Wol

We had every intention of building a pool when we arrived - but then we were thinking of living on the coast.

Is there anyone in the "uplands" who has a pool? I would like to know whether it's a viable proposition in view of the cold winters etc. I guess a salt water one would be better from the freezing point of view?

annqldau

We are in the house buying stage but keep being torn between to buy one with pool or without.

As far as the water temp when we stayed at Chillagoe that is hot during day but very cold on a night the man there had rigged up cunning little pool heater by running a system of pipes over a barrel that was heated by fire so he could heat cheap when he needed to, so think answer is yes you could still have pool but may need heater as his cunning invention showed.

Wol

Oh, no question about having to heat! But here it regularly freezes during winter; we wouldn't want to use it then but wouldn't want to spend a lot of time protecting everything from the ice.

annqldau

Ah if you get ice different story I supose.
But they have pools in South of France where we nearlly moved and that gets heavy snow and ice in Winter worse than UK.

Centurion

We're pool building, but of course in more sunny Brisbane. However, all year pool use even here is out. So...Solar heating and a pool blanket is the answer. Solar heating in say a 8 x 3 pool can be around $3000 but frankly I dont mind paying that if I can swim much of the year round, rather than looking from afar at the nice pool growing stagnant.

wanderingwombat

When I lived in Queanbeyan our pool would freeze over a few times (-8ºC)each year but I cant remember it lasting past lunchtime. It would be nice for summer but buyers may not see it as an asset.

WW

Wol

What precautions did you have to take to keep it from damage?

phoenixinoz

Something else worth remembering Rog....

We are looking at a pool and Energex have recommended when we get it built we should have it connected to tariff 33 as opposed to 11.

Tariff 33 = 9 cents per hour for pool pump Vs Tariff 11 which is 16 cents per hr.

Apparently it's best to organise this at installation.

Rabc

We signed the contract for a 8m pool today ($24K with landscaping) It's an absolute necessity up here! Just a 6 week wait now!

Superstar

We have a pool in our rented house here in Brisbane and had every intention of building one once we got a place of our own. When we first moved in to the house we used the pool 2-3 times a day, the kids lived in there and life was sweet, after a few weeks we noticed that we only seemed to use it at weekends but thought it was worth it just for that but as time has gone on the kids now jump in once or twice a month and I have not been in there for weeks.
Pools are also VERY expensive to run and service (The chlorine variety) I have spent nearly $600 since Xmas on the essentials to keep the pool usable and not turning green. I am told that saltwater pools are easier on the hip pocket.

We have decided that we will not be building a pool in our new house when we can simply drive a quick spin in any direction and use a public pool for a few bucks, no costs and no cleaning/servicing.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

phoenixinoz

Bloody hell Rabc..that's a good price, especially with landscaping

Do you mind me asking......is it 8m x 4 and is it concrete or fibreglass?

We were quoted for an 8m x 4m concrete with grade 1 pebbled concrete $30.000 and that was WITHOUT landscaping!

That was for plain blk/white pebbles [light blue basic look].....one bench.....one light and creepy krawley.

Getting another quote tomos. Last one was having a laugh

phoenixinoz

It's funny but we said the same thing. We rented at first and had a house with a pool so we could assess if we'd use it. I found in 6 months I only went in 5 times and hubby slightly more. Son and my parents used it most. But all in all we hardly seemed to use it so we decided we weren't bothered when we bought our house without pool.

Having been here a year though, we miss not having it to dip into when its hot. And this year seems hotter than last. Also, when it's hot at night its nice to get in the pool with a cool drink.....so we've decided maybe we do want one after all

I agree though, in years to come a pool may be seen as a liability, especially if water becomes sparse.

karenjc

Our house will be about 15 minutes from the beach but we are definitely having a pool as its a great way to relax after work.

Wol

We had a pool in Florida, where everyone heats their pools with heat pumps. I haven't seen much talk about them here: it costs about a third in electricity to direct heating and even less if you drill a short bore and use the heat pump connected to underground water for the heat source.

Scotty123

A permanent pool in brisbane is that a good idea or not? I always thought there would be no reason why not but im starting to ponder someone please tell me