[Exaday]

They're not too complicated really. Once you get the house just find out what kind of equipment you have and find a manual online. You can self teach yourself on taking care of the thing and hire a pool guy of course.

Even if you hire a guy it does well to educate self on how things work.

[WestieJeff]

It's not remotely economical to heat an entire pool. People pretty much use the pool in pool season (May to September, generally) and you can extend that a bit with solar rooftop or solar covers. If you wanted to use your pool in say, December, forget it.

Running the spa would obviously be related to how often you use it and when. I don't have a spa, so I can't give you any first hand numbers, but based on what friends have told me, I don't think it is that expensive.

My overall complaint with pools is that once you have one, you're stuck maintaining it including expensive capital repairs, pretty much forever. You can't just say, I don't want to use it, drain it, and leave it since pools degrade fairly quickly when they're left empty and your future home buyers don't want to see an empty pool in your backyard.

Originally Posted by bcgeo

Thanks for all of the info! Actually, I'm relieved because I thought it would cost more. Sounds like a lot of maintenance, though. The only reason we're thinking about it is because of the kids.....

How much do you think the gas would cost to heat that much water?

[Exaday]

Good info Westie Jeff.

I feel the same way.

The solar pool heater is good but then it puts extra strain on your pump adding to repairs of that part.

[olecapt]

Cost of maintenance by a route tech should run around $125 per month for a pool that size.

You will have some problem getting an empty pool inspected. makes it easy to check the pool surface but hard to validate the equipment and plumbing.

You might get a good pool guy to at least eyeball it. Our own AA702 would be a good choice. Steve can also give you a bid on the monthly to maintain it. Send him a DM.

I use my pool more than daily. I find it very nice in the heat. I don't have a hot tub but had one for some years in CA. The hot tub is quite inexpensive...you heat it only just prior to use. Mostly they can be heated to use temp in about half an hour. A couple of dollars worth of gas.

I have an electric pool cover. Generally not suitable aftermarket...need to be built in. The result is that I need few chemicals and little cleaning. The bad is the cover needs to be replaced every four or five years at $2500.

I agree with Westie that you need to consider the long term cost of a pool. My ongoing runs about half of his...my pool is about 20 years old and has not been resurfaced but is ready. Equipment costs have been around $1500. but have been covered pretty much by a pool home owner policy that costs as additional $100 or so per year. All up I would think $50 per month over 20 years covers the repairs to the capital end...you can spend more...ie a nice pebble tech surface...but you don't have to...and we like the white plaster.

[WestieJeff]

I would highly recommend an electric cover if you want to minimize maintenance. I wish I had one on my pool.

The problem is that like olecapt said, they often need to be installed from the get go. They can be installed after, but they don't look as nice and depending on the characteristics of your pool, it may not be able to be installed.

The "popular" look of pools today with varying elevations and waterfalls don't tend to lend themselves to electric pool covers since they like flat rectangular shapes which are easy to put a track into.

Having a pool that's easy to cover would make a huge difference in terms of the amount of cleaning out leaves and dirt as well as using less chemicals since the water doesn't evap nearly as quick.

Originally Posted by olecapt

I have an electric pool cover. Generally not suitable aftermarket...need to be built in. The result is that I need few chemicals and little cleaning. The bad is the cover needs to be replaced every four or five years at $2500.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by WestieJeff

I would highly recommend an electric cover if you want to minimize maintenance. I wish I had one on my pool.

The problem is that like olecapt said, they often need to be installed from the get go. They can be installed after, but they don't look as nice and depending on the characteristics of your pool, it may not be able to be installed.

The "popular" look of pools today with varying elevations and waterfalls don't tend to lend themselves to electric pool covers since they like flat rectangular shapes which are easy to put a track into.

Having a pool that's easy to cover would make a huge difference in terms of the amount of cleaning out leaves and dirt as well as using less chemicals since the water doesn't evap nearly as quick.

It does take some work...it gets water on top of the cover when it rains for instance that has to be pumped off. And you need to clean it a couple of times a year.

The other big advantage is they make a pool pretty much safe...when closed you can walk on it. Which the dog often does in pursuit of imaginary creatures. And the control box requires a pass word to open it. Just like a fence you can of course leave it open. But we find that pretty rare...we have the control right by the door so you close it on the way in.

[gvc8]

we have a 33k pool and pay a pool maintenance company $125/month in the spring thru fall months and a little less in the winter months (only comes every other week). no headaches for me as far as cleaning/water balancing. but all equipment will eventually break and need to be replaced and its not cheap. I think the markups on pool stuff is skyhigh, not to mention the labor costs.

I guess the expense is a labor of love as there are many here in the desert who would not and could not do without. they are great at keeping the kids occupied in those out of school months.

[paulsimmons]

from my read it looks like you've got some good advice already so I'll be quick - I've got about 25k gallons that I don't heat, and do my own basic maintenance on. I'd say the average cost over the year is about 30-40/month and that includes extra water I put in, chemicals, etc.

There are some costs upfront if you don't have any of the supplies and since the pool is drained...that's a lot of water to put in which will cost $. Looks like a fun one though that the family would enjoy!

I would absolutely have someone look at it even while it's empty - I'm not sure if it's common to drain pool sin Vegas, but sometimes draining can lead to cracks depending on your water tables - you don't want one with any kind of cracks starting or running through it (my opinion).

If you're looking to handle the maintenance your self, during the busy months you'll probably average an hour every 2 days or so depending on how nice you want to keep it, how many trees are around...etc. Also, if you're looking at saving on costs there are a variety of pool chemical places like Dohney's Water Warehouse that have great prices on chemicals and often ship free.

[yellowsnow]

It's not economically feasible for most folks to heat the whole pool in the Winter months. Most likely in the neighborhood of an extra $500 or so per month. My pool is 30K and the previous owner forgot to turn off the heat for a month and the bill was around $400 for gas.

I have solar on the roof and it works well. During the Winter, I heat just the spa a few times and that doesn't cost too much.

[airics]

i assume you have a gas heater for the spa as a solar does nothing this time of year... also it runs me about $30 in gas to heat the whole pool to 82 degrees for a weekend this time of year... on new years 2009, i had the pool at 85 degrees for 2 days.. cost me around 20 bucks.. we were swimming on new years..