Everything I ever wanted to know about owning a pool but was afraid to ask! (Mission Viejo: maintenance)

[Panks]

Hi

I've made an offer on a house with a pool. I didn't really want a pool because of the maintenance but I liked everything else about the house so I thought I'd deal with it.

So thats my question..how do I deal with it? I can't afford a pool guy so I need to know if its very hard to do the monthly maintenance on a pool? I know I have to scoop bugs out every day or so but what about the chemicals? is that hard to do every month? It is monthly not weekly right?

Another thread on city-date says its $300 to heat a pool every month..is that right? thats incredibly expensive! Its like a car payment! If you don't heat it, would the water get warm enough to use in the summer in woodland hills?

And last question....if it gets to be too much for me to handle...do they sell permanent hard covers for pools that you can walk on? I know you can have them filled in but I wouldn't want to do that. I was just wondering if I could drain it and cover it so I would feel safe walking across it.

Thanks for your words of wisdom

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Panks

If you don't heat it, would the water get warm enough to use in the summer in woodland hills?

If it is not in the shade it will definitely be warm enough without using a heater for summer and early fall fun in Woodland Hills.

[greggd]

Consider going with a salt water system rather than chemicals. Makes a big difference and much more enjoyable.

[missionhome]

Mission Viejo has similar temperatures as Woodland Hills. The air temp heats the pool during the summer and early fall. We haven't heated our pool once this summer and the water temp is in the low 70's at night and high 70's to 80's in the afternoon. During the winter/spring we only heat the pool for special days like holiday breaks for Easter or Thanksgiving. The rest of the year it is cold. We have salt water so I don't know about the chemical stuff. Salt water is great because your eyes never sting, it is basically like bath water. Our biggest cost has been to the electrical bill because the pool filter runs so much. Our costs are probably higher than yours because our pool is 38ft long and 9 ft at the deep end. The pool is a pleasure in the summer though so enjoy!

[Panks]

FILTER? I didn't know I had to run a filter Is that just if you have leaves and bugs falling in constantly? Can I just use one of those large butterfly net looking things everyday?

Thanks for the tip on salt water you guys..I am going to google how to do it now.

Please let me know about the filter. How much are they (if I have to have one)?

[greggd]

Originally Posted by Panks

FILTER? I didn't know I had to run a filter Is that just if you have leaves and bugs falling in constantly? Can I just use one of those large butterfly net looking things everyday?

Thanks for the tip on salt water you guys..I am going to google how to do it now.

Please let me know about the filter. How much are they (if I have to have one)?

You if have a pool, you have a filter and will always need the filter.

[WannaGoHome]

i would recommend a pooly guy. My parents live in Simi and they have one and, honestly, i don't think (based on how frugal my parents are with some things) that it would break the bank. Because pool maintenance (especially with chemicals) is a bit of a science, i can imagine it might also be a bit of a pain in the butt. yes, you'll need the filter and if you are in woodland, don't worry about the heater for summer and fall. Won't even be a worry. My parents told me their pool was 82 degrees yesterday. cheers!

[CA4Now]

I never heat my pool. No one uses it in the winter (only the spa, so we heat that when necessary) and obviously you don't need to heat it in the summer. Filters, yes, repair, yes, chemicals, yes....it can be expensive. I use a pool guy who seems honest but it's no fun hearing about how the pump needs to be replaced and the sweepy-thing needs a new whatever or it's time for them to add this and that chemical....it can really add up.

[Papaskunk]

The pool chemicals are easy, and a pool is easy to maintain, requiring very little time. I don't have a pool now but I did growing up, and it was my chore to maintain the pool from age 12 - 18. All you do is check the pH, and add a little muriatic acid or sodium bicarbonate to keep it in balance. The trick to keeping out algae is tons of chlorine. It beats scrubbing the sides with a brush. Once in a while, you "shock" the pool, which is a special chemical set that neutralizes out residual stabilizing chemicals and gives you a clean slate. There are alternatives to chlorine such as bromine (we used this in our spa), but it's more expensive.

The filter runs every day (usually at night to save on energy) to clean the water (sucks it in through the square holes you see on the side of the pool at water level, which also brings surface debris), and the pump also drives the pool vac that drives around on the bottom and sucks up dirt. It also keeps the water mixed up so that the chemistry is even. If you didn't run the filter, your water would be dirty/cloudy, you'd have dirt on the bottom, leaves floating on top, and algae would start growing soon without the chlorine getting mixed through out. I tried to be stingy with chlorine and ended up scrubbing the sides of the pool.

If you have standard filters in the pump, you get them out twice a year, take them down to the quarter-slot DIY car wash, and spray the crap out of them until they're white again. I always did in April and October.

It will cost you at leat $100 extra in energy a month to run the pool, possibly more depending on the size. Then there's chemicals. Chlorine is your biggest cost. I'm sure there's some creative ways to buy it in bulk on the internet that I couldn't do as a teenager.

[Panks]

Originally Posted by Papaskunk

It will cost you at leat $100 extra in energy a month to run the pool, possibly more depending on the size.

$100 to run the filter? or the heater? I had no idea what I was getting myself into

The house is a short sale so everything has been taken out of it. I need to go and check if they left the heater and filter and bottom cleaning sweeper thing...I bet they didn't.

Thanks for all the info everyone. I fell asleep last night reading about salt vs chlorine pools vs UV ...it was pretty exciting bedtime reading! I did find out that you can't just throw some salt in your pool to make it a salt water pool...