In Ground Pool Costs

[Happy]

Give me an idea what it costs to have an inground pool...

 

what does running the pump do to your electric bill?

 

I know pool chemicals or a service would add to that.

 

What else should someone know before buying a house with a pool?

[In The Great White North]

We bought a house with a pool (years ago) and the things that bothered me were:

 

1.   I was the one doing all the maintenance (including fishing the stupid chipmunks out).  And repair (filters, covers, etc all wear out)

 

2.   I was expected to lifeguard all the time.  The kids (2,5,7) and Dad seemed to think since we had a pool, they should get to go swimming whenever they wanted.

 

3.  Chlorine ALONE cost more than the annual membership at the local pool/pond.

[OneStepAtATime]

Pools cost.  Period.  And they take time.

 

If you want to maintain the integrity of the pool shell AND the equipment that runs it you need to check and maintain the chemicals, the skimmer baskets, etc. preferably every week, but at least every other week.  Chemicals cost money, too.  And can be tricky to use.  And you have to keep the chemicals balanced.  And the pool swept clean.

 

Another thing to consider, which we didn't when we bought a house with a pool before, was whether the original builders of the pool built quality pools (they didn't) AND whether the previous owners had diligently maintained their pool (they didn't, but it looked really clean when we bought the house so we didn't realize there were already problems until it was too late).  We ended up with THOUSANDS of costs to repair hidden damage and the shell eventually cracked through.  We repaired it twice, but once a shell starts to go it is very hard to maintain the integrity of the pool.

 

All of that being said, we now live in a home with a very well built pool.  It is still costly, but we use the pool a LOT, the extended family comes over for really fun birthday parties, etc. and because the pool was well built and we work hard to maintain it we have not had nearly as many issues as we did with the previous house and pool and the costs have not been as high by far.  We love our pool and are grateful we have it.

 

If you are really thinking of buying a house with a pool and you really like the house, then I would pay for two pool inspections through two different reputable people/companies that specialize in pool inspections.  Don't go with just the standard house inspection.  Have them check EVERYTHING  including all of the equipment, the shell, etc. and thoroughly.   Also, find out what company built the pool and see what their reputation is in the area, etc. for longevity of their pools.  Otherwise you may end up with an albatross around your neck.

 

Best wishes.

[gardenmom5]

my sil has solar panels on her roof - just for heating the pool.  if you live in a sunnier clime, that could make it a reasonable temp.

[sassenach]

We had one built back in 2005, in Florida.  I have no idea what it would cost now.  

 

The build was 30K.  We had a salt system put in, which I prefer for a million reasons, including cost of chemicals.  I don't recall the chemicals being a big expense, but I can't remember how much we were spending.  I think it was under $30 a month.  Our electricity bill went up $50 a month.

 

Maintenance with a salt system is easy peasy.  We didn't need a pool guy, and even though I had 4 young kids, I don't remember ever being burdened with the maintenance.  As I said, we were in Florida, so we literally used the pool every day for 9 months out of the year.  It was SO worth it.

 

My best advice if you build is 1) SALT SYSTEM, and 2) spend a lot of time thinking about the implications of the design.  Talk to everyone you know with a pool and ask them what they love and hate about it.  Try other people's pools out.  My investigations led me to some really great decisions for us.  I learned that my friend's narrow deep end made her nervous when kids were playing on pool toys (she was worried about them hitting their head on the side of the pool), so we made our deep end nice and wide.  I also learned that another friend hated that the only place she had to sit in the shallow end was on her small steps, which the kids were constantly using and climbing around her, so we made sure we had a bench extended out from our steps.  In the end, we had the *perfect* pool design for us.  I had zero complaints.

[Snow]

Maintenance here costs $80-100 per month. We maintain it ourselves since it's a new pool and very easy.

 

I get chlorine tabs at Costco on sale for $80 and the bucket usually lasts almost the whole season but our pool is pretty small.

 

I second OneStep on getting a really thorough pool inspection. There is a lot that can go wrong with them over time.

[Tmhearn]

It really depends on geography and your particular lot.

 

We had a pool, and it was such a pain that we finally filled it in. Best decision ever. But, we live in a climate that only allowed us to swim about 3 months of the year. And our lot is heavily wooded. So, I would skim leaves in the morning, and the pool would be full of leaves by the afternoon - even in the middle of summer.

 

Every year that we opened the pool, there would be a new thing to fix - liner needed replacing, pump needed replacing, pool cleaner needed replacing. It was ridiculous. After about 7 years, we gave in a filled it in. Now we have a space for kids to play and a garden. :-)

[SwallowTail]

I would say electric costs, pool chemicals/maintenance costs, and insurance costs could add up easily to $200/month.

[73349]

I'd call the homeowners' insurance company to see what it would add to that. It might depend on what kind of fencing you have.

[Jan in SC]

We had an inground pool at one of our previous homes. It was really easy to maintain. We bought one of the Polaris cleaners and kept it going most of the time. We didn't use chlorine, but it was before salt water pools were popular, so I know we used a chemical, but I'm not sure what it was - maybe Baquacil? I think it cost us $1000 a year for chemicals and an extra $30-50 for water/ electricity for about four months a year.

 

The house came with a pool, so it already had the nice cover (the kind that can support weight and walking) and a solar cover. I would have purchased the winter cover if we didn't get it with the house.

 

We didn't have much (if any) extra expense on our home owner's insurance. It was fenced.

 

We loved that pool. We hated that house, so we only lived there one year. We haven't bought another house with a pool, but I would!

[Happy]

This is great! Thank you, everyone!

[Guest inoubliable]

Maintenance costs can be insane. I have an uncle who filled his in with concrete after a few years, and DH has an uncle who did the same. Even if putting it in doesn't tax your finances, the long term expenses can be extreme considering things break and the local pool is usually cheaper for an annual pass. 

[kroe1]

We have always had a pool. We never do any maintenance. We use a service. Our current pool is small with a side fountain and hot tub. We have a cage that eliminates critters and leaves.

 

1. Weekly maintenance covers all chemicals and cleaning is $80/mo. This is Florida where competition is stiff. In Arkansas we paid &150/mo. And many chemicals were not covered like winterizing and shocking in the spring. Only one company in the town provided service so they could price it high.

 

2. Monthly electric costs are about $30 to run the pump, $200 if I turn the heater on all month. If one keeps a pool cover on, the heating will not be as much. In Arkansas we had a remote cover which was on when we were not swimming. It also did a good job of keeping heating costs down. I paid about $200 a month there also for a gigantic pool.

 

3. Major maintenance is what gets expensive. I recently had to pay almost $2000 when the rats ate our heater for a replacement. Pumps also break every 5 to 10 years.

[PrincessMommy]

costs vary widely depending on where you live & how big your pool is.   I would easily spend $300-$500 on chemicals a year.  We did all the maintenance ourselves but if we wanted someone to come out and open our pool it was a good $200-250 for them to pour chemicals in, start up the filter and pull the LoopLoc off.  YouTube helped me out tremendously.  Our pool came with the house, so within a year or two of moving in there was a constant breakdowns.  That kind of maintenance was a killer.  Everything seemed to be at least 1K.    We lived there long enough to have to buy a new cover as well as 2 liners. (it was vinyl rather than gunnite).    Our season is only about 3-4 months, but really the kids would only use it for about 2.  By Aug. the evenings are getting cool so the water would cool down and they didn't want to swim in it...or they'd swim for about 5 mins and be done.  I came to hate spending all the money on a pool that was hardly used.  It was just a money pit.

 

Anyway, we moved 2yrs ago in part to get away from the pool.

[Kelly1730]

Our inground pool was a selling point for this house. I wanted a pool for the kids and grandkids. Dh does all the maintenance, I don't think the chlorine etc. cost more that about $200-$300 a summer. He bought one of those Polaris cleaners on Craigslist for a great price and that has saved him tons of maintenance time he used to spend cleaning the pool. As far as electric goes, it costs us less to cool our house than it does to heat it (electric heat pump) so I don't see a jump in our electric in the summer, it actually goes down. 

 

We have not had to replace anything major yet; knowing that that is coming up probably sooner than later.