Incorrect. Owning one is fabulous and you are not at the mercy of friends asking you over for a swim during the dog days of summer.
Pool vs back yard space
- Thread starter nolesincebirth
- Start date
This. While I don't have one, my aunt and uncle do and they only live about 20 minutes away. It is one of the few things that gets me outside when it is Africa hot during these KC summers. I would gladly maintain it for them.
Nearby trees are the nemesis of a pool owner. Just need to be a bit proactive with the net and cleaning out the baskets. You also do not need a $15K system this one works great and was worth every penny:
Amazon product ASIN B07DKTNNW3
There has to be some kind of private community pool near you that will allow you to kill two birds with one stone - get the kids out of the house and let them get their energy out by swimming
We have a GREAT community pool. Seriously, it's darn near walking distance and rarely crowded.
However, the wife wants to open the back door and be there.
How many months of swim season do you get in NJ?
We have a pool at our house but we can swim from around March through November usually and we are in the pool almost daily.
The pool upkeep really isn't difficult or time consuming. People make a bigger deal of it than it really is. I spend maybe 15-20 minutes per week on it. Get a pool robot to clean it. Maintaining the water is just dumping half a jug of chlorine in it once a week. Maybe once per year I have to add calcium hardener.
There is a recurring cost to keep them maintained. Liner pools need a new liner every 8-10 years or so. Concrete pools need to be resurfaced every 15 years.
We have a pool at our house but we can swim from around March through November usually and we are in the pool almost daily.
The pool upkeep really isn't difficult or time consuming. People make a bigger deal of it than it really is. I spend maybe 15-20 minutes per week on it. Get a pool robot to clean it. Maintaining the water is just dumping half a jug of chlorine in it once a week. Maybe once per year I have to add calcium hardener.
There is a recurring cost to keep them maintained. Liner pools need a new liner every 8-10 years or so. Concrete pools need to be resurfaced every 15 years.
My next door neighbor put in a pool this summer. It is 12 X 26 and was ~$70k all together. She already had a fence. The size is a little small, but big enough for a few kids to play in or adults to lounge around. She started the process last year and was supposed to break ground last fall, but covid and weather delayed things. The placement is a little odd due to a 20 ft easement across the back of her lot (non of the pool or decking could be in that space).
She has some regrets about doing it, but her situation is a lot different than yours. She has a boat and is realizing that pool and boating season overlap. She was working from home all of last summer, so I think she envisioned sitting by the pool all day. Now she has returned to the office. She doesn't have kids, but does have friends that like to have parties at her pool.
Bottom line, you and your family will use it and love it. Get it. I wish I would have had one when my daughter was here.
She has some regrets about doing it, but her situation is a lot different than yours. She has a boat and is realizing that pool and boating season overlap. She was working from home all of last summer, so I think she envisioned sitting by the pool all day. Now she has returned to the office. She doesn't have kids, but does have friends that like to have parties at her pool.
Bottom line, you and your family will use it and love it. Get it. I wish I would have had one when my daughter was here.
Our pool is surrounded by trees which sucks. They are on HOA property so about all I can do is make them trim them back from time to time. Leaves rain down like crazy in the fall but the skimmer does a great job with the surface leaves and the pool bot takes care of whatever goes to the bottom.
After one of the hurricanes we had, the pool was filled with leaves and limbs after the storm. I pulled all of the limbs out and ran the pool robot for about 4 hours and the bottom of the pool was spotless. I should have taken a before and after pic. We have one of the water pressure powered robots which work really well. You do need a separate booster pump to run it through. The bot and pump combined are around $800-$1500 depending on what model you get.
Since this was bumped, I’ll provide an update.
I want a heated pool. In NJ, with the heater, I would plan on opening early May and closing early October.
We need a number of variances from the town due to being on a small corner lot. I don’t think these are going to be the end-all but it’s an uphill battle. But we are planning on fighting the good fight.
We’ve started to get quotes. We need to pull up existing pavers and build a trex deck due to permeable ground cover. So we want to build an approximately 400 square foot deck, a 14’x28’ pool, with about 3’ of paver surround. We need to do all of this for less than $100k; preferably closer to $60-$80k.
First 3 bids were for gunite/concrete pools. $87k, $84k, $98k. For ONLY the pool - not deck or surround. This is just not an option.
We’ve started looking at vinyl and fiberglass options and, so far, these look promising. I do have a dog that lives to swim so I’m concerned about the vinyl (primarily the steps). The fiberglass is looking like a great potential and based on a few phone calls, but not official quotes, I think we can get the pool and surround for about $70k but that doesn’t include the decking.
The unofficial quotes on the vinyl option including the surround AND the deck is about $60k. So, price wise, this is the best option but, again, may not be viable due to the dog (70 lb lab/foxhound/catahoula mix) entering and exiting at the steps.
So, right now we are still getting bids but we have hired land surveyors to give us an updated survey, topographic survey, and water runoff plan which we need to submit to the town and start the application and then variance requests. So, we’re already about $4700 into this so we’re committed now.
I want a heated pool. In NJ, with the heater, I would plan on opening early May and closing early October.
We need a number of variances from the town due to being on a small corner lot. I don’t think these are going to be the end-all but it’s an uphill battle. But we are planning on fighting the good fight.
We’ve started to get quotes. We need to pull up existing pavers and build a trex deck due to permeable ground cover. So we want to build an approximately 400 square foot deck, a 14’x28’ pool, with about 3’ of paver surround. We need to do all of this for less than $100k; preferably closer to $60-$80k.
First 3 bids were for gunite/concrete pools. $87k, $84k, $98k. For ONLY the pool - not deck or surround. This is just not an option.
We’ve started looking at vinyl and fiberglass options and, so far, these look promising. I do have a dog that lives to swim so I’m concerned about the vinyl (primarily the steps). The fiberglass is looking like a great potential and based on a few phone calls, but not official quotes, I think we can get the pool and surround for about $70k but that doesn’t include the decking.
The unofficial quotes on the vinyl option including the surround AND the deck is about $60k. So, price wise, this is the best option but, again, may not be viable due to the dog (70 lb lab/foxhound/catahoula mix) entering and exiting at the steps.
So, right now we are still getting bids but we have hired land surveyors to give us an updated survey, topographic survey, and water runoff plan which we need to submit to the town and start the application and then variance requests. So, we’re already about $4700 into this so we’re committed now.
I'm not going to lie, the vinyl could be an issue with your dog, but the steps are typically solid plastic. So, that should not be an issue, unless your dog will be trying to get out of the pool not using the steps. We also had to get a variance from the City due to a surface water drainage easement. That took awhile. Sounds like you are on the right track. Good luck!*
*edited to note you can get steps like these:
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My neighbor got a fiberglass pool. There are a few more like it in the neighborhood. It's pretty nice. She looked into one with a vinyl liner, but found out that the liners have to be replaced every 5-10 yrs, so the cost savings is negated. The steps are a little slick and she needs to add a handrail. She at least had the fittings put into the concrete deck to hold a hand rail when it was built (cheaper up front than to retrofit). With a dog, you may want to look at adding something to the steps for traction. I'm not sure if anyone has a fiberglass pool with a ramp.
Good info. Appreciate it.
If I can get the fiberglass and decking all in around $80k, i want to go fiberglass. It seems very durable and, from what I’ve seen, very nice.
I just would not underestimate what that landscaping, fencing, electric, gas, etc. will cost. Our basic pool was probably about 50K, but we ended up spending close to $150K all in.
Ouch. The “quotes” we’re getting aren’t official because nobody wants to give us an official quote until we can commit and we can’t commit until we have the variances. But they are telling us that a fiberglass pool is about $50k. The heater, gas, and electric is approximately another $10k. The base price includes 3’ of concrete surround. We can upgrade that to travertine or something at an additional cost. So I figure we could be all-in on the pool and surround for about $70k. Then we have to do deck and landscaping. We already have a fence but it would need to be slightly modified (gates and add a few panels) to make it pool compliant.
If you want an automatic pool cover (I would highly recommend that), add $13K. Add a grand for the pool robot. Electric should be about $5K. Gas $300 to $1k. You are saving with the fence, but figure you will spend a couple of grand getting self close gates that pass inspection. Landscaping is of course the wildcard. You will want more than a 3' pool deck, that is tiny. I assume you will want paved concrete area for chairs and loungers? Maybe a fire table? also, are you SURE you won't need a retaining wall? I thought our lot was fairly flat but alas, it really wasn't that flat, and we needed one. I am not saying you can't get it done for $70K, but if you are biting the bullet I would would go for it in terms of having larger pool decking and a hard surface to congregate around the pool, as well as the safety and convenience of an automatic pool cover, and the convenience of the vacuum robot. my 2 cents.
