Fences Around the Pool

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bette1

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Mar 7, 2010
2
We've purchased a 16 X 32 foot stainless steel/vinyl liner IGP and expect installation to start next week. The price of the pool didn't suprise me but geez, the price of the fence is way more than I expected. We're looking at approximately $4,500 for a 4-foot high vinyl or aluminum fence (and one side of the fence is enclosed by a pre-existing retaining wall). We've also received an estimate of $1,500 for vinyl-coated chain link. Maybe it's a prejudice from years past but the idea of chain-link has very little appeal for me. When you guys enclosed your pools what did you use (pros and cons) and is there an economical option out there???? Thanks for your help.

Bette
 
Welcome to TFP.

Pool fence is expensive. :( Mine was over $3000 with two gates, and part of one side is my deck with its own railing and part of the other side is the pool house.

I went with an aluminum BOCA approved pool fence.
 
Around here a 6' wooden privacy fence can be installed for $12 per foot. A 6' all steel painted fence will cost about $45 per foot. The plastic and vinyl coated will be somewhere in between. So any fence you put up is going to be expensive.
 
We also went with a BOCA aluminum pool approved fence. Yes, it is an investment but if you spend your money wisely in the end you will not need to replace the fence. Shop around...I received 3 different estimates for the same fence and footage.
 
I just purchased a 4' mesh / removable fence. $9 sq ft and Im installing myself.
The gate was an extra $350.

Loop Loc makes them.

These things are not bad looking and if you are having a party or something you can pop them out in a few minutes.

This fence only goes across the yard to block entrance into the pool area. Surrounding the yard itself is a 6' vinyl fence which is a fortune. :hammer:
 
PoolGuyNJ said:
Use a core drill when installing. Hammer drills tend to make holes that aren't straight on straight sections or tipped quite right when making turns. Keep the turns wide. I've done a couple miles of Baby-Loc in my time.

Scott
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. This is a straight 100' run. Im going from one side of the yard to the other. Not turns or anything like that.

But I am thinking of going into grass instead of drilling out the pavers. I would like to drill out a hole and poor cement to install the hardware. Do you think this would be tricky?
 
Just a question...
On my pool, the previous owner put a coverpool system in place (electric pool cover). He mentioned the price was around $8000 but not sure if he got a deal on it or not as he supposedly designed the motor for it...
I realize the price is double (maybe triple) than a fence to go around the pool but it has a lot of benefits:
keeps water warm overnight - and keeps heat in during the day
keeps out debris all year round
safer than a fence that can be jumped by kids
easy to winterize as you just close and be done with it rather than having to put a winter cover over which from what i read is a pain in the arse to put on...

Did anybody on this thread consider this option?
I just wondered why people would not go for one of these having spent a lot of money on their pools....another 10k is painful but it has a lot of benefits...
http://www.coverpools.com/

dannyboy
 

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dannyboy said:
Did anybody on this thread consider this option?
I just wondered why people would not go for one of these having spent a lot of money on their pools....another 10k is painful but it has a lot of benefits...


dannyboy
Click to expand...

Most people have no option but a fence. It's written into the code for the town or city. An autocover is ok to have, but a fence is mandated by code. The fence has to be in place before the pool building permit can be closed out.
 
Auto covers, while they can have many benefits, will not supplant the code requirement the majority of municipalities have in place. This, and the costs to install, repair, and maintain them are the gating factors.

Automatic covers in environments where the pool is winterized should, IMHO, have a safety cover on them. The reasons being are they are designed for use when the water level is at a normal height and the fabric ages faster if it's used instead.

When a pool with a tile line is winterized, it''s water level is lowered. This adds stress to the fabric and the tracks of an automatic cover. Add a snow load on top and very expensive damages will occur.

The fabric used for automatic covers is expensive to replace. You want it to last as long as possible. Winter is a harsh environment. The fabric will dry out and loose it's flexibility. Add the cold to it and it gets even less pliable. Add the stresses from snow load and it can tear. Keeping it rolled on it's spool in the winter protects it from these stresses.

Scott
 
In regards to fencing around the pool. Does code require this to be a maximum distance out of interest?
Can you not just count the fence used on the perimeter of your back yard..

I realize that stress does occur from snow on these covers but i have used pipes from the inlets at an angle to allow for not draining as much. These are then capped after being blown out. The cover is then sitting on the water and snow then just rests on top of the water. Cheap trick - plus you don't have to fill as much in the spring...
 
dannyboy said:
In regards to fencing around the pool. Does code require this to be a maximum distance out of interest?
Can you not just count the fence used on the perimeter of your back yard..

...
Click to expand...
No distance requirement. My back fence is a hundred feet behind the pool. There are minimum heights and regs about gates and latch heights however. If you have chain link, most require the small mini mesh wire.
 
I'm going through the same thing with fence right now. To fence my back yard, where the pool is, requires 124 feet of fence. We opted for the absolute bottom of the line vinyl privacy fence, the stuff that sells for $60/6 feet at Home Depot. With installation and two gates, we're up to over $3300!

It's getting put in April 8th, which is all the time that the local officials will give me before they start fining me for having an "unprotected pool". In Florida, it's apparently a serious crime to have a pool without a fence. Glad they're at least giving me some slack to get it installed and my tax return came just in time!
 
After shopping around we've finally decided on a black, 48", aluminum picket fence (with two bars at the top). We require 155 feet of fence and we've included two, three-foot self-closing fences. Grand total of $4,400.

This price would have shocked me initially but we also got an estimate for the same type and quality of fence at $7,000! The company we're using is reputable and guauantees their work for 10 years. We considered vinyl (just as expensive), red-cedar wood picket (didn't want to do the maintenance), and vinyl coated chain link (our second choice). The chain link was cheaper by far but I couldn't get past the look - it actually looked better than I thought it would but I really, really like the look of the aluminum.

So, thanks for all the input. Construction has begun and we should have a completed pool in 2-3 weeks. Yeah!
 
denisbaldwin said:
...In Florida, it's apparently a serious crime to have a pool without a fence. ...
Click to expand...

Its a state law, in addition to being in virtually every town's code. For example my town's code specifies the fence must be at least 3 feet from the edge of the water while the county only requires 20 inches (and I don't think the state has a distance).

Any Florida pool owner should take this most seriously - the state code defines certain items to be attractive nuisances - with attendant criminal penalties if left unmitigated and harm is done. Things like trampolines, and pools, and handguns. Without that fence if a someone (a drunk, a kid, a neighbor, anyone) wandered in somehow and drowned in the pool, you would be on trial the same as if you left a loaded .357 magnum in plain view on the driveway. Admittedly a 4' fence wouldn't keep out an adult, but it shows to the authorities that you did attempt to mitigate the danger and can't be held responsible (criminally - civil lawsuits are another matter). I got this info when I mentioned to a prof teaching law classes that I had a trampoline in the back yard. Laws do change, and my info is about 4 years old, so...
 
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