Thinking of building a pool

[AACJ]

So....we're building a new house soon. We recently rented a vacation home with a pool and loved it. We are now thinking of putting in a pool (in-ground)in our back yard when we build our house. Who has a pool and who wants one.

What type do you have? Saltwater or fresh?

If you had to do it all over again, would you?

Any suggestions on installing it?

 

[Saunterer]

Oh man. I wish we were closer and could sit down for a beer....

I installed an 11000 gallon in ground pool 4 years ago. The install was fine but we had to project manage the h*ll out of the pool company. Long story short, I had to deal with the BBB and some other things. First word of advice, do your research before you start.

We installed a fiberglass pool with a salt water generator and love it to death. Once you get familiar with how your pool behaves, maintaining it is a breeze. Second word of advice - never go to a pool store for chemicals, just go to Wal-mart, Costco or other regular store. Clorox bleach is just chlorine, baking soda to raise alkalinity and you can aerate to raise your pH. Bookmark this website and use it for all things pool related -> www.troublefreepool.com

Here's the aerator that I built to raise pH and also to cool off the pool.

So ask away if you need more info.

 

[HokieGeek]

Saunterer, that's a beautiful pool.

I never knew people built saltwater pools. I think that's awesome!!

 

[rthawker]

I have never heard of a saltwater pool either. What is the reasoning behind it? Ease of maintenance or is it better for you or the environment in some way?

 

[Saunterer]

When you hear saltwater, do not associate it with the ocean. It's more like saline solution for contacts. I think I it's about 1/10th as salty as the ocean. Ocean water is 35000 ppm of salt, where my pool is about 3400 ppm (I tested last night). Basically I have about 400 pounds of salt in 11000 gallons of water.

From Wikipedia -> Salt water chlorination is a process that uses dissolved salt (1,800–6,000 ppm) as a store for the chlorination system. The chlorinator uses electrolysis to break down the salt (NaCl). The resulting chemical reaction eventually produces hypochlorous acid(HOCl), and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), which are the sanitizing agents already commonly used in swimming pools. As such, a saltwater pool is not actually chlorine-free; it simply utilizes a chlorine generator instead of direct addition of chlorine.

So basically there is a electrolysis device in line with the pump that produces about 35 VDC across some fins and when the water runs across it, it will break up the salt molecule to produce chlorine (bleach just like Clorox). I still have to shock the pool every now and then, but the idea is you have a constant supply of chlorine. Instead of adding chlorine pucks or liquid here and there, I can keep my chlorine levels at about 2-3 ppm constantly. (for those that have a pool) And the cool part? You really don't have to add salt. Why? When water evaporates where's the salt? Yep, stays in the pool. I only have to add about 40 pounds a summer to keep the levels up. Some gets splashed out and lost during backwashing and such.

 

[HokieGeek]

When you hear saltwater, do not associate it with the ocean. It's more like saline solution for contacts. I think I it's about 1/10th as salty as the ocean. Ocean water is 35000 ppm of salt, where my pool is about 3400 ppm (I tested last night). Basically I have about 400 pounds of salt in 11000 gallons of water.

From Wikipedia -> Salt water chlorination is a process that uses dissolved salt (1,800–6,000 ppm) as a store for the chlorination system. The chlorinator uses electrolysis to break down the salt (NaCl). The resulting chemical reaction eventually produces hypochlorous acid(HOCl), and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), which are the sanitizing agents already commonly used in swimming pools. As such, a saltwater pool is not actually chlorine-free; it simply utilizes a chlorine generator instead of direct addition of chlorine.

So basically there is a electrolysis device in line with the pump that produces about 35 VDC across some fins and when the water runs across it, it will break up the salt molecule to produce chlorine (bleach just like Clorox). I still have to shock the pool every now and then, but the idea is you have a constant supply of chlorine. Instead of adding chlorine pucks or liquid here and there, I can keep my chlorine levels at about 2-3 ppm constantly. (for those that have a pool) And the cool part? You really don't have to add salt. Why? When water evaporates where's the salt? Yep, stays in the pool. I only have to add about 40 pounds a summer to keep the levels up. Some gets splashed out and lost during backwashing and such.

Well, that makes a bit more sense. I thought a pool with enough salt to mimic the ocean would be a bit destructive to the infrastructure

 

[lightnin]

We installed a lap pool at our new house. It is 40 feet by 10 feet plus the steps at one end. There is a very short shallow end at the steps and then it is 5 feet deep for the remainder of the length. We love it. My wife loves to swim laps during the summer.

The beauty of a lap pool is that it gives you a pool that does not eat you up in maintenance costs. You don't waste a lot of water that is never used and that saves shock, chlorine and all the other chemicals that must be used. I gets very warm in the summer for evening swims. To clean the sides, just walk around the pool with your vinyl cleaner and glove.

Our daughter lives two doors down from us and has a 35x16 pool with the deep end being 12 feet deep (test their scuba equipment). All she does is complain about the cost and how hard it is to clean. She has to hang on the edge with one had and try to clean with the other. She cannot walk all the way around her pool.

For us, the lap pool was the only way to go. It gives us everything we wanted in a pool and everything from the installation to maintenance was quite economical.

 

[AACJ]

Do any of you have a liner or is it concrete or another material?

 

[AACJ]

Oh, another question.....cost.

How much was it to put in your pools? I have seen some as low as 12,000 for a 10x24 foot pool, but it looked like an above ground pool and the area around the pool was just backfilled with dirt. Plus I would want concrete around the pool for chairs and such. I could do pavers too...

 

[flabajaba2213]

If you have a large pool, I would wholeheartedly recommend an aqua bot. Ours finally died this year (lasted 11 years of almost daily use during the summer), and we replaced it with the new Tempo model. Cleans our pool (40' x 20', 10 foot deep end) in about 2 hours, including the sides.

 

[Uncle Erik]

There's a pool at one of our rentals. That thing costs a bit to maintain and just had to spend about $500 to refill it.

When the tenants move out, we're thinking about draining it and building a deck over it. Probably won't fill it in - it adds nicely to the property value - however, it costs more than it's probably worth.

These days, I'm more interested in water features than a pool. Fountain, koi pond, something along those lines.

 

[AACJ]

Chris,

Beautiful pool BTW. Do any of you with pools have a pool disco ball? My daughter found one on sale this weekend for 5.00.

 

[matt_imedeen]

Saunterer, that's a great pool!

I'd love to have a pool but you pretty much have to be a millioanire to have a pool in England.. there just isn't the space for people to build them.. or the weather!

Matt

 

[Shave A Buck]

Number one, nice pool.

Number two, what do you want to do with the pool. Diving or volleyball and playing. I put in a kidney shaped diving pool three years ago. The shallow end is about thre or four feet and narrow, most of it is deep for diving. Which is not all bad even though we do not allow diving. But not much room for volleyball and other standing activites.

A kidney will cost more to trampoline cover, safety fence, and give you less room then a square or rectangle for the above activites. I would not do it again if I ever built another one.

 

[BCatl]

Have you considered a pond? It's cheaper to maintain. I say buy more acerage, and put in a pond.

 

[AACJ]

Never really thought of the shape until now. I like the kidney shape because it's, well... different than a rectangle, but that makes it more difficult for a decision too. We have kids and they may or may not want to play volleyball and such, as they are girls.

A pond is not possible on our property, nor would I want to swim in dirty water.

 

[RichGem]

So....we're building a new house soon. We recently rented a vacation home with a pool and loved it. We are now thinking of putting in a pool (in-ground)in our back yard when we build our house. Who has a pool and who wants one.

What type do you have? Saltwater or fresh?

If you had to do it all over again, would you?

Any suggestions on installing it?

Art,

Couple other things to consider before breaking ground would also be what this project may or may not do to your home owner's insurance costs, any additional liability involved, and any local regulations you may have to comply with such as possible mandatory fencing, etc.

We had an above ground pool growing up and it was great fun, but also a lot of work to maintain.

 

[Saunterer]

Art,

Couple other things to consider before breaking ground would also be what this project may or may not do to your home owner's insurance costs, any additional liability involved, and any local regulations you may have to comply with such as possible mandatory fencing, etc.

Yep, exactly. I had to move my electrical and telephone lines because they ran right across where I was going to install the pool. I also put an additional $500k umbrella policy for the "your dumb kid killed himself in my pool but isn't my fault" type incident. My four foot fence met city code, but they changed the rules right after giving me a permit. I was the first in-ground pool in town.

Do you have pets? I have two huskies but they aren't interested in swimming, but if you have a dog that likes swimming or is small, you have to consider that they could fall in and drown. My daughter had to rescue one of our dogs one day that had fallen in and couldn't get out. No idea how long she struggled, but she slept the whole day after that.

All in all, we are glad we have the pool. (Especially at night when the kids are not at home. nyuk, nyuk, hint, hint) And we are the cool parents and would rather have the teenagers hang out at our home, versus me letting my girls go to some other parent's home that isn't as diligent as we are. (The cost of a pool is cheaper than a pregnancy or DUI. Worse case scenario)

 

[pz93c]

Don't have one, but thinking of installing in a couple of years. Probably gunite, but I don't know yet.

Great thread with good info. Thanks.

 

[Mr. Imperial]

A pond is not possible on our property, nor would I want to swim in dirty water.

That's a shame about it not being a possibility. The property we rent has a pond, and it's far from dirty. Sandy bottom, stream-fed, stocked with grass carp to keep down the muck and weeds. Really quite beautiful.