Debating pool depth. Dig this Thursday, please help!

[Cityandbeachgal]

We dig Thursday. Our pool will have no diving board. As far as depth goes, how deep is your pool? If it came with your house and had the opportunity to redesign, would you keep the depth or change it. If you grew up with one and do t currently have one, how would you have changed the pool?

We are contemplating to have the deepest end be 6ft. This way we will have more area to hang and socialize. We aren't much of divers, and want to have ample room to socialize. I heard the term "social pool". Does your pool suit your needs? Please help with your thoughts.

On a side note, our water table is high and we hit water after 6ft since we are on the beach. Dewatering cost approx 2k if we want an 8ft deep end. It's nothing in the long term, but my concern is the integrity of the pool structure construction. Is it smarter to stick to 6ft since we mostly want that anyway and the water table doesn't get much higher than what it is now. It is a concrete pool. Weare just concerned perhaps if the that if the water table rose higher up to 5ft, that the pool would have structural repairs down the line. Please advise. Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond. If it makes a difference, the pool is being built o. The east end of Long Island NY.

 

[duraleigh]

I decided on having a "social" depth pool with no diving board but we have a slide.

However, if you want to stand and chit-chat, 6' of water will cause you to blow bubbles instead of talk.

Decide how much of the pool area you want to be able to stand in (and breathe ) and adjust the water height to fit.

Most people can stand in about 75% of our pool and, where they can't, it's still only about 6'. We are happy with that but it's a personal choice that you have to decide.

 

[Texgirl]

I drove myself crazy about this very decision and my pool is still being built so I can't speak to how it worked out!

But, my thinking was we have a almost 5 year old boy, so a deep end was necessary so they could jump etc.

But, I also wanted quite a bit of shallow so we could socialize and play volleball etc. So, I tried for both. We are also getting a side. The deepest is 6.5. It will be 5 ft where the slide enters and we have about 20 feet of 3.5 to 4.5 ish water... so we shall see how it turns out.

Good luck, hard decision! KIM

 

[linen]

I like deep ends, makes the pool more fun! I think my kid's (15, 12, 7) friends come to our agp pool instead of other neighborhood agp pools because of it...that may or may not be a good thing

 

[Killer95Stang]

They just finished the build on my 8ft deep inground pool. I wanted to bring back memories of the deep pools that I had growing up. Not to mention being able to dive in without breaking my neck.

But.. I would go with your gut... You want a pool for socializing.. so make it what you want.. 6 ft is still a good depth and way better for volleyball than a deep pool..

 

[ComputerGuyInNOLA]

We built a play pool last summer. It is 5.5 deep in the middle and 3.5 on one end and 4 foot on the other. We wanted a pool to play volleyball and socialize. No one misses having a diving pool. I believe you should think long and hard about your choice. Our kids have a lot more fun playing volleyball and basketball than diving. They can still do cannonballs in the middle. One of the main reasons we chose this type of pool is because we socialize more than dive. If you choose a pool with a deep end, how much room will it have for people to just hang out? This is the question you need to ask yourself. Our pool is only 14 by 28 ft. If we would have had a deep end, it would have severely limited the amount of space for people to hang out. Given that, I know a lot of people on this site love their diving pools. If I would have built a much bigger pool, I would have considered it.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

I wish wish wish I had a deep end...mine is 3.5-5.5-4.5. Here, nobody ever wants to play volleyball, but I wish I could dive!

 

[txsteel]

We went just like TXgirl. My wife wanted a play pool so people could play volleyball and I wanted a deep end for the kids to jump in. It's 3.5' to 4.5' for ~ 20ft and then it drops to 6" of to the side.

 

[CraigMW]

If you have kids, or relatives with kids, a deep end is a good idea. Kids love to dive in and a deep end will help to minimize potential for serious injury. I can understand the interest in eliminating the deep end if you only plan to have adults in the pool. But, kids will want to dive, and regardless of adult supervision, they will find a way to do so.

 

[chiefwej]

Mine is 36x18 and is 3.5 to 5 center and 4. We added a bench (18 inch deep) along one side and a 7x7 x18 inch area, which is just big enough for two loungers. We love it!

About all we might change is make it 4 at both ends and 5 in the center.

 

[Isaac-1]

Mine is a 30+ year old pool with traditional hopper deep end, one thing I wish it had was a transitioning shallow end, as it is all of the shallow end is a fixed 3 ft depth then the slope starts to the deep end, I think it would work much better with gentle slope 3-4.5 ft then a steeper slope to the deep end.