Thinking About Getting a Pool...

inground pools are expensive and a big deal to put in, but oh, how wonderful it would be! even my little above-ground pool is a blessing. during the summer i'm in it almost every stinking day.
clearly it's not going to warm up enough to let me back in. i'll have to succumb to my ogre husband's nattering to close ours.
wah!
:) khairete
S.

To give you a thought, my husband and I both grew up with a pool and my sister has one now, and I would not put one in based on those experiences. As nice as it was to have our own pool as kids, we had no one to play with unless we invited people over. Meanwhile, all my friends were at the public pool with classmates to play with. My sister's girls only have each other to play with, except for one family that has made my sister's pool their pool every summer -- the girls are never invited to their house reciprocally, they just invite themselves over every day. In addition, my sister pays around $800 to close their pool every summer (the pipes have to be flushed out a special way), and I don't know how much more in maintenance. Their property is wooded, so she complains about frogs and snakes and spiders in the pool constantly. And it was one of my chores to vacuum the pool, skim it, and chlorinate it when I was a kid. Things are a little more automated now, but I always hated the work. Now, I pay $360 every summer to drive five minutes, have a ton of friends for my kids to play with, and leave again without looking back. Yes, there are a lot of downsides to a public pool and upsides to having your own, but you asked for things to think about -- those would be my contributions.

If you do choose to get a pool, consider a salt water pool -- my brother has one and loves it -- no chlorination needed (although he's in Florida, so I don't know if that makes a difference).

Love our pool. Hours and hours of great entertainment for all....and all my kids are THE BEST swimmers! The diving board and slide have been a MUST for us too!

My only advice would be to make sure you have no trees close (for falling debris) and keep in mind how much sun your backyard gets and where...you want to maximize your sun coverage to get the best solar heat (from solar cover)....but I do see you live in UT, so maybe even think about a solar heater to maximize your swimming season?

Sounds fabulous to me!

Got O. this past spring.
LOVE it!

Prepare for your house to be Kid Central! LOL

Our electric bill wasn't *that* bad and the chemicals weren't too expensive.
It's about lifestyle. If you like to swim, you'll like a pool!

We have a pool and love it.
We used to have a pool guy - $80/month. But we cancelled that luxury to do it ourselves. We just cannot stay on top of it and have spent all summer fighting algae.
And, your electric bill will go up running the filter. Get an energy savings one. And I forget what they call it, but get one that runs two or more times a day, not just once. You'll pay more up front, but less in electric bills.
And, if you heat it, your gas will go up. Maybe you could go solar?
I would definitely add something of entertainment value, diving board, slide, etc.
Good luck

We have a pool, but we live in TX where majority of homes do. We chose to do an ozone pool. We also did in-ground filtration so you don't have that stupid hose floating around in your pool. Also, as a side note, if you are into emergency preparedness, know that if you do a salt water pool you can not ever clean that water to drink it should the need arise. The filtration process you have to go through to be able to drink salt water is a 4 step menacing process in which you end up wasting 90% or more of of the water. We also had fun w/our accessories by doing color changing LED lights which our kids love at night:) We also did a grotto that people can jump off of vs a diving board because the insurance in TX to have a diving board is ridiculous, but I don't know about UT laws on diving boards, you'd have to check that out.

We have a pool in our backyard and its terrific. I live in Houston so we use it alot! Our pool does not have a liner. Its galvanized. So the maintenance or the upkeep is very little. We will have to have it redone in the next couple of years but our pool is at least 15 years old. We can heat it but that is way too expensive. We also have a spa. LOVE IT!!!

Pools can be work but not too much nowadays. Good luck!!

While not a pool owner the 2 biggest complaints I have heard repeatedly from friends & family include:
1) ripped liners (obviously only applies to those non cement pools); and
2) Huge increase in electric bill (even those that are not heated).

Consider the additional cost of supplies and power to run it. Who is going to clean it, are there laws about having a fence installed in your area. I would love to have a pool but it is simply not in the cards. Good luck!

The pools look nice. I know with your climate you'll need to make sure you have the winter stuff needed before you fully decide to do this. My cousin has a hard time growing some stuff in her garden in Provo so I know it can be quite cool even in the summer time there. She lives just east of the dorms under the "Y".

I think that making sure what kind of water you want to have is the most important. One of my friends had a non chlorine pool and it was wonderful! It stayed better that any of the chlorine ones I had ever swam in. I can't remember what it was but it was NOT salt water.

I hope your family has many many years of fun in your pool! You might even consider a cover of some sort like they do in Florida, but that is solid and not screen. That way you can use it more of the year.