Anyone on here have a swimming pool?

[BobbyBrewstersMagicTorch]

I have always wanted a swimming pool, but never been able to afford it. But potentially downsizing means we might be able to.

Is it worth it? Do you use it all year round?

Are you thinking of an in-ground pool or above-ground, and under permanent cover/in a building or outside?

Not personally but family/friends do and my advice would be...
If you can afford indoor/sheltered somehow do it otherwise it is only useable a few months if you're lucky
Near as possible or attached to the house is best
If you have kids, make sure you can see if from the window or if it is attached to the house have a window through to see in so once they're older more competent swimmers, if they have friends over you can let them in the pool and keep a subtle eye.
Look into non-chlorine swimming systems so you don't constantly have the smell
Think about size and depth so it is safe to jump into but has a shallow end or steps in which are safe for new swimmers
Decent sized changing room or small pool house

IMO fully outdoor pools are rarely used and high maintenance. I know many people who never go in theirs once the novelty is over.

Omg this is the one dream luxury that I would pick above all others, if I had the option.

If I was going to have an outside one I would get a natural swimming pond because it’s great for nature. I know it’s less appealing to swim in most of the year temperature wise but you can always use a wetsuit. And they look so beautiful.

You also need to be absolutely sure that small children wandering in to your garden cannot fall in. It's not enough to think the garden is secure, the pool itself must be independently secure.

I use mine from April to October, t’is fab

Why not try out an above ground one if you aren’t sure. They are fairly easy to look after, algaecide, chlorine, pump, filter, some pH paper, cover and about £30 worth of water and off you go they are much cheaper than the whole expense of a permanent one that you aren’t sure you’ll use. We have a 12 ft by 4ft deep best way one and whilst an adult can’t really swim in it a child can and they are brilliant for cooling off in or floating around on an inflatable reading a book.

I would love a pool. My kids are always at the leisure centre locally in the pool so it would get used. Sadly we don’t have the funds.

I have one, but I live in Los Angeles. It's not heated because that gets very very expensive (back when I had a heater, I tried it and it added $300 to the month's gas bill). The electricity for the pump (which needs to run 4-6 hours per day) probably adds a hundred a month onto the electricity bill. I pay a pool guy to clean and maintain it, but it's not too expensive because there are a lot of them to service here in LA. It's probably an hour or two a week to clean and maintain if you are doing it yourself.
It got used all the time from May - September until the kids became teenagers. Now my tenants use it but not the dc's.

One thing that might be worth looking into if you are just planning to swim laps is a lap pool. It's smaller and easier/cheaper to maintain and until the kids are tweens (when they don't want to be seen in bathing suits by the opposite sex anyway), it will be fun for them anyway.

We have one, an outside under ground one. It's fantastic to have it but fiendishly expensive, a few hundred pounds a month on the utilities once the heating is on. We are in the South East and our garden is a total sun trap, and the pool is heated, but we still only use it when the weather has been warm for a few days otherwise it's too cold. I just got a wetsuit to be able to use it more!

It's fiddly with hoovering, backwashing, chemicals etc. - once it's open for summer you have to keep on top of it otherwise it goes green.

It's not a nature one, it's a blue tiled chlorine one. Although we do find frogs in it occasionally and the cat drinks from it (WHY drink chlorine, cat?). I tried wild swimming once but just couldn't make myself get into black water where I couldn't see the bottom, I am conditioned to chlorine!

The amount of chlorine used in a home pool is much less than what's used in a public pool (for obvious reasons) and I haven't found the chlorine in my pool (which is always sparkling clear - thanks to my lovely pool guy) to be either smelly or irritating to my skin or dd's skin (we both have super sensitive skin).

We have a pool and love it, my children are between 8 and 14 and we use it a lot in the summer. It was already at our house though (and takes up about a third of the garden lol, we don’t live in a mansion). We do only use it between May and September, and it is heated but we only turn the heating on for a couple of hours before we want to use it - it heats up quickly though and isn’t too expensive. We do have to keep the chemicals balanced but it is not too onerous.

I think a covered outdoor one would be worse tbh, most of the fun is running around in the sunshine and jumping in etc, I don’t think we’d ever use any sort of outside pool in winter - and indoor pools are harder to maintain.

I can recommend and it’s not stupidly expensive, but I wouldn’t actually pay to have one put in......

My dad has one which is heated by a boiler. It can be used all year round but he chooses to close it end of October and reopen in March or April usually.

Thanks for all your responses. I think maybe the way to go would be to get a big above ground pool first, and see how much we actually use it.

Ideally I'd like to have one that's part of the house but that has glass doors all the way along, to open it up on hot days.

The private swim schools locally hire pools in private houses which might be an option to offset the cost. You'd have to keep it very warm tho!

Yes I have an outdoor pool. We use it in summer but we've actually just installed an air source heat pump so hoping to use it through the year now.
Not too much effort with chemicals etc.

I would love a pool. Relatives built a indoor pool essentially in a forty meter long conservatory but now don’t use it because they find heating it too expensive. We are hardy and have used it when visiting in February.

Oh and the previous owners put a some enclosure over it so you can swim with the cover on, keeps the pool water pretty warm BUT I fucking hate it. It gets all condensation on it and drips. Whenever o use the pool me and hubby have to take the panels off so we are now going to replace the enclosure with a cover that sits on the water.

If it's mainly for exercise consider a resistance swim spa - it could be indoor or outdoor but would take up much less space and easier to install than building a pool.

We've not got one but have been in one at a friends and loved it.

Family have one which they dont use! It must cost a fortune as they keep it ready to use. I love it. So nice. Like when you use a hotel pool but on your own and no danger of having to share. If I had one I'd use every day. Nice to go in my pjs after breakfast or go in the evening then shower and get ready for bed.

No would never have one, they are a pain to maintain and devalue your house, unless it is a multi £ one. I know people who put them in for their kids and never get used once the novelty wears off. If you live in the South of France or Spain then I would consider one because it is so hot

I'd go for an Endless pool - would fit the garden and not take too much space nor would it take too much to heat and run.