Thinking of building a swimming pool (buyer, school, contractors)

[Paula Lynn]

The only problem with building a pool, as I see it, when you go to sell, many potential buyers may be turned off by the pool - liability, up-keep etc. There's a possibility of losing a sale, especially to a family with small children. Do you have teenagers? Be prepared to be the local hang-out all summer long !! Either way, let us know what you decide

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

We use our pool hundreds of times each year.

Sounds like for you it is worth it. That's like two out of three days a year, all year. You are probably three standard deviations from the mean.


I'd bet 95% of backyard pools are used less than five hours a month.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Charles

Sounds like for you it is worth it. That's like two out of three days a year, all year. You are probably three standard deviations from the mean.


I'd bet 95% of backyard pools are used less than five hours a month.

Our pool gets used three to five times a day in the summer once school is out. We keep it open from April through November (close it the day after thanksgiving. IN the spring it gets less use. It gets quite a bit of use during the fall but not as much as summer. Fall maybe once a day and twice on weekends. Lately my daughter has started waking me up at 5 a.m. each day to swim for 20 minutes before school. I am looking forward to school getting out.

We have five kids and we want to be the neighborhood hang out. That way we know what they are doing, who they are ahnging with and in bits and pieces what they atre talking about.

[missionhome]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Our pool gets used three to five times a day in the summer once school is out. We keep it open from April through November (close it the day after thanksgiving. IN the spring it gets less use. It gets quite a bit of use during the fall but not as much as summer. Fall maybe once a day and twice on weekends. Lately my daughter has started waking me up at 5 a.m. each day to swim for 20 minutes before school. I am looking forward to school getting out.

We have five kids and we want to be the neighborhood hang out. That way we know what they are doing, who they are ahnging with and in bits and pieces what they atre talking about.

I couldn't agree with you more! The pool does sit at our house from November to late April due to us not wanting to heat it (its expensive!). We use the spa through the cold season though, 1-3 times per week. We heat the pool for the school breaks also.

From late April to about late October/early November, the pool stays warm enough to be used without heating. Its been great the last few weeks, and the kids swim after a long day at school. I love swimming myself, so I use it at least once per day as well. I couldn't agree more about the kids having their friends come over to use the pool. With an 18 year old boy, 16 year old boy, and 14 year old girl in this day and age, I want to see all their friends and know who they spend time with at school. I'm glad to have their friends come here and they are pretty nice kids.

I think a pool means different things to different people and it depends on the situation and whether you really think you will be an active swimmer, even after kids. After our neighbor's baby died in their pool (I know some of you saw my post on that), I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the longrun when my kids have children of their own to cover the pool. I'm very aware of its danger after the horror that happend next door.

Also, with regard to value, it depends. Some people won't buy a house with a pool, and some people won't buy a house without one. For our house, about 75% of the neighborhood homes have pools and those without one are usually selling for $100k less. On my street for example, 8 of the 10 homes have a pool.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Lately my daughter has started waking me up at 5 a.m. each day to swim for 20 minutes before school.

Amazing; This sounds so unusual...I don't know what to write.

I wonder how many school age kids are interested in swimming in a backyard pool at 5 AM before school. I assume this isn't a lap sized pool and we're not talking about working out for a swim team - something that normally involves a 25 yard minimum length.

Now, I have four kids myself, and I probably would use a pool a lot more than than the average person too. If we ever move again and a pool was part of a house I wouldn't reject it (but I would have every safety device on it known to man.)

[Morphous01]

Originally Posted by Charles

Let's see, at $100,000 and three one hour swims per week and four months of use per year and average residence of seven years, and you might get 20% of your investment back when you sell the house if you are lucky...

...that's about $238 per swim.

Stick the $100K in an S&P 500 index fund and forget about it and take your kids to the community pool where there are 50 other kids.

If the OP is serious I totally agree with Charles. Not to bash what you want to do with your life and your money but as a self employed business man who makes rounds to peoples homes I have noticed that the pool is hardly ever used, and that in fact, the owners pay money year around for up keep to the pool guy.

If you want to swim and get real use out of a pool I would sign up at LA fitness.

[drshang]

Originally Posted by donalduckmoore

A pool DIY?! Are you kidding me. There are lots of work and many procedures. How much can you save from DIY?

He's not suggesting you DIY. He's suggesting you act as the project manager and not actually do the work yourself.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Charles

Amazing; This sounds so unusual...I don't know what to write.

I wonder how many school age kids are interested in swimming in a backyard pool at 5 AM before school. I assume this isn't a lap sized pool and we're not talking about working out for a swim team - something that normally involves a 25 yard minimum length.

Now, I have four kids myself, and I probably would use a pool a lot more than than the average person too. If we ever move again and a pool was part of a house I wouldn't reject it (but I would have every safety device on it known to man.)

Our pool is 40 feet long so you can swim mini laps. She just wanted to start getting some exercise and since she has to leave for Madrigals (a choir thing) at 6 a.m. she gets up to swim in the morning before school. It is just like going for a run or something, but she likes to swim. It is good for me too becuase my knees are messed up and I cannot run anymore.

We tried all the varoius safety devices and alarms. they are really a pain in the seat and we ended up getting rid of them. We have a simple rule. No one enters the pool room alone. Not even dad. Everyone follows that rule because violations result in a week of no pool privileges. We figure that with two people there, there is usually someone to go gt help if something happens. This rule is why my daughter gets me up at 5 a.m. to swim with her. She cannot swim alone and no one else would even consider getting up at that ungodly hour. 5 am. is a time to go to bed sometimes, but should never be a time to get out of bed.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by drshang

He's not suggesting you DIY. He's suggesting you act as the project manager and not actually do the work yourself.

One problem that you encounter is that all of the subcontractors give priority to the pool companies becuase they are a source of repeat busienss. You are a one shot customer. Thus, if they get an assignment from a pool company, they will leave your project and run off to please their regular customer.

[k374]

to do any kind of serious swimming you need at least 25m length otherwise it is just too small. Most homes have 10m pools which is more like an oversized bathtub.