Mandana

We're considering putting in a swimming pool, but it's a huge expense, and something we've got no experience of whatsoever.

Has anyone put a pool in?

What would be your top tips if you have, and what would you have chosen or changed if you could? Did you go for chlorine or salt water? What about the decking area? Filtration? Solar heating?

Any advice would be really welcome for us complete novices.

Thanks so much

fatbrit

If you want a house with a pool, buy a house that already has a pool. You'll never recoup the outlay if you add the pool.

Mandana

Excellent tip Fatbrit. Only problem is we've bought the house!

We are aware that we'll only recoup 15% or thereabouts of the outlay, but hopefully we'll be here enough years to make great use of it.

Jerseygirl

Our pool came with the house so I can't be of much help. Ray seems to be the BE pool expert but he's not around at the moment. Search for old threads...I think I remember him recommending salt over chlorine and heat pump heaters over gas.

Mandana

Thanks JG

I did search before posting, but couldn't find a specific thread about pool building.

I'll look again, and look out for Ray's posts.

Thanks.

ChocolateBabz

Check out the city-data.com forum for Houston - there are a lot of threads on there about pools in Houston. The most frequently mentioned downsides are the additional costs - electric, insurance, maintenance.

ironporer

I have also read that they may hurt when selling; as more people do not want the burden of a pool than are attracted to a house with a pool. Might want to think about an above ground pool- they are much less cost, and easily removable if needed.

Jerseygirl

The threads aren't about pool building...but there's advice on types of heaters, filters etc.

Mummy in the foothills

We used to have a house with a pool. Never again, it's cheaper for us to buy a clubhouse membership and use theirs, Chemicals alone cost us more than the membership and I don't have to clean the bloody thing. The kids play longer when there are other kids around, in our own pool, they lasted 5 minutes then were bored

fatbrit

So sell it and buy one with a pool. Even with the selling and buying fees and a couple of percent for redoing the loan, you'll still be quids in.

Sally Redux

My neighbour had a pool put in and had enormous problems with the builder - the 'profession' appears to be on a par with tarmacers and extreme care should be exercised.

Mandana

Moving isn't an option, nor is an above ground pool due to the location of our property (HOA would slaughter us!)

Thanks for the links and search advice. I'll check those out.

Jerseygirl

Ours is an old Sylvan pool...it belonged to the farmhouse where our house now stands. We've had it refurbished and haven't had any problems with it...we've been using it for 12 years.

mikehope

We have a heat pump heater on ours and I would not have any other type, no pollution or fossil fuels to burn!
Can get the water really hot!

Dan725

The top thing I'd say is that whatever you do, make sure sure get a substantial deck area. We recently had our pool deck pavered and extended (which we should have done in the first place) - it makes your outside area that much more usable - and lets face it, more time is spent outside by the pool, bbqing etc, rather than in it.

A lot of people fall into the trap of just concentrating on the pool, and then forgetting about or skimping on the deck area.

For heating - I'd suggest a heat pump - very efficient, yet a lot more umph than solar power. Where you are, the climate is good for one - no need to splash out on expensive to run gas heaters. If you have small kids who love to swim a lot, the heat pump is worth its weight in gold - its like AC for the pool, just set the temp and that's where it will stay. Combine with a pool cover and its really not pricey to run at all, even in the colder months, and will extend your swimming season hugely.