Looking at a house where the previous owner has put a pool in the back garden three years ago. It’s a decent size and looks pretty deep (it was empty when we looked at it).

Now I have no particular desire to have a pool in the garden and quite frankly its ridiculous relative to the size of the house. That said the kids will probably enjoy it in the summer. It’s been installed with a ground heat source pump to heat it and an inline chlorine thingy that regulates chlorine levels. Google suggests running costs are reasonable as its just power to the pump but what other costs/hassles are there for a pool?

Also, google tells me that to fill it in would be c.£5k based on knocking the top couple of feet off and then filling the rest with hardcore/soil, returning it to grass. Is that a reasonable suggestion?

So is it a constant pain in the arris or are they actually ok to run?

I did once when I was locked out. These things happen.

Oh, a ‘pool’. Sorry.

what other costs/hassles are there for a pool?

Rock stars driving their Rolls Royces into it?

You don’t live anywhere near Michael Barrymore, do you?

I don’t have a pool myself, even thinking of it is making my Working Class twich go mad, but an old colleague of mine did, as does one of our neighbours who’ve a friend of my wife.

Far and away the biggest costs seems to be heating it, he was a bit pissed, and I’ve no idea how big it is/was but “five grand a year to keep it bearably warm between May and Sept” was my take away memory – a ground heat source seems like a brilliant idea, although for that sort of money you’ve got to ask how long before it becomes cheaper to build a UPVC and glass structure over it.

I think you also need someone to service and maintain it.

Oh and if you’re on a meter no doubt a decent lump of cash to fill it in the first place.

My neighbor told me recently that at the bottom of my garden the previous owner had a swimming pool built, then years latter had buried and lawned over!

Our garden is tiny and would explain why that part of the lawn is so damp!

Would not want a pool in my garden with kids about tbh

Surely ?

I recall that when filling pools you can inform the water company and get a sewage discharge allowance – the assumption being the water is not released into the drains.

Do paddling pools count?

<p style=”margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;”><span style=”font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;”>We had one in our last place. When we moved in were had a similar view to it. It was heated by a separate oil fired boiler. Heating costs weren’t too bad once we got used to how to regulate it (i.e. run steady and crank it up a bit when you know you’ve got weekend use coming up).</span></p>

<p style=”margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;”><span style=”font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;”> </span></p>

<p style=”margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;”><span style=”font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;”>The biggest ball aches for me were:</span></p>

<ul style=”list-style-type: disc; direction: ltr;”>
<li style=”color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;”>
<p style=”color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;”>netting leaves out of the bloody thing every weekend/time you took the cover off (probably wasn’t helped by the pool being in a walled garden surrounded by tall trees)</p>

<li style=”color: #000000; font-family: ‘Calibri’,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;”>
<p style=”color: #000000; font-family: ‘Calibri’,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;”>more stuff to go wrong (the pump was on its last legs when we moved, that would hve been a few £’00 to replace), a few odd leaks, another boiler to go wrong</p>

<li style=”color: #000000; font-family: ‘Calibri’,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;”>
<p style=”color: #000000; font-family: ‘Calibri’,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;”>getting the temp right to satisfy my frugal ways and the wife’s need to have it just under boiling point</p>

<li style=”color: #000000; font-family: ‘Calibri’,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;”>
<p style=”color: #000000; font-family: ‘Calibri’,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;”>opening it up/shutting it down for the summer/winter (open Apr-Oct usually) was a bit of a pain (changing covers etc)</p>

<p style=”margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;”><span style=”font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;”> </span></p>

<p style=”margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;”><span style=”font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;”>Keeping the chemical balance right was easy despite what most articles/forums imply – if in doubt add more chlorine. </span></p>

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<p style=”margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;”><span style=”font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;”>It was great fun for the few times a year when the weather was stonking hot but I wouldn’t go out of my way to have one again and tbh am pleased the new place doesn’t have one!</span></p>

^^^^ooooffh…don’t know what happened there!

Sorry, its an air source heat pump. Bit more digging seems to imply £250 in heating per season.

Pool in the garden with young kids is a consideration, I’d certainly be putting up a fence.

I could roof over the top and make it an underground lair/bike den.

Edit – thanks djambo. Think I can decipher most of it!

We bought our house in 99 with a pool in the garden. Our kids were very young then and as a result had many fantastic summers with the pool very popular with friends and family.  Nothing better than letting the kids have fun while the adults enjoy a boozy bbq!

Weve always had air source heat pumps which work well between May and Sept but start to struggle when the cold evenings kick in.

Now the only person to use it, is my wife, so not particularly great value anymore. Defo keep it for the kids!

You could always build a shed/summer house/man cave over it with an awesome basement.

You say “pool”..

What you really mean is it’s a Mucky Puddle Sex Pond innit.. (all be it a large one)

Mucky sex lake.

Mucky sex loch.

We have a pool at the end of our garden. It came with the house when we bought it. I was all up for coverting it into a half pipe but Frau Stern stopped me. Good job she did as our kids absolutely love swimming in it in summer as do they’re mates! The cost of looking after a pool is not the high, it just takes up a bit of time. Our pool doesn’t have a heating system (but it isn’t really big enough for an adult to actually swim in it and so it’s more of a glorified paddling pool) but we did look into a heating system but the advice we had was don’t bother as unless you have a roof over it you lose all the heat to the air and it gives you maybe an extra two weeks worth of use each year. The only thing you have to keep on top of is the pool floor cleaning and maintaining the correct PH/chlorine level as without it the pool turns a nice shade of green pretty quickly

Do you leave the pool full year round or empty out during winter? I feel when typing I’m asking a stupid question here given the volume of water involved!

You ‘winterise’ it with chemicals to keep it algae free and put a winter cover over it to stop anyone or thing falling into it.

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;”>we did look into a heating system but the advice we had was don’t bother as unless you have a roof over it you lose all the heat to the air and it gives you maybe an extra two weeks worth of use each year. </span>

Utter bollocks….a solar cover provides enough insulation to keep it warm at night.