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Below ground.ETA: it's about 30' x 20' with the standard 8' deep section on one end and 3-4' on the other.
it doesn't cost much. You can keep your pool clean and vibrant with regular Clorox bleach, arm and hammer baking soda and borax. The only time it gets expensive is if you let your pool go to pot. You have to practice regular maintenance and testing and its really cheap. It costs me much more to heat my pool than keep it clean.here's where I figured out how to do it, we bought our house 2 yrs ago and I had never had a pool and had no clue what to do:
Saltwater pools use dissolved salt (3,000-6,000 ppm) as a store for the chlorination system. The chlorinator uses electrolysis to break down the salt (NaCl) and release the chlorine into the water. The main advantage of this is that the main chemical added to the pool is salt which is harmless compared to the usual bleaching agents like chlorine. As such, a saltwater pool is not actually chlorine-free; it simply utilizes a chlorine generator instead of direct addition of chlorine.per wiki
How much does that cost in terms of electricity? Also, how much does a pool service cost?
Maybe. That's why I'm factoring this in the decision. The concept of a pool sounds great. I know I would use the heck out of it. It's all the other stuff that I don't know anything about. If it is really only takes a couple hours of work per week, I think that would be a good trade off ... but I have never had a pool and I honestly don't know.
Max for where you live in the summer you would barely have to heat the thing as its so hot there it would naturally be heated. Its in the spring/fall where it would get pricey.
And you don't need to buy Clorox bleach. Any old bleach will do so long as it's unscented. Poolsolutions board is excellent and has all the info you need. Last year was my first year with a pool and it was outstanding. Bleach to disinfect, borax to buffer, baking soda to regulate pH.Pool store sales guys are so often just selling you crap you don't need for twice the price. And they'll try to tell you that bleach will ruin your pool. They're lying to you.
He probably still needs to run the pump continuously. I'm guessing that cost us about $40 a month.
Sure their a pain, if your lazy. Do you mow your own lawn? If you do, you will spend about the same amount of time on your pool as you do your lawn. before I go any further, let me tell you that the quality of life during the summer with a pool is 10 times better than without one, especially if you have kids. Mow your lawn, get a little hot...jump in the pool! Have a party, maybe barbeque, jump in the pool! 105 degrees outside and AC isn't cutting it, jump in the pool! Man I love summer...anyhow, here's a typical routine for me and my pool. Once every day or two I test the water to check for chlorine, that takes all of 1 minute. Once every two or three weeks I vaccuum the pool, takes about 20 minutes. Once a month or so I take a water sample in to the pool store and have them analyze it, then I go somewhere else usually and buy calcium, which is usually what I need. Rarely do I need any chemical beside calcium. I run my pool on Walmart "Ultra' brand bleach, arm and hammer baking soda and Borax. I have the cleanest, most soft and odorless pool you've ever been in. The water is like velvet. You'd be surprised how little I need to do to keep my pool clean. Once a month or so I also backflush the pump, then refill with water from the hose. That's about it really. I spend virtually all of my pool money on the natural gas and electricity to heat the water and run the pump. I would estimate that at $900 per season, our season starts late may and I close the pool mid Sep. I probably spend another $100-150 per season on bleach and calcium. I've never had to use algacide, if you keep your pool clean and always have chlroine, you'll never need algaecide.All you have to do is clean the pool, get the PH up to 7.6, keep your chlorine between 1 and 5 and your set.
Opened pool last week. Need heat, but too lazy for solar cover. Anyone try those chemical solar blankets that come in fish dispeners? Any good? Thx
My neighbor also mentioned those fish dispensers yesterday. I'd also be interested from those who have experience with them.
What in the hell are you people talking about?
Thishttp://www.poolcenter.com/solar_blankets_l...ar_poolstor.htm
Ah yes, liquid asbestos. Can't hurt. Give it a go.
I'd go deeper than six feet on the deep end. That doesn't seem safe to dive.
No diving board (which requires 8') and want to use it for play/leisure more than anything. So don't want most of the pool to be on a slope. Safety recommendations are a minimum of 5' for jumping, 6' for "deck diving."BTW, got them down some more on the price. Signing the contract tonight.
Noid - Where do you live, and are you financing the pool? If so on a pool loan, or home equity, or home improvement loan? We recently moved and have a good sized yard for a pool. With three young kids I'm thinking a pool might be a good investment, but I don't see coming up with $30K cash.
Northern Delaware. About 2/3 cash and the rest from a HELOC.
I have one. Came with the house. Seems to work OK. When you jump in, you get wet.I couldn't tell you if it is better or worse than gunnite. I have no experience in that area.
One of my clients makes fiberglass pools and they do a pretty good job explaining how although they cost more to begin with the maintenance down the way is much less. I think its worth looking into.
Bottom line? And pics? Still trying to convince the wife to pull the trigger on this.Sorry, no help on the cover.
I don't have a cover. Or I should say, I don't have a traditional cover. We use a solar blanket in the very early and very late parts of the season to keep it a little warmer. It isn't mounted. We just fold it up and tuck it away in the garage when it isn't in use. I think it only cost about $200 or so online (16 x 32). Other than that it is coverless year round. We end up skimming/netting a lot of leaves and crap in the winter, but nothing too terrible.
A cover depends a lot on where you live. In MD we open the pool in early May and close it in Mid-October. I have to have a cover because my backyard is full of trees that would fill the pool if uncovered. If there are no trees and you can keep open longer, then I think no cover would ok.I bought the pool in the fall of '08 just as the economy was crashing badly. The same pool company quoted us $25k less than the previous year. We ended up spending about $68k for the pool, cover, colored plaster, heater, rock waterfall/groto, decking, fencing and landscaping. It was a little more than I expected but I actually thought we did pretty well considering my sister bought a pool in the summer of '07 and paid about $25k more than me for way less pool and accessories.
