Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice would be to join a pool club.

This. My neighbors have an in-ground pool and the pool maintenance company is over there all the time. I often wonder if they make more money on pool maintenance than on installing the pool.

And just to be clear, their maintenance is NOT adding the chemicals and running the Ph tests. It is all the pool machinery and gizmos that are making the pool company rich.

What in the hell are you talking about? It's a pump and a simple filter. Pools are so much less work than people claim. It's truly bizarre when people start trashing them. Is it jealosy?

According to ChatGPT, a saltwater pool only costs around 5% more than a regular chlorine pool. So I’d definitely go saltwater.

Anonymous wrote:My advice would be to join a pool club.

+1

We have a second home with a saltwater pool about 90 minutes from our primary home in DC. It’s great and as others have said pretty much maintenance free with virtually no chemicals required. The season is relatively short and yes, while heating it is an option and can extend the season most folks around here aren’t gonna lounge around the pool in October regardless.

So long as you go into this fully understanding that the pool won’t pay for itself in terms of increasing the value of your home you’re good. It will be a turn off for many if not most buyers.

Do what makes you happy, but understand some folks (us) will not buy a house with a pool.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice would be to join a pool club.

This. My neighbors have an in-ground pool and the pool maintenance company is over there all the time. I often wonder if they make more money on pool maintenance than on installing the pool.

And just to be clear, their maintenance is NOT adding the chemicals and running the Ph tests. It is all the pool machinery and gizmos that are making the pool company rich.

Anonymous wrote:My advice would be to join a pool club.

This. My neighbors have an in-ground pool and the pool maintenance company is over there all the time. I often wonder if they make more money on pool maintenance than on installing the pool.

Anonymous wrote:Hi All, We're in Kensington and are pondering exploring the idea of an inground pool in our yard. (Ample space)

We know nothing - except that for sure we'd have big dreams of everything we'd want and guaranteed sticker shock and pragmatic limitations accordingly. I know we want saltwater, with an electric lockable cover. Everything else is unknown.

We have early teens and anticipate owning the property for another 10 to 15 years, but it won't be our retirement spot. We're doing this for our current enjoyment, not with any expectation of it improving resale value.

I welcome any advice, company recommendations, success stories, cautionary tales, etc... Thanks!

Don't fall for the nonsense maintenance concerns. It's so damn easy to manage the literally couple of chemicals that you need. That was the biggest eye opener as we installed our pool. Bottom line it's A LOT easier to maintain! that

I have a small in-ground salt water pool that was completed in April and even while trying to save money, we were well north of 100K for the project. We went into this knowing that it won't add value to our house and may very well turn away some future buyers. However, we plan on staying for a long time so we will enjoy it for now.
Get multiple quotes and know that most companies outsource their subcontractors who sometimes leave much to be desired.

You'll want additional umbrella insurance coverage if you have a pool.

Cost can be $100k+ to install a pool.

It won't necessarily help resale as while some people really want pools, others really don't for safety, cost, or maintenance reasons.

You'll want a fence around the pool in some way.

Anonymous wrote:Hi All, We're in Kensington and are pondering exploring the idea of an inground pool in our yard. (Ample space)

We know nothing - except that for sure we'd have big dreams of everything we'd want and guaranteed sticker shock and pragmatic limitations accordingly. I know we want saltwater, with an electric lockable cover. Everything else is unknown.

We have early teens and anticipate owning the property for another 10 to 15 years, but it won't be our retirement spot. We're doing this for our current enjoyment, not with any expectation of it improving resale value.

I welcome any advice, company recommendations, success stories, cautionary tales, etc... Thanks!

We got a nice above ground pool ten years ago and love it. It costs less and if you sell you can remove it if next owners don't want it. It took one day to put in and that week we were swimming.

Hire a pool boy to maintain it for a couple years so you learn the ropes and in's and outs of it all.

Doesn't hurt if the pool boy is hot either.

Best thing we’ve done to our house. Just lay some ground rules and stick to them. We don’t ever allow any type of diving or horse play, no glass near the pool, and no one is allowed in the pool without an adult present. The last few years, we’ve extended the season from about April 1 - Nov 1. We added some solar panels and use that to heat the pool for the most part. We do have a backup gas heater but if we’re diligent about shutting t he cover at night, rarely use it. We also just outsource all the maintenance, weekly visits, opening & closing to a pool company, and it’s worth every penny. It’s actually brought hot our kids closer together bc they are in it with each other almost daily. We also did salt, and it’s been pretty maintenance free.

My advice would be to join a pool club.

Hi All, We're in Kensington and are pondering exploring the idea of an inground pool in our yard. (Ample space)

We know nothing - except that for sure we'd have big dreams of everything we'd want and guaranteed sticker shock and pragmatic limitations accordingly. I know we want saltwater, with an electric lockable cover. Everything else is unknown.

We have early teens and anticipate owning the property for another 10 to 15 years, but it won't be our retirement spot. We're doing this for our current enjoyment, not with any expectation of it improving resale value.

I welcome any advice, company recommendations, success stories, cautionary tales, etc... Thanks!