Would you rather have a pool in your backyard or a neighborhood pool?

[lamolina]

We have never had either, but are talking about moving to a state that is much warmer than the state we previously lived in. We wondered about having a pool in our yard. Do you like yours? Use it a lot? Wish you didn't have it?

 

Or do you prefer to live in a neighborhood that has a pool for everyone to use?

 

Pros/Cons of both please!

[Mama Geek]

We were members of a club that had a pool and it was only a mile away. It was before we had kids. They weren't always available when we were considering that we were both working full time. Sometimes it was just closed and sometimes they had swim practice or swim meets and had it closed. The 2 big advantages are not having to take care of the pool and it being an opportunity to be social.

 

We have our own pool now and we swim in it for as long as it is warm enough. We are talking about solar panels to try and get a few more months out of it. It is really nice to walk out our back door and go for a swim. The day to day care really isn't too bad and we have it screened which really helps, but we just had a leak in a pipe that cost us a lot of time in dealing with a leak detection company and then ending up finding the leak ourselves and fixing it.

[BakersDozen]

We've had both in-ground and above-ground pools in our yard and absolutely love it. I detest public pools and love the convenience of being able to swim whenever we want to.

[Lilaclady]

I prefer a community pool. Having to take care of a pool and watching to make sure no one uses it inappropriately is not what I want to deal with. Also with young kids I am always just extra cautious with pool, they might have friends who wants to use the pool hat can't swim. I just prefer the community pool.

[AdventureMoms]

Personally I would prefer a neighborhood pool. Reasons:

1) with three little kids I'd prefer to not have a large attractive drown hazard in my yard. A little farther out would be good.

 

2) someone else does the work of maintaining, opening, closing, cleaning, etc a neighborhood pool, and that cost is shared (compared to hiring a pool company).

 

3) we aren't serious swimmers and would rather play in the water with friends.

 

4) neighborhood pools are likely to be bigger and/or cheaper than single family pools.

 

For us pool privacy or having immediate access to a pool aren't priorities. So a little farther out and sharing the pool seems like a great trade for cheaper, less work, and less stress.

[Desert Strawberry]

Community pool. No maintenance and less drowning risk for little ones.

[Paige]

It would depend on how warm you're talking. If we lived somewhere like FL where a heated pool could be used almost all year, I'd want my own pool. If we couldn't use the pool year round, I'd prefer a neighborhood pool. We have never been further south than GA, but for us a pool- in ground or above- has always been on our list of things that if a house has one, we won't even look at it when we are looking for homes. I don't want the upkeep or stress if I can't use it every day.

[Julie Smith]

Community pool.

[bobbeym]

I would love to have our own pool. Even and above-ground pool would work but we don't have a fenced yard. :(

 

Our city pools are only open Tue-Sun 12p-6p and they are so incredibly crowded by late afternoon that it's not worth going, not that I even get home in time. We usually end up going to the beach instead, but even that has it's issues.

[annandatje]

We prefer convenience and privacy of a backyard pool. My partner did virtually all of the pool and jacuzzi maintenance. I may hold a different opinion if I had to do the maintenance.

[Arcadia]

Hubby and I prefer to stay in condos because of the shared facilities. So we prefer condo pool to having a backyard pool. For me the reason is

- we only swim in summer as I need the pool to be heated. So maintaining my own pool for three months usage seems to be too much work. Heating my own pool year round seems costly.

- I prefer an olympic size (50m by 25m) pool to swim in. I like to swim laps (50m). I don't know anyone with a olympic size backyard pool.

- I like relaxing at the condo jacuzzi for 10-15mins when we go to the pool.

 

Besides friends with backyard pools often get request from other friends to use their pools in the evenings after work.

[Murphy101]

I just installed an above ground pool in our yard and love it. Use it every single day and I know it's clean and my pool rules rule. :)

[Seasider]

My own house (said after having had all the options mentioned above).

 

If you make sure you have a pool sweep that can more than do the job, and you get in a good habit with your chemicals so that you are not always playing catch up, it's really not that hard.

 

We always took extra measures to make sure that the pool was secure when the kids were little. They all learned to swim really fast.

 

I loved the convenience of not having to pack up and carry lunch, snacks, sunscreen, towels, pool toys, etc. I loved that the best shady table was always available. I loved that no big kids overran my smaller ones. I loved that there were no teens hanging all over one another on the pool deck. I especially loved that if I had forgotten to shave my legs, it was no problem.

 

That said, it depends on how much of the year it is warm enough to swim. To me, a less than 5-6 month swimming season might make a pool not the best use of yard space. You might also want to check the difference in your homeowner's insurance cost for with/without a pool on your property. It will make a difference, just make sure it's a difference you're willing to pay. Also, find out if the neighborhood pool will have a lifeguard on duty. It might not matter to you either way, but is something to consider.

[Kalypso]

Backyard. We had one for 7 years and right now we are living in a house that doesn't have one. Though it was work, it was worth it.

[Joker]

We have a neighborhood pool just for those who live in our subdivision and we love it. You have to use a magnetic key to get in and then sign in near a volunteer guard. Children under 14 aren't allowed in without an adult. It's obviously within walking distance and we've never had any issues. I would never put a pool in here since we have that access. I wouldn't want to worry about the liability.

[ChristusG]

Up until this summer, my answer would have been a community pool.

 

We've had our own pool for 8 years now. When the kids were younger it didn't get used much because I had to go in with them every single time. But now that they are 9 and 6 and swim like fish....it gets used for HOURS every single day. I can see the pool from inside so I go about my business of laundry, cooking, scrap booking, making lesson plans, all while bring able to watch the kids most of the time. It is awesome!!

 

I couldn't do this with a community pool. I always said that if we moved, I'd get a house without a pool. Now I want one with another pool! The kids are getting outside time, exercise, and having fun for hours. And no worrying about all the illnesses you can catch from an icky public pool.

 

And we have a pool guy so we do nothing to the pool at all. My 9 year old may skim a few bugs out but that's it.

[KungFuPanda]

I vote community pools. Our closest pool is an eight minute walk. However, our membership gets us into any neighborhood pool we want to use that day (all 25+ of them). Some have beach entries. Some have slides. There are splash pads, baby pools, spas, water features, sometimes movies. . . I don't have to do ANY work. I meet friends at the pool ALL summer so I get to visit without having people in my house. If I get tired of it, I can leave and the other family can stay. My membership costs less than my mom spends on pool chemicals and I never have to clean a pool. My closest pool is heated, so it opens sooner and closes later than most of the others in town.

We are NOT fans of manual labor, so we love our community pool. LOVE it.

[Firefly]

Definitely backyard. We've always had in ground pools and don't find the drawbacks outweigh the benefits at all.

[Halftime Hope]

We have a neighborhood pool just for those who live in our subdivision and we love it. You have to use a magnetic key to get in and then sign in near a volunteer guard. Children under 14 aren't allowed in without an adult. It's obviously within walking distance and we've never had any issues. I would never put a pool in here since we have that access. I wouldn't want to worry about the liability.

 

This could be my post. : )

 

When we were looking at houses, we took my three teens (17 to 12 at the time) to look at a beautiful house with a paradise-pool backyard. It was the first house with a pool we had looked at. They looked at it, and unanimously agreed that they didn't want to do the upkeep.

 

Surprised the beejeebers outta me!

 

Turned out they had heard their friends talking about pool upkeep. !!!

 

We settled on a neighborhood with many things to recommend it, including a neighborhood pool.

 

The pool usually opens around the first of May--more or less--and we can use it without any company except for an occasional family with preschoolers for several weeks until school lets out. After that we know there will be mayhem for a couple of weeks after school lets out until kids have gotten tired of the pool, and until the trespassers get the message, again, that they will get carded and expelled.

 

We rarely go at night, b/c that's when ds works, but we understand that that's when the unsavory or rowdy behavior generally occurs. Occasionally those by the pool end up calling the police to roust people out of the pool.

 

We live on a quiet street three blocks away, which is just about perfect. : )

[Alte Veste Academy]

We moved last year and have a backyard pool for the first time ever. I would not have had one when my kids were non-swimmers (being a 'fraidy cat and all :tongue_smilie:), but now it is positively heavenly. I love that pool, and it gets hours of use each day. Maintenance is seriously a breeze. I don't get the big deal. My kids are on swim team so they still get lots of lap time in a big pool, but nothing compares to sipping iced tea and doing my school planning or just reading poolside while the kids are happily occupied. Well, maybe when I proclaim "adult swim" and get in myself to float and read... :D

 

I will miss it when we move again next year, and we will definitely want a pool when we buy our "forever home."

[Seasider]

And oh yeah, talk about a major carrot. We got penmanship and math done all through the summer because the kids knew they couldn't jump in til that was done. Chores, too. I'm evil like that.

[Joker]

 

The pool usually opens around the first of May--more or less--and we can use it without any company except for an occasional family with preschoolers for several weeks until school lets out. After that we know there will be mayhem for a couple of weeks after school lets out until kids have gotten tired of the pool, and until the trespassers get the message, again, that they will get carded and expelled.

 

We rarely go at night, b/c that's when ds works, but we understand that that's when the unsavory or rowdy behavior generally occurs. Occasionally those by the pool end up calling the police to roust people out of the pool.

 

 

We did have trouble in the beginning with teens, which is why there is now a guard. Our pool is open year round and closes at sunset, so people don't really get the chance to get rowdy.

[Scarlett]

I just installed an above ground pool in our yard and love it. Use it every single day and I know it's clean and my pool rules rule. :)

 

I have a pool for the first time in my life.....this is the first full summer. Dh and the boys maintain it but it isn't that hard.....I love love love it. I love the privacy, knowing it is clean, etc.

[Samiam]

Backyard pool. We've had a community pool for the last 10 years....different communities, different states (we are in the South and most new developments have community pools).

 

Community pools are not that enjoyable. It's the human factor. The parties when you just wanted a quiet afternoon poolside. The neighborhoods kids that parents don't parent, yes that same old issue. Parents are there, they just don't pay attention to their kids. The teenagers gathering , and usually they are without parents, and obnoxious. The not enough chairs for your family because they all have towels on them...not people, just towels. People not respecting the community property. The pool hours....sometimes you just want to swim when its' good for you. I could go on and on. The work that comes along with a backyard pool would be worth it.

 

btw, when I say community pool, I meant as in a pool for only the homes in a certain neighborhood. Not as in a pool owned by the local city government, is the big community. Those are even more disgusting, IMHO.

[Amy in NH]

Neighborhood pool. Someone else takes care of it, particularly when I'm away from home. I'm not directly liable. It's not taking up space in my yard. I can walk/drive down and use it at my convenience. It is a good place to meet neighbors and make new friends in my community.

 

This should have been a poll.

[SKL]

I'm afraid of having a pool because of the attractive nuisance factor. We have an indoor community pool about a mile away from home. It's not the most convenient but it suits us. Because you have to be a member of the rec center or pay $5/person to swim, the pool is never really crowded and the kids have a good time. About an hour is our limit before we're tired of the pool and need a change of scene anyway.

[poppy]

Neighborhood pool, zero question. My neighborhood pool has zero depth entry, a wave pool, a splashpad, a playground, organized games every other hour, slides. Its salt water so doesn't kill my skin. It's HUGE, the lifeguards are always on duty so I can just play with my kids and have a spare set of eyes. Added bonus: I don't have to worry about having a drowning hazard on my property.

[Kari C in SC]

We had a pool in or Florida home. I really didn't like the upkeep and that was with somebody doing the chemicals. Plus it was small. We moved here and my brother in law has a very nice pool right next door. Me and the kids can use it whenever we want. But we can't really invite our friends because that is sort of tacky. So... Dh and I bought one of our rental homes in a neighborhood with a pool. This is our first summer there. My best friend and I are loving it! We take the kids 2 to 3 times a week and just really enjoy the time there. It was a great compromise to paying for a pool. We wanted another investment property and this just had a bonus.

[MollyAnn]

We bought our current house because of the backyard pool. We have a pool guy to take care of our chemicals and weekly cleaning and we do a little maintenance throughout the week.

I love having the pool. I love being able to just walk out the back door and jump in. I love the family time it creates. I love being able to get in and relax when stressed or when we have been working hard. Today we did a lot of yard work and started painting the living room and it was just so nice to be able to jump right in when we were done.

 

[lovinmomma]

Community pool. I would be scared in our area that one of the neighbors children would drown in my pool and I'd somehow be responsible. Then there's the maintenance. Community pool. However, I do really want a hot tub!

[Unicorn.]

I want my own pool, in my own backyard.

[PachiSusan]

I have always been self conscious and did not like using public pools. I love having one in my own back yard and I grew up with one.

[Mrs Mungo]

The house we are renting has an in-ground salt water pool. A pool guy comes once a week (included in the rent) to clean it and do the chemicals (he mostly adds salt). We are really enjoying it, but my kids are older and are good swimmers. The older kids also sweep and skim it daily, so it is practically zero work for me. We have a solid fence with locked gates, plus it has an additional safety fence. Of course, being able to use it year round is a pretty big bonus.

 

We swam in it tonight after moving furniture and unpacking all day.

[Mama Geek]

Just a couple of things, the regular every day care for a pool isn't that hard. We check chemicals once a week and vacuum the pool about once a week. We have a good filter and a good pump and that makes it pretty easy.

 

Also my dd was swimming by the time she turned 2 last summer. She is not allowed in the screen room without one of us there, but is allowed in the pool with our permission without us having to be in the water with her. We do watch her and don't do other things while she is in the pool though. We also have a lake in our back yard, so we thought it very important that she learn how to swim early.

[Supertechmom]

Pool chemicals are a breeze. I bought a top notch pool test kit and use the pool school BBB method. (Bleach, borax, baking soda). We did upgrade the pump to a nice pump and it has been a breeze to operate. I probably spend 5 mins a day if I choose so on the pool. Given that the kids are in it 3-4 hrs a day from late April to early Oct and we often get in after 8:00pm, I consider that time well spent. We plan to upgrade the pool ( it is above ground intex pool) in another year to the biggest pool we can find. We can't do an in ground because of where it has to go on our property or we would suck it up and put one in.

[bettyandbob]

community pool

 

backyard pool is a major liability. The insurance is a huge expense and fences of all types are not enough to keep some determined people out.

 

 

as a kid I would have said community pool too. I have lived only in places I could easily walk to a pool. I walked to the pool on my own from an early age and all my friends were there. I went to swim team or lessons in the morning, walked home, got and early lunch, back to the pool for opening at 12, stayed until 6:30, walked home, at 7:30 dad would go back with us until 9 pm. When we moved, we still had a pool walking distance, I still did swim team. I still went to hang out several hours a day. I actually remember someone talking about a backyard pool when I was a kid and I thought it sounded terrible because my whole social life, everyone I played with was at the neighborhood pool. I knew people with backyard pools and when I visited I thought their pools were boring.

 

My other reason is I don't like maintenance. If I lived in a place where every other house had a pool and pool companies were cheap I guess that wouldn't be a factor.

[Hoot]

I would rather have an in-ground pool in my backyard ANY day than a neighborhood pool. But, I don't particularly want to be the one taking care of it either. :tongue_smilie:

[GSOchristie]

Community pool! I don't like that we have certain hours, but I do like that there are several lifeguards at all times. We have friends whose neighborhoods have no limitations on hours, but no lifeguard on duty. I definitely would not like having a pool in my backyard. We just returned from the beach where we had a private pool. I had to keep my two little ones in my sight at all times to be sure they hadn't wandered down to the pool. Too nerve wracking!

 

ETA: our neighborhood pool is also only 4 walking minutes from my house, on a paved trail, so when my kids get older, they will be able to walk there themselves.

[PrincessMommy]

We had an inground pool for 19years and now live in a subdivision with a community pool. I would never move back into a house with an inground pool. I was the chief maintenance person for the pool... hated every min. Anytime something broke it was $1000 or more to fix. I would consider an above ground pool though. There seems to be much less maintenance. Also, if you're having a busy year or the pool has just taken it on the chin and you cannot get rid of the green (hot summers) then you can close it up and call it done for the season. Can't really do that with inground pools... so more $$$ is poured in to get it clear. Also, I found that as the season went on my kids used it less and less. There would be a flurry of swim time early in the season, but come Aug. the kids were bored with it and on to other things to do.

 

While I don't love a community pool it does have some nice benefits. Of course, not having to do the work involved is very nice. If you find a neighborhood with a good comm. pool then it can be a lot of fun (slides, diving wells, etc.). Also, being on a summer swim team can be very nice for the kids. You can check out the community website and see how big/small the community swim team is.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

Community pool. I don't have to maintain it, nor am I responsible for any kids who decide to do dumb stuff in my pool.

 

Luckily our local pool is just across and down the road, we can walk there in 5 mins.

[Cera]

I prefer a neighborhood pool.

 

Pools can be a pain to maintain and very expensive if something goes wrong with them. There is also a huge liability that comes with having a pool.

 

The drawbacks to a neighborhood pool are the limits to when it can be used and other patrons being obnoxious. It also requires a bit more work once the kids are old enough to swim alone but not old enough to provide their own transportation (if you don't live close enough to walk).

 

We joined a pool club which is the best of both worlds. Limited patrons, open all the time for members and less than a mile from home so kids can bike to it.

[linders]

Neighborhood pool. When we were buying 4 years ago, DH suggested a house with a pool (our boys love swimming) but I nixed it. They want to swim with friends, and I didn't want the stress of the friends being in my pool where I would worry about safety.

[Brenda in FL]

I'd rather have a pool in my backyard. We live in a state where we wouldn't use it as long as we did in Florida, but I am sorely missing our pool this summer. We do have a community pool and it's nice - but I'd prefer a pool in my backyard any day that I can access when it is convenient for me. A pool vacuum and weekly chlorine makes upkeep a breeze.

[kewb]

I have always dreamed of having my own pool. However, since having kids I have realized there are many pros to the community pool.

1. No maintenance.

2. Social. Kids can almost always find someone to hang with.

3. No worries about someone drowning in my yard when not home.

4. Did I mention the no maintenance.

5. Now that my kids are teens they can go to the pool by themselves if I have other things I need to do that day and there are lifeguards to watch them.

6. My oldest is now a lifeguard at community pool-best summer job ever.

[lamolina]

Wow! Did not expect so many replies!! Thanks everyone, you give me a lot to think about.

 

Is there any good way to get an estimate of what the costs would be for an inground pool? Not installing one, just the upkeep.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Having grown up with a pool, if you had asked me 2 years ago, I would have said public pool. I remember how much work it was; vacuuming, cleaning the filter, checking the chemicals, etc. However, if I could get a salt-water system and a pool service, I would love to have one in my back yard (with appropriate fencing, of course.) I loved walking out and using my pool whenever. My mom loved the fact that our house was the place to be (once she set boundaries about snacks and supervision - everyone who came had to bring snacks to share and for children under a certain age, they had to bring an adult to share supervision duties.)

[Stayseeliz]

We had a pool for three years and we HATED it. It was so expensive and time consuming. It just wasn't fun at all! One year we didn't even open it. I also don't like having young kids and a pool. We couldn't find DD1 for a few minutes when she was two and the pool was open (even though it had a fence around it) and I almost had a heart attack. We will take a community pool over a pool of our own any day of the week!!! We belong to the YMCA here and love the pool there.

[ktgrok]

Taking care of a pool suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks so much. If I moved into a house WITH one again, I would fill it in with dirt and make it a tea garden.

 

So, community pool.

 

 

My husband agrees with you! He HATES our pool. HATES IT.

 

We would rather have a community pool I think, that we could walk to, have friends over to without worrying if the house/yard ar picked up, not worry about the dog getting fur in it, etc etc etc. Only benefit to having it at your house is privacy, and if you don't like how you look in a bathing suit no one sees you.

[Aspasia]

A pool has always been a deal breaker for us in home searches. I don't want the maintenance, I'm terrified of little kids drowning, and I'd rather use the space for something else.

[PrincessMommy]

Wow! Did not expect so many replies!! Thanks everyone, you give me a lot to think about.

 

Is there any good way to get an estimate of what the costs would be for an inground pool? Not installing one, just the upkeep.

 

prices will vary widely depending on where you live. You said you were moving to a warmer climate, so I would assume that upkeep would be much cheaper than in the mid-atlantic or mid-west where the season is shorter. Of course, a longer and hotter season means more chemicals.

 

I had a 20'x40' inground pool and, the last time I remembered paying close attention, I had a good year if we only spent $500 a season on chemicals. We had well water (no water costs) and didn't have a heater. I never calculated how much we were using in electricity to run the pump. I would run the pump 24/7 when I first opened up the pool and then would go to nights only once it cleared up. The person that built our pool did not put a line to the pump at the bottom of our pool, and it could take a very long time & more chemicals to get the water cleared up. When we bought the house it was estimated that the pool was about 15yrs old - so we had a lot of large bills those first 10years to fix broken pipes and install a new vinyl liner. This was one reason I soured towards an inground pool... if it isn't new, then you'll probably get stuck with some hefty bills.

 

If you're a family already on a tight budget a pool will just be a money pit.