Sure, it would depend on what it’s worth [italic]to you[/italic]. But what exactly is involved with putting one in (above ground 20-25 footer) and maintaining it?
I bought a house with an above ground swimming pool. My wife and I wern’t really looking for a pool but now that we have one it is pretty cool.
I personally was surprised how little work there was in maintaining the pool. I have never installed a new pool, but here are the duties involved in keeping it clean.
- setting it up in the spring involves adding in enough water to bring the level up to the skimmer.
- You need to shock the pool with a strong chlorine chemical called suprisingly enough “pool shock”
- You need to check the PH level and add chlorine as needed to get the proper levels.
- After the setup, I just keep a chlorine tablet in the filter basket, check the PH every couple of days and skim and clean as needed.
- Putting it up for the winter is a couple hour job that can usually be done in one day. You will need to buy a winterizer kit which has all the needed chemicals and instructions. These are really the only things involved unless you get cloudy water, algae, etc. I have personally never had those type of problems. Usually if you are diligent with the chlorine and ph levels and keep it covered with not in use you will be OK.
The biggest pain in the butt is taking the solar cover on/off before swimming and cleaning the pool when it gets dirty. If you have a lot of trees this can take some time. For me (not a lot of trees near the pool), I can clean and skim in about 30 minutes.
The main concern about a pool is the legal responsibility. I have a fence around my yard and one around the pool which I always keep locked when I am not right there. Nothing like a lawsuit from a kid drowning in your pool to ruin your day.
A law school professor of mine started a business law class I took with the following statement: “If you only take away two things from this class, I want you to remember this: never, never, never get into a contract with a minor, and never own a pool”.
No matter what the professor says, I find it fun and not too much work!
Good luck
“It’s like banging your head against a wall because it feels so good when you stop.”
HELL YES!!! And that’s from a guy who had the chore of cleaning it!!! :mad:
You should tell the truth, expose the lies and live in the moment."-Bill Hicks
“You should tell the lies, live the truth and expose yourself.” - Bill Clinton
I had a government teacher in high school, in the sixties, who seemed to be a prototype for Rush Limbaugh. Whining about California liability law being “Marxist,” he told us about two kids who climbed a fence to get into a swimming pool (he said CA law makes a swimming pool an “attractive muisance”); the kids were injured and their parents successfully sued the pool owners–the teacher called this “redistribution of wealth.”
Whether this has happened outside the teacher’s morbid fantasies, of course, is the point. No pool owner wants to run the risk of being sued because of his alleged negligence–but this should be obviated by Section 1714 of the California Civil Code, enacted 1872 (which see).
We had a pool growing up and I can easily say that it is better to live m
ext door to someone with a pool and use it than own one.
JMHO
A couple things to consider: Liability (which has already been covered). Here in VA, all pools are required under the Uniform Statewide Building Code to be surrounded by a fence at least four feet tall with a self latching gate. Still, you can have all the fences you want, but if someone wants in, they’re in.
Second, and just as important - resale of your house If you put in a pool, who ever buys your house has to want a pool as well. Not a problem if you plan on staying put, but if not it could become a deal breaker.
My 2 cents.
depends where you are. If you are here or in SD, calif, where water costs a fortune, no, its not worth it. You can use the gym peeool
I have a friend that had her below ground pool buried last year. It was just more of an expense than she wanted. All the chemicals that it takes to keep the water right are not cheap, although my brother just used pure Clorox in his to ‘shock it’ at the beginning of the swimming season. You also have to take in consideration the cost of keeping the pumps running (electricity), the liners when they wear out (they never last as long as they say they will), filters, every time it rains the pH will get out of whack.
My brother works for a major worldwide company that sells pool equipment, spas, etc. They make a lot of money, it has to be coming from somewhere.
And as stated before, it could actually keep you from being able to sell your home later if you want, because not everyone wants a pool.
** Sigh. So many men, so few who can afford me ** Original by Wally
I’ve learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it.
At my old house I had one. I think pools are great and a lot of fun, but do you have any friends that have one you can swim in?
Up here in the great white north the season for swimming just wasn’t worth the work. Even if it’s cold, rainy or everyone’s too busy to swim ya still have to take care of it or hire someone to do so.
It’s hard to keep the water clear when it’s hot & humid and it attracts bugs like a magnet. The covers are hard to deal with unless you shell out for an automatic cover thing.
Plus everyone “invites” themselves over and parties are always at your house.
Bo
You people are crazy!
But then, it sounds like a lot of you are back east.
I live in sunny Southern California…and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my pool. I swim almost EVERY DAY. I have been looking into the cost of getting one of those pool enclosures for those few months a year it’s damn cold because I can’t stand not being able to swim!
There is nothing so delightful as finishing my breakfast, stripping down to my skin, and slipping into my cool, (not cold!) pool and doing laps… it is one of the great joys of my life.
It took me 41 years to live in a home with a pool and I am NEVER going to live without one again.
stoid
PS: And this from a woman whose pool is surrounded by a dozen deciduous (Sp?) fruit trees that yes, dump ALL their leaves into it come fall… sigh…
I know it may LOOk like I’m not doing anything, but at the cellular level, I’m actually quite busy,
Oh yeah, one more thing: if you enjoy entertaining (and I very much do!) it is absolutely the best form of entertainment you can offer your friends…come on over and we’ll barbecue, swim, and sit in the hot tub!
Way fun, totally worth it.
do not purchase an above ground pool…in addition to being an eyesore, they are more difficult to maintain than an in ground.
Ten years ago I installed an inground pool myself in my back yard, surrounded by a wooden deck. The hours spent relaxing in the pool and on the deck have been many, and I do not spend more than a few minutes a week maintaining crystal clear water.
The biggest drawback is not the trouble, but the expense. Running the pump for the filter uses a lot of electricity, and in a northern climate you will want a heater so you can use the pool more tha a couple of months a year. Of course, a solar heater cuts those costs considerably.
Now that I know how nice it can be, I would not consider a house without a pool.
Get a hot tub instead. Its a babe magnet. They love going in it naked.
The house I grew up in, in northern Virginia, had an in-ground pool in the backyard. From teh time I was about 10, it was my job to do the routine maintenance, whcih I suspect was more complicated then than it is for pools now.
It was worth it, totally worth it. To be able to step out the back door and plunk into that pool on any hot summer afternoon…it was sweet. Too bad there’s really no good place to fit a pool on our lot. Maybe a hot tub, one of these years… 
About the earlier mentions of liability for kids coming into your yard without permission and getting hurt in/around your pool:
A swimming pool is generally considered an ‘attractive nuisance.’ The attractive nuisance doctrine is: “. . . one who maintains upon his premises a condition, machine, or other instrumentality which would be dangerous to children because of their inability to appreciate the hazards involved, and which would be expected to attract children to the premises because of its inviting nature, owes a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect such children from the dangers potentially involved.” (McKenzie v. Fairmont Food Co.)
The definition of ‘reasonable care’ varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Odds are, pool installers/suppliers in your area will already be familiar with the laws, so ask them first. Failing that, talk to a lawyer; it may cost a few bucks, but no one can say that you didn’t diligently try to discover the reasonable standard of care.
I’m not a lawyer, so this ain’t legal advice.
It was in 20/20 or dateline some time ago about a woman whose life was made miserable because she had a pool and the neighborhood kids would sneak in in spite of the fences and other precautions (she even had barbed wire). The whole point of the segment was that it was pretty ridiculous that she had to make her place a fortress and the kids had no responsibility. I forget what state she lived in.
I would not give up my pool for anything. I have an above ground pool, and it only takes minutes a day in the summer to maintain it. Check the PH the clorine and adjust as needed.
I would suggest paying a little more, because you do get what you pay for. A good filtering system will save alot of time and trouble.
We have an atomatic clorinating system and a water purefying system, hardly takes any chemicals at all.
The joy of pool parties and skinny dipping *God I can’t wait untill pool weather
The operation? Well, now I walk like a duck, but I won’t sue 'cause I’m getting a lot of laughs.
Sig courtesy of Wally the Great