To really really want my own swimming pool

[misspoirot]

No, I probably can't afford it but..... Maybe with some clever financial planning and if we sacrifice holidays, nights out, non-essential clothes, Chinese takeaways and all things frivolous..... It might be possible. Maybe I could start a neighbourhood swimming pool co-op?!

I've always wanted a swimming pool in the garden since I can remember, even better if it came in one of those log cabin type buildings! I just want to wake up and literally take a running jump...!

Does anyone know how much it costs to maintain a pool after the initial outlay of having one built?

We have one. Heating it cost an. Absolute. Fucking. Fortune. Like, £100 week above normal energy costs. It's currently switched off til may. Lovely when we use it, though!

DP's Mum wanted to build a pool on their land at the back of their house. She must have decided against it when she realised they live in the North East and it's about minus 50 degrees for most of the year

I've got one.

It's about 5 ft deep (but not filled to the very top, obviously.)

and 16ft x 10ft, so not a big one by any means. It's oval so you can get a good swim going.

And although it is an above ground pool, you can sink it and indeed we have, so 2/3 of it is underground.

this one

The pools themselves cost about three thousand.

The cost is in the maintenance.

The pump on ours needs replacing and the pipes. The pump alone is going to be about £700.

The pool chemicals you need are a pain in the arse. You need chlorine and ph balancer (+ and - ) and algaecide, and of course you have to have the test strips and test the water daily to make sure it's ok.

Then you have to heat the pool. Because even in summer in this country you cannot go in if it's not been heated. You'll freeze your watsits off.

An electric heater will bankrupt you, so you're best off going for solar panels or pods.
like these

And then you have to clean the pool, because the chemicals will ensure it doesn't go green and slimy, but you still have to get in there and clean it out. So you'll need a skimmer and ideally some sort of bottom feeder

You'll need a pool cover. And a winter cover. And every year you'll need to winterize your pool with a shedload of chemicals.

I haven't actually ever added up what it costs every year. I think I'm scared to

Misspoirot the trampoline is a tiny eight foot job. I managed to fob off a lot of the soil to various neighbours. One filled two raised beds with our soil. I mistakenly thought it would be a weekend job. I'm an idiot.

Yanbu, if only to look at the pool boy lol.

We have run a big enough to swim in easy set one, It's great, but I'm married to a chemist.

We also have a big garden we are happy to half cover in cheap and cheerful solar panels.

Oh and cold water fish for DDs. There is no point in having a pool if you have DCs who aren't prepared to use it on cooler days.

We had one in Australia. I would kill for one now. I'm reading Barracuda which is horrid btw but the swimming descriptions are making me feel quite homesick and desperate to be able to swim easily.

I think what I'd like most of all is to live within easy walking distance of a warm sea or failing that The Serpentine in Hyde Park.

This is what you want ( without the cheesy music)

m.youtube.com/watch?v=5L8aMI2dwf4

When I win the lottery ............

We decided to purchase an above ground pool to see how we managed with a pool prior to making a decision about having an in-ground pool. We have a south facing garden in Southern England and use an electric and a solar heater as well as a solar cover. It isn't going to be the same as a pool with expensive heating but we like it and use it. My husband's brother in law claims that it is too cold for him and won't use it but most visitors have been happy using it from April/May to September/October. Sometimes the water temperature is warmer than the outside air temperature. Looking after it is fairly straightforward but if the chemistry goes wrong then it is messy and unusable for several days but this has only happened twice. It's great fun on sunny days but less so when overcast. I suppose the message is, that if you want a pool and will use it, go for it but be prepared for it being colder than hotel or villa pools in the Med or California.

my mum has an outdoor pool but she lives abroad so it doesn't need heating. A pool man comes every week to clean it and test the chemical levels.

We went out there last summer and it was bliss. My 2 yr old dd learnt to swim in there and 10 yr old dd spent the whole time throwing things in there and diving down to get them.

I've been going to a swim coach recently, and he has an endless pool in the garage. I have never coveted anything so much - just set the speed and swim, no turning or avoiding anyone else

I really want one of those natural looking swimming ponds

I don't even have a garden, so it's hugely wishful thinking.

I swim in an endless pool but it does get a bit boring even for a lesson, as there's noone else to watch and literally no changing scenery, except looking at yourself in the mirror on the bottom. I'd like one in the garden though, with a spa-bit seperately at the end so i could climb into there for a beer after a swim.

My friend saw a film with a woman swimming in an endless pool in her basement, and a murderer came in and put the lid on

Help- the serpentine is freezing all year! Even in summer. We have no pool but have a sauna and jacuzzi in a building on our roof terrace ( London, so no actual garden). They. Are great as use all year around as inside ( the jacuzzi part has glass wall door things so can be opened in summer)

I think I need a built in pizza oven next :). I love the idea of sunken trampoline also if we had a garden

I have an outdoor unheated pool and a hot tub. We use the hot tub in the winter and the pool in the summer. I guess we get about 3-4 months use out of the pool max (we don't live in the UK).
Even unheated it's a costly luxury. Don't get me wrong I love swimming in it and I love sitting beside it eating my lunch but now I've had it for a couple of years I could live without it. Friends and family from the UK love it because to them our house is like a holiday villa.
I would love one of those exercise pools with an end jacuzzi but I think getting the temperature right would be impossible - too hot to exercise in too cold to relax in.

Bloody hell, that hidden pool is lush

CMOT I was all excited about the thought of an endless pool until I read your post about having swimming lessons in a garage. It sounds like a big bath rather than a pool!

I always wanted to have a private pool, and never ever imagined I would, so we had a hot tub, which we loved - but 11 years ago we moved to Portugal so now have a 8x4 m kidney shaped pool in the garden. I swim most days March/April - Sept/Oct, it isn't heated, but I actually prefer colder water so as long as it's about 21 degrees I'll go in (it's currently 10 degrees!!). I do think that, as with a lot of things, you take it for granted when it's there all the time, and there are days when I don't bother, then feel guilty when I only have to step outside......... It doesn't cost much to maintain, I check the levels and chuck some clorine in when it needs it, and DH does the cleaning/hoovering, and I would certainly miss it if we didn't have it - especially midnight swims to cool down before bed, in high summer

YANBU. I started a thread a while back when I was still in shock about finding out what is left to leak out of nappies. Gross.

I would suggest a pool building with sliding glass walls so that you can open it when it's sunny?

Philoslothy
I ' dying to see your house.Please post some pictures, not just the pool. All the rooms. Pleeeaase?

Pool porn

From what I've heard in the UK an outdoor pool can really knock value off your house. For an indoor pool you'd probably get back what you put in (build cost, not maintenance), but they cost an awful lot in the first place.

Difficultpickle - no, its not exactly a glamourous setting, but having done this, I'd never pay for swimming lessons in any other setting. The closeness and mirrors mean there is no hiding any element of your stroke from the coach

vingtdeux22 that's a great idea, I'm going to give serious thought to getting an above ground pool and see how we get on with that first.

Plus I won a fiver on my scratch card this morning so the pool fund is off to a flying start!

A pool in the UK would definitely be a lottery-win job for us! We do hope to build a pool when we eventually build in (southern, so not always very warm) Oz though

My dad and his wife have a pool in the basement. He is constantly complaining about the costs but it is such a lovely thing to have.