topic Do you have a pool? in Home

Do you have a pool?

qualitygal — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:02:54 GMT

What temp outside are you able to get into the pool? Do you swim or just sunbathe?

As a teen, we just went to the lake. We can still go to the lakes to swim.

Going over to Lake Michigan, we can watch the boats go in and out, walk out on the pier, lay in the hot sun, or walk the beaches. I love marinas too. It just feels good to be there.

It's raining here today, but I want spring and summer! LOL, Obviously!!

Re: Do you have a pool?

151949 — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:10:02 GMT

We do not have a pool , there is a community pool here but you can't actually swim there because everyone gets in it and just stands around gossiping. It is a standing in it pool, not a swimming pool.We go to the YMCA , get a lane and swim laps for exercise. My DH likes to swim his laps then get in the sauna - I swim until I'm exhausted. I also go to water aerobics 2 days a week. Sadly, it has been too cool here in the mornings to swim and I get too busy in the afternoons.

Re: Do you have a pool?

Meowingkitty — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:21:09 GMT

We live in Arizona where most people have a pool. We had a pool up until six years ago when we filled it in. We never used the thing more than a handful of times a year. It was always to cold, to hot, (it's to hot to sunbathe in Arizona, you will fry like a strip of bacon) to dirty, needed to be balanced, needed to be fixed, screaming kids outside etc. Every weekend it seemed we had to do something with it. Just wasn't worth the hassle for something we no longer enjoyed. The plaster was in desperate need of restoring, needed a new sand filter and when we needed a new pump it would be over $1000 and we decided it wasn't worth it. Filled that thing in and six years later we have no regrets. Our electric bill dropped over $200 a month plus the water and chemicals, pool man expenses. When we did use the pool we could swim from May to sometimes beginning of October. Depends on how chilly you can take. There are kids around me that will be in the pool sometimes in April but that's to cold for me.

Re: Do you have a pool?

jaxs mom — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:29:54 GMT

If the pool is unheated then on average it warms up to around whatever your overnight temps are. But there are a lot of variables such as how deep the pool is, how much direct sunlight the pool gets during the day and what your daily mean temperature is.

At one house we had a shallower pool, tons of sun and very high (90-100 degree) overnights and the pool would stay in the mid 90s all summer. At another house, we were surrounded by other two story houses and had more foliage blocking the sun plus the pool was deeper and it would hit the 80s at the peak of summer but in early spring it would be 68-72. We'd just heat the pool at the very beginning and end of the season to extend swimming time.

It also depends on what temp water you tolerate. I grew up with a pool and swam in it in winter in the 30s and 40s. High sixties for water temp felt cool but fine to swim in in spring. Having not been used to commerical pools kept at higher temps. I'm also an avid swimmer and not much deters me, I'd swim in the ocean in winter also.

Re: Do you have a pool?

CareBears — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:29:16 GMT

We do not have a pool but live in MN (home of 10,000 + lakes) I love to go to the beach in the summer and read, hop in the water to cool down, and I love to watch the boats out on the water, being by the water relaxes me!

Re: Do you have a pool?

kitty60 — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:29:16 GMT

Oh yes! Live in New England up until ten years ago and had a pool there where I could only use June thru Aug, if lucky. When we moved south it was on my list but not in the house we purchased. Finally after ten years got my pool last year and while I enjoyed in for a couple of months in the north it was awesome in the South. I used to be a dipper but have changed my habits. Being so much hotter I do all my work during the day and head out about five and stay outside until about 7 swimming. We got ours running the beginnin of June and my last swim was Halloween. I will watch to see when to open depending on when it warms up. Honestly, I don't see a significant increase in electricity and chemicals with salt pool were much less than chlorine.

Re: Do you have a pool?

Abrowneyegirl — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:29:46 GMT

NO pool here! We live in PA where there is maybe 3 months (4 on a good year) worth of swimming weather. We have a community pool.

The idea, expense, maintenance, liability, etc of a pool does NOT appeal to us (even if we could use it year round).

Re: Do you have a pool?

ScrapHappy — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:29:57 GMT

We have a pool. We just moved to a new house last summer so this will only be our second summer to use it. I live in the Southeast, it gets hot. Yesterday it was in the high 70's There is also a community pool in our neighborhood but I know they don't open it until mid-May and soon after they start swim practices for the swim team. I would guess we could start using our pool the same time or maybe the end of May/beginning of June. Even if it's a litle colder, my daughter won't care, she just wants to go in.

Re: Do you have a pool?

Shanus — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:33:43 GMT

Hi @qualitygal. I never learned how to swim. My mother was fearful of the water so she passed that fear to my brother and me. No pool, but even sunbathing w/ SPF 50 and higher...I burn. I'm the one in the lounge chair w/ umbrella, huge hat, long sleeve lightweight tee and an umbrella drink. LOL 😂

Re: Do you have a pool?

CAMOGIRL — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:40:53 GMT

No. Never had one.

I have always lived close to at least one nice lake. Much prefer lakes over pools.

I think I would get tired of a pool very quickly. And, I would have to hire a service to maintain it.

I do think though if a family has several kids, it might be nice for them for awhile ... until they grow up some and think a pool is boring.

Re: Do you have a pool?

Lipstickdiva — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:46:02 GMT

We do not have a pool. We have a boat and a jet ski so my DH always tells me the lake is my pool.

A number of years ago we did look into a built-in pool but the cost to do the pool plus all the patio work we wanted around it was astronomical and we just didn't want to do it. I was hesitant about losing that much space out of our yard.

I'm kind of glad we never did because we have several friends who have built-in pools and they barely get used.

Re: Do you have a pool?

Buck-i-Nana — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 15:52:27 GMT

I got an 18' above ground round pool when I bought this house 15 years ago. My kids and grandkids loved that pool and it got used every single swim weather day. When that pool got to the nickle & dime stage, I indulged my dream since I was a kid of getting a Kayak on-ground pool. That was 2 years ago and probably the best money I ever spent.

I start the opening process as early in the spring as I can and get the solar cover on it. It warms up beautifully so that we can actually enjoy swimming on any day that gets above 72. I've got 9 grandchildren and they've all grown up with the pool and with this bigger pool with deck all around, my backyard is the family fun spot all summer long even for my dil who doesn't like to swim! She enjoys sitting on the deck, dangling her feet in the water watching the kids have fun.

Re: Do you have a pool?

Zhills — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 15:53:41 GMT

Our community pool is heated so there is rarely a day that it is not used for both! We also have a hot tub next to the pool.

Re: Do you have a pool?

Nightowlz — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 16:32:39 GMT

We had a 16 x 32 above ground oval pool for at least 30 yrs. DH took it down 3-4 yrs ago. It needed another new liner, ladder, pump etc. We were not using it as much so he took it down & landscaped the yard & put in some veggie gardens.

It has to be in the 90's before I would get in it. The water was so cold sometimes you could not swim. We had to use a solar cover to bring the temp up in the water. Once it got hot & stayed hot you would have to put the solar cover on in the evening & get it off in the morning before it got too hot to swim in. Without the solar cover I could see not using it much. As it was we could only use it about 3 months out of the year. Memorial weekend thru Aug. Once the temp starts dropping at night the water stays too cold even with the solar cover to swim in it. It was expensive to only be able to use it 3 mos.

We lived in Hawaii when I was a kid so we were at the beach or pool all the time. I grew up swimming. Started going to the pool when I was in 1st grade. Dad was military so we lived on air force bases that always had at least 2 pools.

When we had the pool I would stay in it for hours. DH would come home from work wanting to know what's for dinner. LOL!!! I swam a lot plus floated around on different floating devices we had. We had a huge fun island float we put in the pool & the 2 dogs would get on it & jump into the pool & go back up the ladder.

Re: Do you have a pool?

ChrissyKR — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 18:16:17 GMT

I have an inground pool. I open in March (I live in the south) The water is usually around 47 degrees when I open but warms up quickly. The pools doesn't get as much use as the kids get older but we sure spend a lot of time around the pool. We sit by the pool every night once it warms up decently.

A pool doesn't have to be expensive. I spend roughly 10 minutes a day on my pool and once a week I brush the whole thing and I can do that in about 20 minutes. I use the trouble free method and spend less than $150.00 per year on supplies and chlorine. Not too bad considering I have a rather large pool and I am open from March -Nov.

Re: Do you have a pool?

DREAMON — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 19:12:23 GMT

We live on the Bay and we have a pool that looks out over the Bay. It is heated. We love it. We have a lot of company in the summer so it gets used often. We think it was the best investment we made when building our home.

Re: Do you have a pool?

CANDLEQUEEN — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 20:27:31 GMT

No, I live in the Midwest right on Lake Michigan. So we have beautiful beaches to go to in the summer and it is absolutely gorgeous! I am afraid here you would only get 3 good months of swimming, maybe 4 with an exceptionally hot summer with a pool!.

Re: Do you have a pool?

ID2 — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 10:40:53 GMT

Yes, I have a pool, its called Lake Charlevoix! The most beautiful pool to live in front of!

Re: Do you have a pool?

Mominohio — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 15:00:14 GMT

Never had a pool (except for the little ones you get for the toddlers!), but as kids we belonged to a private swim club. The pool was huge, they don't make many that large today in this area (outdoors that is), and we were dropped off there every sunny day in the summer. The water came up from a well, and it was beyond freezing, even in the hottest of weather, no heaters in that pool! We were kids, we loved it!

The season in Ohio is way too short to mess with the work and the cost of a pool here, in my opinion, unless you have a big crowd that will use it (and we don't). Now, if I were to 'get all moneyed up' as my husband likes to say, I'd have in in ground, indoor pool built onto my house. I'd swim every day all year if I had an indoor and heated pool.

I'll let y'all know when I win the lottery and the construction company breaks ground, we'll have a big pool party!

Re: Do you have a pool?

wildcat fan — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 15:19:42 GMT

I had a pool at my previous house. We opened it in May when the temperatures were consistently in the 70s or 80s. It was warm enough to open in April, but it was too much of a hassle to deal with the pollen which can really do a number on the water quality and make stains on the pool edges. We kept it open until late September or early October.

I miss having a pool, but I don't miss the work involved in keeping it clean! When we bought that house, DH said under no circumstances would he be cleaning the pool, nor would I be able to hire a service except to help me open and close it each year. He did all sorts of things to help around the house, but he wanted nothing to do with the pool. It was all I could do just to get him to sit on the deck around it for a few minutes in the evenings, but the kids sure loved it, especially during summer vacation from school. As a stay at home mom, I figured I'd have time to deal with it and how hard could it be? LOL, I eventually figured it out and cut down a lot of trees in the area to minimize the amount of debris in the pool.

I loved swimming laps in the early morning or late in the evenings. My arms and legs were so toned! No matter how much I exercise I don't think I will ever get that muscle definition like I had when I was swimming each day.

It already feels like spring here! The crab apples, forsythias, daffodils, and azaleas have been blooming for the past couple of weeks. Temps have been in the 70s and may hit 80 this weekend. 🌞