Consumer Homes.

Question:

Hi Bill, Pool Questions: 1. Find a reliable contractor. Choose one that has been in business for a while. You want him to be around if you have problems a year or two down the road. 2. Consider a build in Spa. It will greatly extend and enhance the enjoyment of your pool. 3. Consider heating, only if you have gas available. Electric heating of a pool or even a spa is not practical from a performance or cost standpoint. 4. Make sure your filtration system has enough capacity for your pool. Don’t cut corners here. Go for the larger pumps and filters. 5. DE filters vs Sand. Doesn’t matter, both work very well, Sand is less maintenance 6. Decking, Choose something that will dissipate the heat adequately. Stone decking looks great, but may we too hot to walk on in hot climates. 7. Don’t waste money on automatic chlorinators 8. Choose a good pool cleaner, this will drastically affect the time you spend cleaning vs enjoying your pool. My personal choice is the Kreepy. 9. Add a fresh water supply line. This is small cost item, but it will eliminate the need to drag out the hoses to add water.

Response:

Bill,     We just put one in last fall, and I agree with John on most points (we don’t like Spa’s, but that is a personal choice).     The area in which you plan to put the pool may drive the costs.  Soil that is fill may not have settled enough, if you are in a new area.  Access for the equipment may also be an issue.  Just make sure you know what these are going to cost up front.  We had to dig out an old pool in order to put in the new one, at an additional cost of over $3000!     You will have to decide what type of pool you will get built.  Most pool companies only install one type. i.e. gunnite, or steel with liner, or whatever.  We chose a stainless steel sided, concrete bottom pool with a liner.  About the same cost as gunnite, but has more "give" to it if/when the ground shifts a bit.  We will have to replace the liner about once in 10 years.  But no "painting" required.     You also need to decide whether or not you want a diving pool.  These days, if you don’t want a diving board you can get a pool that is 5 feet at the deep end and 3 feet at the shallow end.  Or you can get a "lap" pool – a narrow pool for swiming laps.     Depending on your situation, you may want to consider a pool cover – we have a 3 foot wall around ours (no code or insurance company requirements, but I am still concerned) and are considering a cover that you can stand on for use at least when we go on vacation.  Otherwise, we are almost always home.  Cost is about $1500.     Amen on getting a pool cleaner.  We like the Polaris (this is our second house with a pool and we have had Polaris in both), except that the repair parts are expensive when you eventually have to start replacing them.  It adds about $1000 to the cost of the pool, but you can’t get the sand, etc. up with the vacuum systems (at least we can’t).     Then there are the details like stairs (get them), ladders (we have one but we never use it), timers for teh pool and/or Polaris (pool builders will recommend against them – pool stays cleaner, etc. better if you always have the pump running, but it does cost more per month), two skimmers are better than one and the more inlets the better as well, a friend has something we wish we had added – a small "garden" area (about 10 sq feet) with a "spout" that sends a stream of recirculated water into the pool.  They can slip a spray head to it when the pool water gets too warm (we are on the GUlf Coast) and the aeration helps to cool the water down a bit.  Then there are slides, etc. as well if you have children.     HOpe this helps.     Twill – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Hi Bill, > Pool Questions: > 1. Find a reliable contractor. Choose one that has > been in business for a while. You want him to be around if you have > problems a year or two down the road. > 2. Consider a build in Spa. It will greatly extend and enhance the > enjoyment of your pool. > 3. Consider heating, only if you have gas available. Electric heating > of a pool or even a spa is not practical from a performance or cost > standpoint. > 4. Make sure your filtration system has enough capacity for your pool. > Don’t cut corners here. Go for the larger pumps and filters. > 5. DE filters vs Sand. Doesn’t matter, both work very well, > Sand is less maintenance > 6. Decking, Choose something that will dissipate the heat adequately. > Stone decking looks great, but may we too hot to walk on in hot climates. > 7. Don’t waste money on automatic chlorinators > 8. Choose a good pool cleaner, this will drastically affect the time > you spend cleaning vs enjoying your pool. My personal choice is the > Kreepy. > 9. Add a fresh water supply line. This is small cost item, but it will > eliminate the need to drag out the hoses to add water.

Response:

> >    HOpe this helps. >    Twill > Great points from you and others.  Thanks. > Is your pool heated, BTW.  We think we want to get one that can be > heated.  We are in a fairly warm area but could get a couple of extra > months use out of a pool if we could heat it from time to time.

No, ours is not.  Last year I swam as late as Nov 1, and we started swimming this year about May 1.  We live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I know a heater could extend the swimming year, but we just didn’t opt to spend the money for either the installation or for the actually heat-the-water-costs (didn’t even bother to find out what they would be > Also, what about fences around a pool?  We have a fence for the yard > itself but would want to put a fence around the pool itself.  we have > a 4 year old who is just learning to swim but would want to make the > pool area as safe as possible.

Hmmm – strange as it may seem, we live in the unincorporated county and neither the county nor our insurance company requires a fence.  We have a three foot brick wall around the patio/pool area, but I still have some concerns even though there are no small children in our immediate neighborhood. I just haven’t figured out how to fence it and still maintain the views that we have.  I think I will go with a 2-3 foot "wraught (sp?) iron" fence on top of the wall.     I have seen several pools along the golf course which are totally open i.e. not even a low wall like ours!     I feel sure that legally the fence around your yard is sufficient, but I can understand your concern with small children.     Twill

Response:

>I just got them for San Jose and they were two closely typed >pages including regulations on setbacks from house and property line, fencing to >isolate pool from public (i.e. around your property), fencing to >isolate pool from house, height of fencing, maximum size of any openings, >etc.

We live in unincorporated area largely governed through deed restrictions.  In any event, we have a fence around the backyard that meets requirements.  I am talking about a fence to put close around the pool to keep our son out of it (of course, he isn’t allowed to go outside the house by himself but I believe in being very cautious)

Response:

> >I just got them for San Jose and they were two closely typed >pages including regulations on setbacks from house and property line, fencing to >isolate pool from public (i.e. around your property), fencing to >isolate pool from house, height of fencing, maximum size of any openings, >etc. > We live in unincorporated area largely governed through deed > restrictions.  In any event, we have a fence around the backyard that > meets requirements.  I am talking about a fence to put close around > the pool to keep our son out of it (of course, he isn’t allowed to go > outside the house by himself but I believe in being very cautious)

The house we bought has a pool so I called a lawyer friend (who also has a pool) and I called my insurance man .  They both said the same thing, no fence of any kind is required here in Northern California and no additional insurance needed. Richard

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I understand.  That’s what I meant by isolating the pool from the house.  In San Jose, the requirement is pretty stringent: a 5-ft. high fence with no handholds in the 5 ft., no opening having a diameter larger than 4 inches, and it also specifies the type of gate, including that it must be self-latching and which way it swings.  I believe it must also be 4 ft. from the house at the nearest pt. I don’t have the information with me but can send it to you if you’re interested.  It sounds like it’s pretty thorough and would probably be a good guideline for fencing to protect your 4-yr. old. Barbara – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I just got them for San Jose and they were two closely typed >pages including regulations on setbacks from house and property line, fencing to >isolate pool from public (i.e. around your property), fencing to >isolate pool from house, height of fencing, maximum size of any openings, >etc. > We live in unincorporated area largely governed through deed > restrictions.  In any event, we have a fence around the backyard that > meets requirements.  I am talking about a fence to put close around > the pool to keep our son out of it (of course, he isn’t allowed to go > outside the house by himself but I believe in being very cautious)

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>We are considering putting in a pool next spring.  What are important >issues to consider and watch out for?  Also, is there any good source >of info regarding pools on the web?

Try www.poolspa.com.  More information than you will ever want to know about all different kinds of pools, in addition to a conference forum where you can post questions. Tracy

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>We are considering putting in a pool next spring.  What are important >issues to consider and watch out for?  Also, is there any good source >of info regarding pools on the web?

Just wanted to note that there *are* solar heaters for pools.  You might want to look into those, as well. That would save you a lot of the cost of heating your pool. — Siobhan Perricone "If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."      -Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld

Response:

>    HOpe this helps. >    Twill

Great points from you and others.  Thanks. Is your pool heated, BTW.  We think we want to get one that can be heated.  We are in a fairly warm area but could get a couple of extra months use out of a pool if we could heat it from time to time. Also, what about fences around a pool?  We have a fence for the yard itself but would want to put a fence around the pool itself.  we have a 4 year old who is just learning to swim but would want to make the pool area as safe as possible.

Response:

>>Try www.poolspa.com. <<

Thanks!  Will check it out.

Response:

When we put our pool in, the ordinances were still evolving so we were able to get away with a "yard fence" around the backyard.  Now our town specifies a 4 foot high, non-climbable fence with a self-closing gate., and located not more than (about ) 6 feet from the pool.  Check with your building code people. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->    HOpe this helps. >    Twill > Great points from you and others.  Thanks. > Is your pool heated, BTW.  We think we want to get one that can be > heated.  We are in a fairly warm area but could get a couple of extra > months use out of a pool if we could heat it from time to time. > Also, what about fences around a pool?  We have a fence for the yard > itself but would want to put a fence around the pool itself.  we have > a 4 year old who is just learning to swim but would want to make the > pool area as safe as possible.

Response:

>Issues?  Let’s see: >1) Depending on your local codes you will probably need a hefty fence >   build around the pool area. >2) Your insurance costs may go up. >3) It will cost a lot to install a good one. >4) It costs a fair amount (money & time) to maintain one. >5) If you don’t maintain it it will cost LOTS more to fix it. >–

Yes, of course.  We are aware of these issues.  I was really talking more from a construction standpoint and issues to consider in determining exactly how to construct it.  I don’t want to have it built and then say:  If only I had known to ask for X….. Also, we are trying to decide whether to have it built so that it can be heated.  We live in a relatively mild climate so heating it would get us a few more months use out of it.  But, am not sure what that adds to the cost and maintenance (beyond of course the electrical cost to heat it from time to time) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Bill Seurer           Compiler Development             IBM Rochester, MN >Bill_Seurer AT us.ibm.com                          BillSeurer AT aol.com >Go Twins!        And take the Vikings, Timberwolves, and Wild with you!!

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We are considering putting in a pool next spring.  What are important issues to consider and watch out for?  Also, is there any good source of info regarding pools on the web?

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>We are considering putting in a pool next spring.  What are important >issues to consider and watch out for?  Also, is there any good source >of info regarding pools on the web?

pool (n) – a big hole in your yard into which you throw large amounts of money

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says… >pool (n) – a big hole in your yard into which you throw large amounts >of money

<G>. Still, the big expense is building a pool in the first place. If you can afford to build it, the couple hundred you spend each pool season is just the price of staying in the game. — Tom Krotchko

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to continue….. 6. The house will be more difficult to sell when the time comes. 7. The constant thought of what would happen to you if your (or someone else’s) kids, dogs, relatives and drunks fall into your pool. No matter how well protected, their lawyer will claim it wasnt enough. 8. The high electric cost of running the 1 h.p. or larger filter pump most of the day. 9. On the hottest days, no one wants to leave the air conditioning and go swimming. 10. And the biggest one of all, when the kids want to borrow your car to drive to the beach, because the backyard pool isn’t where it’s happening! I could think of a dozen more, as I prepare to open our pool for the season. — Rich R. "stickit" isforthespamheads – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Issues?  Let’s see: >1) Depending on your local codes you will probably need a hefty fence >   build around the pool area. >2) Your insurance costs may go up. >3) It will cost a lot to install a good one. >4) It costs a fair amount (money & time) to maintain one. >5) If you don’t maintain it it will cost LOTS more to fix it.

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