Pool Inspections

[gkruske]

Hey guys...this may be more of a poll-type post.

Recently finished my home inspection certification, and am planning to start business mid-May. Most inspectors have add-on type services (radon testing, mold testing, etc.). I did some research, and found an add-on that is obviously near and dear to me....pool inspections! In this research, I have found that no one in the Kansas City area either does not do these inspections, or they just don't advertise it. Inspecting a pool would produce an equal amount of liability as a home inspection would.....you are not required to comment on things you cannot see, i.e. underground plumbing. However, I know that that is one thing people want to know about when purchasing a home w/a pool.

I took the course, and it basically outlined a lot of the stuff in the topics here. Types of equipment, types of liners, specifications of the equipment, much more. Lots of focus on safety.

I know that when we bought our home, I was scared to death of this giant cement pond in the backyard, and had many of the same questions. Does it leak? What do I do? How do I operate it? I swear the wife and I nearly got a divorce over buying that house, because of the pool. But 2 years later, I know we didn't make a mistake.

For those of you who didn't build your pool, but merely bought a house that had the pool in the backyard, is this a service that you would have gladly paid for with a standard home inspection? Since I have no real basis to go on with the competition, this is a service that would run between 50-75 bucks. Nothing huge.

A pool inspection is nearly standard in the warmer states, where a pool is a common fixture (Arizona, California, etc.). Even though there are plenty of pools in Missouri, I don't think there's enough to warrant a pool inspection as standard, so just another avenue of generating more income, on something that I know about.

And of course, any inspection that I would do for a home-buyer would definitely get this web address!

Greg

 

[JasonLion]

I had a very hard time finding a pool inspector here in Maryland when we bought our current house, and the one I finally found was alright, but not really all that good. Lots of places I called said they had stopped doing them, but never said why.

We paid $150, and that seemed like a bargain compared to many of the other closing costs, especially since we got a couple of thousand off the purchase price because of all the code violations the pool inspector found.

One thing I liked about our building inspector (not the same as the pool inspector) is that he gave us a book that had a couple of pages about each of the issues he found, so we could read up on them and try to understand what was actually wrong. I wonder if there is such a book for swimming pools.

 

[gkruske]

Thanks Jason. I recall asking my home inspector when we bought the place about the pool, and all he mentioned is that he would check the subpanel, and maybe the deck. That's it. He never did really mention anything about an actual pool inspection, with a report dedicated to the pool and its systems.

All we can do in any inspection is report visually. We open another can of worms if we comment on code. We can obviously point out problems (like an open junction box, subpanel with the knockouts exposed, etc), but reciting code is a no-no. We would, of course, refer them to an electrician/plumber/contractor, if needed.

We do have 'continuing education' resources for the homebuyer. But in a pool inspection, it would be my plan to obviously be specific in the report, and if a complete novice, I seriously would direct them here. I found this website about 1.5 years too late.

 

[New2Me]

We bought our home w/pool in 2006, and our real estate professional recommended a separate pool inspection, a pool rider added to the home warranty and the inclusion of all pool equipment and cleaning accessories in the sales contract. We paid $75 for the inspection from a local PS/PB(not the original installer) owner. He inspected the pool and all the equipment (including the Aquabot) and listed his opinions/concerns on the condition of the liner. heater, pump, safety items, etc..He recommended opening the pool early the next year, so that any problems might show before the warranty ran out, which turned out to be a great idea. Two weeks after opening in 2007 the heater started leaking, and the warranty paid $800 toward its replacement! (parts were no longer available for it) He also advised us to start saving for a liner replacement, which was done in 2009. It was well worth the $75 we paid, as this was my first pool, and even though I've helped friends who have had pools for years, I was nervous!