Hidden or Forgotten Costs

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ashleilachelle

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May 31, 2023
7
Texas
What are some of the hidden or unconsidered costs of installing and owning a pool?
  • Monthly costs?
  • Immediate & Necessary Purchases after install is complete?
  • Landscaping/plants/etc.
  • Supplies
  • Little things that add up
I'm in Houston, Texas, and I have never owned a pool so I'm ignorant to all things pool related. It has been a lifelong goal to put a pool, but my husband has always been against it due to not only the initial investment but the "other costs that I'm not considering."

So I'm hoping you all can humble me and help me make sure I'm not biting off more than I can chew since we are about to sign a contract with a builder.
 
Up front costs:
-pool and water to fill it
-Test kit BEFORE it is filled to learn how to use it Test Kits Compared
-chemicals to start up new water: Recommended Pool Chemicals you will not need all of these. This lists what we use for each area if it needs adjusted.
-brush
-vacuum of some sort-manual or robot
-way to add FC (free chlorine) to the pool-liquid chlorine or SWG as seen here: SWG How It Works - Further Reading

On going costs:
-electricity-if you get a VS pump then your power costs may be lower as you can run it on low.
-liquid chlorine if you don't get a swg, salt if you do get the swg

Need to have but might already have:
-towels
-plastic dished, cups, etc for by the pool as NO glass is allowed for safety reasons

Landscaping is not needed. It might be wanted but..................you can enjoy your pool without it.

Others might have other things to add to this list but this is the main things

Kim:kim:
 
ashleilachelle said:
What are some of the hidden or unconsidered costs of installing and owning a pool?
  • Monthly costs?
  • Immediate & Necessary Purchases after install is complete?
  • Landscaping/plants/etc.
  • Supplies
  • Little things that add up
I'm in Houston, Texas, and I have never owned a pool so I'm ignorant to all things pool related. It has been a lifelong goal to put a pool, but my husband has always been against it due to not only the initial investment but the "other costs that I'm not considering."

So I'm hoping you all can humble me and help me make sure I'm not biting off more than I can chew since we are about to sign a contract with a builder.
Click to expand...
Hidden installation costs: rerouting electrical, gas or sewer lines should they be in the way of the pool construction. Replacing sod and sprinklers. Removing any tree stumps hidden when they dig the pool. Upgrading gas meter if needed.
 
Filling and maintaining the pool requires regular water usage, which can increase your monthly water bill. Additionally, running the pool pump and other equipment will contribute to higher electricity costs.

Pools need chemicals to maintain proper water balance and cleanliness. This includes chlorine, pH adjusters, algaecides, and more. These chemical costs can add up over time.

You may choose to hire a professional pool cleaner or opt for regular maintenance services. This would involve ongoing costs to keep the pool clean and in good condition.
 
Repairing the irrigation can cost a fortune. I should have had 1 zone running through the pool area and there were 9 pipes sticking out after the dig. (4 or 5 zones, one was either a 'T' with 3 legs, or the other half of the pipe was no longer exposed).

I didn't want that many splices under the new patio which should last me forever, so I decided to replace the 1/2 acre backyard in order to reroute the zones away from the patio/pool. With DIY, I was around $1k for the trencher rental, 900 ft of pipe, 30 something heads and fittings. It would have cost several times that to hire it out.

Then I needed 45 yards of topsoil ($22 a yard) 5 bags of seed ($125 to $150 each), plenty of fertilizer (lost count), and close to $1000 in water to grow the grass. Again, it would have cost much more paying someone. With only so much time and energy and funds, I did half last year and half this year.
 
ashleilachelle said:
What are some of the hidden or unconsidered costs of installing and owning a pool?
  • Monthly costs?
  • Immediate & Necessary Purchases after install is complete?
  • Landscaping/plants/etc.
  • Supplies
  • Little things that add up
I'm in Houston, Texas, and I have never owned a pool so I'm ignorant to all things pool related. It has been a lifelong goal to put a pool, but my husband has always been against it due to not only the initial investment but the "other costs that I'm not considering."

So I'm hoping you all can humble me and help me make sure I'm not biting off more than I can chew since we are about to sign a contract with a builder.
Click to expand...
For the Houston area the 3 main ongoing costs that get loss in your monthly bills are water, electricity and gas.
In summer you will be adding water due to evaporation. If you get an autofill on the pool then you never notice because you are physically not turning on water but it will show in the monthly bill.
Electricity. They should install a VS pump, that may add $20-30 to your monthly electric bill. If you also have a separate water feature pump then that also adds up depending on use. The use of your lights have very little impact unless you are on 24/7.
Gas - depending on your pool size and heater - suggest you purchase a 400k BTU - expect to pay $50 to 75 to heat your pool for 1 day. You do not want to run your heater constantly but more of on demand. To heat the spa for an evening is less than half that cost.

I strongly recommend purchasing a SWCG which is in the upfront costs, but you will need to purchase muractic acid to control pH. If you have a water softener for the house then you need to purchase calcium occasionally.

Then you need need a proper test kit. Test Kits Compared so plan for that and the ongoing reagaent replacement ($60-80 per year)

Finally, how many pool toys you need, patio furniture, etc is more dependent on family requirements.

In spite of all of the above - family time and enjoyment is priceless.
Good luck and enjoy the pool.
 
Last edited:
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Don't underestimate the utility increase. My electric and gas bill doubled year-round since I am on the budget bill plan. Not just the months I use the pool. If you are not on the budget plan you might want to start.

Repairs. Heaters break. SWG cells wear out. Pumps fail. Lights fail. I repaired my gas heater last season for $1400 doing the work myself. If I had it done it would have been more likely closer to $4k.

Overall I would say my pool has added $5000 to my annual budget.
 
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Alyccia said:
Pools need chemicals to maintain proper water balance and cleanliness. This includes chlorine, pH adjusters, algaecides, and more.
Click to expand...
Please do not use "algaecides and more". Algaecides are not needed in a properly chlorinated pool and the "more" includes all sorts of clarifiers, floc, pH up, pH down, and other pool store magic potions that are not needed.

You may have to do some initial balancing of Calcium and CYA for your fill, but your only regular chemicals will only be chlorine (liquid is preferred) and Muratic Acid.
 
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To answer more seriously, I'm an OCD engineer so I went into the pool owning process with just about every cost of building and ownership calculated. So landscaping, increased utilities and the wife's spending on patio stuff didn't surprise me. I didn't expect the ladder anchors to corrode and need replacing. I didn't expect my wife's favorite foam chair to need replaced every year. On the positive side, I built my pool when pumps were single speed. Replacing it with a VSP was a pleasant surprise for both energy savings and reduction in noise.
 
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This is all wrong. You have to think of all the money you will be savings by staying at home and not going to do expensive activites. :cheers:
 
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JupiterFL said:
You have to think of all the money you will be savings by staying at home and not going to do expensive activites.
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No joke. When insane daycare costs came off the books with both kids in K or above, we finally had a little financial room to breathe. We sat down as a family and voted 4-0 to build a pool instead of starting to take vacations.

For the week or two away each year that we missed, we made 100s of memories having a dozen or two get togethers all season. Plus, all the times we enjoyed it with just us.
 
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Dont forget the benfits/cost savings especially if you have kids:
- Less movies/outside events that cost $$$ these days, and more time at home
- Birthday parties - Pool party is much less expensive than a birthday party at Main Event, or renting some place
 
Along the way you will be replacing patio furniture and/or getting covers for it or new slip covers. For vinyl pools a new liner ever 10-15 years. There will probably be the occasional hunt for a leak/fix to the liner. Cleaning the decking around the pool and/or fixing the polymeric sand if you go pavers. Spending more on gatherings and parties (food, paper plates, plastic cups, utensils, propane for bbq, etc). It all depends on how granular you want to get and what do you value your time at compared to paying someone else to do things. I also spend more to make the lawn look nice and the planting to look nice too.
 
Insurance is a big one, many people recommend getting an umbrella policy.

If you're adding a fence, there's additional effort trimming and/or weeding along the fence line.

Extra sunscreen since the whole family will want to spend more time outside. Pool toys, etc.
 
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