Caged or No Cage Pool (Wellington, Palm Beach: insurance, homes, purchase)

[tomyco]

I'm looking to purchase a home in Palm Beach County with a pool. Coming from the Northeast, in the summer we have lots of mosquitos. I noticed in Palm Beach County there are quite a few homes without cages which really surprised me.

I would think that the mosquitos and love bugs would be real annoying, for those f you that do not have pool cages, do you wish that you did. Is it a major problem?

If it's not a major problem, that would open up my search to more homes. I would be very interested in opinions on caged and no-cage pools. Thanks!

[Zayetz]

I don't have a cage and haven't seen any pools in my area that have a cage. There are mosquitos at dusk but we have a zapper and it doesn't seem to be a big problem...

[mayorhaggar]

We call them screens or at least we did when I was growing up in PBC--"screened- in pools."

Screened-in pools had a reputation for not warming up as much from the sun because they block some of the rays. So a lot of people with screens would have pool heaters which would heat the water up. My family had a pool without a screen and no heater and from around April to October it would be very warm to swim in.

If you are in a developed suburban area then mosquitos aren't really a problem, you see them more in swampy more rural areas with a lot of standing water. But you never know if your nextdoor neighbor has pots of standing water around or neglects their pool so it turns into a mosquito farm.

But from time you will get stuff like lovebugs and flying ants that show up out of nowhere and get into the pool, and a screen would keep that out. Also there used to be burn-offs from the sugar farms in the Glades that would cause filmy yellow ash to fall on where we lived in Wellington, and it would get into the pool which was kind of nasty. Not sure if that still happens or if a screen would keep that out.

Now if there was ever a tornado or hurricane that hits you, I bet that screen would turn into a huge liability or at least could get wrecked.

So I think there are plusses and minuses for a screen.

[FloridaHawkeye]

The screens didnt do too well in the hurricanes

[hdaddy]

That's the main reason you don't see the screens on a lot of the pools. The hurricanes took them and owners decided not to put them back on.

[Godskid316]

We put a screen enclosure up when we built our pool, 9 months later Hurricane Wilma took it down. The screen companies were really gouging people on replacing enclosures. We were getting quotes of up to 4 times what we had paid just one year prior so we decided to do with out. Now we have a fence around our pool. I seem to be the only family member who misses the screen. The kids love that the pool stays warm most of the year. My husband is glad not to have to heat the pool in the Winter. We have a "pool shark" pool vacuum that keeps yard debris out of the pool. As far as bugs being a problem, they only come out at dusk. We live on a lake and I still don't notice
bugs being a problem, probably because everyone has their yard sprayed. IMO,
don't rule out homes without screens - you can always add that later if you really wanted to!

[Highhat]

Originally Posted by Godskid316

We put a screen enclosure up when we built our pool, 9 months later Hurricane Wilma took it down. The screen companies were really gouging people on replacing enclosures. We were getting quotes of up to 4 times what we had paid just one year prior so we decided to do with out. Now we have a fence around our pool. I seem to be the only family member who misses the screen. The kids love that the pool stays warm most of the year. My husband is glad not to have to heat the pool in the Winter. We have a "pool shark" pool vacuum that keeps yard debris out of the pool. As far as bugs being a problem, they only come out at dusk. We live on a lake and I still don't notice
bugs being a problem, probably because everyone has their yard sprayed. IMO,
don't rule out homes without screens - you can always add that later if you really wanted to!

Are the screens covered by Homeowners?

[Godskid316]

Originally Posted by Highhat

Are the screens covered by Homeowners?

Ours was covered back then, I'm not sure what the insurance companies do
with regard to screens now though. I can tell you that they sure do build the
screen enclosures differently now. They have much more stringent codes these
days.

[Bobstar]

You need to add a rider on your policy for a screen enclosure.

[Highhat]

Originally Posted by Godskid316

Ours was covered back then, I'm not sure what the insurance companies do
with regard to screens now though. I can tell you that they sure do build the
screen enclosures differently now. They have much more stringent codes these
days.

Originally Posted by Bobstar

You need to add a rider on your policy for a screen enclosure.

Ok, Thank you.