Has anyone dug up a pool?

[DawnM]

Weird question.

When we are looking at homes online, you can often click the "previous listings" and see the homes previous listing.   There is one house that was purchased in 2019 and is now being sold again.

In the 2019 listing, it had a pool.   On the listing now, you can see the outline of the pool in the yard.   It was probably filled in and then the ground has sunk a bit.

Anyway, I dug a bit on Youtube and found a guy who had dug up their pool that had been filled and now has a lovely in ground pool.   He said it was about $25,000 to get it all back in tip top shape, which is still way cheaper than a new pool.

Just curious if anyone here has ever done it?    I know a lot will depend on what type of pool it was (concrete, fiberglass, liner, etc...), but still wondering if anyone here has done it and what type it was.

Our wish list is:   fence, pool, 4 car garage (with 2 detached for more of a workshop.).   This particular house we will look at this week has all of that, but the pool is filled in.

And then the NEED for our family is no HOA, so our choices are limited in this surrounding area.

[Lecka]

Our neighbor filled in her pool.  

 

The reason she filled in her pool was because it was leaking and they couldn’t find the source of the leak.  She spent money on various things without fixing the problem.  
 

She also had a dog who would like the extra yard space.  
 

Now you can see the outline and she is annoyed by that, but I think it took several years for that to happen.  
 

I don’t know all the details, but I would be prepared for there to have been some kind of expensive issue with the pool that was a factor in filling it in.  
 

But, it also might not be expensive to you to fix, with how much use you expect to get from it.  She has kids and a granddaughter over all the time, but her kids are in their 50s probably and I think her granddaughter is in her 20s or 30s.  
 

Edit:  I’m pretty sure they told us that they had a scuba diver come, did the repair recommended, it didn’t fix the problem, and that was the last straw for them.  Or the scuba diver recommended something they thought was too expensive and they were skeptical it would work.  I’m not sure.  
 

But it might make a difference if you know if the pool was filled in for personal preferences, or because something was wrong with it.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Lecka

[DawnM]

10 minutes ago, Lecka said:

Our neighbor filled in her pool.  

 

The reason she filled in her pool was because it was leaking and they couldn’t find the source of the leak.  She spent money on various things without fixing the problem.  
 

She also had a dog who would like the extra yard space.  
 

Now you can see the outline and she is annoyed by that, but I think it took several years for that to happen.  
 

I don’t know all the details, but I would be prepared for there to have been some kind of expensive issue with the pool that was a factor in filling it in.  
 

But, it also might not be expensive to you to fix, with how much use you expect to get from it.  She has kids and a granddaughter over all the time, but her kids are in their 50s probably and I think her granddaughter is in her 20s or 30s.  

I think part of the issue is that we do plan to have a pool and the pool that is filled in is definitely the ideal place to put the pool.   Otherwise it would be a bit of a distance from the house and across the yard, not at the end of the deck steps, which makes more sense.

[Lecka]

I would be curious if that includes “just the pool” or any concrete work around the pool.  A new liner, a new pool cover.  
 

If you can see from the photos the concrete looks great before it was filled in — that is nice! I mean the concrete around the pool.  We had to have some concrete redone to put steps in, which we really wanted, but it was a lot for such a small area.  

[DawnM]

2 hours ago, Lecka said:

I would be curious if that includes “just the pool” or any concrete work around the pool.  A new liner, a new pool cover.  
 

If you can see from the photos the concrete looks great before it was filled in — that is nice! I mean the concrete around the pool.  We had to have some concrete redone to put steps in, which we really wanted, but it was a lot for such a small area.  

It was nice, I just don't know if they put dirt over it or dug it up!   If we think the house is a contender, we will ask the current owners.

I think the YouTube I watched had the concrete resurfaced and then new concrete around the pool.   The previous owners had ripped out the concrete pavers around the pool area.

[Lecka]

I hope they just put dirt over it!!!!!!!

[DawnM]

We are going to see the house wed.   I will report back if I get any information on why it was filled in, if anything is still there or if it was all bulldozed up/jackhammered, etc...

[klmama]

Be prepared for a mess, if they did fill it in.  Ask if anything was put into the hole before covering it.  Our neighbors had a lovely pool, but they didn't like the yearly expense, so they wanted to bury it.  The pool's 6' fencing and the concrete patio around it all were dug up and dumped into the pool, and then it was buried; they turned that area into a prairie restoration.  That's fine, as long as they live there, but if new people want to put in a pool, they are going to have quite a job.