Every summer I get the same hassle from my kids: “how come WE don’t have a pool? Cody has a pool. Andi has a pool. Heather has a pool.” Evidently we are the last family on earth not to have at least a 3 ft. pool. (Baby wading pools don’t count–it has to have a filter, and a PUMP, to count as a “real pool”.)
So, how many Dopers out there have pools in their backyards? I mean REAL pools, with filters and pumps and stuff.
And, is it worth the hassle, with cleaning and pool chemicals, and the way it fills up with gunk every winter, and the way your neighbors’ kids (like mine) are always down there pestering to swim in your pool?
If we had a pool, would we be here? No. My friend has a pool. It rocks. His parents are the laziest and most paranoid people I know; therefore, they don’t maintain it very often and they don’t hire anyone to do it. When we can get in however, it’s quite nice. I’m also sure it cost a buttload to get installed. No actual insight about the real problem.
Had a pool once. Never again.
The first month you swim every day.
The second month, the kids swim twice a week.
The second season, you chlorinate more times than you swim.
The third season, you don’t chlorinate and need a professional to clean it.
The fourth season its dry and full of leaves, and you worry about having accidents.
I wish we had a pool. We have a HUGE back yard, and we could easily fit a pool in there somewhere and STILL have plenty of space. As it is, however, I have to rely on going over to friends’ houses to use their facilities.
Don’t worry, Duck Duck, I feel your pain… it feels like chicken.
We have a pool. Had it for seven years. I use it more than the kids. If you take care of it it’s easy to maintain. I live in the midwest so we go throught opening and closing it once a year. No big deal. I love it, I will always have a pool.
We have a pool. The kids and I swim in it at least 4 days every week, from about mid-May to the end of September. Maintaining it isn’t that bad, as long as you spend a few minutes every other day or so on it. If you let it slide for a week, it’s the shits scrubbing the walls.
From an investment POV, pools are NOT worth the cost to install. Depending on where you are and how big a pool you put in, it could easily cost you at least $15-20K, and you may not get any of that back when you sell the house.
Then again, your kids may be better off learning that sometimes life sucks, and they don’t need a pool. Talk your neighbor into putting one in, and then invite yourself over. Often. Bring good beer and good steaks, so he won’t think you’re a total leech.
I don’t have a pool, but when I lived in San Francisco, my roommate’s family had one. I spent, oh, pretty much every weekend in it.
They had an in-ground pool that was deep enough for diving and long enough for swimming laps. The family used it pretty often - mostly for exercise. My roommate and her siblings would host pool parties very frequently.
They also had a hot tub.
I had no complaints about it, but the mother did. Since the pool and hottub were both heated (it’s not all that warm in San Fran), her heating bills were outrageous. We’re talking hundreds, if not thousands, of extra dollars a month.
So - if you’re not prepared to handle the costs of extra utilities, don’t do it.
Pools are lousy and office pools are the worst.
They try to tell you to put money down on the few vacant holes in the grid with “all scores are possilbe in pro football”. Yeah, just very unlikely.
And the water kind? Chlorene gives you red eyes and makes your nose run. What’s to like? Don’t you have lakes nearby?
They aren’t too bad…to start with, but as time goes on, the novelty wears off a bit. It was very expensive to run, about 3 bux a day to heat in the winter, a little less in the summer.
My wife was preggers at the time so she couldn’t use it. My middle boy had heart surgery, so he could use it much. I fell asleep the instant I touched the water, so, well, I just drowned…6 times as a matter of fact.
A hot tub at night, in the winter, is fabulous, but be prepared to work at it to keep it in running order…pool or tub.
We used to have a 30 foot one. Show_Biz has it right. You can’t swim in the winter, its tooo cold! You’d have to buy a heater for it which is some major $$$. You put chlorine & acid in it all the time.
Those small pools must be filthy if you don’t have to chemical them. Kids pee in them like there is no tomorrow. How many kids run to the bathroom to pee when they are in a pool? ha!
Public pools aren’t much better. Swim in one then look at a light. Do you see purple/orange rings around that light? You know what causes that? Not chlorine but organics in the water, in other words, well, guess. Anyway, pee baths aren’t all that interesting to me. Even though I swim in the ocean & we all know where all the public sewage is eventually sent.