Advice for a new pool owner -- keep or demolish?

[natalie689]

Hello all! I hope to get your thoughts since I am a brand new pool owner and -- surprise -- in way over my head.

I'm sure this story is familiar to you all. I bought a house with a pool that was probably not as well maintained as I was told? It's a vinyl liner inground pool. I knew the liner would need to be replaced soon-ish. But now I'm being told that I also need a new pump and filter, and all will likely cost me around $8-10k.

So I'm considering what my other options are. Which would you choose?

1. Demo the pool completely, but it'll be expensive to do it right (city requires permits and inspections)).
2. Demo the pool completely, skip the permits and deal with the repercussions if/when I sell the house.
3. Drain the pool to decommission it for now.... Is this possible? Could I remove the liner and leave it empty until some point in the future?
4. Buy all new equipment, new liner, and open the pool. Lifestyle-wise, this is my least favorite option since I won't get much use out of it.

In your opinion, which is my best option?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Natalie,

No matter what you do, it is going to cost you some money...

If you are not going to be able to use the pool much, then option #1 is the best option.. do it and be done with it..

I'll add a 5th option. Cover the pool with a deck like structure.. This would give you several years of time to save the money necessary to rehab the whole pool.. I say this because you can't really do just drain the pool and leave a big hole in your yard for all kinds of safety and code reasons..

A pool is not going to add to the value of the house, so if you are not going to use it much, then we are back to option #1.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[natalie689]

Natalie,

No matter what you do, it is going to cost you some money...

If you are not going to be able to use the pool much, then option #1 is the best option.. do it and be done with it..

I'll add a 5th option. Cover the pool with a deck like structure.. This would give you several years of time to save the money necessary to rehab the whole pool.. I say this because you can't really do just drain the pool and leave a big hole in your yard for all kinds of safety and code reasons..

A pool is not going to add to the value of the house, so if you are not going to use it much, then we are back to option #1.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Hi Jim,
Thanks so much for your quick response! If I don't have the money to remove it according to city code (option 1), do you think my best option would be to build a deck over it until I save enough to do so? I'm honestly inclined to go with Option 2, just to get it over with, but I am worried about the down-the-road consequences.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Natalie,

Keep in mind there is what I say in public on a forum like this, and there is what I might personally do..

Jim R.

 

[setsailsoon]

Natalie,

Welcome to TFP! This is the best place you can get real unbiased advice that's never conflicted because we sell nothing. All you have here are pool enthusiasts and experts (like Jim that already replied). I think it would help for some photos and rough sizes. Most people don't use their pools and they usually don't add to market value unless you happen to live in an area where most houses have one. We see that a lot here in Florida because pools are almost necessary to survive. Probably not the case in your neck of the woods. I'll fine tune this after I get some dimensions. But here's a very rough estimate of cost to demo that I'm just going to throw out:

• Lets say you have an average 12000 gal pool. That's about 60 yards of fill. Which is about 10 loads of dirt and they typically cost $300/load. Say $3000
• Then you'd have to have power terminated plus remove all the equipment and take it to the dump. Rough guess for that is $1000.
• If you need a demo permit expect $500-$1000. Let's say $1000
• Then typically double the cost if you have a licensed contractor do the work, plus manage, and organize it. That brings the cost to about $9000.
• At this conceptual level with almost no real quantities other than my 12000 gal guess you would expect to add 30% contingency. Or a total of $12,000

If you want to do this definitely get quotes... I'd check with excavation contractors to see if they'd do the whole thing. Or you could hire a demo contractor. Still add contingency after you get their price because there will be hidden things or unknowns that will crop up. Say 20% or so contingency until you get a very complete and well-defined scope of work.

If it was me I'd look hard at replacing the liner and equipment. For about the same $ I'd have a pool and I love having a pool but that's just me which was your question. The real question(s) are the ones Jim asked which amount to what do you want to do?

I hope this helps.

Chris

 

[HermanTX]

Buy all new equipment, new liner, and open the pool. Lifestyle-wise, this is my least favorite option since I won't get much use out of it.

This is a key statement. If you have no future enjoyment of it then demo it.
I preferred to do things with reputable contractors and I hope that most if not all reputable contractors will get the proper permits and do a proper job. Because one day, you may sell the house and you do not want a sink hole to happen because it was not done properly in the first place.
Also, if this is near your home, then that is another reason to do it right because you do not want anything to affect your house foundation.

It be nice to see pictures.
Note - if this is out in the country with 4 acres of land and it’s more than 10 yards from any structure - then your risks reduce but still would ask a reputable contractor.

 

[natalie689]

This is a key statement. If you have no future enjoyment of it then demo it.
I preferred to do things with reputable contractors and I hope that most if not all reputable contractors will get the proper permits and do a proper job. Because one day, you may sell the house and you do not want a sink hole to happen because it was not done properly in the first place.
Also, if this is near your home, then that is another reason to do it right because you do not want anything to affect your house foundation.

It be nice to see pictures.
Note - if this is out in the country with 4 acres of land and it’s more than 10 yards from any structure - then your risks reduce but still would ask a reputable contractor.

Thank you! Yes, I'm fine demo-ing it (no real love lost with me and this pool), but am caught between a rock and a hard place -- can't afford the by-the-code demo, but worried about the repercussions later if I have my handyman do it non-regulation style. (He has done pools this way before, but in different cities where the code is different.)

For what it's worth, the pool is actually 10-12 yards from the house structure, on almost an acre of property.

 

[natalie689]

If you want to do this definitely get quotes... I'd check with excavation contractors to see if they'd do the whole thing. Or you could hire a demo contractor. Still add contingency after you get their price because there will be hidden things or unknowns that will crop up. Say 20% or so contingency until you get a very complete and well-defined scope of work.

If it was me I'd look hard at replacing the liner and equipment. For about the same $ I'd have a pool and I love having a pool but that's just me which was your question. The real question(s) are the ones Jim asked which amount to what do you want to do?

I hope this helps.

Chris

Thank you! Great advice here.

 

[CreedenceTapes]

2. Demo the pool completely, skip the permits and deal with the repercussions if/when I sell the house.

Do your future self a solid and forget that this option exists. There are too many avenues to pain here.

Also remember that many county agencies, especially in metro areas, review satellite imagery regularly now. Your headaches could start long before you're trying to sell.

 

[Deb04]

Don’t do #2.

Do you have children or grandchildren in your future? We built our pool for ourselves, but our 9 yr old granddaughter absolutely loves it and it’s a highlight of our lives to see her enjoying it.

If you don’t want a pool and don’t think you will in the near future, go with #1.

Any reason to think the inspector did a poor job of inspecting and perhaps you could recoup a little cost there?

 

[natalie689]

Do your future self a solid and forget that this option exists. There are too many avenues to pain here.

Also remember that many county agencies, especially in metro areas, review satellite imagery regularly now. Your headaches could start long before you're trying to sell.

Oh, got it. Thank you!

 

[setsailsoon]

Natalie,

Here's an interesting video from an Atlanta contractor that does pool demo. There are several online from 3 contractors that do this work. The one that includes cost comes up with $8000 back in 2016... with fill dirt priced at $220 per load. Most dirt price in the Atlanta area seems to be in the $300-$400/ load range which is very similar to Florida current price. Keep in mind fill priced at $20-$30 per yd can cost $100 or more per load for delivery depending on how far the trip is to your house. This seems to validate my previous estimate in current $ of $12000. The process looks like what I expected and I can't really find anything in Atlanta building code about pool demo so you may not need a permit. Even if that's the case you should make sure whoever does this work knows how to compact the fill properly and that the fill is not contaminated with something that could cause you more problems than you want to take on. I would also make sure your contractor has experience and can give you a liability insurance certificate ($1-2MM limit per claim is typical) with you as named insured, plus provide you with a workman's comp certificate. These two items are very easy for any competent contractor to provide. They just call their insurance agent and have them issue it directly to you. It costs them no additional $.

I hope this is helpful.

Chris

 

[al27]

If you aren't going to use the pool and plan on living in the home a long time, I'd remove it so you won't have to spend money and time maintaining a pool that you will rarely use. I got estimates to remove ours a few years ago and estimates ranged from 4K-10K. We decided not to remove the pool because of the cost and we regret this decision because it seems like a huge waste of money to maintain a pool that we rarely use. (I think we used it 3 times last summer). If I were you, I'd get at least 4 estimates from excavation and pool contractors. If you can find one that can get you some free or cheap dirt from a pool or home build nearby or can deliver the dirt themselves, the cost will be less. Before you decide to remove it, you need to contact an experienced realtor to see how removing the pool could affect your resale value in the future. In our town, pools only add about 20K onto the purchase price and only if they are less than 20 years old and in good condition. We are now seriously considering removing our pool again because our 18 year old fiberglass pool needs some renovations and refinishing which will likely cost more than 20K and we rarely use the pool anymore now that the kids are grown.