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Old 08-02-2011, 07:56 AM
 
Location: N GA Mountains
247 posts, read 1,287,187 times
Reputation: 97

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet View Post
Here goes...


The good:

They sure are pretty! Shows your neighbors that you can extend in good times AND bad....just like them. It's one of those things you can look out on an admire but, seldom use. Kind of like having your own little lake/cement pond out back complete with nice cool-deck walkway and furniture you can constantly clean.....does wonders to your hair, too.

The bad:

Liability. Whoa! Here's a problem. Come home one day and find your neighbors 3 year old Billy floating face down way longer than a kid should and your next words coming out of that hole in your face after the necessary expletives should be: "c'mon honey, hurry up and pack, we gotta get the heck out of here".....no matter how hard you try, no matter how much fence you put up, no matter how many lit and unlit signs you post, find a "floater" in your pool/cement pond and you are in for a world of hurt my friend. There's a lawyer on every corner, just like Chicago and they specialize in finding that 1/8 of an inch "inferior" font type on your signs that basically allows them to clean your house out faster than you ever cleaned that pool. Makes you wonder what happened to the floater named Billy?

No, in retrospect, better to get Bobby the BobCat operator over for a quick burial for the pool AND Billy than to mess with all that red tape only insurance companies and lawyers could love. Just plow it and Billy over and hope NO one in the neighborhood has dogs that like to dig too much.....don't forget to get a few bags of lime.....

No matter, what with the constant worry about leaks and winterizing and summerizing will make you want to backfill this bad boy in 3 years after opening day or, the day you find the Billy the floater, whichever comes first. The liability is just too high.....it's what lawyers like to call, "an attractive nuissance".....and you call ME cynical?

The Ugly:

Once Billy shows up, and they always do, the shame and disgrace will be unbearable. Not so much because it was "their kid" but, because so many of the suburb housewives have too much time on their hands. Sure, gas is up so they tend to fill their M-60 Patton tanks/Suburbans up more often but, it doesn't get them out of the house long enough to properly "dispose" of such problems. They just have too much time on their hands.

Besides, the neighbors are more adamant about finding "Billy, the floater" than a lost ****zu or maltese that sooner or later, they are gonna come around looking with Barney Fife in tow. Sure, you might pass it off as you "never liked that thing anyway" but, something about fresh turned earth and constant re-runs of CSI tends to keep people around asking questions. Nah. Just skip it. Use the community pool. If Billy ends up floating in that one you can join all the folks in the cul-de-sac with a candle later. Sure, there will be some questions but, you can act as dumb and innocent as the next so, no worries mate....you're covered.

That big obnoxious blue thing in Chicago might have been okay as it was only around for 3 months. No big deal. However, putting one of these pseudo Roman God-like monsters with water pissing out of some lion head SEEMS like a good idea now but, think of the consequences later. Stick to the clubhouse. Let Lenny and Squiggy take care of the darn thing and just make sure they keep enough chlorine around for the young kid's "accidents". You've seen Caddyshack, you know what I mean.....

Good luck and welcome to Atlanta!
Oh - good grief
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Old 08-02-2011, 09:23 AM
 
Location: Southeast, where else?
3,913 posts, read 5,208,852 times
Reputation: 5823
Quote:
Originally Posted by ebs964 View Post
Oh - good grief
Ebs.....lighten up.....it was quirky by design as no one really wants nor needs to see it. Most pools here have NO child-proof fence as it detracts from the beauty. With that said, the liability is just ONE thing to consider. Having lived in Florida and having heard folks who lost a child/infant to this very real, not imaginary issue, gives one pause. I too owned a pool and had a number of infants at the time. By the time I was done securing the pool, Fort Knox would have been proud....

Fast forward....Atlanta. Quite a few homes with very, very nice built-in pools are somewhat insecure as it relates to the fencing. While this is in and of itself, not a sole reason not to install one, just keep in mind the very real repercussions one might face if something goes awry. Kind of like a loaded hand gun. Rare that it may ever cause an accident but, if it does???.......well, you get the idea. I'm sure 90% of the folks that own a pool are very aware either through the salesman that sells the pool and the fencing or, just common sense.

If you live in a community with a pool, not worth the hassle or expense unless it's just one more ostentatious thing one must own. If you don't have a community pool, it's a thought. Pools are great fun and they do add a unique beauty in anyone's back yard if they have the room. Anyone can appreciate having a pool right now with the current temperatures but, again, probably only makes sense if you fall under this scenario. The season for a pool here is about 5 months long give or take. The cost to heat year round is very, very prohibitive but, it can be done.

For anyone thinking about owning one, consider the real cost of ownership between cleaning and chemicals, the resale (one guys dream is another's nightmare), and yes, the liability overall.

Good luck on your choice.
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Old 08-02-2011, 02:03 PM
 
Location: Atlanta, GA
1,262 posts, read 2,965,442 times
Reputation: 975
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaday View Post
Keep your mouth closed.
This literally made me laugh out loud.

When we went house hunting we looked at several homes with pools. Some of those being in swim/tennis neighborhoods. We decided instead to go with a house on a big beautiful treed lot with no pool in a swim/tennis neighborhood.

My parents have had a pool all my life, and they love it, but the also have a pool service that maintains it. Also, living on several acres, they could put the pool in an area of the yard with virtually no trees. That's hard to come by in suburban Atlanta. I love my trees, much more than a pool. The people in my neighborhood who do have pools often complain about the leaf problem. Also, they still use the community pool for social use quite a bit.

I just started a job working 60+ hours a week with a 45 minute commute each way. My partner is starting law school in 2 weeks while also working 30+ hours a week. I'm ecstatic that I didn't tie myself a pool.
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Old 08-02-2011, 02:19 PM
 
528 posts, read 1,279,425 times
Reputation: 274
Default I was just at a friends pool today in the Buffalo area and I was telling them how there are

not a lot of people with pools in GA. They all thought it was crazy! We have so many pools in our subdivision and there are many pools in a lot of the upper end neighborhoods in Buffalo. We probably have THREE months of pool use and everyone still goes to the expense. I guess we just think since we have such a short summer that we want to REALLY enjoy it. There have only been two homes on the market in Laurel Springs with pools since I have been looking in October and they both sold within 30-45 days. I wish we could find one with a pool that we liked. Instead, we are going to spend a fortune to put one in and never get that money back out. Oh well. We shall see.
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Old 08-02-2011, 02:23 PM
 
Location: Ono Island, Orange Beach, AL
10,737 posts, read 13,302,131 times
Reputation: 7166
Quote:
Originally Posted by livinginbuffalo View Post
not a lot of people with pools in GA. They all thought it was crazy! We have so many pools in our subdivision and there are many pools in a lot of the upper end neighborhoods in Buffalo. We probably have THREE months of pool use and everyone still goes to the expense. I guess we just think since we have such a short summer that we want to REALLY enjoy it. There have only been two homes on the market in Laurel Springs with pools since I have been looking in October and they both sold within 30-45 days. I wish we could find one with a pool that we liked. Instead, we are going to spend a fortune to put one in and never get that money back out. Oh well. We shall see.
Don't know if you are a dog person, but a few dogs can add a whole other dimension to pool ownership.... Just something to consider.
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Old 08-03-2011, 04:32 AM
 
Location: FL to GA back to FL
894 posts, read 4,340,634 times
Reputation: 442
We had a chlorine pool when we lived in South Florida, and when we moved here, we were not really looking for a house with pool. It just so happened that the house we bought had one and with a salt generator. I am so glad that we have one! It is positioned in the ground that the only leaves we get are in the fall, when it is not in use. The salt vs liquid chlorine difference is awesome. My husband hardly does any work with it, as we have an automatic vacuum and I guess because I only have a few quality months to enjoy it, I appreciate it even more. We are empty nesters and do have 2 pools in our SD, but we never go to it. I like the privacy of my own pool, know that no one has peed in it and when my son and his water obsessed dog comes to visit, it always gets used. Next step for me is probably a solar heater to extend the season a bit longer.
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Old 08-03-2011, 04:34 AM
 
Location: FL to GA back to FL
894 posts, read 4,340,634 times
Reputation: 442
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnsleyPark View Post
Don't know if you are a dog person, but a few dogs can add a whole other dimension to pool ownership.... Just something to consider.
My son's water obsessed dog loves our pool. What a source of entertainment. He will even go in the winter
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Old 08-03-2011, 06:56 AM
 
Location: a warmer place
1,748 posts, read 5,510,805 times
Reputation: 769
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericsonga View Post
This literally made me laugh out loud.

When we went house hunting we looked at several homes with pools. Some of those being in swim/tennis neighborhoods. We decided instead to go with a house on a big beautiful treed lot with no pool in a swim/tennis neighborhood.

My parents have had a pool all my life, and they love it, but the also have a pool service that maintains it. Also, living on several acres, they could put the pool in an area of the yard with virtually no trees. That's hard to come by in suburban Atlanta. I love my trees, much more than a pool. The people in my neighborhood who do have pools often complain about the leaf problem. Also, they still use the community pool for social use quite a bit.

I just started a job working 60+ hours a week with a 45 minute commute each way. My partner is starting law school in 2 weeks while also working 30+ hours a week. I'm ecstatic that I didn't tie myself a pool.
I guess I don't notice the salt taste! I really like having a pool. We did not put it in the previous owners did and they also put in high end landscaping around the pool that doesn't "shed". So our maintenance is pretty low. To each his own though. We use our pool every day in the summer and many days in the late Spring and early Fall. With the right circumstances a pool can be pretty minimal to maintain....
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Old 08-07-2011, 02:55 PM
 
10 posts, read 21,192 times
Reputation: 15
Thanks for the info. Our subdivision does not have a community pool, which is why we are thinking seriously about putting one in. Plus, we are homebodies, and having a pool would be a big part of our summer entertainment.

As for liability, I worry more about something happening to my teenage drivers on Birmingham Highway than about someone's young child climbing the fence and drowning in our back yard. We would make it as secure as possible, and people in our neighborhood tend to be friendly, but keep to themselves. Sure, it could happen, but so could getting struck by lightning. I appreciate the warning, though.
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Old 08-07-2011, 08:07 PM
 
Location: Atlanta, GA
1,262 posts, read 2,965,442 times
Reputation: 975
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazynip View Post
Up yours...

Nothing is stopping them, if it's so great, everyone would have done it and places like pinch a penny would be out of business.

Here's a hint also. Outfits in my neck of the woods are doing the conversions FOR FREE if you commit to buy a certain amount of salt from them. Also from what I understand it's also being outlawed in certain areas/states and some countries.
That was senseless and rude. What she said was in jest; calm down.
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