Author Topic: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?  (Read 5431 times)

kevj1085

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Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« on: July 11, 2017, 08:07:57 AM »
Where I live I'm pretty sure no one has an above ground pool and believe it is even borderline considered tacky. However I know there are places in the country where they're totally acceptable and almost normal. Do you notice this too? I almost wish we could get one but it's almost at the risk of being a sore thumb in the neighborhood lol. Why is this?

Giro

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2017, 08:27:26 AM »
Where do you live?  Realistically, how many days out of the year will you be using it?  I've had both and I will never buy a home with a pool again.  Maintenance is ridiculous and I spent more time cleaning than swimming.  But, our season is relatively short. 

Also, as the other poster noted, pools can decrease the value of your home.  Do you plan to stay there long?

rubybeth

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2017, 08:28:31 AM »
My parents have an above-ground pool. There are a few benefits--one being that they can lock the ladder situation they have to prevent access, and don't need to have the pool fenced in. The other is that they were recently able to upgrade the pool (fully replace for a larger version), and my dad was able to do most of the related work (he hired someone to do the electrical). It's a pretty short swimming season in Minnesota, so he also heats it and we can use it every day from when he fills it in May through September. If you prefer an above ground, you could build nice decking around it so it functions as an in-ground pool, and the decking would mask the pool's sides. Or just pick a pretty pool that isn't a bother to look at--I think my parents' looks pretty nice (and they have theirs surrounded by garden plants and some patio block where the ladder is.

Sibley

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2017, 08:55:01 AM »
For resale, aside from value it can also greatly impact the people who consider buying the house. I flat out will not buy a house with an inground pool. I will consider a house with an above ground pool, but the house has to be priced right and it has to be otherwise great. Because I'll need to remove the pool.

nobody123

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2017, 09:32:52 AM »
We had an above ground pool when growing up.  As others have said, it was nice because it was able to go away after my sister and I grew up and my parents don't have to take care of it anymore.

The HOA where I live now has a rule against above-ground pools (a holdover from the blue metal ones that would rust and become an eyesore).  Given the short season in northern Ohio, only a handful of folks have bothered with an inground pool.  There are tons of above ground pools in the neighboring development where they are allowed.

Fishindude

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2017, 09:56:39 AM »
Above ground pools are ugly.
Having said that, we had one for many years when the kids were around.   I hate the looks of them and our property slopes off behind house so I was able to set ours adjacent the deck, then built a full wood deck with wood sides all of the way around it so it didn't look like an above ground pool, couldn't see the sides.  Probably had two times more money in the deck than I did the pool, but it looked nice and we used it for many years.

Really enjoyed having a pool while kids were young.  Had tons of cook outs and parties with friends and neighbors.  Was kind of like a mini vacation all summer long and wasn't very expensive to maintain.    When the kids left home it wasn't getting much use, so we removed it and the surrounding deck, repaired the lawn and installed a hot tub.

Dave1442397

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2017, 12:09:31 PM »
My SIL had an above ground pool for years, but took it down last year after their kid went to college.

We have friends in their fifties who just got a million dollar inheritance, took down their above ground pool and spent $50k on an in ground pool plus all the concrete around it.

Now that it's done, they called in a landscaper to get a quote on regrading the yard. He said the pool guys screwed up - they didn't put in a proper foundation for the concrete around the pool, and he said they're looking at another $20k to do it right and fix the grading. Ouch.

Jrr85

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2017, 12:47:31 PM »
Where I live I'm pretty sure no one has an above ground pool and believe it is even borderline considered tacky. However I know there are places in the country where they're totally acceptable and almost normal. Do you notice this too? I almost wish we could get one but it's almost at the risk of being a sore thumb in the neighborhood lol. Why is this?

It's definitely considered tacky where I live. 

We have a long swimming season and a nice in ground pool does increase the value of the home (not by much as there are still plenty of buyers that don't want them).  An above ground pool on the other hand, even one with nice decking around it, is going to be a strong negative, with the cost of removal or more pretty much factored into the price. 

I think that it has basically become a status signal regardless of its actual functionality or aesthetics.  Or maybe there are some more significant drawbacks to above ground pools that I'm not aware of.   

kevj1085

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2017, 01:27:47 PM »
We live in the phx az area and our backyard is small so no deck option. Our pool season is march-oct

GuitarStv

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2017, 01:34:19 PM »
For resale, aside from value it can also greatly impact the people who consider buying the house. I flat out will not buy a house with an inground pool. I will consider a house with an above ground pool, but the house has to be priced right and it has to be otherwise great. Because I'll need to remove the pool.

+1

At least around here, pools suck.

At best you have two months a year of weather where it's possible to go swimming, and in those two months there are usually only a handful of days where you would want to.  On the other side of the coin . . . constant chemicals, cost to heat the pool, fishing out all the crap that's floating in there, the expense of running pumps, draining it and preparing it for winter, filling it and preparing it for summer . . .

Morning Glory

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2017, 01:40:59 PM »
We have a large above ground pool that came with our house. It is partially dug into the ground to make the pool deeper, but it has metal sides and a vinyl liner, so after swim season we only have to drain it to 1 inch below the outlet and then cover it. There is a deck between the house and the pool for easy access. There is also a heater but we don't use it, we just have the pool running from June-August. This saves on electricity and chemicals too. We have our own well so we don't have to pay for water but that could get expensive in some areas.

I would be afraid that an in-ground pool would crack during winter.  You would have to pump out all  of the water and then cover it well.

Case

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #11 on: July 12, 2017, 06:00:30 AM »
Where I live I'm pretty sure no one has an above ground pool and believe it is even borderline considered tacky. However I know there are places in the country where they're totally acceptable and almost normal. Do you notice this too? I almost wish we could get one but it's almost at the risk of being a sore thumb in the neighborhood lol. Why is this?

I can see no way that owning a pool is part of any path to FIRE.  They are unbelievable money pits, with very little reward unless you live in a very hot state.

Fishindude

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #12 on: July 12, 2017, 07:21:08 AM »
I can see no way that owning a pool is part of any path to FIRE.  They are unbelievable money pits, with very little reward unless you live in a very hot state.

We had a 24' above ground pool for 15-20 years.  They are not all that expensive to own or take care of.
A couple hundred dollars per year in chemical costs, and a few added bucks on your electrical bill.  Beyond that it's mostly just your personal time keeping it monitored and clean, cleaning filters, covering and uncovering at season end / beginning, etc.   Heard a guy say one time ... if you can afford to heat your house in the winter, you can afford to run a pool in the summer.   I think that's pretty accurate.

When our kids were small and around home all of the time, I think the pool was a great choice and money well spent.  We had an ongoing mini-vacation in our back yard all summer.

rubybeth

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2017, 05:58:11 PM »
Where I live I'm pretty sure no one has an above ground pool and believe it is even borderline considered tacky. However I know there are places in the country where they're totally acceptable and almost normal. Do you notice this too? I almost wish we could get one but it's almost at the risk of being a sore thumb in the neighborhood lol. Why is this?

I can see no way that owning a pool is part of any path to FIRE.  They are unbelievable money pits, with very little reward unless you live in a very hot state.

Well, I would argue that having a backyard pool is much more cost effective than having a second home on a body of water--that was a factor for my parents (who are both retired, and my dad retired early, my mom has only worked part time since I was a kid). We live in Minnesota so having a cabin/lake home is more the norm than having a pool, but they can use their (heated with a very efficient heat pump) pool every day of the summer if they want to, no travel, makes for lots of family fun/togetherness with their adult children and other relatives/friends who come over regularly to use the pool. It's also great exercise.

Retirement means different things to different people--some people want things that others deem wasteful, but retirement isn't necessarily about spending the least amount of money, but rather the least amount that still allows you to have an existence that is acceptable to you.

emiloots

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2017, 07:53:40 PM »
We bought a house with a very nice in ground pool - definitely something we probably wouldn't have installed ourselves (we have the receipts and between the pool, stonework etc. the previous owners spent 55k+).  In our neighborhood you could probably get away with an above ground because we are all on 2+ acre lots, but anyone that has a pool it's in ground.  That being said, I will admit I find above ground pools not the most aesthetically pleasing.  We do less maintenance on our in ground saline pool than my friends do on their above ground - less chemicals, better/more efficient equipment.  We have a pool sinking fund and add $100/month - that way if we need to replace the filter or a pump the money is sitting there.  We do have it professionally opened and closed every year, repairing busted pipes because I did it wrong would be an expensive lesson on work that should be outsourced (at least for me!).  Thus far, we've only replaced 2, $15 gaskets.  Our kids (10, 8 and 6) are constantly in the pool - built in entertainment for the summer.  Although perhaps not the most mustachian - we really do enjoy it.

dess1313

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #15 on: July 13, 2017, 05:00:51 AM »
I was reading about this myself, and bylaws here state that if you have an inground pool, even if you remove it, you still have to declare it on the sale of your house.  it is now an area deemed unstable ground, and has to be "engineered" as it will be filled in before you can ever consider building even a shed or garage on or at the edge of it. 

Also some will only partly remove the pool, and leave a half shell in the ground that is a problem to who ever buys it down the road.  if not done right, high water levels will make it float and supposedly rise like a zombie from the grave.

build a deck.  put in above ground pool.  remove easily when tired.  way less hassle

nobody123

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #16 on: July 13, 2017, 08:42:18 AM »
Coincidentally, pool guy was at the neighbor's house last night giving them a quote for an inground pool.  The wife tells us the minimum bare bones pool / heater / fence / concrete is something in the neighborhood of $46K all-in, plus whatever "nice to haves" they want to add on.  She says now they need to figure out the financing.  She had shopped around last year, but was complaining that bank loans required them to put "a chunk of money down" towards the pool, so they were probably going to take out a loan against the husband's retirement plan instead.  I just bit my tongue.

andy85

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Re: Above vs in ground pool. Does it depend where you live?
« Reply #17 on: July 13, 2017, 10:10:44 AM »
I have an above ground pool...it is quite large...maybe like 15'x25, oval in shape. I bought the house 2 years ago and the pool was already there. While i agree that above ground pools can look tacky, I have to say mine looks ok and if the setup is nice, it won't look bad at all. I'm not a fan of the small staircase leading up to my pool and i may redo that at some point and add more of a deck area as well.

After dealing with it for the last few years (this is the 3rd summer), I can say it's not as huge a  money pit as people make it out to be. I probably spend $300-$600/year on chemicals. It adds about $40 to my water bill on the initial fill up after opening it and maybe $10 per bill during the summer. Also increases my electric bill by a similar amount during the summer months. I'm probably all-in under $1000/year. It takes me about 20 minutes to clean, which i do about twice a week. I add some type of chemical to it probably 2-4 times per week which takes about 2 minutes. That is about all i do. It takes me about an hour to open and close it during the spring/fall.

Sure, it's a fair amount of money, but as others have said, it can provide a nice relaxing vacation feel all summer long and it is a great excuse to have friend's and family over more than you typically would to socialize. Hanging out with good people and making good memories around a pool could be worth it to some people for $1000/year...maybe not so much for others. It's all personal preference just like anything else in life.