As if I don't have enough 'projects'

GJS

GJS

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Who the hell thought swimming pools were a good idea?

My Father always said (he's always been a gruff 'tough love' type) "Gavin, swimming pools are for rich a**holes who can pay to have their a**es wiped." I saw his logic even when I was young.

Flash forward 40 some odd years, we buy this house. Don't get me wrong, the place is gold. Like nothing I ever thought I'd have. However, I had my misgivings on two points:

1.) Close to 3 acres of grass to mow with steep hills
2.) Big ole kidney shaped swimming pool in very questionable condition

Point one was pretty simple. Bought a zero turn, use a push mower on the hills. Not ideal but certainly gives me good exercise and zero turns are fun.

Point two:
image1.JPG
image2.JPG

So, the pool was built in 1983 and in service until 2013 when a dog got in it and ripped the liner. In 2014 a new liner was put in, the pool was used for the summer then closed. Over the course of the last 4 years, it developed a tear around the light, drained, floated the liner in the deep end, shrunk the liner on the stairs in the shallow end, filled up with LOTS of dead stuff, bred mosquitos, cracked a filter tube ....

We drained her as far as we could last night. Theres about 4" of water over 6-7" of DEATH there and we don't even know if the concrete survived.

Bottom line, assuming the concrete is ok is $11,000.00 but that could easily reach 20 if there are structural problems. Trying to tell my wife that anything short of filling it in a piss poor idea is impossible.

A car? Hell yea, I'll screw with that all day long ..................WTF? I NEVER EVEN WANTED A POOL!
 
I love pools.... but...

1) never seen an in-ground with a liner?

2) when I do get a pool, it will be in AZ, not a state where I "might" get 3 months of use.

3) said pool will be small enough just to dip in and cool off. AKA, "play pool".
 
I'm with you 100%. Don't buy a house with a pool unless you actually want a pool.

When we were house hunting, we found a place that met all of our requirements, was in excellent move-in condition and within our budget. The only thing is it has a 16x32 rectangular in-ground pool in the backyard right behind the garage. Unlike your situation, the pool was in operating condition though. We figured, WTH we'll give it a go.

After a couple of years I wanted to fill it in and extend the garage back over where the pool was. It costs a lot of money for chemicals, electricity to run the pump, repairs, etc, and I'm doing all the maintenance on it which takes too much of my time. My wife was adamant that we'd appreciate the pool more when our kids were older. They'd be able to help look after it and it would keep them and their friends occupied in the summer months.

Having kids and a pool must be like having bipolar disorder. Your brain is simultaneously thinking how great it is that they're keeping themselves busy doing something fun outside, but also worrying that they don't drown. We put them in swimming lessons, which consume one night every week. My wife and I rarely use the pool ourselves. When the sun is up I have things to do, and my wife doesn't like to swim after dark. I find being in the pool alone gets boring pretty fast.

We've been in our house 11 years now. I still hate the pool and wish I could fill it in. The liner is on its last legs and will need replacing soon. That will be extra expensive because all the plastic coping around the edge which holds it in place is old and breaking, so it will need to be replaced also.
 
Carmine said:
I love pools.... but...

1) never seen an in-ground with a liner?

2) when I do get a pool, it will be in AZ, not a state where I "might" get 3 months of use.

3) said pool will be small enough just to dip in and cool off. AKA, "play pool".
Click to expand...
Our pool is an in-ground with a liner. Seems pretty typical AFAIK. Your point #2 is also something I didn't touch on and is very true. Unless we install a pool heater (more money!) to maintain the water temperature, the time when we'd use the pool in Ontario isn't very long. Pool season also overlaps completely with car show and camping season. We always have to arrange for someone to come over and check on the pool when we go away.
 
commando1 said:
I see a big ole kidney shaped garden. You're in CT fer gawdsakes.

View attachment 190356
Click to expand...

Funny, Those were my words to my wife almost exactly... save for the addition of:
"WE LIVE FIVE MINUTES FROM A BEAUTIFUL LAKE."

Carmine said:
I love pools.... but...

1) never seen an in-ground with a liner?

2) when I do get a pool, it will be in AZ, not a state where I "might" get 3 months of use.

3) said pool will be small enough just to dip in and cool off. AKA, "play pool".
Click to expand...

In ground with liners are pretty normal around here .. at least for pools of that era. More and more they're fiberglass though.


Mike66Chryslers said:
I'm with you 100%. Don't buy a house with a pool unless you actually want a pool.

When we were house hunting, we found a place that met all of our requirements, was in excellent move-in condition and within our budget. The only thing is it has a 16x32 rectangular in-ground pool in the backyard right behind the garage. Unlike your situation, the pool was in operating condition though. We figured, WTH we'll give it a go.

After a couple of years I wanted to fill it in and extend the garage back over where the pool was. It costs a lot of money for chemicals, electricity to run the pump, repairs, etc, and I'm doing all the maintenance on it which takes too much of my time. My wife was adamant that we'd appreciate the pool more when our kids were older. They'd be able to help look after it and it would keep them and their friends occupied in the summer months.

Having kids and a pool must be like having bipolar disorder. Your brain is simultaneously thinking how great it is that they're keeping themselves busy doing something fun outside, but also worrying that they don't drown. We put them in swimming lessons, which consume one night every week. My wife and I rarely use the pool ourselves. When the sun is up I have things to do, and my wife doesn't like to swim after dark. I find being in the pool alone gets boring pretty fast.

We've been in our house 11 years now. I still hate the pool and wish I could fill it in. The liner is on its last legs and will need replacing soon. That will be extra expensive because all the plastic coping around the edge which holds it in place is old and breaking, so it will need to be replaced also.
Click to expand...

That's about what I'm envisioning: Another thing to fix that I don't even use.
 
Mike66Chryslers said:
Our pool is an in-ground with a liner. Seems pretty typical AFAIK. Your point #2 is also something I didn't touch on and is very true. Unless we install a pool heater (more money!) to maintain the water temperature, the time when we'd use the pool in Ontario isn't very long. Pool season also overlaps completely with car show and camping season. We always have to arrange for someone to come over and check on the pool when we go away.
Click to expand...
Another REALLY good point.
 
Grew up in Tampa with a pool, which was nice when it was hot and I was done cutting the lawn. Or when I had several women come through like a goddamn turn stock for pool parties. Pretty useless in the winter months. Gotta clean the filters, service the motor, skim it, shock it, chlorine tablets, ph levels, algie, blah blah blah.

It was surrounded by screens too, so god forbid you ever cut a screen with a weedwacker and have to replace em. Long story short, I don't recall ever paying someone to wipe my ***?

Not saying it hasn't happened, just don't recall it..

2A6D8A7C00000578-3156874-image-m-49_1436565407984.jpg
 
mikedrini said:
Grew up in Tampa with a pool, which was nice when it was hot and I was done cutting the lawn. Or when I had several women come through like a goddamn turn stock for pool parties. Pretty useless in the winter months. Gotta clean the filters, service the motor, skim it, shock it, chlorine tablets, ph levels, algie, blah blah blah.

It was surrounded by screens too, so god forbid you ever cut a screen with a weedwacker and have to replace em. Long story short, I don't recall ever paying someone to wipe my ***?

Not saying it hasn't happened, just don't recall it..

View attachment 190364
Click to expand...
haha ... I'm pretty sure my Father just didn't want a pool.
 
As I would only consider a separate flat top building in a mid century design completely tiled which I could not afford in the first place my temptetion is near Zero.

Wait, I can afford it:

Faller-H0-Haus-Schwimmbad-Beleuchtung-B-215.jpg





A distant aquaintant whose father has a Billion Euro newspaper and Publishing empire bought an old 30s Villa that still had the original pool in the Basement. Ripped it out instantly. :(
 
Last edited:
Gavin, pools are money pits. Don't worry about what's in the bottom. All that fill you are going to bring in to fill it will absorb whatever is in the bottom.

Hmmn, you said you have hills that are hard to mow. Hills are made of dirt etc. Hills = pool filling materials. Result, no more pool, smaller hill, lot's of incredible fun playing with rented excavators, loaders and/or skid steers.... Priceless fun!

My son when he was 14 doing a great job with the tractor mounted backhoe.

Billy on Loader.jpg
 
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