I am purchasing a (being-built) house in Florida. I will be talking with the approved pool contractor this week. I am from Massachusetts originally and don’t have a clue about pools so am looking for some help in questions to ask.
Here is what I THINK I am looking for:
A smallish inground pool
Nice cement style deck around pool
Heater? Is this needed to keep the pool open in the winter?
Do you keep the pool open in winter in Florida? (Tampa Area)
I wont be swimming laps, just something to splash around in.
I’d strongly suggest buying what’s called a personal liability umbrella with your insurance company. Pools are an “attractive nuisance” so you’d better have some coverage in case some neighborhood kiddie jumps in while you’re not at home and gets themself killed.
Also you’re gonna wanna have a fence built. I suggest a big 6 foot one with only one entrance/exit (that can’t be crawled under). It won’t keep you from being sued if someone gets hurt but it’ll mitigate the damages.
Highly recommend a dedicated outlet and or boosterpump for autmatic pool cleaner. Ask about these. Polaris is great/popular.
Also, make sure you have a control valve for every outlet and inlet, so you can shut off the ones you want as you want.
Get more cement/paver walkway than you think you need.
Get plumbing run to an area where you can backwash pool water from filter cleaning. Running a hose from filter to backwash area or to drain pool stinks!
A heater is a must to me in South Jersey, but not sure about FLA.
I’m in the process of building a pool as well. Here’s what I’ve learned to date:
Interview three contractors and get references. Check out their work and ask the customers about their level of satisfaction. Horror stories abound and you want to work with a reputable contractor.
READ THE CONTRACT VERY CAREFULLY. If you want it done, installed, supplied, etc. make sure that the contract is explicit. One contractor was going to install the pool, but not haul away the fill. What the hell am I going to do with all that dirt? Also, include dates of when things have to be accomplished (grading done by X date, deck installed by x date, etc.). I’ve seen lots of instances where the excavation took place and sat there…and sat there…and sat there.
Fences are required by the Uniform Statewide Building Code (4’ with a self-latching gate is standard). Go with the maximum fence height permitted under the zoning regulations in your area.
Call the Better Business Bureau and find out if the contractors you’ve talked to have been reported for shoddy practices, etc.
Call the Building Inspection Department in your area and ask if there have been complaints.
A heater will extend the year-round usage of the pool by about a month at either end (at least here in VA). Instead of a season of May - October, it’ll be April - November. I would guess that in Tampa you’ll get even more use.
Before you do this, realise that pools are NOT a bonus when it comes to selling the house at a later date. It resticts the pool of potential buyers (no pun intended). The people that buy the house HAVE to want a pool. Keep that in mind.
It is very easy to spend much, much more than you intended if you’re not very careful and very explicit in the contract. I can’t stress that enough.
I could write a book (and probably should) on the pool building experience. I built an $80,000.00 pool back in '97 and it was quite an experience…the only time I have ever sued anyone (and won).
Thanks for all the info. I am getting a 6 foot vinyl fence so that should help with some of the insurance problem. I will talk with my insurance company about the liability issue.
The automatic pool cleaner thing sounds fantastic, I will make sure to bring this up when I talk with my pool installer!
Do you want a black pool bottom? Looks more like a lagoon that way. How deep do you want your pool? What do you want around your pool? Grass or cement? do you have trees that can drop leaf matter into your pool?
Consider an automatic cover. You turn the key on the box and it automatically opens/closes. Saves on chemicals, keeps the pool cleaner, less liability. If you have small kids then it is great for safety. Some areas don’t require a fence if you have an auto-cover with a key.
Also, if you have little kids you may want to spend $150-200 on a Pool-Eye alarm for when you want to leave the pool open. It has a thermal motion detector to sound before anyone even falls into the pool and a wave detector in case they do fall. It sound an external alarm and also one in the house on the receiver.
Get more cement deck than you think you need. Have room around the pool for tables, lounge chairs, entertaining.
Heaters are overrated in my opinion (at least in the midwest) but it may make sense if you can swim all winter I suppose in FLA. Our first season with the pool I cranked up the heater to get the water from the 60’s into the mid-80’s in 3 days. Gas bill for the month was around $400 higher than usual. Now I let the sun do most of the work in the late spring/early summer.
Hot water in the summer is a bummer; like a big bath with chlorine. Do you have any shade trees right next to the pool? If not, you may want to look into one of those florida pool screen houses. I have a triangle shaped “Shade-Sail” set up over the deep end of my pool in hottest part of the summer to keep the water temp down a bit and to provide some relief.
Don’t expect wild drunken pool parties with 19 year old girls stripping off to go skinny-dippin’ every weekend. It only happens maybe once or twice a summer in my experience. Okay, never. Do expect slack-jaw-booger-eatin’-sister-in-law inviting herself and her yahoo kids over 3-4 times a month to swim and never offering to pay for pizzas or take you out to eat for dinner. Expect said SIL’s husband to occasionally join them just to drink you beer and piss in your pool - he’s never gotten out to take a leak that I recall.
I was reading the Surreal thread as well, ewww. I am getting a screened lanai as it is called. This will be lockable. They also have a law that says you must have an alarm or interior fence around your pool. I am thinking the alarm things sounds good. It will be just my wife and I most times so we hopefully won’t be falling into the pool too much.
I will ask about the covering on the screen to keep the pool cooler in the summer. I really like that idea. One of the wierdest things since moving down here is the temperature of cold water. Up north (MA) when you turn on the cold water you can tell. Since I moved to FL I double check myself constantly thinking I must have turned on the hot water.
In Tampa, you don’t really need a heater. It’s your preference though. A lot of people down here buy a system that uses solar power to save on the electric or propane bills. I would look into that, it helps during the winter. In Tampa, the pools stay open all year.
This guy (actually, his name is Guy) sells through eBay and sold me the above alarm for $144 (including shipping) when it lists for around $200. He had over 5,000 transactions on eBay and was 100% positives!
