I am looking at putting a recreational pool in our backyard. Assuming roughly 20-40ft. Usage tailored to our young kids and also the ability to swim more conveniently. We live in the upper midwest.
My two main questions are:
With a budget of 20-50k what type of pool would you put in? Just started researching and woulnd’t mind opinions from folks who have them on fiberglass vs cement etc. As well as in ground vs above ground.
With many of us at home during covid, what are folks’ thoughts on tethering with a swim belt vs spending the extra and go towards the swim spa functionality?
That eventually I would like to not have a pool! I live in Phoenix where a pool in the summer is fantastic, especially with little kids. Now I spend summer elsewhere and would prefer not have a pool. That said, I am still in Phoenix and we are having record temps so love my pool right now. This is my second pool. I built one at my previous house. We designed the pool and were like the general contractor. We hired a consultant who lined up all the subs: guy who marked it out, excavation, rebar, plumbing/pool equip, electrician, gunite (cement), pebble tec, pool decking, and fence. Worked like clockwork. I recommend natural materials for the pool deck if you can afford it. Cool deck is so ugly. We have flagstone now.
I just ordered an above ground pool. We don’t have much flat space so it’s 9 x 18. I’ll be following this. There are a bunch of European sites that sell the above ground pools with wood surround and decking in the ~10k range. Where we live an in-ground pool is not a property value adder and can be detrimental on sale. So having a nice above ground pool seems like a good solution. I’m planning to get a tether.
I’m in the North East and my wife and I have been looking at this for years and were ready to pull the trigger before everything went sideways but still are probably going to end up getting a 20x40. We have 3 kids, 2 of them are already on swim teams with the oldest (8) absolutely crushing it, and my wife is a teacher with the summers off so it makes us lean towards one even more. I’ll definitely be watching this thread.
Also wondering on the swim spa addition of this. I thought I remembered in the Kona video Lucy Charles did that her company came in and put some type of pump on that existing pool so she could do her thang. In the grand scheme of the pool costs that addition would be I’m thinking 5-10% of the cost of the pool so to me it would be worth it.
I am in Ontario Canada, I just finished our back yard pool. I went 18x 30 in ground with a deep end. Mine has Steel sides, Cement bottom with a liner and natural stone deck around.
We put 6 foot Plastic steps at the one end and the kids love it for sitting and relaxing plus its great for our elderly parents to get in and out. Around here this is a pretty standard pool.
I also acted as a general contractor and hired out the work I could not do my self. I saved a pile of money based on the Quotes I had by a few local pool companies.
I just finished construction on my pool. I had a few bids that included a Fast Lane, which is a builtin Endless Pool, and the cost was around $9K. That’s the device you saw in that Lucy Charles video.
If you’re building a new pool with a Fast Lane in mind, you may want to have a notch / cove built into the pool to hold the unit for aesthetic reasons. Otherwise it looks like you have a BBQ grill hanging in your pool. You can search “fastlane†here and you’ll see a few designs. Or Google it of course, including going to the Endless Pools web site.
I decided against the Fastlane because my wife and I tend to swim at the same time, which would mean needing two Fastlane units or having to stagger our workouts. And I’ve spent a lot of time in an Endless Pool and am not a huge fan of using one for a long time. However, it’s a great device for a space constrained pool. I ended up building a 20 meter (65 foot) pool because I had the space.
I hate to say $4K is cheap, but the cheaper units don’t put out a lot of water volume. Rather than a Fastlane, you can have jets installed in the wall of the pool which looks more seamless. However, a friend of mine had one installed in his pool when it was being built, cost around $7K, and he said it’s too weak for swimming unless you go really slow.
Here are a few photos. The water color is actually much more blue than shown in the first two pictures, which was on a cloudy day and also when the plaster was new. The last photo shows the actual color now. The yard is still a mess while I get the sprinkler system reinstalled and then landscaping redone.
I also posted a thread that followed my construction process. It’s worth a read because of the great input provided by others who also have pools designed for real swimming.
One benefit of gunite is the ability to add tile. I put spotter tiles along the swim lane every 18 inches along with the typical row of solid tiles to mark that the lane is about to end. You can barely see them from above the water but they’re pretty easy to pick up when swimming.
Unless you live in Phoenix or Las Vegas NV, you’ll need a heater if you want to use the pool for more than a few months during the year. Even when we lived in Phoenix and LV, it was pretty cold to use a pool from about Nov-Mar (unless you were a polar bear or you were willing to spend a boatload of money on heating the water). Here in New Mexico, we ended up with a hole in the ground for the six “cold” months of the year. The pool was GREAT during the summer when we had kids and their friends, but when they grew up and left home, we ended up tearing the pool out. Now, the area that used to be our pool has become a nice part of our back garden with a box hedge and rose bushes.
Here are some additional random thoughts about backyard pools.
Don’t bother with pool lights. You will rarely use them, then they will stop working, and then they will start leaking.
One skimmer and two returns are standard for a typical backyard pool. My builder recommended four returns with one skimmer. A friend’s builder recommended two returns and two skimmers. The more you have of either, the better the water will circulate. I aim my returns for one big counter-clockwise swirl. My friend aims his for two swirls in opposite directions.
Those who have the saltwater system love them, but they can be expensive to fix when they break. One of my friends put in a chlorinator rather than pay to fix his saltwater system. I haven’t met anyone who likes bromine.
The Polaris cleaning robots are great while they work. They wear out after two or three years and are expensive to replace. I’ve retired mine and just vacuum the bottom on Saturday mornings.
I don’t know anyone in my area (southeast Virginia) who has a pool heating system. There are solar heating systems that don’t seem too expensive, but I don’t see much interest from the family in using the pool during the cooler months.
The YMCA is a far better choice for swimming laps. This is true even during the winter when I have to share a lane because the local high school swim team takes half the pool. I look forward to the day when the YMCA can reopen.
The pool lights look cool at night but are incredibly expensive. That’s an easy area to save money, along with skipping an automation system, water features, etc.
Most pools have one skimmer but I would get two. They don’t really work all that well, so better to have two for cleaning off surface debris.
I have a saltwater system and a tablet inline chlorinator. A liquid chlorinator system is great ASSUMING you can get bleach / liquid chlorine, which is really hard to find right now with the coronavirus. No right or wrong answer here - it’s a matter of understanding each option and making the best choice for your situation.
Skip the cleaning robots that are water powered. Those require that your pool pump is running and they don’t clean as well as an electric robot, which is a low voltage cleaner. Look up Maytronics Dolphin S200 as one very popular model.
Pool heater is a personal call. I added a heat pump/chiller so that I can extend my swimming season into the winter and cool the water in summer, but I’m going to spend a lot of money in electricity to gain that comfort. My pool has only been running for a few weeks now so I’m still learning the equipment, but the heat pump seems to raise my pool temp maybe 1/2 degree per hour, if that.
You’re pool looks fantastic! I’m going to save the photos you posted just in case of the unlikely event that I ever build another pool.
When I put my pool in, I suggested to the pool builder a long narrow design suitable for lap swimming. I showed him a location down the hill from the house where it would fit. My wife suggested a more compact design behind the house. The builder said the location I suggested was too low and might have water table problems. He knew who he had to agree with in order to make the sale.
That eventually I would like to not have a pool! I live in Phoenix where a pool in the summer is fantastic, especially with little kids. Now I spend summer elsewhere and would prefer not have a pool. That said, I am still in Phoenix and we are having record temps so love my pool right now. This is my second pool. I built one at my previous house. We designed the pool and were like the general contractor. We hired a consultant who lined up all the subs: guy who marked it out, excavation, rebar, plumbing/pool equip, electrician, gunite (cement), pebble tec, pool decking, and fence. Worked like clockwork. I recommend natural materials for the pool deck if you can afford it. Cool deck is so ugly. We have flagstone now.
Andrew, if it worked like clockwork for you maybe you should become a pool builder. My contractor has been slow and stops and starts here in Vegas. I heard a lot of horror stories because builders are a dime a dozen here. Looks like my highly recommend contractor choice may be a dud.
Cheers!
My contractor has been slow and stops and starts here in Vegas. I heard a lot of horror stories because builders are a dime a dozen here. Looks like my highly recommend contractor choice may be a dud.