Installing a pool (Chambersburg, Waynesboro, Shippensburg: loans, upkeep, condo)

[jrice]

Quick question for anyone. The family and I are moving to the Chambersburg area, and I am considering having a pool put in. Just curious if anyone has done the same and can provide a general idea of price.

I would like an inground, 8ft or so deep end, average size I guess.

I ask because here in Las Vegas an inground pool can easily run 40k-100k to install because of the ground (very dense, sometimes jack hammers are needed)

As said just a general idea. Thanks

[jfeagin]

Originally Posted by jrice

Quick question for anyone. The family and I are moving to the Chambersburg area, and I am considering having a pool put in. Just curious if anyone has done the same and can provide a general idea of price.

I would like an inground, 8ft or so deep end, average size I guess.

I ask because here in Las Vegas an inground pool can easily run 40k-100k to install because of the ground (very dense, sometimes jack hammers are needed)

As said just a general idea. Thanks

A question? Why would you want to invest $$$ in a pool as it is going to be unusable for about 6-7 months a year? Is it going to be heated/indoors. Seriously, it starts getting chilly in mid-Oct and it is mid May now and about 55 degrees outside and the avg is about 75. (I am from CA originally). There are some houses with in-ground (very rare) pools but most that I see are above ground... BTW get used to a LOT less sun. Some folks love the Wx here, some don't... pretty country around here tough when the Wx lets you enjoy it.

[jrice]

Originally Posted by jfeagin

A question? Why would you want to invest $$$ in a pool as it is going to be unusable for about 6-7 months a year? Is it going to be heated/indoors. Seriously, it starts getting chilly in mid-Oct and it is mid May now and about 55 degrees outside and the avg is about 75. (I am from CA originally). There are some houses with in-ground (very rare) pools but most that I see are above ground... BTW get used to a LOT less sun. Some folks love the Wx here, some don't... pretty country around here tough when the Wx lets you enjoy it.

Not from Vegas originally(Upstate NY) so I am well aware of the weather (and actually looking forward to diverse weather again). Some people love the weather here but since I am from the northeast I am used it being overcast a couple of days a week, and too be honest I get bored seeing the sun everyday for months on end,the 115 degree summers (it was 104 here today), and I like rain from time to time as opposed to here where it rains once every 4 or 5 months (Vegas gets somewhere around 10 inches a year I believe) We want a pool because both my son and I love to swim and its much easier going to the back yard as opposed to a near by lake. I thought about above ground but am hesitant because they can get punctured, etc more easily. As long as the water temp in the pool is 70 or above its good to me (dont know about my 5 year old on that one)/ I wish I could afford an in house pool but a Rockefeller I am not

[jfeagin]

Thats cool, me... I am a sun person, love it... Anyway, you know what to expect. Here is an article I pulled up in the Chambersburg paper... Has some names of installers as well...

Pool sales flow in slower than in past


After a couple of years of saving and shopping around, Ronald Troskoski is getting a swimming pool installed at his Greencastle home.
With frequent family get-togethers at his home and children to take advantage of it, he felt the time was right to get a pool.
"We've been looking at them for a couple of years and decided this year to do it," Troskoski said.
Spring is the time of year when winter pool purchases are installed. Some area pool installation companies are seeing a slight slowdown in business.
Mark Flohr of Flohr Pools said that business has been steady but not as strong as it's been in past years. He said the cost of materials has increased in the past couple of years and the jumps in prices are now happening more frequently than in past years. Flohr said a price change by a pool manufacturer used to happen once in a year if it happened at all. Now, it's not uncommon for retailers to see two or three price jumps in a year.
However, Joyce Guyer of Guyer Pools in Shippensburg said that it's business as usual, with installations scheduled through July. Guyer said most of the pools that are on the docket to be built this year were contracted last year, with financing usually coming through home improvement loans. Guyer's averages between 15 to 20 new pool installations a season and this season is expected to be consistent with past years.
Guyer did say that the cost of building materials, such as concrete, steel and pool liners, which are


a petroluem-based product, have increased in recent years and that another increase is expected in June. Mike Condo, co-owner of Sunset Pools in Waynesboro, said he's feeling a pinch with the costs of the pools going up, having all of his vehicles used for installation running on diesel and Sunset not increasing prices. He also said business is still steady, but not as brisk as it's been in recent years. He said in the past that spring installations used to be completely booked by November of the previous year.
Condo said above-ground pools can cost as much as $9,500 and in-ground pools start around $20,000. With the cost of chlorine also steadily increasing in recent years, Condo said saltwater pools, which use a chlorine generator to transform the salt into a chlorine, have spread to the Northeast after being popular in Florida and California. However, the start-up cost for a saltwater system is around $2,000.
Troskoski said this is the second above-ground pool that he's purchased. He's aware of what the pools cost after having a similar model at a home that he used to own in Antrim Township. Surprisingly, he said his new pool only cost a couple of thousand dollars more than the first pool he had installed more than a decade ago.
"Either the cost hasn't gone up too much or I really got ripped off on the first one," Troskoski said, laughing

[orrmobl]

Get an above ground pool. There are houses that have been sitting on the market for months bc they have an in-ground pool. Young couples don't want them bc of the drowning hazard, old folks don't want the upkeep or the threat of neighbors kids trespassing or drowning, lazy folks don't want the additional work, cheap folks don't want to pay for the chemicals and electricity, repairs, etc. Do yourself a favor and buy a boat instead...

[Summering]

I have always loved my above ground pool. In fact because one property sloped, we decked around it. People always asked if it was inground.
I sold my NJ home because the couple wanted a pool. They had their realtor from a good 30 mi away bring them to our home, and they walked right up to it.......first thing.
Personally, all of us in our family would buy a home with a pool set up already.........as we have enjoyed them always. Great for parties, and family gatherings........they make for a wonderful day.
I don't think the chemicals are all that expensive, and this pool is 24 feet.......
Our first pool was 41 feet! ( a bit more costly in chemicals/upkeep)
I did find that the first pool was way more work. It sat under too many trees........therein becomes the problem. Even then we had taken down many trees before putting it up.
Because the pool we have now is in a very open area we have to vacume it only about once a month........way, way, easier then the larger pool ( under trees)
The electric bill is not so very high at all. It amazes me that I can run the AC and the pool and still have a bill of 120 or so per month.
I would worry about the rock situation in this area.........we had to blast a rock down for an above ground. If that had to come all the way out for a inground, forget it.
Wow, well.......boats are expensive too. You need a trailer.......the patience to get it in and out of the water. All that gas for the truck pulling, and the boat......
Motors go bad, props break........and unless its a pontoon boat, wheres the party room?
LOL
For selling purposes it probably is better to have an above ground.........easy enough to take down for a naysayer.
Three months use or not...........some of our happiest moments have been with friends and family by the pool.

[jrice]

We have thought about a boat, but once again its much easier just to walk in the back yard, and as Summering said pools are great for family gatherings, bbqs, etc. I kinda like the look of ingrounds more. We had a quote here (Vegas) last year for a pool, it would have cost a total of 95k to install, they would have had to use jackhammers to get through the ground(about an inch or so down it becomes almost has hard as concrete). Is there a fence ordinance for pools? Here you have to have atleast the area surrounding the pool fenced. I plan on having a fence built around the property anyways.

Thanks for the responses so far

[Dawne]

You do have to have a fence around an in-ground pool with a self-closing gate. I believe above-ground pools have to have either a fence or a removable ladder. If you have a deck with a ladder to it, you can have one of those ladders that the bottom half flips up and latches.

As far as getting a boat, with the price of gas these days?! My husband has a bass boat and it hasn't left our yard in a couple of years. I wish he'd have invested in a pool instead!

[suburbanite1]

If you get one expect to take much longer to sell your home when you do and don't expect it to add any value. I don't think it will cost you anywhere near 95k though here to have one installed unless you want something really elaborate.

[jrice]

Originally Posted by suburbanite1

If you get one expect to take much longer to sell your home when you do and don't expect it to add any value. I don't think it will cost you anywhere near 95k though here to have one installed unless you want something really elaborate.

nothing elaborate at all. We plan on staying a good long time so reselling the home isnt a concern right away.