It will cost more than 1200$ to maintain my pool in South Florida for the 7 or so months I must leave in summer. Is there any reason not to just drain it and shut it down instead? It is in a screened enclosure and surrounded by a knee wall with good drainage so I don't think structural issues will be a problem
leaving for 7 months plus
- Thread starter BobbyAnalytics
- Start date
I see that it is a really new pool. $170 per month is a pretty cheap insurance plan to protect the very recent big investment.
Draining is one of the most risky ways to deal with a pool - ground water forces, with nothing to oppose them, can break the structure or even cause it all to pop out of the ground. But your choice to take the risk or not, in order to save a smaller cost.
Draining is one of the most risky ways to deal with a pool - ground water forces, with nothing to oppose them, can break the structure or even cause it all to pop out of the ground. But your choice to take the risk or not, in order to save a smaller cost.
Plaster cannot be left dry very long without damaging it. It’ll cost more than $1200 to replace the plaster.
One option might be to rent the house out to a friend and have them take care of the pool.
Do you have autofill and an overflow drain? How will you handle a drought or a very rainy season. It would be prudent to have someone to check the pool weekly.
Draining and leaving it empty for that long will most likely cause more issues with plaster and tiles in the future plus the risk of the pool floating up.
Portland cement, sand and lime (stucco), even without aggregate doesn't fall off my home. And a concrete deck under the pavers with drainage to daylight from the bottom of the pool, seems to be enough reason not to worry about leaving it empty, but I will listen to the pros and keep a pool guy busy. I don't want any issues and have to get it repaired after just two years or so!
Last year we got 77" in summer, hasn't rained since. We definitely have distinct dry and rainy seasons. In case it doesn't rain (very unlikely), I will shut off the skimmer. No auto fill but overflow is code with the pool deck the same level as the house floor.
Pool plaster is designed to be different in that it waterproofs tons and tons of water pressure. Minor cracks on a homes stucco wall don’t have much water pressure forcing water into them and the wall has a vapor barrier behind it to allow any moisture that does get through to drain away. Don’t conflate pool plaster with stucco because they share some ingredients. Or if you do, it’ll be an expensive mistake.
