OT: - Above Ground Pools | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT: Above Ground Pools

Neighbor just got a quote for an in-ground pool. 100k for a basic, rectangular pool.
 
I’ve always seen the utility of an inground pool being that it makes it more likely that your home will be the destination house when you have kids at home. In the end we found that keeping a tub of premade toll house cookie dough in the refrigerator worked pretty well and it was a lot less hassle.
 
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Getting a pool is like a low-scale version of buying a boat: you're the only one who can determine if it's worth it, but at least you'll use it more often than you'd use a boat.

We have an above-ground pool, it was there when we bought the house. I have a love/hate relationship with it and (likely) won't replace it once it's finally time to be put out to pasture, but man it is heavenly on those sweltering summer days. Just floating in the pool relaxing, watching the kids playing and having a blast. The back and forth of hanging out on your deck, grilling, getting hot, going in the pool for an hour...rinse/repeat. There are worse ways to spend hot summer days.

There is something to be said for walking off your own deck into your own pool whenever you feel like it. You don't have to drive to the beach or the pool club or go over to a neighbor's house. It feels great hopping in for 20 minutes on a weekday evening. I may like that even more than the long weekend days in there. A stressful day at work or mowing the lawn at 7 PM on a weeknight...a dip in the pool afterward feels fantastic. It's therapeutic.

Post-installation the cost isn't crazy: a couple of hundred per summer in chemicals (don't fall victim to the overpriced "better" stuff) and the uptick in your electric bill, but it wasn't as steep as I thought it'd be since you only have to run the filter eight hours per day. Still, if you did the math on cost-per-hour of use/entertainment it's probably not great. I opened my pool yesterday (I never do it as early as Memorial Day) and will close it the Tuesday after Labor Day and I'd guess I'm in there for 40 hours each summer.
 
When we lived in Danbury and the boys were young, we had an above ground pool. 48" high, 24 foot circular. Maintenance was not that bad. The prep for winter was a pain. Drain the pool down, blow up the pillows and tie them off. Pull on the cover and tie it off.

The winter maintenance. As snow and rain develop over winter, you have to pump off the cover because of the weight. One night in late January we heard a loud bang. Had no idea what is was and could really see anything at night. Next morning, the wife looked out in the back yard and found the source of the "bang." The weight on the cover had collapsed the pool. Waited until spring to see the damage. Total loss.

One month later a new pool was up. 24 foot circular diameter and 52" high.

Bottom line - it was worth it.
 
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CL82 said:
I’ve always seen the utility of an inground pool being that it makes it more likely that your home the destination house when you have kids at home. In the end we found that keeping a tube of premade toll house cookie dough in the refrigerator worked pretty well and it was a lot less hassle.
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My neighbors across the street mentioned that as a reason when they put theirs in. It's spectacular, including a 25' water slide. Nice pool house with a TV, refrigerator, bar, sink etc. It was "open" all summer, we could just stop by any time. It was certainly a destination house.

Then they moved. :( Now I have a view of it (well the fence and a bit of the slide) from my home office location.
 
HuskyHawk said:
My neighbors across the street mentioned that as a reason when they put theirs in. It's spectacular, including a 25' water slide. Nice pool house with a TV, refrigerator, bar, sink etc. It was "open" all summer, we could just stop by any time. It was certainly a destination house.

Then they moved. :( Now I have a view of it (well the fence and a bit of the slide) from my home office location.
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Sorry for your loss. Hope this takes the sting out of it.

1623075970865.png
 
HuskyHawk said:
My neighbors across the street mentioned that as a reason when they put theirs in. It's spectacular, including a 25' water slide. Nice pool house with a TV, refrigerator, bar, sink etc. It was "open" all summer, we could just stop by any time. It was certainly a destination house.

Then they moved. :( Now I have a view of it (well the fence and a bit of the slide) from my home office location.
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One of my buddies who does very well did the same thing. Bought a near 7-figure house in upstate NY and then spent $150k putting in a ridiculous in-ground saltwater pool with a huge patio, pool house, poolside bar, etc. They live five hours away from the rest of our friend circle and pretty much did it all of this to lure people to visit them in the summer. It is a nice long weekend every summer though, and we probably wouldn't go if they didn't have the pool lol, so it was a smart move on his part.
 
CL82 said:
Sorry for your loss. Hope this takes the sting out of it.

View attachment 67877
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Has to be in tube form. Come on man.

I looked at the temperature map today and forget the pool, I just need to move to the Cape ASAP.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Has to be in tube form. Come on man.

I looked at the temperature map today and forget the pool, I just need to move to the Cape ASAP.
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You seemed a bit down. I didn't feel like a tube was going to get it done. ;)
 
Lefty2one said:
One of my buddies who does very well did the same thing. Bought a near 7-figure house in upstate NY and then spent $150k putting in a ridiculous in-ground saltwater pool with a huge patio, pool house, poolside bar, etc. They live five hours away from the rest of our friend circle and pretty much did it all of this to lure people to visit them in the summer. It is a nice long weekend every summer though, and we probably wouldn't go if they didn't have the pool lol, so it was a smart move on his part.
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Sounds similar. Last time it sold I should have just moved across the street.

59a6a9c3b4b185b1ddd00bcbec5ef033-uncropped_scaled_within_1536_1152.jpg
 
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HuskyHawk said:
I thought about that but our slope is from the woods down to the house (not sure it shows in the picture). So the lower exposed pool side would face our deck and patio. There is no getting around the ugly. If it was the other way, sloping away from the house I’d probably have done it already.
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Sell the house.
 
Pick up truck and a tarp. Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be
 
Fishy said:
If you want a pool, get a pool.

But, by god, don’t ask this group of chuckleheads for their opinion.
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You should let temery know that. He asks us chuckleheads for our opinions on everything from toilet paper to cars. :)
 
My neighbors directly behind my house just put in a nice inground pool and been having all kinds of parties. I should probably start talking to them aside from the courtesy waves and how’s it goings. Maybe we can take the fence down and make mega-yard.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Many years ago, I considered having a nice below ground pool put in. But I live on ledge and discussions with a neighbor who had it done suggested that the cost could spiral out of control. So we redid the kitchen.

This current heatwave has me considering an above ground pool. We have a neighbor with one, and have enjoyed floating in it while listening to music and drinking beers. As I look at these I’m torn between (a) nah, these are hideous and destroy your yard (b) maybe the inflatable kind, I can put in the shed during fall to spring but the Max walls are 48” and (c) putting up a framed one, which will be there all year.

Does anybody have experience with these that can either confirm my three views or provide more detail? I like to be outside as much as possible in the summer. I don’t like these temps over 90 with high humidity. As far as eyesores go, just this spring we removed our old swing set and trampoline, both donated to those who can use them. So the yard has room and is fenced so we comply with town code.

View attachment 67868
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The fence is one thing but the gate/doors have to open outward from yard and have locks. Also, an alarm may need to be installed at a doorway from the house, I think.
 
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My wife and I are going to look into pool costs for us in southern NH. I know the season is short and it will cost, but there are some things that can be done to extend the swimming season a little. And even if not using the pool to swim, it still would add to property attractiveness, especially with a nice deck around it. We have sloping backyard where pool would go, and I think a semi-buried above ground pool makes most sense.
 
I've always been intrigued by modpools where you have a sloped yard. They are recycled storage containers. Can be above ground, below ground, or in between. You can do glass sides which could be cool... or gross. You can do more than one container.

As I mentioned above, we took the cheaper, easier path with the hot tub, but I'm looking forward to it arriving.

1623094906807.png
 
For simple inground, do a fiberglass pool. In the future if you do not want it anymore, you can have it removed and possibly resell it. Very easy to keep clean, no liner or cracking.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Sounds similar. Last time it sold I should have just moved across the street.

View attachment 67880
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You definitely should have gotten this place. The BY summer party potential is epic. Just make sure no one brings a golf cart.
 
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uconnfan68 said:
No ladders? Isn’t that code?
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It has steps, and used to have a ladder. May have been out for the picture. The landscaping around the water slide is overgrown in this picture too. New owners have fixed that.
 
JCSuperstar said:
Coincidentally enough, this article with comparison pictures of Pocono and Catskill resorts in their prime vs. now appeared in my feed today.
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Sad and tragic to see the decay.

My parents first met at Grossinger's in 1947 at a singles dance. Yes, they had those then. Today, it's a lot of online meeting, I guess.

In an eerie way, people travel to see these places firsthand , almost like viewing a bomb crater that is all that is left from what was once magnificent and teeming with people.
 
BlueandOG said:
I have a pool. The kids enjoy it for about 60 days a year. The other days it sucks. Frankly, it sucks on those 60 days too, but at least someone enjoys it.
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Then you are doing it wrong.

My pool is used from late May to mid September and daily maintenance takes roughly 3 minutes. 10 when I need to vacuum.

The main issues with getting a pool this year are cost of materials and Pool builder schedule. Also the fire at Bio-Labs has caused the price of stabilized chlorine (tablets, pucks, granular) to increase by a factor of 4, and liquid by at least 50%.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Many years ago, I considered having a nice below ground pool put in. But I live on ledge and discussions with a neighbor who had it done suggested that the cost could spiral out of control. So we redid the kitchen.

This current heatwave has me considering an above ground pool. We have a neighbor with one, and have enjoyed floating in it while listening to music and drinking beers. As I look at these I’m torn between (a) nah, these are hideous and destroy your yard (b) maybe the inflatable kind, I can put in the shed during fall to spring but the Max walls are 48” and (c) putting up a framed one, which will be there all year.

Does anybody have experience with these that can either confirm my three views or provide more detail? I like to be outside as much as possible in the summer. I don’t like these temps over 90 with high humidity. As far as eyesores go, just this spring we removed our old swing set and trampoline, both donated to those who can use them. So the yard has room and is fenced so we comply with town code.

View attachment 67868
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It can get crazy expensive to install an in ground pool that why we let the former owners of our houses put them in.
 
Husky25 said:
Then you are doing it wrong.

My pool is used from late May to mid September and daily maintenance takes roughly 3 minutes. 10 when I need to vacuum.

The main issues with getting a pool this year are cost of materials and Pool builder schedule. Also the fire at Bio-Labs has caused the price of stabilized chlorine (tablets, pucks, granular) to increase by a factor of 4, and liquid by at least 50%.
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Hard to understand why there is only 1 manufacturer in the country. I get the chemicals are nasty, but there is certainly business available for enterprising folks.
 
Years ago, my mother bought a house from a pool company owner.

Though, I would point out that she was not young when she bought it and she had to climb down the stairs that come with pools. And, this was not easy for her. My sister who lived nearby had to assist her in, and assist her out.

For anyone building one and wanting older family members to use the pool, I would recommend at least one easy access ramp on the shallow end. Also, if there is a deep end (meaning the pool is not uniformly 5 feet end to end), I would recommend it not dominate the pool area unless you or your kids like to dive.

Not everybody is a great swimmer, and for an older family member that strays into the deep end, it could be a danger if they panic or have a medical emergency.

I am not about to install one, but if I were, I would have a small deep end for treading water and similar aqua exercises, and the remainder for water walking and swimming.

To each their own. I would be concerned about kids with minimal swimming skills and older ones, in having one installed.

But, others may not see these as considerations.
 
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