pool home vs. community pool (Sarasota, Venice: how much, big house, heat pump) - Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area - Florida (FL) -Manatee and Sarasota Counties - City-Data Forum

mstark · 11-13-2009, 05:49 PM

Beginning to house hunt in Venice/Sarasota. Would like our own pool but not sure if the costs would be too high. Would appreciate opinions on monthly costs of owning your own pool as well as people's experiences with community pools both pros and cons. Thanks!

kikimiller · 11-13-2009, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mstark

Beginning to house hunt in Venice/Sarasota. Would like our own pool but not sure if the costs would be too high. Would appreciate opinions on monthly costs of owning your own pool as well as people's experiences with community pools both pros and cons. Thanks!

Myself, I love having my own pool!! It is the best thing I have ever done is buy a home with a pool! But I do know some people who just throw money away having one. I swim every single day, some days I am in the pool all day long! I see some of my neighbors who are never in their pools, so for them its a waste.
I have some one service my pool every week, the cleaning and chemicals is $80.00 per month. He also takes care of any mechanical problems that come up.
Alot of people clean their own pools, I just would rather not.
I have a solar heater, which does help alot on extending the swimming season. But for me, November is the end of swimming, and most of the time by April I am swimming again.
The very nice thing is by not using a community pool, is the peace and quiet! Also anytime you feel like swimming you can. There is nothing nicer on a hot summer nite to jump into the pool! I work the afternoon shift, getting home at midnite, the pool is great then. I love not sharing with a bunch of people.
I have had to pay for some repairs, like I have had 2 new motors over the years, and once the solar heat pipes got a leak. But so far nothing real expensive.
I think the thing is, how much will you use it? If you plan on swimming alot, all hours of the day, I think getting your own pool is the best thing.
Sorry to have gone on and on...can you tell I love love my pool!

Dreamy46 · 11-13-2009, 09:56 PM

If you actually use the thing often enough to justify having it, from the personal hygiene aspect, having your own pool would be priceless. On the other hand though, you get to socialize with other members of your neighborhood at a community pool.

Missing from the comment above is the added electric costs.

HenryHelmhazzard · 11-14-2009, 01:56 AM

mstark- I wrote this reply a while back to someone else, thought it might be useful here:

Quote:

Originally Posted by HenryHelmhazzard

... we changed our pool to saltwater 2 years ago, and it's about 1/10th the effort to maintain now, and we no longer need a service. I think the unit was $600-650 installed. Our pool service prior to this was $80/month.

We put stabilizer in the pool once, maybe twice in a year, the occasional few cups of acid, salt now and then, and things stay perfect and clear without scrubbing. There's a Sparkle-brite near here that we take the water in for analysis about every month or two. I'd be amazed if we've spent more than $100 in chemicals each year, and once the chemistry was up and running, it's been hardly any effort since.

The only "work" is spraying out the hayward cartridge filter... maybe once per month during heavy use, every other month otherwise and it's not hard at all.

One added plus is the almost non-existent chlorine means that the water isn't toxic to the occasional frog that hops in. We scoop them out and put them in our pond, but they keep coming back for the spa-like experience.

Three cheers for one of those rare home improvements that paid for itself quickly!

(FYI, ours is a 12,000 gallon pool under a screened cage)

I can't stress enough how much we enjoy a salt pool over a normal one, and how practically effortless it is to maintain.

We run our pool 8 hrs a day, it's on a 1 HP pump with solar panels (for heating, not electricity); electricity runs us around $40/month (based on 13.5 cents per kWh) for the unit.

HHH

Big House · 11-14-2009, 06:43 AM

I have my own pool. I added a really nice heat pump to maintain it at 85 degrees all year, and swim in it almost every day. We love it too. We like to open the house up to it and extend our living room into the lanai. It is like our whole back area is part of our living room. I especially like to jump in at night, and enjoy it then.

We also pay a pool guy about $90.00/month. He comes every Monday morning, and waters our outdoor potted plants that we keep in the lanai when were away. We left for a month or two this summer, and they were all doing well when we got back.

We also lived in a community when we had kids, and it had a community pool. Everyone would gather and have cook outs and swim. It was fun going up and seeing our friends hanging out there. But the kids have grown up and are off to college and other things, and we moved, but we still enjoy being active and swimming is always fun.

Scots · 11-14-2009, 09:11 AM

We have our own pool and love it. As with most people, the cost is $80/mo for the pool guy, plus the cost of electricity for running the pump. We have a heater but haven't turned it on yet, maybe soon.

For me, part of the Florida experience is having a pool. I know lots of people who think otherwise so maybe that's just me. I swim every day I'm in Sarasota and so does my wife. I especially love coming back from a run and going right into a pool. Couldn't get away with that in a community pool

Luckily my wife does it too so there's nobody to complain!

The other thing I really like about the pool is the outdoor lanai lifestyle. There's something about being next to a pool when you're sitting in your lanai that makes it more soothing and enjoyable, at least for me. Even in the dog days of summer we use our lanai because we just jump into the pool when the heat gets unbearable. That makes the outdoors usable in the summer. And like Big House said, in the nice winter weather you can open up the house and make the pool area part of your living space, which I love. I personally wouldn't buy of a house in FL without a pool.

kikimiller · 11-14-2009, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreamy46

If you actually use the thing often enough to justify having it, from the personal hygiene aspect, having your own pool would be priceless. On the other hand though, you get to socialize with other members of your neighborhood at a community pool.

Missing from the comment above is the added electric costs.

True..I did forget the cost of the electric, but I am not sure what it is? My electric bill is $140.00 a month...I keep the house cold and the air runs every day..So not sure what part is for the pool?
I would love to get an electric heater but the area where my pool equipment is, there is no room, the salesman from the pool store came out, everything would have to be repiped and moved..I just didnt want to do that..
It would be great though to swim all year..

mstark · 11-15-2009, 04:00 PM

Thanks everyone for the great info! Anyone like to offer opinions on salt water pools?

HenryHelmhazzard · 11-15-2009, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mstark

Thanks everyone for the great info! Anyone like to offer opinions on salt water pools?

See my post above. Paid for itself in < 1 year of no pool service. I'd say saltwater pools are a must-have.

Skunk Workz · 11-16-2009, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mstark

Thanks everyone for the great info! Anyone like to offer opinions on salt water pools?

Don't have a pool ourselves, but we have friends that absolutely swear by the salt water option. So much that when buy our next house (which will have a pool!) we'll definitely be converting it to salt if it isn't already.