Pool House Questions

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andyoi630

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Aug 30, 2013
154
Maryland
Hi all,

Been on here for awhile. A few years ago we did a pretty elaborate owner build at our old house with a lot of help from here and have since moved. We have plans for a two tier infinity edge pool, but the piece we can't answer is whether a pool house makes sense.

We have a full walkout basement, and the pool will be on the edge of the yard, so getting upstairs to the kitchen isn't far, but not exactly convenient.

My initial thought was to do a pool house with living room, kitchen, guest room, spa bathroom, and a deck off the back with year round hot tub. Out front would have a covered area with outdoor kitchen and fireplace. This would be my dream setup, but the question is, how much use will it really get for the price?

We live in a frost climate so I assume it will need a full set of footers 5 plus feet down.

For those of you who have pool houses, do you use them? Were they worth it?

We also have three covered sections of the back deck so we have some shade areas.

Any thoughts are welcome!
 
Andy, how big is your family? Ages if any kids will be helpful.

Think back to your last pool.....how often did you groan after a get together when you saw them heading inside to use the bathroom or such?

When you say walk out basement what do you mean? It is finished?

Do you have large get togethers often?

Kim:kim:
 
Hi Kim,

Currently it is just my wife and I, but hopefully kids in the next year or two.

Our setup at the last pool was a bit different - our kitchen door was only ~2 feet off the ground, and everyone had to walk through the kitchen to the bathroom. On the new house, we do have a fully finished basement, with a bathroom pretty close to the back door - but still involves walking through a carpeted room and then carpeted hallway.

10 person get togethers are decently frequent, and I'm sure that will grow a bit once we have kids.

I guess I'm asking about serious serious first world problems - but my concern was that, if I have to walk 200 feet to get a drink in the house, how frequently am I really going to do that?
 
I hear what you are saying. Just be glad you are set up so that you can have these kinds of "problems".

I think your pool house set up will be purrfect since you will also have a hot tub out there as well as a fire place. That will allow it to be used year round. It would be a dream come true for many people! You will love it once you have kids and they get bigger. Think of watching football games out there!! That would be so sweet!

Share a pic of your yard/house as it is now and tell us where you are thinking of putting the pool and pool house.

Kim:kim:
 
I don't have a pool house but to your question as to whether you'd get use relative to the price I'd say that's a firm no. But imo that's true of a pool itself especially in our area (I'm in a 4 season climate, NY). So if you'll use and enjoy it don't let that stop you. I just don't how much use something like that would get.

Now for my unsolicited .02 :) I agree that walking 200' to the house is inconvenient and not the worst thing. It's not the 200 feet that's bad (400' round trip). It's the second trip because you left your sunglasses on the kitchen counter, someone asks for something 5 minutes after you just got back from a walk inside, etc, etc. 7 trips and you've done more than half a mile! You'd do two trips just getting ready for a party never mind at the party itself. You could always get water absorbent runners for the basement rug (it will get dripped on). If it's truly disposable income sure but otherwise maybe a compromise would solve any issues you'd have. Maybe a "shack" that has a half bath, seating for 3 with a fridge for drinks and some cabinets for storage (outdoor plates, cups, etc.), a sink to wash out the blender :), grill and a kegerator (if you drink beer; ask me for advice on that if you go that route). I'm thinking something like the "shack" in the picture below. You could do the rear of the shack with a smooth outer finish and get a projector to show movies on.

Kim has shown me the way to spending other people's money :)

39656853562_d780f5d68f_z.jpg
 
Thanks for the feedback. I know the constant back and forth all too well. I took some quick pictures since it's so cold to just give you a feel of the yard, house style, and where it might go:

Here is a very rough drawing showing pool position (shape/size not to scale by any means), and where the pool house would potentially go.

faU8XQh.jpg

House back to show style -

z8FH3K6.jpg

View from above:

LR8cMbg.jpg
 
From a monetary standpoint you can never really justify a pool let alone a pool house. But if you want it and can afford it then go for it. Don’t forget you can’t take your money to the grave with you and you make it so you can spend it and enjoy it. Just my .02
 
Main Yard View:

Abl76YK.jpg


Pool location:

K3pSWqb.jpg


If I had to envision something, it would be along these lines:

eXmBcUW.png


I guess I have some concerns:

1. The vast majority of our usable yard (even those it's over 3 acres) is reserved for septic / septic reserve field, meaning that our pool has to be pushed off to one side. I'm wondering if adding a detached building on that same side, will be "overloading" that, if you know what I mean?

2. I can't decide if a building, even if done nicely, will detract from the natural woods. They don't look great in the pictures since it's January, but are very nice in Spring/Summer/Fall. There's also a very slight water view through them.

3. Construction will be tough - the location the building goes on most likely is a nice slope, so it could well need 8+ ft concrete walls poured for a suitable foundation. Then the matter of pumping the septic up to the house.

4. Then of course we have cost. I'd take a very rough guess and estimate that picture above pool house is 75-100k, easily.
 
Hi Andy. Like Kim, I love to spend other people's money so let me tell you all the future uses you might find for a pool house if you design it right and plan to stay a while ;)

1. Mother in law appartment...it is IMHO cheaper to hire a nurse and house an in law then paying the $5-7k a mo. A nice assisted living place costs ;)

2. A future child becomes a musician ;) Ask me how I know about this one. There's still a full drum kit and PA in my pole-barn 2-story pool house...which does come in handy in parties. And of course, served as a temporary apartment for said musician post grad til he figured out he should program for sustenance...

3. Speaking of parties, if you like to throw them...you or your partner may like to throw them better if you can sequester that all-nighter-type friend from the main residence. ( I might resemble that remark ;)

4. Age in place space...if you make it one floor and handicap accessible, someday you may be able to get a future kid to buy the main and you still get a private pool to retire in instead of one of those public facility or condo monsters that, to a TFPer, are gross to swim in.

5. Rehabillitation and workout space...Andy, your house has stairs! Stairs are great until youre old and rolling around on a scooter because you broke something like my dear hubby did two years ago. Rehabbing in a one floor pool house adjacent to a TFP pool is just what the doctor ordered.

6. Future nursing residence in "death house". If you love where you are enough to stay there for life, you will be competitive in attracting live in help if you have a separate residence.

7. Establishment of a seniors compound in the post-capitalist collapse or zombie apocalypse. - you get the idea here ;)

So with a few exceptions, those are ways my ppol house has served me, even though my pool house was part of the foreclosure I purchased so essentially "free" to me. I think a separate residence holds resale appeal for those who think like I do. I didn't even mention the home business angle where, zoning permitted, you could pay yourself rent..but lets just say if I had the task of rationalizing the investment I'd probably have it down in spades ;)
 
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I think cost to benefit is the key here. $75k plus is a lot. Can you go less and just put a changing house and bathroom? Would you tie into your existing septic? I think you could do it for $20k with just a changing house. That means running hot and cold water plus the drain. Also would need heat possibly A/C perhaps a small through-wall unit. Also look at pre-made buildings that can be dropped on your property. $10k would buy a very nice unit.
 

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I’m curious about this too. I’ve been researching this for my own backyard. I don’t have anywhere near enough funds yet, but like the idea of an outdoor kitchen, changing room, bathroom, and maybe washer & dryer for swimsuits and towels.
 
I'm with you here. Never used the hot tub or spa we had before when it was even a little cold. Why? When I got out, Id have to run across the yard then the whole house all wet to get to the shower.

The positives very much appeal to me. The cost, upkeep, and other architectural concerns still have me worried.
 
We have a gaggle (or is that a giggle) of grandies. When they get out of the pool and say they need to go, it makes me smile, cause I'd way rather not have it in the pool.

But telling them they have to dry off while they're crossing their legs almost makes me cry! Thankfully it's all tile to the powder room, but yeh, do what you can to have a toilet nearby :) and expand your plans from there ;).

That's great advice about aging (and staggering guests) from Swampwoman above!
 
Giggle of grandies for sure!!!!

Andy, I think the building on the side of the yard/pool will be the purrfect place for it! That way it will not block your view of those wonderful woods! It also leaves the rest of the yard as a yard to play on......football, soccer, baseball, etc.

I like what Nectarologist and you both posted as ideas. The thoughts swampy shared are all valid things to think about in the future.

I will tell you that we have a house in our neighborhood that has a "pool house". It became a Mother in law suite when the time came. They were able to let her stay there for a good, long time with a "helper". Once she passed it became home to one of the older grandies while they went to collage. The next grandie is about to move into it in the fall so...................things work out like they should!

Kim:kim:
 
By the way, relocating a septic percolation field is not hugely expensive compared to pools and cabanas. It's not even yucky cause all the yucky bit is related to the septic tank. I know local regulation throws a spanner in the works, but just thought I'd mention it cause you'll have an excavator there, access in and out, something that can move gravel, etc., for the pool build, and usually the field just gets whacked in at the easiest/closest spot, rather than out of the way closer to the required setbacks.

That said, it's a great point Kim makes about preserving a large open area for backyard cricket (haha). Decisions, decisions!
 
Love the responses. On the septic field, I think my bigger issue is finding space to redesignate as the reserve area. But, that is a great point about still keeping the entire yard.

Good points about potential in law suite. I guess that’s something to keep in mind and changes the scope a bit. That almost warrants a washer dryer, separate bedroom, closet, etc.

We are still pretty young so that’s a very forward looking view. In terms of kids, I am certainly worried about them destroying the house with the pool.

I feel as though it will be a very expensive, used twice a year thing ;)
 
Will either you or your spouse be staying at home with the potential future kids? If so, I’d think the joint would get substantial use. Though of course it may anyway, just thinking out loud. If you built it with a wall of retracting sliding doors, it could be closed or open like a covered patio. Outdoor bath is nice but if one is available in the basement on tile then that honestly works fine too. We have that. It’s actually great. It’s not an extra thing to maintain because we use he basement frequently anyway.
 
If you are in central MD, footers need to be 30” deep. But Oakland, maybe 5’.
 

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