Do any of you have swimming pools?

We've got a pool, in fact we acquired a couple of pools when we bought our new house.

Here is the outdoor pool (yucky cause we just opened it for the year) with the dog pool behind it (they deserve a pool too!). We'll get around to building a deck around it probably next year. Behind that is the "BIG" pool, that is, the community lake. The dogs much prefer swimming in the lake over their little pool. It's actually warmer than the swimming pool.



And when it's cold or we just want to unwind, we have the indoor pool. Actually it's a hot tub but it's so big that you could almost swim in it. We had 10 people in it one night and we probably could have fit 4 more.



And we have since put cat trees and benches along the windows for the cats. They hang out in this room more so than anywhere in the house. They actually like to lay on top of the hot tub cover.

Yup, we're spoiled and loving every minute of it. We call this our "vacation home", where we're on vacation every day of the year.

Price to put these in? No idea what so ever. The hot tub is on Bromine and is very easy and inexpensive to take care of. The outside pool is on chlorine and we're probably spending about $50 a month in chemicals. The chlorine system that is attached to the filter is an expensive one to maintain. We may try a different system next year to save some cost.

I have been toying with the idea of putting in a pool for some time now, but the expense of the chemicals and time-intensive nature of the upkeep have been the reasons not to up until now. The mention of a salt-water pool intrigues me ... must do more research.

Originally Posted by gayef

I have been toying with the idea of putting in a pool for some time now, but the expense of the chemicals and time-intensive nature of the upkeep have been the reasons not to up until now. The mention of a salt-water pool intrigues me ... must do more research.

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The time part is not that great, If you do it everyday. I would say i spent maybe 15 min a day. closing it and opening for winter and summer can be a pain.

I dont know much saltwater pools, hmmmmm
been thinking of getting a new pool. i miss having one

Well, to all you people that have pools and didn't invite us over when it was really really hot..............

Originally Posted by yayi

I order the chemicals directly from a wholesaler. It is cheaper.

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Okay, everybody!! We're going to Yayi's and swim!

We bought a 15ft. Quickset pool this year. This pic has already been seen in Pet Pics, but its cute anyway.
Come on over, Susie! We'd be delighted!

Originally Posted by squirtle

It really is great. I would highly recommend salt to anyone getting a pool instead of chlorine... It is very low maintenance. All we have had to do all summer was add 12 pound of salt. It takes care of itself.
The water doesn't taste funny, it doesn't burn your eyes, and it feels different when you swim through it.

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That sounds AWESOME Tanya! I was thinking "salt water???" Wouldn't that burn your eyes??? But I guess not. And it would be perfect for me, cause I have eczema (it's under control now, but used to be horrific) and the salt water is heaven for it! Salt water is good for all kinds of skin allergies, 1 week in the Islands, and my eczema is all cleared up! So I imagine it would have the same effect. What a great idea that is....

No pool at home for me....I grew up with one though, and my parents tore it down after we all moved out (it was alot of work for them). And the chlorine was brutal on my hair and my skin. And Jazzy goes to the pool at the rec center for camp, and I have to use Redkin after sun/chlorine remover shampoo & conditioner on her hair, or it would be like straw in just a day or two!

We have a 15 foot round pool. It is one of the blue ones but has the poles, not the inflatable ring. We got it for free!
It is really easy to care for, all I do is shock it when I first out it up, then keep chlorine tablets in it the rest of the time, and keep it vacumed. The water is crystal clear and I have spent less then $50.00 on chemicals this year. Not very deep but we can float in it and cool off!

Originally Posted by gayef

I have been toying with the idea of putting in a pool for some time now, but the expense of the chemicals and time-intensive nature of the upkeep have been the reasons not to up until now. The mention of a salt-water pool intrigues me ... must do more research.

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I keep reading about how everyone spends time every day cleaning up their pool but we literally don't touch ours, except after we have mowed the lawn because the mower shoots grass into it

Any leaves that fall into the pool get pulled in by the skimmers, and we have a Polaris that moves around the bottom and sucks up anything that sinks town there. We keep the pump running from 9am until 4am.

Because we have the salt system we have an Auto Pilot computer that is mounted to the side of the house. It moniters the salt levels and tells us when to add it. It automatically adjusts the chlorine levels (the salt makes chlorine, but it is not the same as the chemical chlorine that is dumped into other pools). Seriously, the pool maintains itself.

A BIG help I think is that we continue maintaining the pool throughout the winter. We don't cover it or anything.. We treat it the same as we do in the summer time. We might cut down the amount of hours the pump runs, but the pool stays clean. We do have a pool heater that we kick on to heat when we want to go for an occasional swim when it is cold. I can turn it on on a Friday evening and by the next morning the water temp can be up to 90.

I live in a complex with a pool, but have never used it. It closes at 8p (I don't get home until 6:30 and have to eat, feed the cats, etc.) and it's crowded with kids.

I'm looking for a house and I have decided that I don't want a pool because 1) I'm not sure I can do the proper upkeep (not money, but making sure the right chemicals are put in at the right time), 2) I'd be paranoid any time my nieces came visiting, and 3) I've heard enough horror stories of people moving into a house with a pool and the neighbors assuming they're welcomed to use it any time they want. I'd need a fence and an alarm.

I would think that I would have to close the pool down over winter here in Virginia and of course, I would also have to cover it when it wasn't open ... but this is something I had planned to do when we first built our house and I let my husband talk me out of it. We live in a very rural part of the state and we have heavy wooded areas all around our house - he told me snakes would take up residence so I immediately changed my mind about having a pool! LOL

Originally Posted by gayef

I would think that I would have to close the pool down over winter here in Virginia and of course, I would also have to cover it when it wasn't open ... but this is something I had planned to do when we first built our house and I let my husband talk me out of it. We live in a very rural part of the state and we have heavy wooded areas all around our house - he told me snakes would take up residence so I immediately changed my mind about having a pool! LOL

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I have heard that about snakes also! As a matter of fact, when the skimmers get full of leaves and need to be emptied, I won't empty them. You have to stick your hand through the leaves to grab the basket up to be emptied. I make my fiancÃ[emoji]169[/emoji] do it! You can't see what's beneath the leaves when you stick your hand in.

For the record, there have been no snakes though

My parents have a pool and we use it often. The only problem with the weather being so hot the water is hot as well. Pool temp last weekend was 94 degrees. My husband says it feels like pee water.

Originally Posted by snosrap5

My parents have a pool and we use it often. The only problem with the weather being so hot the water is hot as well. Pool temp last weekend was 94 degrees. My husband says it feels like pee water.

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It really does feel like that though! It isn't very refreshing.

Originally Posted by snosrap5

Pool temp last weekend was 94 degrees.

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Here in Virginia today, at 11:25AM, the temperature is already at 104 with a heat index of 109. 94 degrees would feel cool by comparison!

Originally Posted by squirtle

I keep reading about how everyone spends time every day cleaning up their pool but we literally don't touch ours, except after we have mowed the lawn because the mower shoots grass into it

Any leaves that fall into the pool get pulled in by the skimmers, and we have a Polaris that moves around the bottom and sucks up anything that sinks town there. We keep the pump running from 9am until 4am.

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My parents, who live about a mile away, have an in-ground pool and they have a Polaris too. Little guy runs on it's own and cleans the pool. So besides buying the chemicals, testing the water and adding chlorine, it's not difficult, just some work involved. BUT their last month's electic bill was over $400 for their house and to run the pool filter! OUCH!

But it is nice for our family parties and the kids love it!

Originally Posted by squirtle

I have heard that about snakes also! As a matter of fact, when the skimmers get full of leaves and need to be emptied, I won't empty them. You have to stick your hand through the leaves to grab the basket up to be emptied. I make my fiancÃ[emoji]169[/emoji] do it!

You can't see what's beneath the leaves when you stick your hand in.

For the record, there have been no snakes though

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*shudder* That settles it, no pool for Gaye-Gaye!!! *LOL* Although, wouldn't the salt water be repulsive to them???

We've found dead mice and bugs...no snakes here!

Originally Posted by gayef

*shudder* That settles it, no pool for Gaye-Gaye!!! *LOL* Although, wouldn't the salt water be repulsive to them???

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My fiance says that the snakes are not going to hang out in the pool.. I am honestly not sure whether or not the salt, or chlorine for that matter, would keep them away I just don't feel comfortable sticking my hand into something that I can't see underneath I think he is very brave for doing it

I am constantly rescuing little frogs from the pool. SOmetimes they don't make it and they end up in the skimmer, along with tons of dead beetles. They seem to be attracted to the pool.

As for the electric bill, we just received one for $360 In the winter months though, we do keep the pump running then too, our bill runs about $230. The AC trying to keep the house cool is what is killing us right now

We had one growing up...my dad has his own pool cleaning business so it was free for us to take care of. You have to vacuum once every week to two weeks and clean it with the net daily if you have trees in your backyard. Growing up, us kids took care of that.