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I understand they keep the chlorine levels very high in the public pool also. I keep mine low enough that nobody ever says anything, yet it's fully sanitized. The ozonator helps with that also.
Well, I am answering my own question for those who are pool-shopping. We got prices on smaller in ground pools @12x23 with no deep end. (5 ' maximum depth). A fiberglass(not vinyl) pool installed with a salt water filter system is @22,500....that is the total cost excluding fencing.(you have one year to put a fence up) A larger pool(14x29) with a slight deep end (5' 8")would be @26,000...installed. Total time from start to finish is @2 weeks. Annual maintaining cost annually is @250.00(increase in electric, and saline products)..homeowners insurance there is no increase(we were surprised). FIberglass pools with the saline system offer the lowest annual maintaining costs..but are a bit more up front compared to vinyl lined pool and basic chlorine filter systems.(Plus the liner has to be replaced every 10-15 yrs). The same vinyl-liner in ground pools stated above would be @3000 less(So $19,000 for the smaller pool..total cost with saline). Concrete(also called gunnite) is about 1/3 more than fiberglass.
Not sure yet what we are going with but I thought I would post that info. for those interested in a in-ground pool.
Hi..if you don't mind I'd like to find out where you got your pool quotes..thank you!
We are also researching pools. We were originially looking at fiberglass(we were never looking at vinyl due to dogs) but once we saw some of the smaller sizes were smaller than we wanted and received qoutes for large fiberglass, we found the cost for concrete was not much more. After at least 9 meetings with pool companies, I will say, to be careful. I met many that tried to make bigger jobs, do more of the landscaping work and some that had some sketchy business pratices. Since my research and talking to many, I have heard to hire a pool company to just do the pool, and leave the other areas, patio, grading, leveling, draining, landscaping to those experts. Also, they all do qoutes so differently so make sure to try to compare apples to apples. Once/if we get closer, I'll post who we chose and how it all went.
SYP==Thanks. I am very excited..its something I have always wanted(even as a kid) and us being the home-bodies that we are, and doing most of our entertaining here at our own house, along with having out of town visitors alot...I think its a good choice. Also, being a teacher, I will have use of it every day in the summer when I am off. My daughter and I go at leat 1-2x per week to friends' pools during the summer, so now we won't have to do that anymore. We also plan on staying in our present house for at least another 8-10 years, so resale value really is not a huge deal breakers right now. The pool will basically cost @10% of the present value of our house....which is about what the "experts"(realtors) say you should invest in a pool, should you choose to put one in. Being in the real estate/mortgage industry eons ago, I do agree that an in ground pool can be a liability when selling a house..but its something we want and will use for the next 8-10 years, and as you said, we think many more people down south(compared to up north) will be attracted by a nice , easy to maintain, in ground fiberglass saline pool. Some won't, but we think some(like yourself) will look for a moderatly priced house with a in ground pool as a nice "bonus" with how hot is here for a lot of the year(compared to the Northeast), especially if you have older kids.(over age 10). I know I would have snatched one up w if more houses with in ground pools were offered in our price range($200k) when we were house hunting 5 years ago.
cncsmom--Keep in mind that the pool quote we got was for a pool considerably smaller than 16x36 (12x23), with no fence(my dh will do the fence himself within the next year....our county gives you 1 year to put a fence up). The fence alone probalby adds about $3-4k to the overall price, depending on how big your yard is. So that 35k price sounds about right.
We are also in the beginning of our pool search/builder/design in the Cary area. We've gotten an initial quote for a 20x34 vinly lined pool. My experience and what I've also heard talkign with others is spending about 20% of your home value on a pool is reasonable. Granted that includes all the decking, pool, fencing, etc.. I can see how 10% on just the pool makes sense but all the other "features" to make a pool "a pool" tends to be twice the cost of the pool alone.
I haven't heard of a county giving you an extra year to place a fence? Its my understanding its NC code to have a 4' min fence in order to use/fill pool.
We too have looked around for houses with pools for sale but there really are not many around the area without either moving to an area we don't like or going towards the higher end housing market. We've talked about a pool for years now and like our house, yard, and even more our area of town such that it makes sense to stay put and install one versus trying to move.
I'm interested to get other locals feedback on their pool builders and experiences. Its taken me a lot of time to come up with my design and do the necessary research and understanding of pool ownership. Please feel free to PM with any input. Thanks!
BLB--Check with Wake County about the fence. Johnston County allows 1 year from the time of pool install to put it up. The pool installer, and our neighbors who have new in ground pools, all confirmed this.
Yes, I have heard 10-20% of your home value also as far as how much to spend. We are more comfortable with the 10% number...and we also are putting in a much smaller pool than you are, so ours will naturally be closer to the 10% value. And you are right, its those "extras" that go along with the pool that really add up. That is why we opted for hardly any...except for the salt water system.($1200 extra) My dh is retired, and was in construction, so he has the time and knowledge to do a lot of the other stuff himself gradually(Landscaping, fence, etc.)
We also love our house, neighborhood, location etc...so it just made sense for us just to put in the pool rather than move to a house that has one already and then sacrifice what we already have. If and when we do decide to sell(Not for at least 10 years), people that potentially are interested in our house will already know prior to looking that we have a pool, so I don't think having one will scare off potential buyers once they decide to come look at the house...so that part really does not concern us. And, as discussed already, there will be people that are looking for reasonably priced homes with a pool.
GOOD LUCK..we are very excited about ours now that it is all finalized. Ours should be in by mid September.
I'm kind of ignorant on a salt system and how much more..if any it costs.
But if it doesn't irritate your skin and just as sanitary, then why not do it.
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