To buy a pool or not to buy a pool? (Orlando: rental, buying a home)

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by rezfreak

This is not true. We live in a house without a pool and I dont regret it. I like my lower cost every month and if i really feel the need to go swimming, i can go to the beach or the gym.

curious what the extra utility/h20 expense is monthly

[rezfreak]

Originally Posted by BucFan

curious what the extra utility/h20 expense is monthly

I wouldnt know since I dont own a pool home, but when we were looking, we did look at a pool home and they told us that with the pump going, it was about 75-100 extra a month (in electricity)

[Songbird42]

I do have a pool but I don't think it adds more than $50.00 a month to my electric bill, I only run it 4 hrs in the winter and longer in the summer. When we built our home our kids were small and the pool was a blessing, the kids got lots of use out of it. Kids are grown now and out of house, my pool hasn't been used in over 5 yrs. But everything associated with it, has been replaced, pump, filter, marcite, coping. Now I just pay monthly to keep it blue another $80 a month......so in the long run, it does cost.

Next time..........no pool.

[angirocks]

We only saw one home with a saline pool. We didn't know what it was all about at the time. Can you convert a chlorine to a saline pool?

What is a valet system.. does it park your car for you? -in reference to a pool?

What bells and whistles can we add after the fact since the one we will have will be already built?

I would like to see your pool set up, it sounds awesome, can you send a pic?

Originally Posted by debidibly

I personally would rather purchase the home without the pool and put it in myself. I love my pool and use it daily so it is worth the expense for me. But if I'm spending that kind of money for it I want it to be not only aesthetically pleasing but have all the bells and whistles to keep maintenance to a minimum. A lot of people who don't plan to stay or don't have experience with pools won't spring for those bells and whistles which end up costing you time and money in the long run.

I would never be without a salt system (until something better comes along) but in an older pool you may get chlorine. I wouldn't be without a valet system for either. Then there are things like beach walk ins, fiber optic lighting, waterfalls. Our pool can be seen from every room in the house so I wanted it to have a wow factor.

[chi_tino]

I resurrected this thread because I bought a pool a year ago and was just adding up how much it costs on an annual basis. I hope that this is helpful for anyone contemplating it, because I've learned quite a few things in the past year.

Turn-key capital costs for pool/spa: $50,000 (20,000 gallon)
included pumps, filter, natural gas heater, sanitizer, chlorine generator (salt system), control panel, gas/electric hookups, initial chemicals (salt, acid, chlorine shock) and other upgrades (pool deck, etc)
custom-sized pool cover: $100 (eBay)
pool cover reel: $75 (Craigslist)
Door alarms (per Florida statutes): $20
Initial water fill (incremental cost of 20k gallons): $200
Natural gas line installation to house: $0, as long as I installed two natural gas appliances
Required property fencing and gates (neighbors weren't too happy about this): $1,300 + $0 for labor
Replacement sod and fill dirt (pool installation trashed my yard and neighbors'): $500 + $0 for labor
Repairs to irrigation system (sprinkler heads + fittings + pipe): $100 + $0 labor, but it took me a week to reroute my irrigation lines

Annual operating costs:
Property taxes on pool (2.2% millage rate on $50k): $1,100
Electricity (pumps run 3000 hours/yr): $400
Natural gas (hot tub costs about $1.50/soak): $150
Natural gas (heated the pool for two winter parties): $100
Salt (17 x 40 pound bags): $100
Muriatic acid to regulate pH (25 gallons): $125
Replacement water due to evaporation (1000 gal/month): $150
Replacement filter (every 1-2 years): $75
Replacement sterilizer cartridges (every 6 months): $200
Replacement testing chemicals: $15
Stabilizer (about 10 pounds): $30
Phosphate remover: $25
Labor to clean/maintain pool: $0

Total operating costs: almost $2,500/year and I performed all of the maintenence/cleaning

What also surprised me is how often the equipment had "issues". It was a very sophisticated system (probably *too* advanced), and anytime something was out of spec, the systems would not always play nice with each other. For example, adding a new mineral cartridge for the sterilizer would impact the performance of the salt generator and would require additional maintenance (acid washing the element). I would expect that when the system is out of warranty I will be paying at least $500/year for service calls and equipment repairs/replacement.

This equipment sits in the sun and takes a beating (running 3,000 hours a year), so even if you outsource the pool cleaning, you should take an active role in monitoring the chemicals/operation to make sure everything is still running smoothly. I created a log book and tracked my chemical usage and levels, because you can find performance issues with the equipment by how the chemistry is trending.

[Ken E]

Would you do it again?

[chi_tino]

Definitely. I plan on living in this house for many, many years, so the initial cost wasn't much of an issue. Since I used the pool at least 5 days a week (March to October) and the hot tub at least 3 times a week year-round, it is definitely worth it.

If it was merely a "decoration" pool (like a number of my neighbors) or heated year-round, it would be a horrible waste of money.

Plus, everybody wants to come over to my house in the summer so I never have to buy beer.

[angirocks]

Your pool is amazing. I love the design of it. I'll bring some beef if I can come over
We bought a house that already had a pool based on what everyone said on here. I'm really glad we did because we would have not been able to come up with that money on our own until we got some equity. We use our hot tub about once a week. Haven't used the pool yet being that we closed in November and don't want to spend to heat the pool. It's more just decoration now but with the floorplan of our house it is definitely not an eyesore to have out there. Coming from Virginia where there are mostly community pools and above ground pools, I keep having to remind myself that this is actually our house and pool, it still feels like a dream.

I will try to figure out how to post a picture of the pool on here...

[angirocks]

OK.. someone tell me how to attach a pic? I am pretty good with these things usually, but not on here..

[chi_tino]

Originally Posted by angirocks

OK.. someone tell me how to attach a pic? I am pretty good with these things usually, but not on here..

1. Go to imageshack.us
2. Upload photo (no need to even register) and it will give you an html code
3. When you post your message on city-data, click on the "insert image" graphic that looks like a mountain with a sun above it
4. Enter the html code for your photo