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I'd pretty much like to know everything involved in putting in a built in swimming pool. I have about a 20 by 30 foot space available. We would want it to be about five foot deep. I would be doing this in Toms River.
Questions I can think of so far are...
How much are the permit fee's?
How far off your property line does the pool have to be?
Whats kind of pools (gunite, vinyl, fiberglass, salt water) is recommended?
How much will it cost?
How much will my taxes increase?
If anybody has any suggestions or tips I like to hear them......Thanks.....
Ok. about 3 years ago I was going to do this in TR - I had a major life change interupt the plans but I was ready to sign a contract. I live on the water so your setbacks may be diff. 8 foot from sides. 8 feet from house (including any attached decks). I am 10 feet from bulkhead but I would assume 8 ft from rear neighbor.
I just put an above ground in and permits ran $90 for building and electric. *be aware there are setbacks for the pump and electric as well. It can begin to get very complicated.
Cost 4 years ago for a small 15 x 24 pool with liner was going to run at least $25K-30K. They never seem to truly include EVERYTHING in the estimate. Extra cost for excavation and dirt removal if over a certain amt. or distance. Fencing...has to be your fence. If one side of your yard is fenced by your neighbor that's not good enough you will have to install your own fence. Landscaping and backfill. Do you really only want a 3 ft walkway all around the pool? - this is what most estimates include. Just lots of little things you don't think of.
There is an excellent site called gardenweb.com they have a forum just for pools. Great way to learn about differences between gunite, etc.
Beware. It is very difficult to find a really good, reputable installer. I know of one here in Toms River that has a good rating with BBB but I have yet to meet anyone satisfied with their work. Go figure.
You will also need to determine what kind of filtration system you want. I would also recommend a heater. I have neighbors with pools and although most of the summer they do great with just a solar blanket, having the heater is really nice in May and Sept.
If you think of anything you can either post or PM me.
Thanks for the information HRJersey it was very helpfull. I'm on the water also. I just hope I can build it 10 feet back from my bulkhead. The bulkhead builder might have set the deadmen back further. I'll have to look into that.
What kind of setbacks for the pump and electric are you refering to? Also does the 8 feet from the deck include the steps?. The steps on my deck go straight to the area I would want to build on.
The pump has to be a certain distance from the house, a certaing dist. from the pool and a cert. dist from the property line (mine was above ground so I'm not sure if they would be the same...I'd have to look back at the paperwork to see what the setbacks are for this). Then the electric for the pool has to be a certain distance from everything. It has to be a single direct circuit to the breaker box and it has to be a certain distance from a convenience outlet which must be on a separate breaker. I had a convenience outlet on my house and had to move it to my shed so that it was further away.
I'm not sure if the steps are included as part of the deck. My deck doesn't have steps so it wasn't an issue. I do know that it seems that some people have gotten variances to build pools because I've seen pools that don't seem to meet the setbacks.
I assume that your bulkhead is new. I know that I have about 5-7 more years on my bulkhead and with the new ordinances I will have to completely tear out what I have since they don't allow you to build in front of an existing bulkhead anymore. That means that if I had put a pool in 4 years ago, it would have probably had to have been removed to put in the new bulkhead.
Something else to remember if you're building on the water- if the bottom of your pool will be lower than the level of the water on the other side of the bulkhead, you're going to incur additional costs in constructing the pool. During construction, the builder will need to "dewater" the excavation to keep the ocean/bay out of the hole 24/7. They'll also need to install a hydrostatic valve in the bottom of the pool so water pressure doesn't pop the shell of the pool out of the ground if you ever drain the pool for maintenance (the downward pressure of the water in the pool prevents this normally).
Given your location, I'd say a vinyl pool is out of the question, as you'd have no way of keeping it down in the hole against the water pressure.
Also, are you going to put a fence around the pool? Keep in mind that the fence will be your starting point for setback, not the pool. In our town it's 15 feet from the neighboring property or 25 feet from the road. Add on room for the concrete around the pool and your space gets eaten up pretty quickly.
Good point Bob made about the pump around the pool during excavation and after the pool is installed. I forgot about this. But both of my neighbors have lined pools and they haven't had any problems. I heard that sometimes fiberglass pools can be pushed up out of the ground if not installed properly.
UKOK. Toms River doesn't have the same setbacks. Ours is from the property line not the fence. some people choose just to fence in the pool. Also the setbacks are from the house/property line to the edge of the pool and not the surrounding walkway. Your walkway can fall within the setbacks. Of course you are right, the pools generally eat up the whole back yard.
UKOK. Toms River doesn't have the same setbacks. Ours is from the property line not the fence. some people choose just to fence in the pool. Also the setbacks are from the house/property line to the edge of the pool and not the surrounding walkway. Your walkway can fall within the setbacks. Of course you are right, the pools generally eat up the whole back yard.
Huh? I was talking about the fence around the pool.
HRJersey, does your fence have to be on all four sides including the bulkhead?.
BobKovacks, Good point about fiberglass pools. I know my neighbore put one up and he hasn't had any problems with it....yet. He only put in in last summer, so I'll keep an eye on it. He had his put in in one piece. As far as being below the water line. I think it would be close maybe a foot or two at the most. I wasn't planning on putting a deep pool. The deep part would be five foot.
No. Bulkhead side does not need to be fenced. If you don't have a fence beware that there are permits required for fencing and there are special ordances for being on the water. The fence separating your property from your neighbors can not be solid. In fact it has to be open to specifications (I don't know what they are but it is a percentage, like a picket is a percentage of the spaces between the pickets or something like that to allow visibility for your neighbors). Additionally not all chain link quailifies. You'd have to contact the town. Make sure your fence meets code before anything else because I recently heard of someone putting in a pool and when the inspector came he told them their new fence didn't meet code so they had to take it out and replace it.
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