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Inground pools - worth it? (1 Viewer)

captain_amazing

captain_amazing

Footballguy
Talk to me about inground pools.  Are they we're the cost and trouble?  Are they crazy expensive to put in?  Is there a limit on how deep they can be?

I grew up with an inground pool and hope our next buy will include one, but I'm also interested in putting one in if we find a place without one.  But I'm not sure it's all worth it.

Any thoughts?

 
You are probably looking at 60-100K to put one in. My wife wanted one but I told her to #### off because I wasn't dropping coin like that to enjoy something for the short period of time we get in RI to enjoy pool weather. If I lived somewhere that was pool weather 6 months plus a year I might have a different view.

 
It's not a lot of work to maintain except for the initial cleaning in the spring, and the chemicals are a moderate expense. Definitely worth it for us. We spend a lot of tune in the pool from May - Sept. I can't comment on the cost to install as ours came with the house.

 
We have above ground.  Because we didn't need a deep end inground wasn't even a thought.  I really like having a raised deck.  There is more than enough room and it gives you a better viewing vantage point.  It also eliminates the need to gate off the yard/pool.

 
We had one with a house in Toronto. Put in a heater and loved it from Mid April to late October.  

Lots of dough to put in.   Get a few estimates.  

 
A few years ago I moved into a neighborhood with a nice clubhouse/pool.  It's nice not to have to worry about maintaining it and it's right down the street.

 
LAUNCH said:
We have above ground.  Because we didn't need a deep end inground wasn't even a thought.  I really like having a raised deck.  There is more than enough room and it gives you a better viewing vantage point.  It also eliminates the need to gate off the yard/pool.
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Plus, some day if you feel like it, you can make it disappear like it was never there. When it comes time to sell, many (most?) people skip right over houses with inground pools.

 
Will set your retirement back years. 5 minimum and requires work.  Sounds awful.  Ill advised

 
Love mine in Maryland.  Open from May through mid-October and it's the focal point of my summer as I love to swim and have created a bunch of gardens around the pool.  Turns out I like flowers and vegetables and find taking care of them relaxing.  Who knew?

Ours  was like $65k back during the crash of '09.  Probably more like $90k now.  Tons of great memories playing backyard wiffleball, home run derby, trying to hit it into the pool, enjoying "time" with the wife at night in the pool.  Good stuff if you like pools to begin with.  As others have noted, not a ton of time to take care of and chemicals aren't expensive if you can afford the pool to begin with. 

 
Put one in last year in upstate NY. I grew up with one and both my wife and I said we'd never get a pool, I freaking love it.  Put in a heater and swim season is April thru October.  Kids love it and they were the reason we switched from no pool to pool so quickly.  Went with a free form gunite pool with a large sun ledge that's only about 12" deep, works great for the little ones and great to put a chair on and watch the kids without having to get all the way in if I don't feel like it.  Probably a poor investment from a financial standpoint but it's so relaxing to swim after a long day of work or mowing the lawn.

Cost was 42k, I'm saving a bit doing all the landscaping myself, size is 40x 20

 
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I live in Phoenix and everyone has a pool. They aren't horribly expensive here - $50k will get you a really nice one. My pool guy costs 80 bucks a month and totally takes care of it.

 
Depends completely on where you live and if you have kids. 

Cost is not really prohibitive imo although it can effect who will buy your house if you sell.  

I have three kids and Clive in Houston. Put in s pool/spa and heater. Completely worth it the pool runs year round. 

 
culdeus said:
If you want one buy a house with one, they are free that way.  That's how I got mine.  
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This is part of my thinking.  Sounds like it's more worth it to look for a house that already has one, particularly if they are frequently ignored by buyers that don't want a pool (lower market value?).

 
It costs 3k to demo a pool.  Most sellers say they will split the cost to fill it in around here if that's what people want.  

 
captain_amazing said:
This is part of my thinking.  Sounds like it's more worth it to look for a house that already has one, particularly if they are frequently ignored by buyers that don't want a pool (lower market value?).
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Yes, this is correct.  They literally add 0 value to a home, and in many ways actually decrease the value if it is more than 5 years old

 
belljr said:
Convert to salt water.

Easy maintenance
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disagree, but this isn't really the right place to discuss.

Salt water is a great front end investment that costs you much more in the back end.  You pay one way or the other, time or money.  

 
I'll be putting one in by next summer. Doing some major home renovation first.

My problem is I have a lot of re-working my back yard, excavating and retaining walls I need to put up which cost $$ on top of the cost of the pool.

But my wife has summers off and while my kids are still young, my long term goal is to be the house all my kids friends come to vs them splitting all over town where I can't keep an eye on them. Plus i'm already envisioning my oldest's graduation party there (a long time from now).

 
captain_amazing said:
This is part of my thinking.  Sounds like it's more worth it to look for a house that already has one, particularly if they are frequently ignored by buyers that don't want a pool (lower market value?).
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Not really lower market value.  Usually a wash. Don't put one in and have expectations of raising value

 
culdeus said:
disagree, but this isn't really the right place to discuss.

Salt water is a great front end investment that costs you much more in the back end.  You pay one way or the other, time or money.  
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Dunno.  My buddy has had it for 5 years and raves about it.  His money was up front for conversion. Now it's easy peasy.  But shouldn't hijack shrug

 
I am not the one to ask today.  It looks like we have a leak in a return line that is under the cement (which we recently redid with a resin-pebble coating like you see on the playgrounds).  

And don't even think about coming close to getting your money back if you sell.  Has added zero dollars to our home's market value over a 20 year period.  

It was here when we moved in and have had plenty of good times - so just know what you are getting into.  

Also ...not that cheap to maintain.  I am looking at an average of $800/yr on the low end.  

 
Binky The Doormat said:
I am not the one to ask today.  It looks like we have a leak in a return line that is under the cement (which we recently redid with a resin-pebble coating like you see on the playgrounds).  

And don't even think about coming close to getting your money back if you sell.  Has added zero dollars to our home's market value over a 20 year period.  

It was here when we moved in and have had plenty of good times - so just know what you are getting into.  

Also ...not that cheap to maintain.  I am looking at an average of $800/yr on the low end.  
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Sounds like you need to cool off. Maybe jump in the pool?

 
Prince Myshkin said:
I think you have this backwards...
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Pool maintenance is your time or paying for someone elses time. 

Salt mainly outsources the chemical part but you have to run your pump more and deal with replacing elements. Plus it can stain rock and cause other issues. 

If you like the feel of salt just add like 3000ppm or whatever. Wont hurt. 

There's no free lunch in any of this. 

 
captain_amazing said:
This is part of my thinking.  Sounds like it's more worth it to look for a house that already has one, particularly if they are frequently ignored by buyers that don't want a pool (lower market value?).
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A pool adds value to a home, it doesn't take it away. At least here in Arizona.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
probably because most homes have them
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Let me rephrase as well. I'm not sure you will see a net positive return on your investment, but two identical houses on the market here, the one with the pool will sell for more.

 
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A pool will automatically turn people on or off to your house at resale. We had a pool in our previous house a few years ago and we loved it. Takes a little work to keep the water chemistry balanced.  Here, you get about 50% of the cost added to the appraisal. Definitely better to find an existing home with the pool already in.

 
It really depends.  If you have young kids and have hot summers it will add years to your life.  They wear themselves out and are never bored.  Phenomenal in the summers especially K-6.  As they get older they can start inviting friends over to your house, which is huge.  I'd rather have everyone here.  I'd BBQ, whatever.  I want to look their friends in the eye.  As they get older the pool gets used less.  That's when you have to make a decision.  Do you want to keep the house or move so that a family with young kids can enjoy it and you don't have to pay for upkeep for something you don't use as often? Then the kids start talking marriage and grandkids are right around the corner.  So you keep the house and pool.  Worth every penny.  If it's a great pool.  We fell in love with our house because of the pool and view from the backyard.  Other young couples with kids will too. Not worried about getting fair value out of the investment (we remodeled it about 8 years ago)

 
In FL you almost need a pool it's so hot & humid.  I bought a house with a pool.  I have heard nothing but nightmares for people who have added pools.  Go ahead and take the time they estimate it will be done and double that.

 
glvsav37 said:
I'll be putting one in by next summer. Doing some major home renovation first.

My problem is I have a lot of re-working my back yard, excavating and retaining walls I need to put up which cost $$ on top of the cost of the pool.

But my wife has summers off and while my kids are still young, my long term goal is to be the house all my kids friends come to vs them splitting all over town where I can't keep an eye on them. Plus i'm already envisioning my oldest's graduation party there (a long time from now).
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How elaborate are the retaining walls?  I had to build a retaining wall around mine and took it on myself to save money.  Thru the first winter (and a very wet spring)it held up great.  If you have the time to plan it out a lot of the landscaping can be done by you and save a huge chunk of money.  It's been a serious amount of work but I enjoy working outside.

 
Hate my pool.  If I could give it to you for free, I would.

Of course that's not possible and I'll keep having to pour money into it until I can convince my wife to get rid of it and shell out even more for that.

 
  • A sunny patch of yard to put it in
  • No trees overhead to drop leaves in it all the time
  • A city where you can find reliable pool guys to maintain it for you
  • Good weather or a good heater 
  • Disposable income to drop a few hundred a year on chemicals and maintenance
  • A family that will want to use it all the time
If you have all of the above, then maybe. We ripped out our above ground pool last year mainly due to the lack of #1 to #3 above. If you don't like doing the work yourself and can't find a reliable guy to do it, it SUCKS. So does having a pool that's in the shade 60% of the time and constantly filled with leaves. The morons who put in our pool were not exactly brilliant planners. But despite all of that, we had some really good summers with it. It's just that after 3 straight years of opening the pool and then having the weather be 65 and rainy for 2 weeks, then 90 and rainy for a month, it wasn't worth the effort to open it in mid-May and not really enjoy it until August.

 
For us with global warming the mosquitos are out early and often.  When I go to florida I aee pools people screened in for that and I'm pretty jealous. 

 
When I first had my kid, my wife and I rented a house that had an inground pool.  It was cool until we noticed that every time our lab swam in it, he'd poop while swimming.  Being a lab, he'd hop the fence to get in all the time because he's crazy about water. 

So, basically it is off the table until he dies.  Probably not then anyways because I'm like 400 yards from the community pool.  I'd rather pay $750 a year membership and not have the headaches.

 
I had a pool put in in 2011.  @16x32 kidney shaped gunite pool, deep end is 7 feet.  kids have enjoyed the #### out of it.  They'll have their friends over and its nice for family get togethers too.  Maintenance is minimal.  the only real downside is the $$.  If you have enough of that and kids that will use it all of the time, I can't recommend it enough.  before the pool, we had summers that were so hot, the kids didn't want to go outside.  now they are out there virtually every day of the summer.  and I like being able to grab a beer and float around for 30 minutes with some tunes playing on a hot summer day. 

I will use the heater in May-June and again in Sep-Oct so I can get 6 months of use if the weather is decent. 

 
Some days it sucks - like last week when I tried to open it up. Backwash and Filter on Hayward filter weren't working- water only going out waste. Turns out the gasket was worn and water just stayed out the backwash/waste. And wouldn't you know it - I have the model of a filter where you can't buy the $9.00 replacement gasket. No I needed the $35 part that has the gasket glued into it.

But when it's up and running and you get done working in yard on a hot humid day, you can just strip your clothes off and dive in to cool off, have wife bring you a cold beer - and it's all good.

 
jfranco77 said:
  • A sunny patch of yard to put it in
  • No trees overhead to drop leaves in it all the time
  • A city where you can find reliable pool guys to maintain it for you
  • Good weather or a good heater 
  • Disposable income to drop a few hundred a year on chemicals and maintenance
  • A family that will want to use it all the time
If you have all of the above, then maybe. We ripped out our above ground pool last year mainly due to the lack of #1 to #3 above. If you don't like doing the work yourself and can't find a reliable guy to do it, it SUCKS. So does having a pool that's in the shade 60% of the time and constantly filled with leaves. The morons who put in our pool were not exactly brilliant planners. But despite all of that, we had some really good summers with it. It's just that after 3 straight years of opening the pool and then having the weather be 65 and rainy for 2 weeks, then 90 and rainy for a month, it wasn't worth the effort to open it in mid-May and not really enjoy it until August.
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This is our main problem.  Our pool is ancient.  No idea when it was put in, but it is cement.  Our neighbors, after the pool was put in, but before we bought the house, planted a tree directly south of the pool.  It is probably less than 20 feet from the pool.  It is now well over 100 feet tall.  It is a maple tree, so it drops helicopters into the pool all summer, and ensures that the pool gets approximately 30 minutes of sun each day (a little as the sun comes up, and a little as the sun goes down).  We offered to pay to take the tree out, but the wife gave a sob story that she planted the tree with her now deceased father.  But, they promised to get it trimmed.  It now has branches hanging over the top of the pool, so now I have to ask them to trim it yet again, or pay myself to (which is going to cost a fortune I'm given given the layout of the back yard pool area).

 
Depending on how long you think you will be in the house, if you do this, I would recommend getting the small aggregate finish instead of the white plaster. It will cost a little more but will look better and last longer. The plaster finish will need to be redone in anywhere between 5-15 years. Keeping the water chemistry balanced will have a big impact on how long the plaster lasts. You can check out troublefreepool for all things pools (water chemistry, construction, equipment, etc;...). The startup phase of a new pool is big pain. You need to keep brushing it several times a day for one to three months and you will be constantly adjusting the water chemicals until it stabilizes (several months). If you don't do this you will get staining/discoloration. The first month is the most critical.

 
Here's why we "took the plunge" about 8 years ago:

  • Wife is a teacher, so she is home all summer
  • Back then we had a 5yo, 1yo and knew we'd try for 1 more (now 13, 9 and 5)
  • We were 3 years in on a brand new house and knew we had no plans of moving for at least 20-25 years 
  • East coast, pool season of late May to early September (without a heater)
  • Recession had hit plus it was November, prime season to get a good deal
Never regretted it. We get almost daily use out of it Mid-June to Mid-August. Put in a heat pump 4 years ago, which was another great decision. Now we use it even more at night.

I spend about $15/week when it's open, on bleach, borax and baking soda from the grocery store and muriatic acid from Lowe's. Water bill goes up about $40/month (heated pool means more evaporation) and electric bill about $70/month.

 
culdeus said:
For us with global warming the mosquitos are out early and often.  When I go to florida I aee pools people screened in for that and I'm pretty jealous. 
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I bought a house with an inground salt pool with a large enclosure over the pool and all the surrounding deck.  I wouldn't have done it any other way.  They're expensive to put in (especially with a salt system) and enclose, but getting it included in the home price, it cost me next to nothing.  No leaves in it, no mosquitoes at night.  There's nothing more serene than going out there at night and listening to the sounds of the preserve behind my house and the waterfall feature while floating around with the light show going on beneath me.

Until something breaks down, it's virtually no cost and low maintenance.  I have a solar heater for it, so it stays open year-round.  Once a week, I dump a couple of cups of muriatic acid mixed with pool water in there (takes 90 seconds soup-to-nuts) and maybe twice a year, I pour a bag of salt into it around the edges.  Once in a blue moon, a jar of stabilizer in the filter.  That's it.  Less than $100 a year for chemicals. 

The skimmer and the in-floor cleaning jets take care of 80% of whatever detritus makes its way through the screen - I bust out the vacuum every other month or so for about an hour and get rid of anything that settles in the corners.  A quick sweep every 2 weeks or so takes care of the rest.  I spend maybe 10 hours a year caring for it.

 
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