Buying a house with a pool

[JohnnyM]

Wife and I are moving and we are looking at a place with a pool. This pool has been in the ground for 20+ years and they just had it replastered and retiled in early December.

What things do I need to look for to ensure I'm not buying a dud?

What is my monthly maintenance going to be? It's a pool only, no spa, and it's normal sized.

What other things that I'm not thinking about do I need to consider? We have a baby and plan on having more, so I know I need a fence at the very least.

 

[gecko]

I'm n the Houston area....here's what I'm experiencing...

It will depend on the length of time you run your filter, but you should expect to add about $80 per month to your electric bill. For chemicals, plan on about $45 per month. If you hire a service for routine maintenance, it will run you about $90 per month, but that will include chemicals.

I think it would be worth having someone in the business inspect it and tell you how its doing structurally. Someone should also evaluate the filter system.

 

[JohnnyM]

Is that a regular chlorine pool? Do you know if any of the costs would change with a saltwater pool and if a conversion is possible or cost effective?

Thanks, your info is great, even if that's more than I expected on a monthly!

 

[l00p]

JM, your question piqued my interest so I did some looking around and found the article below. Of the articles I found this one seemed to piece together all the tidbits of the others in a sensible way.

I don't have a pool but lean towards them having swam in a couple. They are awesome and not having your eyes burn was pretty great. What I did not know is that the salt wears down the equipment faster. It seems that any cost you save in less chemicals and maintenance gets taken away by possible replacement parts sooner.

I would say go salt conversion for the sheer comfort of it.

Chlorine to Salt

 

[BigWill]

JM: where are you looking? You're in RSM now, IIRC?

 

[JohnnyM]

yes we are and we are looking......back in Austin!

 

[chango]

JohnnyM to OC?

 

[JohnnyM]

shhhhhhh

 

[LH-Pools]

Pool service will run you anywhere from 30-50 week and that is with chemicals. Depends on how big your pool is and if you have a lot of trees.
You might think twice about a salt system, depending on what type of deck and stone you have around your pool. The salt will eat it up. Studies are coming out now about the bad effects the salt has on your pool area.

 

[gecko]

JM - Mine is a chlorine pool....about 9 years old.

 

[UT Fanatic]

We've used Baquacil for over ten years and love it. It doesn't burn your eyes, irritate skin or bleach suits.

We do have algae problems once in a while like last summer when it was so hot for so long.

Baquacil v. Chlorine

 

[Tailgate]

Pool > No pool

 

[The Eyes of Texas]

We just had our house and pool built about five months ago, so I don't know what to tell you about an existing pool, but I will say this: all of the pool builders we spoke to, without exception, recommended chlorine over salt system....btw, in case you didn't know, a salt system is still chlorinating your pool, it breaks down the sodium choride into sodium and chlorine ions and uses the chlorine to treat the pool. The softer water is a result of the system not being 100% efficient and leaving some salt as a result.

 

[hollisdude]

We're in Houston and we've had our pool for 25 years. We had ours replastered and re-tiled about 2 years ago. We also put in a new filter. Ours is chlorine and it's fine.

I do all the maintenance on it. I just hate paying someone to clean the skimmers and throw chemicals in. That being said, my recommendation is this - you must check your pool once a week. Even in the winter, when it looks clean it still needs to be checked and stay balanced. It's more than just throwing chlorine in and running the pumps. Your water has to stay balanced between chlorine, PH levels, calcium levels, etc. It's not rocket surgery but if you don't you do set the stage for algae to grow. And if you ever get algae started, it is some hell to get it right again. Primarily because algae loves to grow in the tiniest of pock marks and crevices.

All in all, have someone check your filter and pumps (I'm assuming you have two pumps, one for the pool and one for a sweep). Other than that, your decision is whether to pay someone or do the maintenance yourself. Yourself is cheaper but you have to be diligent.