was mostly headed to the beach, or going to visit a friend who had an in ground pool).

About 7 years after my sister and I had left home, my parents got an in ground pool installed (so they were empty nesters in their late 50's at this time). They used it A LOT for the next 15 years, and continued to use it fairly often over the next 10) years (swimming in the Summer, using heated Jacuzzi spa in the other seasons) until my mom passed away in her 80's.

I think part of what made it so enjoyable was that it was sheltered from the wind (think of a large suburban lot with cinder block walls around the perimeter of the property), and was placed so that it got a lot of sun (except in the Winter, when the sun was low and was partially blocked by their garage). But to be honest, I don't really know why my parents enjoyed it so much in their later years. My Mom used to say that she just liked the sight of the water in the back yard...

Just writing to say some folks do have an enduring fondness for their pools...even though I know of many who have enjoyed their pools for a few years, and then lost interest.

[Looburst]

A pain in the butt! We've had a pool for about ten years now and closed it up for good, two years ago. I was just the pool boy and didn't really use it that much so not worth the time, money or effort it takes to keep it maintained. Always something to fix and was ruining my spare money pot. So away it went and I've never felt such relief.

[sled]

Before I sold my log home in Lawrenceburg and moved to Louisville, I had an 18'x28'x43' L shaped in ground (40,000 gallons +) for 20 years and loved every minute of having it. The 18'x28' area was all 4' deep and great for playing volleyball, or hanging out with a margarita or beer. The rest of the 43' section was an 8 ' deep diving well. Even when not in it, just sitting around it in the evening was so relaxing. The yard I have now does not support having one as it slopes too much, but we plan on moving again and I WILL have another in-ground pool at the next place. Maintenance on them is a breeze now with better chemicals, I spent maybe 10 minutes a week on mine and it was crystal clear all summer long.

[chitz]

We have a small 12,500 gal chlorine pool with enclosure & solar heater/cooler here in NW Florida.
Seems there's always something to clean, tighten, adjust or repair. Mostly small stuff.
Had liner replaced in 2014, $3k.

Regular maintenance is easy. Once a month I take a water sample to my pool supply store, they analyze it, I add the chemicals. No pool boy needed.
Once a week I test it myself with those convenient test strips.

If you stay on top of it, it's easy. We love having it!

[PorkPieGuy]

Thank you for all of your feedback, both the good and the bad.

We have a year or so before we break ground should we decide to go for it. I've been researching Fox Pools, and there's not a lot of info out there about them. The only complaints I see are for bad installations, not a bad product.

Here's the company we are thinking about going through if you want to look at the pictures. A friend went through them, and they love them.

http://www.rnrpools.com/

[gjd100]

We have a 24’ round above ground pool that works for us. We have a 30’ deck on the back of the house, with a 10’x12’ extension out to the pool, which kind of gives it a built in pool feel. We decided not to go with an in-ground for various reasons, namely, taxes. In-ground pools are taxed (property), where above ground pools are not.

Also, resale value for the house. Not all folks are pool people, and we decided that some buyers may not want to have a permanent built in pool in the yard….. My above ground can be taken down in a day if need be.

[reeve21]

My folks put one in for their grandkids 20 something years back.

There were lots of good times, but it got less and less use as the kids grew up.

I'm convinced it made their house a more difficult sell when the time came. The season is short here, and there are lots of places to swim other than the backyard. Finally a family came along with kids about the same age as yours, and they bought it.

I'm biased, I'd never want a pool unless I moved to a warm weather climate. But it seems to work for you and your family, so I say go for it.

[Parlorman]

We've got a nice flat backyard where the 20 X 40' in-ground pool used to be. Way more work and liability than I wanted.