Swimming pool at home
4Any of you guys have ideas for swimming pools at home? Practical and whacky suggestions alike are accepted, bring me your best ideas. Cause I ain’t planning on going to the pool even if they open them up with this whole Corona situation, so I need a few ideas. N budget limit, go wild!
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As a landlord, I would never buy a house with a pool due to the liability risk and maintenance costs. It costs about 10k to break off the edges and fill in. To me, a house with a pool is worth 10k less than a house without a pool but actually I don’t even consider them. You are losing part of your resale market by adding a pool.
On the other hand, if you are in an area where everyone has pools, maintain it well, put a fence around it for safety, and if it is a higher-end area (meaning it will not cash-flow as a rental) you can disregard this issue.
No harm talking to your insurance company though about how the premiums would be affected.
@clintongg I am also a landlord and my rental has a pool right now. I used to hire Pinch-A-Penny to maintain the pool but now that I’m retired I do it myself. A real pain in the ass.
I am waiting for my tenants to leave so I can fill in the pool to get rid of it. I’ve had the same tenants for 9 years so I’ve been waiting a long time to get rid of this pool. It also increases the electric bill significantly – I estimate $100/month – due to the pool pump needing to run for 12 hours each day in the summer.
I need a fence too and we have had many wind storms come through the area damaging the fence. It causes me to rush to get that fence back up and I don’t have a vehicle large enough to haul fence material around. Only the front and back part of the property has my fence, the sides are owned by my neighbors. So when their part of the fence goes down, I still need to fix it. Sucks.
My new insurance policy doesn’t cover dog bites so my next tenants will not be allowed to have dogs. That means there’s no reason for me to maintain the fence either. Might take it down when my tenants leave but I’m not sure. Still thinking about that one.
@cengland0 @clintongg
/image good fences make good neighbors
@cengland0 @clintongg Go for high efficiency pumps. If anything ever has a high electricity cost, you are doing it wrong in a lot of cases.
@gevaertb a high efficiency pump would be great if I paid the electric bill but it is the tenant who pays it so I have no incentive to upgrade the pump.
@cengland0 @gevaertb I run a two speed pump and unless I’m vacing the pool (which i never do since I have a pool cleaning robot) i run it on low. My electricity bill in the summer is generally under $150. Maybe $200 if its really hot and my window AC units are struggling to keep things cool.
One of my co-workers said something about a pool made from hay bales and a tarp.
/image hay bale tarp pool
@jst1ofknd that couch at the end is a nice touch.
@jst1ofknd @moonhat It doubles as a diving platform.
Do you already have a pool? If you don’t, my biggest suggestion is go salt water. If you do it right (keep your salt at the low end / slightly below what everyone recommends, it won’t ever taste like the ocean and it’s so much easier to maintain. We went with that and with the deck and the heater it cost us about $25k (I pulled some strings on the deck). It was 100% worth it. I’ll try to post some pictures later.
We’re also going to get an outdoor projection screen and do movies outside this summer. It’s going to be awesome.
DIPLOMAT! RAT-A-TAT! FAT CAT! AWESOME!
Waterproof your basement and fill that up.
@PocketBrain Beat me to it!
@PocketBrain @ThunderChicken Yeah beat me to that too. And if you live in an area that floods you can have your own private lake in your living room for variety.
When I moved to FL that was one of the first things I had to have. Sort of like getting your first fireplace-you use it all the time, then periodically and finally very infrequently.
After 13 years was just praying that the salt water system and the heater held up until I sold the house (which it did). And yes-salt water system is great-about 1/6 as much salt as the ocean-no chlorine smell and skin feels very smooth. And yes again electric bill dropped by approx $ 100 a month with no pool pump running.
@Felton10 Moving to Florida is about the only condition that would cause me to consider getting a pool.
Anywhere colder than that and I’d be like @clintongg above, considering a house worth $10,000 less for having a pool.
Make a stock tank pool, enjoy it for the summer, then turn it into a Koi pond later when you decide maintenance on a pool sucks.
/image storage pod swimming pool
@Lynnerizer that is fantastic
@kalma
Love that one!! Reminds me that just last week I saw one made from a storage pod, that would have been my suggestion!
@tinamarie1974
Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool!! Was/am considering something like it for our yard!
Btw, I was just wondering about @uncleviny (sp?) I haven’t heard him in here lately. Hope eveything is okay?
@Lynnerizer if you do it you must share pics! I will be so jealous
And you are right I haven’t seen @UncleVinny either.
Calling @UncleVinny, come out, come out, wherever you are!
@Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974
/giphy lurch you rang?
@Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 ok, the giphy was pretty good, but this is better.
/image Lurch you rang?
@Lynnerizer @UncleVinny we were just concerned. Wanted to make sure you, and by extension your mama, were ok! Been quiet lately
/giphy tumbleweeds
@Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 I tire of this woe-bespattered life and its endless slog, day after sloggish day, its prattle-filled minutes, its tsetse-fly buzzing, its relentless smallness, its garish vulgarity, its pitiless humiliations.
Then, of course, there’s the whining. But that part’s my fault.
Nice to be missed, tho! I wonder what @kdemo and @moonhat and @f00l are up to? Guess we’ll never know.
@DrWorm bought your mom that necklace you hated.
@UncleVinny
Biding my time, waiting for your unique turn of phrase to grace my inbox.
Also, watching this guy in my yard.
@kdemo @UncleVinny be careful, he looks sketchy wearing that mask over his eyes instead of over his mouth!!
@kdemo a pangolin! If you rub his belly you’ll get a lifetime supply of free banana pudding!
@f00l @kdemo @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 @UncleVinny I’m around, haven’t gone anywhere OF course since we can’t go anywhere…
@UncleVinny - Uh - who’s been telling you that stuff is banana pudding?
Also, you made me look up pangolins. Do they eat ants? Because I need one that eats ants.
@UncleVinny
Glad we flushed you out, had a feeling you weren’t far. Sure hope you weren’t gorging yourself with the pasta, THAT could be troublesome. It’s nice to have you back playin in our sandbox!
@kdemo get an armadillo. They eat ants, including fire ants.
@Lynnerizer Like their grass too. Looks like astro turf. When I lived in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia I had a neighbor who did that. They used a leaf blower to dust it off on occasion.
An in-ground pool will end up costing you a lot when you factor in everything from the construction itself and all the adjacent systems and accessories, but it’s the long-lasting option. And yes, there is indeed the extra cost of a saltwater system to factor in if you want to get it right cause salty pool water is cleaner and safer, easier when it comes to upkeep, and so on. But this aspect is your last worry I guess.
You do have the option to install an above ground pool, there are plenty of kits out there that you can put together in a few hours yourself and maybe need to call in only 1-2 people to help you out, but that’s it. Your advantage with above ground kits is that you can disassemble for relocation or storage, and when you move, you can move your pool to your new place too. I’ll give you some links to other ideas, suggestions, etc, maybe it’ll help you make up your mind easier on what to do:
https://blog.hayward-pool.com/innovation/salt-water-pools-advantages/
https://www.optimainstitute.com/pool/above-ground-kits.html
https://homeguide.com/costs/inground-pool-cost
@DianneLK
“Cool beans” as the kids would’ve said about 10 years ago when it was cool! 
Thanks for all these handy dandy links, easy access here in one place!
@DianneLK @Lynnerizer “I saw a commercial for an above-ground pool, it was 30 seconds long. Because that’s the maximum amount of time you can picture yourself having fun in an above-ground pool. If it was 31 seconds, the actor would say “The water is only up to here? What do I do now? Throw the ball back to Jimmy? Or put some goggles on and look at his feet?””
–Mitch Hedberg
@DianneLK @Limewater
I useta be a “pool snob” then I grew up and became grateful for whatever it was that I or other people had or could afford to offer! Jus sayen…
@DianneLK @Lynnerizer Is the implication that I’m a “pool snob?” If so, what is the basis for that?
If your gripe is with Mitch Hedberg, then you’ll be gratified to know that he’s been dead for fifteen years so you get the last word on him.
@DianneLK @Limewater @Lynnerizer I have an above ground pool that we bought to put up. I live near a quarry and their dynamiting doesn’t allow for an in ground pool, not sure I want that permanent a fixture anyway. My pool is something like 18’x24‘ rectangle and 5 feet deep. I’m pretty sure I can do just about anything in it that I can do in an in ground pool. It won’t be as fancy, but I have the saltwater setup and we’re going to build a deck around it. I’ll be able to swim laps since it’s rectangular. Ordered it from Amazon, I want to say it was around 1500.00 but don’t hold me to it. We have to get the yard graded where it’s going to be and get sand down, etc., plus the deck which will make it enclosed with a gate that I’ll put a lock on so no one’s young’un can get in. All in all, I think it will be nice, less expensive and permanent than an in ground but still fun and useful. Big enough to float on and my grands will love it. Who can ask for more? Well everyone, but we probably should just be grateful.
@DianneLK @Limewater
Oh no! I was just sayin that “I” useta be a pool snob. Didn’t mean to imply anything about you! Sorry bout that!
It’s easier to rent a pool. Many apartment complexes have them (priced into your lease/rent), and around here, the cities run their own rec plexes with reasonable annual “pass” fees. The price doubles for non-residents. Your tax dollars at work.
You’re getting a discount for not having a private, dedicated pool (and maintenance responsibility). Or join a gym/fitness center/club that has a pool. However, those may never re-open post-COVID.
@mike808 City and gym pools are usually better for other reasons, too.
Backyard pools are always so tiny. They’re too small to swim laps in. And for kids, they seem to mostly only be fun if they have other kids over to swim with them, and that’s a hassle.
And the water’s always too cold unless you have a heater.
But some people really love their backyard pools and use them all the time.
The setups you see in Florida where the pool is in a huge screened room directly connected to the back of the house do seem nice, but I’m sure there are a lot of headaches I don’t know about.
I don’t have a pool but I have plenty of pooltoys!
@PooltoyWolf - We’ve seen you floating in a pool, but maybe it wasn’t your yard?
@aetris I plead the 5th!
How much do you like to be in the water? I love having a pool and I’m in it all the time. I don’t know very many adults who feel the same way. I use a pool cleaning robot twice a week, so that cuts down a lot on time spent maintaining the pool.
Inground pools are really expensive to install, where I live they don’t do anything for your property value, and the pool builders are currently booked out for the summer. Your probably better off getting one of those big soft sided above ground pools for this year.
I got one for you. A guy in Louisiana came up with this…backyard ocean pool.
@eq52515 I love my southerners!
@eq52515
Thats got my name written ALL over it!! Omg i’d be in heaven!
I live in Florida, have a pool, and can definitely attest to the old adage: “What is a swimming pool?”
Answer: A big hole you dig in the ground and pour money into…
@shahnm
And here I thought that was a big, expensive boat
@Kidsandliz @shahnm Very similar, except the boat is a hole in the water.
First house we bought in FL to add a basic pool would have run about 21k which for some reason I thought was too much. After trying a hot tub-and in lieu of moving during a sellers market, finally decided to build a pool and learned the 21k original price was a stripped down version of what re really wanted and needed. 40k later we had our pool with a hot tub built in, heated obviously with a salt water system and pop up skimmers.
6 months after the pool was completed a new house became available which we bought that came with a pool (or a $ 30k pool allowance)-added a hot tub plus all the other things we had in our current pool for an extra 30k.
When we just sold our house after 13 years moving to a house with no pool, was told by the guy who built our original pool that to build the same pool today would run 90k-YIKES
@Felton10 What were the dimensions of the original pool?
@Limewater Which one-the one we didn’t get, the one we built or the one that came with our last house?
@Felton10 Ha ha! Sorry. I guess I was really interested in the size of the first pool you had built. The $40K one.
@Limewater Was pretty small given the lot size we had to work with-not very wide or long at all-more for just hanging out rather than any other activity. When the built the next pool we told the pool designer we liked everything about our old pool including the tile-just too small and boy did he make it large. 23 feet across and 20 feet wide.
@Felton10 @Limewater
@chienfou @Limewater So am I 23 feet across and 20 feet the other way. If I could figure out how to post a picture, I would.
@Felton10 @Limewater
Here’s what $40k got you about 8 yrs ago in central AL
Of course, about 2000 sq ft of pavers was a significant part of that.
Pool has a salt water system (just changed out the cell this yr), had to change out the filter due to a seem leak, but otherwise, it hasn’t been much of a money pit.
Just used it today to celebrate the graduation of 3 kids we know and it’s about 80 degrees and just right (for me anyway… SWMBO is more of a warm water person, but the hot tub can be fired up if needed)
@chienfou @Felton10 @Limewater the pool and your yard is beautiful
@chienfou @Felton10 @Limewater @tinamarie1974
Yeah. Wow.
@f00l @Felton10 @Limewater @tinamarie1974
Thanks… this is why when they said stay/shelter at home I said
“Hell yeah…”
That is nice. Surprised they still let you have diving boards 8 years ago. Of course, the majority of pools in Florida are in screened cages to keep out the snakes, alligators and other critters who may want to share your swimming. If anyone wants to whisper me your e-mail address will send pic of my pool I am starting to miss more than ever.
@Felton10 no problem getting a diving board here as long as we had enough clearance for the deep end. It’s 8 feet deep about half the pool length. In winter if we fire up the hot tub/spa I will often dive from the edge of the spa, swim to the ladder and then race back to the spa… If I am feeling particularly frisky I will sometimes make the round trip back to the steps and out.
Total volume is about 30K gallons if I remember from the initial fill up. Spa is 8 foot diameter with spill over- pool fills the spa and if I cycle the water thru the heater I change the intake and return to be from the spa. Otherwise if I change it to intake from the pool/output to the spa, it overflows back into the pool. That was great when the grands were younger (8 and 12 now) but currently they are using the diving board and we will soon start to do some scuba stuff with them hopefully. Now I primarily use the overflow as a passive solar gain/drain. In the early or late part of the season I run it during the hot part of the day to warm the water, then in the late summer when the water gets too hot (90’s) I will run it at night to drop the temp some. Still normally turn it on when we are in it just because the noise is nice.
I love being able to jump in when I am working outside and drop my core temp some, plus it is fun having guests over and we are considering possible Air BnB options with a 2 story 16x16 pool house we finished out to use for overflow family (upstairs 2 queens, downstairs Ikea pullout double, living space, galley kitchen and (very)small bathroom.)
TL:DR Pools are only as valuable as you make them. Do NOT put in a pool to increase the re-sale of your house. DO consider one if you enjoy having company, using a pool yourself etc.
WAY TL:DR Just do it… or don’t… ¯_(ツ)_/¯
BTW, here is a link to a prior discussion about pools in the meh universe
Can anyone tell me how to download a picture of my pool from flickr?
@Felton10 sorry, no help here. I have mine on my phone so I downloaded it to the computer I am working on … never made the transition to Flickr… I am too old/paranoid to trust off-site storage.
@chienfou That is why I can’t do it-am too old for the new fangled stuff.
@Felton10 Why don’t you just take a screen shot and then upload that? I do that all the time.
@Felton10
/google how to download your photos from flickr
Download Photos or Albums in Flickr featured
https://help.flickr.com/download-photos-or-albums-in-flickr-HJeLjhQskX
@RiotDemon I followed the instructions but all that seemed to happen is that I created a link to my flickr page-not posted the pic here so I got a bit further but not where I really wanted to be
@Felton10 sorry, I have no idea.