Buying house with IG pool, liner wrinkles? Also steps? Cracking around perimeter? (Pics)

[EarpWJ]

Hi, I am buying a home and asked about another one here that we eventually passed on for multiple reasons other than just the pool. So I am looking at a new home and wondering about this pool.

The liner is 3 years old but has some wrinkles. There are signs of silicon repair at the screws of the stairs. There is cracking around the perimeter of the concrete about 2 feet away. I have no idea whats going on at the corners, it looks like duct tape? Is this normally what I would find under the corners if there is not a cap piece?

These homes are in the US south.

Can anyone tell me if they see major red flags here or if this might be in okay condition. I know what ever place we go with will need repairs, but I don't want to buy a place with a pool just to have to practically replace the whole thing. I will be getting a pool inspector if they accept the offer.

 

[Pool_Medic]

That pool cost over 40,000 to install for the original owners, of course no existing pool will be perfect. The liner isn’t a huge issue unless it bothers you. That coping can be fixed cheaply. The decking crack can also be fixed.

The final decision is how bad do you want this house and how bad do the sellers want to sell. Pointing out these issues could get you concessions but can also be looked as if you are nickeling and diming then so they get upset and won’t budge at all.

 

[AndyTN]

Get a pool inspection from a local pool guy before closing on the house. Pool guys come with various knowledge about what they are doing themselves but sure are good about pointing out other people's mistakes, kind of like HVAC companies. As stated above by Pool_Medic, you can use anyting wrong with the pool in your negotiations and even have the sellers concerned enough that they may want to pay to get it fixed themselves.

I would also look at where the cracks maybe coming from see if there is any erosion or anything noticeable causing the cracks. With an old pool you aren't going to have a perfect pool deck due to how many years it has been sitting there. When we bought our house there were cracks in one area of the pool deck where it was raised up in certain spots. I looked on an old satellite photo from a few years prior showing a large tree right beside where the pool deck was cracking so tree roots pushing up on the concrete was the source and everything is still stable to this day.