Lets talk Inground Pools...

[Jeramie]

I built a warehouse for a commercial pool manufacturer years ago. I talked to him about swimming pools. He told me about the love/ hate relationship with the pool. He said a lot of people put in pools and then later hate them so he suggested putting in an above ground, keeping it for several years, and if we liked it then spending the money on an in-ground. Skip forward about 7 years, still have the pool and though it is costly, we still use it.

We decided that we would keep the above ground until the liner ripped. When that happened we would look at an in-ground. The liner is still good but we are not talking about breaking ground in late 2014 to early 2015. I’m early talking about this but it’s kind of a big deal that is going to require a LOT of planning. We are actually going to a lot of the work ourselves. I’m going to solid model the shape of the pool, we are going to get some help with the required plumbing, I am going to buy a skidsteer that I can later resale, and then we are going to tie rebar and have a gunite crew come out and spray the pool and do all that is required.

I am also going to build a 10x15, concrete tilt up, bathroom/ pump house. We are building a shade area, etc. All in all, if we do the work ourselves we are going to get a LOT more for the buck than a small pool. Small pools around here with a diving board run around $30k - $32k. If we do the work ourselves I figure we can put in a larger pool with all of the frills for about $30 - $35 after I sale the skidsteer. Anyone have in-ground pool experience? Ever put in an in-ground? Gunite Experience? Pool plumbing? Good resources?

Just tossing this around right now.

[wtnhunt]

Seems most the in ground pools around here are the liner type. If I were to go to the trouble to have one put in I would probably not go that route although they are much more economical to put in. Issue with them would be the potential for liner replacement.

We had a fiberglass in ground in Florida when I was a kid. Was fairly easy to keep clean as best as I remember, probably easier than the above ground we have had here for about 14 years. My parents had cool deck poured around it, had a slide with water lines tied to the pump, was pretty nice. That has been a looooong time ago, no idea what they had in it back then. I would not rule out the fiberglass type if I were going to spend the money to put in an in ground, biggest issue here with something without walls would be the snakes ending up in it and also the potential probability of having animals end up in it, would have to be fenced for sure. No clue about the gunite.

Far as the plumbing goes, I don't know for sure but would guess it would be something you could handle given your experience.

[Strut10]

I've built gads of ingrounds.

Wouldn't own one on a bet.

The co$t, the cleaning, the maintenance, the repair, the chemicals............

You may be a little better off where you are. The hardest thing on an inground is the freeze/thaw cycle. It's especially hard on the plumbing. I would look into a structural foam wall panel pool with a liner. You could do almost all of the work yourself. Liners can snag and leak. But they are not hard to fix or replace. Concrete pools will need drained and painted periodically. So they are not fool proof either.

[Jeramie]

My main reason for the Gunite is the shape. I looked at the fiberglass but you are really tied to their design.

I looked at the liner too but given the shape they arent easy to work with. Liners can be costly when you are talking about a custom shape.

Ergo.. ive ended up with the concrete pool. We want a very different pool. It basically has three sections, deep (for jumping off of the pump house, will also have a water slide) a medium depth for just standing and floating, and a shallow spot for kids. It will all be the lagon type with a circular shape for each depth (all tied together). Thats where the problem falls with the liner.

I am in bottom land, no rock. Our frost line is less than 24". Digging should be easy. I plan on using all SCH 40 PVC backed with sand. Hopefully that will dodge a lot of problems. Im planning on 2 pumps. One to cycle full time, the other will cycle and run the slide(s) and a waterfall. A lot of people around here leave one or both pumps going all winter. We do get cold here, as low as -30 F in the past 4-5 years. Mostly we drop into say the teens.

I just need a good source for the plumbing information so I know what to expect for drains, outlets, etc. HP required for the pumps would be good too. General information on rebar, gunite depth, potential cost, etc.

Im a newby to pool construction. I have no doubt we can pull it off though.....

[snapper]

We eliminated a lot of what strut said by putting ours indoors...easy to clean! Liner will last longer because no direct sunlight! And we went with a salt iodize pool instead of chlorine!

We put the heat under the pool similar to in floor heating and plumbed it into our existing boiler. It's a lot more efficient and no cold spots in the corners or deep water...all the same temp!

We went with a liner style pool just because we can replace the liner 1-2 times to reach the cost of a fiberglass drop in.

We up'd the size of the pump and bigger lines to have more powerful jets and other in floor jets that shoot the water up in the air and back into the pool and the slide has a water line to make it faster.

[Jeramie]

I'm thinking the salt water pool too mainly becuase of the cost of the chemicals. People are here are starting to use them and love them.

Im also thinkinig of buying a propane heater to heat the pool early in the year. It could also be put in the pump house.

I'm ready to break ground but I have to wait until fall 2014 for the budget part of things! Im also going to pour a shop floor so I can start working on a 30x50 shop. Im doing like the government and working the floor into the cost so my wife doesnt see it coming!

[MUDRUNNER]

We put a liner type in ground pool at my brother in laws a few summers ago. Man, it was a lot of work, but turned out great. He bought a kit for a few grand, and we pretty much did the whole thing our selves. He went with salt water and a heater. The heater is nice because we can use his pool from April to October, but apparently it costs a lot to run.

[Tominator]

Pretty much agree with Don, but I live in Ohio. The cost to benefit ratio just isn't there for me. Having said that, some of the best times I had as a kid was spent in the 24' circular above ground my dad put in when I was in the 6th or 7th grade. We had tons of fun in that pool. Played volleyball nearly every night.

[Jeramie]

We have a 27' right now and use it quite a bit. We enertain friends and family a lot too. I agree, if you dont use it enough it is not worth it. We however do use ours pretty regular.

The really nice thing is my wife likes to clean the pool to get out of the house so I havent cleaned the pool once.

I do have to pickup chemicals in Tulsa but that is about it......