An inground pool where there was once an above ground?

[Pooldreamz]

First, I'm extremely happy to find this website. We are in the very early stage of considering a pool: It doesn't need to be built until a couple of years, no rush!
Recently we bought a house in NJ. There isn't a pool but there used to be an above ground pool. There is a circle of concrete with sand inside the circle measuring about 20 feet wide. I took some sand out and tried to grow a flower garden there at first.

We were thinking of putting an inground pool in that spot, maybe 4 or 5 feet deep, round shape with a few steps inside the pool and a few steps from the deck to the pool. No heater. Just under water light. Nothing complicated I think. I was thinking of fiberglass because of the maintenance, cost, and smoother bottom however I'm hearing there is a shortage on fiberglass pools because of Covid so we're also considering concrete too.

Questions:
Can the existing concrete be used for this/Will it make it more or less difficult or neutral for an inground pool installation? Do you think that's enough "patio" since we have our wood deck nearby? We're trying to keep it simple and keep the price down.
In general, does this idea sound ok?
How much is underwater light upgrade?
Is the nearby wood retaining wall going to be a issue at all?
Any suggestions on how to make it look good/functional?
Any idea of the cost of this pool or hardscaping (steps up to the pool from deck) and simple wood picket fence around the area?
What kind of drainage might pool installation include? Sump pump? As it is, water tends to rush down and we get a very tiny bit inside the basement once in a while.

I've contacted about about 6 pool companies yesterday in the meantime. Any advice or feedback from here would be appreciated, thank you!

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

I think you will be WAY better off taking everything out and starting fresh.. the heavy equipment will tear up what you have there within an hour... It should not cost much to demo it as part of the build.. Not many round inground pool are made, it does not lend to the depth needed...

No idea how much all these costs... When you do a quote make everything the SAME... same exact shape, depth, light, pumps, filters... With Covid the build will probably be into next year or maybe the year after depending on how backed up they builders are.. You may not even get someone out there to give you a quote as they are still so busy... This may not be a bad thing as hopefully prices for building materials will start to go down once people get back to work...

 

[Casey]

I've seen builders pushing people into 2023 already. If you really want a pool, be extremely patient or try to buy an above ground. If you do go the above ground route, be patient. It's hard buying a pool in today's world.

 

[Pooldreamz]

Welcome to TFP

I think you will be WAY better off taking everything out and starting fresh.. the heavy equipment will tear up what you have there within an hour... It should not cost much to demo it as part of the build.. Not many round inground pool are made, it does not lend to the depth needed...

No idea how much all these costs... When you do a quote make everything the SAME... same exact shape, depth, light, pumps, filters... With Covid the build will probably be into next year or maybe the year after depending on how backed up they builders are.. You may not even get someone out there to give you a quote as they are still so busy... This may not be a bad thing as hopefully prices for building materials will start to go down once people get back to work.... Oops.. I'm on my phone and didn't mean to reply.. sorry still figuring this forum out..

 

[Desert Dog]

I would demo the concrete. Not only would it be a PIA to try and work around the existing concrete, you want your pool deck level all the way around. I bet the circle of concrete is not. I would think any pool builder would refuse to entertain the idea. Would not cost much to demo and do it right.

 

[Pooldreamz]

Thanks for responding to this post Cowboycasey, Casey, and Desert Dog.

In case this helps others here is some information I was able to obtain so far from 3 pool companies:

One pool company got back to me and said he wasn't even sure they make a fiberglass pool that shape. He also said that he would not advise doing a concrete pool for a house valued for half a million or less. Do you guys agree? Our house is 560k here in NJ..

He said making a shallower depth doesn't help price much either because the equipment price of 13k would be the same. He said fiberglass generally is $60,000 - $70,000. This is much higher than I anticipated.

The other pool company gave some more details but they only do Concrete and said the pool itself is essentially $100 per square foot so for example 20' x 20' (400 square feet) = 40k. This does not include any patio. I'm not even sure it includes grading, it's not mentioned in the sample quote. Here are some details in this sample quote:

Patio of plain concrete $10.80 per square foot. Cool deck is almost double. Pavers even more.
"Rule of thumb" = Patio size is generally 1.5 times size of pool
Plain concrete patio for this size pool = $6,500

Under optional items:
Loveseat not quoted
Ladder not quoted

• 5k for equipment: $3,100 for a jandy chlorinator 512 jandy salt system 3100 -- any thoughts on what this is, an upgrade?
• 5k for a heater (not something we are personally interested in considering a shallow pool doesn't get as cold)

Based on a total of 3 pool companies that got back to me, either concrete and fiberglass pool alone would cost $50,000...