Recommended additions to make pool more fun?

[coolinthepool]

Hi, all—I'm looking to improve the fun factor of our pool and looking for recommendations of things that you like, things to look out for, and even specific brands if you're willing. After a couple years of use, I can tell that the pool alone (with diving board) is enough for kids to have fun and for adults to relax, but to bring it to the next level, it's going to need some additions. With that in mind, I'm looking to add a few things to make our pool a more party-ready place to be. A few notes of importance:

• Aesthetic is important to me. I think that anchored accessories look nicer than weighted ones—that being said, I only have one anchor, so for something like a volleyball net, I'll have to drill out the new anchor.
• My pool is older, surrounded by stamped concrete. I'm guessing things such as water features would require breaking concrete to install, which sounds like a lot of work.
• The three things I'm thinking about right now:
  • Volleyball net
  • Basketball goal
  • Slide
• My children are seven and under.
• A hot tub is in the near future, but I'll deal with that in a separate thread.

Thanks in advance—

 

[zea3]

I'd go for a slide! The volleyball net will be easy enough to add, and most basketball goals I've seen are portable. I would also add more pool toys, like a watermelon ball.

 

[coolinthepool]

I'd go for a slide! The volleyball net will be easy enough to add, and most basketball goals I've seen are portable. I would also add more pool toys, like a watermelon ball.

I’ve heard so much about these watermelon balls! I guess it’s time to grab one.

 

[coolinthepool]

Anyone have recommendations for a volleyball net?

 

[bmoreswim]

We have gotten 7 years out of our basketball hoop and it's still in nearly perfect condition. It's by Dunnrite and has the saltwater friendly options. Not cheap but extremely well built. The whole backboard is a breakaway design and you set the desired tension. It has gotten a tremendous amount of use over the years. One of the reasons for that is that it can be used independently.

IMG_549333911 - Modified .jpg

• bmoreswim
• Dec 11, 2019

 

[PCR]

Anyone have recommendations for a volleyball net?

If you end up with another anchor, I have been very happy with the volleyball poles/net I got from Cool Pool Products ( Pool Volleyball kits, Swimming pool products )
Here is my setup (I got the adjustable net)

 

[coolinthepool]

If you end up with another anchor, I have been very happy with the volleyball poles/net I got from Cool Pool Products ( Pool Volleyball kits, Swimming pool products )
Here is my setup (I got the adjustable net)
View attachment 156852

Wow, I love the design you went with on your pool! I’m looking to do something similar with mine and integrate a hot tub as well. Where’d you get your pool slide?

 

[smracing]

I added a SR Smith Vortex enclosed slide. There is a constant line to ride.

 

[coolinthepool]

I added a SR Smith Vortex enclosed slide. There is a constant line to ride.

That’s great! I am guessing it needs a dedicated water line?

 

[Dirk]

I purchased two giant Suncast outdoor storage boxes and filled them with every type of pool toy and floatie I could find. The kids are constantly in there grabbing one or the other. No favorites, really. They just rotate through them all. They fight over the watermelon a lot. But we've yet to actually play the official game (I don't even know what that is!). And I have a jumping rock. It is some kind of fake, but looks real enough, and the kids jump off that all the time. Mine is embedded in the deck, but I'm sure you could add something similar without any major concrete work.

 

[coolinthepool]

I purchased two giant Suncast outdoor storage boxes and filled them with every type of pool toy and floatie I could find. The kids are constantly in there grabbing one or the other. No favorites, really. They just rotate through them all. They fight over the watermelon a lot. But we've yet to actually play the official game (I don't even know what that is!). And I have a jumping rock. It is some kind of fake, but looks real enough, and the kids jump off that all the time. Mine is embedded in the deck, but I'm sure you could add something similar without any major concrete work.

View attachment 157013

Love the idea of a jumping rock! We have done the storage boxes as well. I'll be the first to say that my #1 enemy has become anything inflatable. They are pains to store and inflate/deflate and when inflated, they take up space and litter the pool deck. I've started telling family members not to get them as gifts for the kids. When they do, after a few uses, they get tossed. For some reason, we have three full size inflatable unicorns.

 

[Dirk]

Love the idea of a jumping rock! We have done the storage boxes as well. I'll be the first to say that my #1 enemy has become anything inflatable. They are pains to store and inflate/deflate and when inflated, they take up space and litter the pool deck. I've started telling family members not to get them as gifts for the kids. When they do, after a few uses, they get tossed. For some reason, we have three full size inflatable unicorns.

Ha, I'm with you on this! I ban all large flotation stuff during large pool parties because they obscure the pool and bottom so much I can't always get a quick head count (my idea of lifeguarding), so there's that, too. I have a compressor, so blowing up isn't too bad. Sometimes a tooth pick in the valve stem will let them "auto-deflate." This type is a good compromise. Two kids to a floatie seems to make them smile, and very relaxing for adults time. They don't have that much air in them, and they have a spring rim, so you can sort of fold/twist them up into the box storage boxes without taking up too much room. The big monster ones do tend to show up as gifts, don't they? Whatayagonnado...

 

[coolinthepool]

Ha, I'm with you on this! I ban all large flotation stuff during large pool parties because they obscure the pool and bottom so much I can't always get a quick head count (my idea of lifeguarding), so there's that, too. I have a compressor, so blowing up isn't too bad. Sometimes a tooth pick in the valve stem will let them "auto-deflate." This type is a good compromise. Two kids to a floatie seems to make them smile, and very relaxing for adults time. They don't have that much air in them, and they have a spring rim, so you can sort of fold/twist them up into the box storage boxes without taking up too much room. The big monster ones do tend to show up as gifts, don't they? Whatayagonnado...

They've become my in-laws go-to for presents. I also have told them that they need not focus on things that shoot water.

 

[Dirk]

One of my many newbie pool stories... My rock has a flat spot on the top for the jumping "platform" and a good sized step about halfway up to get to it. I was looking at them when I first took over the pool from the previous owners, and was sort of thinking, "Wow, where did they get such a perfect rock for this? Did they carve it out somehow? How big a fork lift did they need to get it back here?!?" It was much later that my stone guru guy popped my bubble and pointed out that it's fake!! He wrapped on it with his knuckles and the hollow-ish sound was the proof. At closer look, I could then see that the discolorations and shadings were all airbrushed on. There's even fake moss on the thing! In my defense, they did a good job, it really does look like a rock!!

 

[Dirk]

I also have told them that they need not focus on things that shoot water.

I almost mentioned that. Anything that shoots water is usually at the center of the problems, the crying, the fighting. No matter how many times we explain the rule "Don't squirt someone unless you want to be squirted back!" they just don't get it... I'm OKish about the water they waste, but I have to be on them not to squirt the pool water into my surrounding landscape. Not sure why I haven't yet just thrown them all away...

 

[PCR]

Wow, I love the design you went with on your pool! I’m looking to do something similar with mine and integrate a hot tub as well. Where’d you get your pool slide?

The slide is an SR Smith Big Ride, builder supplied at the time of my pool build. I didn't do my research well enough on the slide, though, and let the builder locate it as per their design and didn't question it. However, they put it at a spot where the drop zone is into 4.5 feet of water. That is the legal minimum depth for this slide; however, it's really too shallow for taller/older kids and adults. It's safe, but if you put your feet down as you go off rather than out, you easily hit them on the bottom. Even sticking your legs straight out, it's easy to scrape a foot on the bottom after you've dropped in. So for this particular slide, I would not recommend the drop area be in a depth any less than 6 feet of water. Don't get me wrong - my older daughter, her friends and adults still use it! And it's got a line to go down it at every bbq/gathering we have. But it would be more fun for the taller people if it didn't require being kind of careful as to how you drop in. I MAY get a quote for how much it would cost to move the slide such that the end would point into water a couple feet deeper, but I dread to think how much that will be since it's sort of "built in" to the landscape. (It's on concrete block piers really, so it's certainly not impossible to move - and they had to move it once after they first put it up during the build because of a positioning error - but at this point lots of rocks to get out of the way first and then rebuilding up the landscape around it being in a new position.)

The volleyball net is very popular - folks love to play even if it's one person per side where the goal becomes to hit it TO the other person or regular games. I only have enough space for about 4, maybe 5, per side, though. Another design mistake on my part! I should have had the sunshelf around to the side and recovered 7-8 feet of shallow end space for the "court", but it works well enough, and it's alot of fun

 

[Sollace]

My kids found their own fun in our last pool. We took out the diving board because I saw it as an accident waiting to happen. They'd do all sorts of stunts while jumping in the deep end. Just having a deep end is great for kids. Cannon balls are a thing!

They loved these hand sized squish balls that soaked up water. Better than water balloons. They'd play catch with them or get thrown one and catch it while jumping in the pool. Noodles weren't popular. Kick boards were fun, not just to kick around on but were great in a splash fight. You can send a huge wave with those. But the standard finding a penny in the shallow end was the best. My dad did that trick to teach me to get my face in the water. Those dive sticks are based off the same principle. Teach with play )

Sometimes you don't need big fancy things to have fun, especially in a pool!