Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

I'd love to hear from anyone who has an inground pool - if you put it in yourself (as opposed to buying the house with one) was it worth it? Even if you bought the house with it - do you feel you use it as often as you should to make it worth it?

What is the maintenance like? Is it a huge PITA or just an expense?

Last question - do you recommend a pool company?

TIA!

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

We are just in the process of having ours finished (this weather is completely holding up the finishing of the patio!!!) so I can give you a good answer in a few weeks!

So far, I can tell you that it wouldn't have been such a hassle if this weather was better...it really has held up a few things for a bit, which is really frustrating...The actual pool installation went pretty smoothly though - just be prepared for your yard to be a complete disaster for a while!

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

we put an inground pool in after we bought

We have a custom shape, so that means custom liner, and custom loop loc pool cover, there are many shapes to choose from.

Dh always wanted a pool, his parents always wanted one as well. So they come to use it alot during the summer.

We have an electric heater, its very large and heats the pool very quickly.
There is an option to use a gas heater, i think this was more expensive than electric.
our pool stays at about 86-89 degrees which is very warm.

we have a salt generator so we don't use chlorine, i guess that is a savings.
the equipment is expensive, it was not included in the pool installation price.

This is our 2nd summer having a pool, its nice, and its relaxing. We have deck jets and lamineer waterfalls with mosaic details.
and the pool has lights in it that change colors.

We have a vinyl liner which i am very happy about, the other option is gunite, which is more expensive and its very rough, i love how smooth the vinyl liner is on my skin.

We used the company called Biltrite
any other questions let me know

I know i have read that pools do not add any value to a house, if anything most people don't want them, and it can be a detterent to most buyers.
its something an owner puts in for their own pleasure.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

We bought our house with a pool. We definitely don't use it as much as we could but now with DD getting bigger I have a feeling this summer will be a big one. It is GREAT for entertaining, especially since none of our friends have a pool.

We do the maintenance ourselves with almost no issue. We were using a pool company (just for chemicals) but they were not so reliable so we ended up having to take care of it ourselves and it was MUCH easier than I thought. We still use a company to open/close though.

As far as cleaning goes, I HIGHLY recommend getting an Aquabot. They are on the expensive side but SOOOOO worth it. All you do is drop it in and it cleans the pool. We just got ours, but my parents had one that just died after 15 years of use. If you use the Aquabot, you can have a pool company come and just do chemicals for you - much cheaper than having them vaccuum too.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

ask me again in July. Right now I am ready to fill the damn thing in. I am sure we will be happy we have it when its hot out. I just can't seem to get the water clear. Make sure you have a good cover. Getting leaves off the bottom of a black water pool stinks
oh and the pool was here when we bought the house last year

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

We want one but won't put it in until our kids our older for safety reasons.

For now, my development has a pool and club house so we'll use that this summer.

Message edited 6/11/2009 1:13:59 PM.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

My parents had one for 25 years. My dad often complained that it was a PITA to keep up and expensive to maintain, but my brother and I were in that pool every day during the summers. I have so many fond memories of that pool, that I was sad when my parents filled it with sand last week.

I know it raises your taxes and your homeowners insurance.

Good luck!

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

We are in the process of putting one in right now (actually, the pool is up and running, patio comes next week ). We had one growing up and LOVED it. I was responsible for vacuuming it every week so I know how to do all that. The chemicals are easy, you just need to get the strips that tell you what you need. I also used to help open and close it so I'm assuming we will do 100% of the pool maintenance ourselves. I'm so excited to have it in this summer. Last year I was at my parents pool half the summer, it's so much easier to go out to the backyeard then to go to the beach, especially with a baby! Can't tell you about the costs for running it yet though, I'll let you know after the summer

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

Our inground came with the house... The first year was a guessing game on how to keep it clean and the chemicals in check. Each summer is got easier.
Each year we used it more and more - I knew once the kids were older, it will be used even more.

It can be a PITA but worth it. We are moving and our new house does not have a pool. Our inground will be missed. We like to think in a few years at our new house we would put in small kidney shape or something like that.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

We put one in last year. I always wanted one growing up, so I was set on getting one.

I was afraid of the maintenance, but honestly it's nothing. I go out there 3X a week and throw a scoop of chemicals in it.
I let the automatic pool cleaner run 1X a week. I never manually vacuum.
Definately get the automatic pool cleaner!! expensive but takes the work out of it.

It's the easiest maintenance of my house!

I DO NOT recommend Premiere Pools and Spas in Port jefferson. Nothing but a headache.

The expensive parts (cons):
- my LIPA bill is expensive during the summer months
- cost to open/close the pool

Pros :
floating around in my pool/ going for a swim on a weeknight or weekend.


Definately do your homework and compare different pool companies. figure out what each one is giving you.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

pool was installed by a previous owner. not a PITA to maintain but it is an added expense. chemicals can be pricey (about a couple hundred for the season). i spend about an hr or so a week testing the water, adding chemicals and cleaning. i use an automatic pool cleaner (dolphin) for the dirt and debris.

i don't think a pool really adds to the resale value but almost everyone in my neighborhood has a pool so it is somewhat a common "feature".

great for the kids, summer bbqs and evening GTGs.

Message edited 6/12/2009 10:01:15 AM.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

Bought a house with one. Not necessarily hard to maintain (DH does this) but it is a bit expensive. (To date we spent $450 for solar cover, opening and chemicals) This year we bought a solar pool liner in hopes the water wont be so cold. I have yet to go in, but my husband has as well as family members. This year I hope to get more use out of it, especially since our DS is with us this summer.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

I grew-up with a pool... my parents put it in when I was about 9?

It's a standard rectangular/vinyl liner. I am a bit confused by everyone posting that they're installing a patio around the pool right after they install the pool. The ground will settle a lot in the first year, so my parents were strongly advised to wait a year before installing a patio.

Cleaning the pool is a PIA. Especially if there's a tree within 75 feet. prepetual leaves and buggies. I agree with the OP, you need a very good cover to prevent leaves from falling in the water over the winter... that creates swamp water that takes forever to clear-up every spring.

when I was a kid, I LOVED the pool. When I became a teen, the love affair ended. For the last 15 years, mom opens and maintains the pool, and it sees at best 4 swimmers per year. Hopefully, when DS gets older, he'll use the pool more often.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

From reading all the responses, it defin seems what we have is the best, in terms of chemicals, there are none.
The pool company came in april and opened the pool, it was dirty at first, but we have one of those robots that clean the bottom and it didnt take long til the water was sparkling. The robot runs once a week and works very very well. We really don't have any maintence to do.

Defin look into the salt generator, there are absolutely no chemicals to buy or maintain
You can open your eyes under water without them burning, and when you get out you don't have the smell of chlorine on you.
Its pretty much equivilent to swimming in lake water, it feels very nice.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

How often do you test the pool for chemicals?

I had one growing up. I can't wait to have one again.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

Message edited 6/12/2009 10:40:49 PM.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

Message edited 6/12/2009 10:44:56 PM.

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?

ah so a form chlorine is used but not in "traditional" tab form that i use my chlorinator. thanks for the clarification.


right, it is still a form of chlorine but not as harsh on your skin, eyes, hair, ect. The water is softer and you only have a slight taste of salt on your skin after you swim

you save tons of money on chemicals each summer with Salt (salt is like $6 a bag and we needed about 6 bags to start it off - compared to 2 tubs of chlorine at $100 each)

you replace your chlorinator with the salt generator

Re: Inground Pools - do you have one? Pros/Cons? Maintenance?