Play pool vs. standard size pool

[Klaudia]

I was asking because we bought a fixer-upper house. We are done with the house remodeling, and the pool is next. (it's sat empty for who knows how long)
It's a diving pool and we've considered turning it into a play pool instead. But we've read many comments about kids enjoying the diving pools more. Our kids know how to swim and are 10, 7, 6, so it makes sense to keep it a diving pool.
We've never had an inground pool, but have had the above ground pools. We began with great hopes every year, but it's always been sort of a nightmare. It gets EXTREMELY hot, it is not enjoyable to get in it in the summer time, and difficult to keep clean.
So for those of you with inground pools, is it THAT bad for these pools also? would a diving pool really be cooler than a play pool?
and for those who who've experienced above and in ground pools, how's the maintenance comparison between them?

[CheyDee]

We've had both above & inground pools. (The above ground was in NY, the IG in AZ.) The IG is soooo much easier to maintain. We had floor cleaning heads installed when we had the IG built, which you can't do with an AG. Between those and the regular skimmer, we very seldom have to hand skim the pool. (Perhaps four times/year vs. almost daily.) Additionally, the AG had attached fencing on three sides. The fouth side had a deck and the fencing was around the outer area of the deck. This meant standing on the deck with a very long pole in order to reach all sides for cleaning. It was a bit of a pain and time consuming too. Also, in order to clean the water line from any calcium build up, which commonly occurs over time, because of the fence we had to be in the pool in order to clean the above ground. With the inground we can choose to be in the pool or lay out on the deck and easily reach right in. Of course, without an attached fence on an AG there wouldn't have been these issues, but we still had significantly more manual cleaning to do because of the lack of floor heads.

During the first two weeks in August - NY's most uncomfortable part of the summer - the AG got so warm, we used to partially drain the pool and refill it simultaneously with cold water from a hose. A few times we even ran out for several bags of ice to add to it as well. Otherwise, it was too uncomfortable to swim and certainly no relief from the heat. It wasn't a very small pool either (20 x 40), but it became bath water nonetheless. Here in AZ, which gets much, much hotter than NY, I have never had the water too warm to enjoy. Here it gets to a "nice" warm, instead of an "ewwww" warm, if that makes any sense.

Lastly, should you ever decide to use a manual solar cover, so you do not lose water temperature once the nights cool off, putting it on and taking it off is much easier in an IG, compared with an AG.

We toyed with the idea of having a diving pool rather than a play pool, but finally decided upon the play pool for reasons already mentioned in this thread. Instead of the standard 3.5 ft starting point, we had it begin at 4 ft. (We're lap swimmers and wanted to make sure the pool was deep enough at the shallow ends for easy flip turns which, btw, also can't be done in an AG, since you can't "push off" the side walls.) In hindsight, we made the right decision for us.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[sbeach99]

You need either shade or water volume to keep a pool cool. We rented before buying our cuurent home and the rental had a 3/4/3 about 20 ft long. With a dark pebble-tec coating it was "hot tea" temp by July. Conversely, our current 9 ft deep 19,000 gallon ex-diving pool (now waterfall pool for liability reasons) never turns to bath water in the summer and probably delays our pool opening due to cold water by 3 to 4 weeks relative to the neighbors.

It kind of comes down to what you plan to do in it.

[observer53]

Deeper water (hence more water volume) is going to stay cooler. But, I remember turning on the aerators to cool down even the huge pool (10' deep end) that was at the house we first lived in in Phoenix 50 plus years ago.

I wouldn't want a pool at my house, but my friends who have them have play pools. For "hanging out" or for laps, it's all good.

[CheyDee]

Originally Posted by sbeach99

With a dark pebble-tec coating it was "hot tea" temp by July.

Excellent point about the flooring making a difference in the temperature. The amount of shade vs. direct sun would make a world of difference, too.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by CheyDee

Excellent point about the flooring making a difference in the temperature. The amount of shade vs. direct sun would make a world of difference, too.

It sure does. Many years ago, our neighbor started having a pool dug in his back yard. It was a two story, north facing house. The hole got dug, then everything came to a halt for a few days. Then, the diggers came back, and started digging the hole in the FRONT yard, and putting the dirt from there in the hole in the back. Evidently, once the hole in the back was dug, he bothered to notice that the house blocked most of the sun in the flat, usable portion of the yard.