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Yes, it's like a blank slate back there. That's the main reason we bought the house - because we figured we could put a pool in that big, flat back yard.
If you don't mind my asking, what is the size of your lot and/or your back yard? We're house hunting ourselves, and a "blank slate" as you say is what we're after. We want a pool, too.
Thank you for posting your pictures. Keep 'em coming! I'm looking forward to seeing and reading how it all plays out.
If you don't mind my asking, what is the size of your lot and/or your back yard? We're house hunting ourselves, and a "blank slate" as you say is what we're after. We want a pool, too.
Thank you for posting your pictures. Keep 'em coming! I'm looking forward to seeing and reading how it all plays out.
Our lot size is 1/2 an acre with about 2/3s of it in the back yard. We could have gone with a smaller pool though if we'd had a smaller yard. Also, we have a septic system so it needs plenty of room to "operate" so if you don't have a septic system you could probably go smaller too.
Oh, I hope you can do it too! If you do, keep us posted on your progress!
We found out that the heater and the gas line to the heater will cost about $4500 but it can be added at a later date so we're going to try the first year without a heater to see how it goes.
I love the size of your backyard! So exciting for you. Please post updating pics as well. I loved our pool in Florida. Our backyard is actually big enough here in Denver for one but it just wouldn't make sense out here
This is going to be a fun thread to follow! And you will LOVE looking back at your own posts and seeing before pictures. Keep us posted!
Seems like you got a lot of trees back there, any plans to prune them or take some down for more sun?
Does this mean those beautiful trees will have to come down in the backyard?
Are you sad about less lawn area?
What about a fence?
Have you went over the costs to maintain and run the pool?
Will the water be heated for extended season?
You have "wonderland" in your location. What state are you in?
This is going to be a fun thread to follow! And you will LOVE looking back at your own posts and seeing before pictures. Keep us posted!
Seems like you got a lot of trees back there, any plans to prune them or take some down for more sun?
Does this mean those beautiful trees will have to come down in the backyard?
Are you sad about less lawn area?
What about a fence?
Have you went over the costs to maintain and run the pool?
Will the water be heated for extended season?
You have "wonderland" in your location. What state are you in?
Thank you and great questions!
Not sure if you can tell from the photos, but the only large trees are around the outside of the yard and no, we won't have to take them down. There are three crape myrtle trees that will need to come down but I'm going to transplant them to the back corner of the yard.
Since the back yard is big already (the lot is over half an acre and most of that is in the back yard) I don't think we will miss the yard space, which we don't use anyway. I think we will use the pool more than the grass.
We already have a wooden privacy fence with three gates. We will need to lock the gates with childproof locks but I'm OK with that.
We went over the costs and we're paying more on the front end for a very self sufficient cleaning system so there will be less maintenance supposedly. Chemicals once a month and only the very occasional brushing (like the first 30 days and then once or twice a year). We will have to empty a filter about once a month (leaves). The pool place doesn't think we will need to hire anyone to keep it up and we can bring a sample of pool water in anytime and they will tell us exactly what to add. They told us chemicals cost about $400 a year.
We are going to try the first year without a heater since we have a long hot summer here anyway. If we want to extend the swimming season we can add a heater next year but we should be able to swim in the pool from May through September.
We live in Texas.
I am so excited! I will keep the thread updated. Right now we are just waiting on the final plans to be sent to the HOA, which should be this week. The pool company owners live in the neighborhood and have built several pools out here and have also served on the architectural committee so they know what's required by the HOA. We may tweak some things but I expect the plans to be approved pretty quickly.
So many homes around here have pools. We have long, hot summers here. Thankfully our pool will be shaded during the hottest parts of the day, from about 2 pm on. I'm glad for that because we're not getting a cooler. I think the two bubblers, the waterfall and the two water jets will keep the water cooled down enough. I hope so. We had some neighbors whose smaller pool was in the sun all afternoon long and by August their water was very tepid.
This is going to be exciting for you! We did a huge back yard redo two years ago. We started from scratch regrading the entire thing. We did not put in a pool, but we do have a spot for one now when we're ready. One of the things we did, that we're really happy about, is lighting. Part of the yard is forested and we up lit some of our favorite trees at the edge of the woods, we lit the new tumbled rock retaining wall and the stairs that go from one yard level to the next and up lit the house. It looks so good. We've got even more lights if we're actually having a party. We do entertain a lot. I had no idea how much value the new yard was going to bring to us.
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