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[Closed] Things to do with an old swimming pool?

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We're looking at a house later that has an old, rectangular swimming pool in the garden. Not sure what condition it is in but, if it's beyond use, what's a good idea for the space?
I'm thinking we could fill it in and turf over the top to give us more garden space.
Looks to be about 20' x 12' (from Google Earth)
The house, itself, has huge potential (Grade II listed, 4000sqft including a 400sqft [s]cellar[/s] cinema room) so trying to think of ideas to appease the wife (if she likes the house but not the pool).
Any other ideas?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:46 am
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Sex dungeon?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:48 am
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Check out Dog town and Z boys.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:52 am
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[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:53 am
 km79
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It would probably make a good swimming pool.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:54 am
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It would probably make a good swimming pool.

Didn't get past the first line, eh?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:55 am
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Google suggests a load of cool things: https://www.trulia.com/blog/6-genius-new-uses-for-an-old-swimming-pool/

I'd be looking at some sort of all weather foam pit though 😀


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:56 am
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Turn it into a half pipe -for the kids obviously


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:57 am
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It would probably make a good swimming pool.

I'd probably like to keep it as a pool but the house has been unloved so expecting the pool to be the same.
Will know a bit more later..


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:58 am
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It would probably make a good swimming pool.

This. When we bought our house the swimming pool looked horrible and I wanted to empty it and convert it into a half pipe. Mrs Stern stopped me and after a bit of work it came up like new and it's a big hit every summer with our kids and friends of kids.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:58 am
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Bunker?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 9:59 am
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It would make a cracking pond - landscape more levels for different plants with soil, put a decent liner over the 'landscaping'. Pond that size you may not need much filtration if you get an ecosystem in place.

You could even have a dip in it in the warmer months.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:00 am
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Foam pit for back flip practice .


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:00 am
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A Bond villains lair, complete with death ray!

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:02 am
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Nuclear bunker?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:03 am
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Or create a false platform and turf over it with a stepped entry, secret bike storage shed with full workshop?

Run some power to it. Would be awesome if you could keep it damp free!


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:04 am
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12 x 20 , a good quality butyl liner and you've got a good size Koi pond


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:07 am
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I'd be looking at some sort of all weather foam pit though

Just think of all the fun you can have....


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:08 am
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[i]Would be awesome[/i]

You'd have to duck a bit up the shallow end 😉


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:08 am
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bike storage shed with full workshop?

It's already got an 18'x18' garage and 28'x14' office/workshop.
it's a big hit every summer with our kids and friends of kids

This does appeal as we have 2 kids..


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:09 am
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Crocodile farm.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:12 am
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Crocodile fam

I thought TSY had gone all street on us.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:16 am
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Saw a program where they used an old swimming pool as a sunken summer house with a conservatory type frame on top. Set it up with a few toys and a telescope if it's an area with dark skies would be very cool. Personally I love swimming so I would do
Best to keep as a pool.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:18 am
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Pools are expensive to run and even to fill in ! Get quotes for both, I am not a fan so I would fill it in.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:22 am
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Boating lake. Get a load of radio controlled battleships and recreate the battle of the North Atlantic

Edit: [url= http://www.model-space.com/gb/build-the-akagi-full-kit.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw7pHLBRDqARIsAFyKPa4IM6_Z1-im4N-3U7Vz7qwyofb4m-1ardtmnibiQa0l_Qqc3MYkHUwaAoP5EALw_wcB ]check this out! [/url] I want one! 😀


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:22 am
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Mobile planters, garden table/chairs with a large transparent rain shelter above (so you could go outside, but stay dry unless extreme winds)? Basically a mini- suntrap for you and some greenery.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:22 am
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Another vote for swimming pool. You'll be spending money on it whatever you do with it, so why not spend it on refurbing what you've got?

I was lucky enough to have one at home when I was growing up. Couldn't wait to get home after school when it was hot. Mates would be talking on the train home about looking forward to a cold shower, I'd be thinking how awful it would be not to have a swimming pool at home! It's a flipping amazing thing to have.

Get the kids used to swimming when it's cold, and you won't need to spend much heating it. Just a bit of a bump up for parties to keep the unhardy happy! Depending on where it is? North? South?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:24 am
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I don't think Binners is taking this very seriously! 😐

As someone who bought a house with a working swimming pool, I'd offer the following advice:
If you have young children, make the effort to get it back up and running.
If you enjoy swimming, make the effort to get it back up and running.
If neither of the above apply....fill it in!


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:26 am
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I thought TSY had gone all street on us

Just call me Stormzy, or Lukaku, or whatever.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:26 am
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In situations like this you have to ask yourself what would Colin Furze do?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:30 am
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I'd go weed farm, or huge deep fat frier.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:35 am
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Boating lake.

We could do that if it was kept as a pool too 😀
Depending on where it is?

Midlands
Basically a mini- suntrap for you and some greenery

By greenery, do you mean weed? 😉


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:36 am
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Some kind of "upmarket" shed/gym for me I imagine, although I'd probably try and keep half the pool and have the wall separating the 2 made of glass so it's like a human aquarium in the summer. Also ideal for making sure the kids, if any, aren't drowning...


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:38 am
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No you have young kids?

One of the most heinous and unsightly things that has happened to British gardens in the last decade or so are those god awful trampolines that seem to be a right of passage for every child at about the age of six. Horrible ugly monstrosities. A old swimming pool gives the the opportunity to have a ground level trampoline with no silly netting big enough not only for the grommets but also drunken nights of fun. What's not to love!

That or a subterranean gimp cage obviously.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:39 am
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A old swimming pool gives the the opportunity to have a ground level trampoline big enough not only for the grommets but also drunken nights of fun. What's not to love!

This has crossed my mind 🙂


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:40 am
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Get creative with concrete and turn it into a skate bowl.

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:43 am
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The wife would definitely say 'no' to a couple of big grandstands in the garden 😆


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:46 am
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Pond, defo.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:55 am
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Put spikes in the bottom to catch pirates and bears.

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:01 am
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ah yes Beefheart has it


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:03 am
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We acquired a 24ft pool with our current place. Fortunately its in a building so its usable for more than the week or so in the year its warm enough in this country to swim outdoors without a wet suit. Apart from a new pump (£400) it hasn't cost that much to run as we only use it April-Sep and only heat the water and not the building. Its easy enough to maintain the water chemistry. Our pool is lined however and I'm looking at a £4k bill to replace the liner in 5-6 years. Hopefully we'll have moved out before then.

With pools its very much a case of use it or lose it. If you don't keep them maintained then they will just turn into an algae infested swamp. If you empty them then the liner (even a concrete liner) will float out of the ground if you have a low water table.

If the OPs pool needs all the plant replaced and is an outdoor pool I'd pay to have it filled in. If its an indoor pool its probably worth rescuing.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:08 am
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wall separating the 2 made of glass so it's like a human aquarium in the summer.

YES!

Not a cheap option though, and you've got half a swimming pool.

Swim up bar. Just putting it out there.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:08 am
 ctk
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Any pics OP?

For me refurb unless its impossible.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:22 am
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If your kids are young consider having it start off as a sort of sunken paddling pool then add a little water each year as they grow.

Or this


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:23 am
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Canabis farm 8)


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:37 am
 JoeG
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Ice hockey rink. 😉


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:42 am
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Any pics OP?

Will have some later, when we've had a look around.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:47 am
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My parents have just de commissioned their pool as a pipe cracked under the concrete after 30years. They have turned the deep end into a sunken garden and have put a hot tub in the shallow end. It looks amazing. I'm going there after work and will take some pics.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:50 am
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Reed bed sewage filtration system.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:56 am
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Rockape63 - Member
I don't think Binners is taking this very seriously!

I don't know, I think that the ball pit is a great idea!


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 11:58 am
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Ooh, like the hot tub idea, pics would be great..


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 12:04 pm
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Some kind of pit to keep wild beasts?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 12:11 pm
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Some kind of pit to keep wild beasts?

The kids will have their own bedrooms 🙂


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 12:22 pm
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so trying to think of ideas to appease the wife

With a hole that big already dug you have no need to placate anyone ever again!


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 12:28 pm
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Don't fill it in, just build some nice decking over the top.

Failing that: Ball pit or fish tank.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 12:33 pm
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Sunken bouldering wall with the walls coming 3ft above ground to form a railing around the pit.


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 12:58 pm
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My ball pool idea was a serious suggestion. But how about adding in...

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 1:00 pm
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Posted : 11/07/2017 1:22 pm
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Advertise on Freebay - Swimming Pool - free to collect 😉


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 1:35 pm
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Isn't this where the sharks with lasers are kept? Extra point for having a lift above the pool with 'drop out' floor as convenient disposal point for operatives who have failed you

(i'm assuming that Failure is not tolerated in your organisation"..... 😉


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 7:24 pm
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Snake pit, skate bowl or comedy ACME style fake garden leading to a snake pit


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:28 pm
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Side business running an abattoir?


 
Posted : 11/07/2017 10:41 pm
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If it's fit for use you could easily put a poly tunnel over it till such time as you could afford a more permanent solution.


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 1:23 am
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Build a shed with a [url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_roof ]green roof[/url] on a hydraulic platform within the pool. Press a button, your shed rises up out of the ground. Press again, it sinks down to leave a nice [url=

or something in its place.

Great security for the shed too, if the scrotes can't even find it 8)


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 3:36 am
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Definitely a skate bowl


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 5:15 am
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Mechanical pit? For tanks!

Mass grave? Apologies Bad taste


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 5:44 am
 5lab
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Mass grave? Apologies Bad taste

Well, the house does have a large cellar. If you've got somewhere to hide the bodies it's the perfect fritzl palace


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 6:08 am
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I'd turn it into a massive reptile enclosure - replicate a bit of the jungle in the comfort of your own garden.

Get a reticulated python and some massive tropical trees and build a big glass house around it.

But then I'm very much into reptile keeping so ymmv.


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 6:17 am
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Italian Sunken Garden.

Gives you somewhere to bury dogs, tortoises and Percy Thrower.

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 7:24 am
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Always preferred the idea of a swimming pond, to a pool.

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 7:46 am
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use it as somewhere to keep your old fridges and supermarket trollies.


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 8:06 am
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Use it as a baking tray and make a massive cheesecake.

Cherry or blackcurrant.


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 8:16 am
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Deck it over with an inset trampoline


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 8:19 am
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Turns out the house is an absolute wreck and needs £100+k spending so it's not going to be a goer 🙁


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 9:41 am
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In that case the pool would make a great skip.


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 9:44 am
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Always preferred the idea of a swimming pond, to a pool.

This. You can still swim in it on warm days, it's good for ecology, and costs less to maintain.


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 9:46 am
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Rightmove link Stevied?


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 9:47 am
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http://www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/67573661

The photos are 2 years old and there's been some 'work' done since.
(By work I mean making a mess)


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 10:30 am
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The empty swimming pool alone would cost you that round here! 🙂


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 3:10 pm
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from google earth looks like the pool virtually fills the entire garden?

It looked damp even in those pics and if it's been empty since...


 
Posted : 12/07/2017 3:14 pm
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