Pool dimensions.....

[Keith Starosta]

That's what I was thinking!! Thanks for the advice.........and yes........will continue shopping!!!!

Good news on the bid - we have heard that this company is ALWAYS VERY HIGH....HOPEFULL DOUBLE HIGH!

Holy COW, Roy!!! $40K is a little bit more than double what I paid for my vinyl pool, which is almost double the size of the one you are thinking about putting in the ground! I'd try and get another quote or two before pulling that particular trigger.

By the way....thanks! Our kids.......and most of the REST of the neighborhood, really love the pool.

- Keith

[David Foshee]

16 x 32 Vinyl with a conctete patio $13,000 in SC
the pool is big enough we don't swim laps just splash around to cool off.

[Cody Colston]

We had an in-ground, gunnite pool put in last summer. It's 40' x 24', sort of figure eight shaped with a beach entrance and 8' deep end. We opted for a diving rock instead of a board. It's a conventional chlorine pool and cost app. $34k IIRC. Took about 3 weeks construction from start to finish and a lot of that time was waiting for the next crew to become available.

While the gunnite pool costs a bit more up front, it only needs periodic re-plastering whereas the vinyl liner will have to be replaced every 7 - 10 years, at least in our locale.

[Roy Wall]

Thanks Guys......

Latest bid for a 16 x 26 "sport pool"... 4' at each end and 5' or so in the middle = $15000. THis is a vinyl liner......3' concrete all around....the usual goodies.

Additional costs are $1500 for heated pool, $1500 for winter cover.

Two more bids coming next week...........

[Frank Hagan]

Heating a pool is an expensive proposition. I worked for a pool equipment manufacturer before I graduated to REAL equipment and we routinely saw that the Dad had not only turned the pool heater off after receiving the first bill, but several of them disconnected the gas line! 9 years ago, before the recent rise in natural gas prices, people would pay from $250 to $400 per month to heat the pool. Unless you have a spa, a heater won't get used (unless you literally have money to burn).

I haven't run the math in a long, long time, but we calculated the true cost of ownership at about $125 per month for chemicals to sanitize and electricity to run the pump 8 hours a day. That was 9 years ago, so it might be more now. At that time, it was about what it would cost to go on a good vacation if you lived in an area where you maintain it 12 months a year. In KC, you'll probably get 4 to 6 months possible use out of it, so the winter cover is probably a good "accessory" to get. Otherwise you'll be fighting maintenance over the winter.

A 16 x 26 pool with an average depth of 4.5 feet has about 14,000 gallons, so to filter that in 8 hours you need a pump that will produce 30 gallons per minute ... a 1 HP pump should do it (maybe even a 3/4 hp) But ask the pool company how big the pump is that they are providing ... if they say "2 HP" it will be an uprated 2hp, really equivalent to a 1 1/2 hp, with about 11 to 14 amps at 230V. Find out what the expected GPM of the pump is, and do the math to pump all the water in the pool every day. Get the amp draw, multiply by the number of hours it will run, divide by 1,000 and you have the KWh you will use each day (your electric bill probably charges by the KWh).

Bigger is not better with pumps. They routinely oversize them to drive spa jets, but if you don't have a spa, go with a smaller pump to save money. If they offer a two speed motor option, it will save you a bit of money also; at low speed, the GPM is cut in half, but the energy use is cut to a quarter of the high speed use. Run it twice as long for half as much.

I'm not a fan of pools unless you have kids. The kids will love it, and some adults get plenty of pleasure out of it. But for me, the cost of owning even an above ground pool at my prior house was not worth the enjoyment the kids got out of it. Most of the time, it sat unused, but I still had the maintainance each week.

[Keith Starosta]

Great post, Frank!! That's awesome information.

I agree that if there are no kids, pools aren't usually the way to go. When my sister and I were growing up, my folks installed an 18' above-ground model. My Dad would get plenty mad if he came home in the middle of a hot summer afternoon, and we were inside watching TV.

Watching and listening to the enjoyment our kids get out of ours makes the cost and headache well worth it!!

- Keith