Do you have a pool?

[Simon]

10 minutes ago, teef said:

i'm already looking for next year and found these bad boys.  i can hear the crying from my children as i type this.

 

 

 

If you love the sound of screaming children, you need one of these. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Control-Alligator-Head-Boat/dp/B08FST8277

 

 

 

[Fleezoid]

18 minutes ago, teef said:

i'm already looking for next year and found these bad boys.  i can hear the crying from my children as i type this.

 

 

Yeah! And that thing she's sitting on is pretty cool too. 

[teef]

14 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

If you love the sound of screaming children, you need one of these. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Control-Alligator-Head-Boat/dp/B08FST8277

 

 

 

next summer just keeps getting better.

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

[CowgirlsFan]

We don't do a good enough job keeping the lawn mowed. I'm not about to add a pool.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Put a deposit down today for the new pool, set to be installed in the next few weeks. Getting a jump on a few items before then, to make sure we don’t cause any delay to their timeline. 
 

Initially we were hoping to get it in early enough to hydroseed the entire regraded and messed up areas. We are leaning towards just laying sod in some of the more immediate spaces to allow the dogs access to the rest of the yard for the rest of fall and winter while keeping a temporary fence around the remaining mess. We’d follow up with seed in the spring. 
 

Our largest issue remaining is the access to the dig site. We have large trees in the front of the property, along with some other obsticles. We have three options: Get permission from the neighboring property owner to enter our yard from theirs, using about 20’ of grass on their side. 2) Significantly trim one of trees (take off half of one side) 3) allow driveway access (20 year old asphalt).

 

Anyone ever have experience with large construction vehicles over your driveway? I am trying to avoid it at all cost. Our driveway is 125’ and in great condition so really not interested in risking potential repair. 

[Not at the table Karlos]

On 8/13/2024 at 9:03 PM, SinceThe70s said:

I grew up with an in ground and have had two above grounds over the past 20+ years. Pluses and minuses to both. Both of my in grounds were 24' round. Thats's a nice size for an above, a bigger oval would probably be better, but I wouldn't want to go much smaller then 24' unless the property isn't big enough.

 

In grounds are great if you like to lounge around the pool, if you want it to blend into or enhance  a landscaped backyard or if you want a slide or diving board.

 

Above grounds are more utiltarian. Nobody I know ever looked at an above ground and thought it made the backyard look better.  But one thing I like about above grounds is once the kids get tall enough it's better suited for play: volley ball net, basketball hoop,etc... Treading water in the deep end of an in ground gets old quick imo. On the other hand you could consider an in ground without a deep end, pretty sure that's an option.

 

Another thing to consider is that above grounds are disposable. I was actually in an above ground at a party when the side blew out many years ago - epic. I remembered that when my first above ground showed signs of aging and I was able to easily take it down myself. On the other hand, my aging Mom hasn't used her in ground for years, but has to maintain it yearly - the cost to fill it in along with the collateral damage to the property makes it cheaper to keep the pool. 

 

 

 

 

I flew into Montreal recently and what struck me was how many yards had pools.

Our inground has a circle with a rectangle coming out of it (shaped like a P kinda lol) the circle is all 3.5-4 feet deep and only starts to get deeper once you leave that part and go to the other end. Have a hoop and net that goes across the circle. Leaving the deeper end still open if you don’t want to be involved in the games. They sat down with us and asked what we were using it for and changed the design to suit our needs. 
 

We had an above ground before and it rarely got used. Was a pain to get in and out with a bunch of people and would be a muddy mess around it. People would slip on the metal steps. Was hard to watch the kids in it unless you were right on top of the pool or in it. The in ground looks 100x better and you don’t have to use it to enjoy it. Just sitting next to it enjoying a drink is nice. 

[SinceThe70s]

2 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Our inground has a circle with a rectangle coming out of it (shaped like a P kinda lol) the circle is all 3.5-4 feet deep and only starts to get deeper once you leave that part and go to the other end. Have a hoop and net that goes across the circle. Leaving the deeper end still open if you don’t want to be involved in the games. They sat down with us and asked what we were using it for and changed the design to suit our needs. 
 

We had an above ground before and it rarely got used. Was a pain to get in and out with a bunch of people and would be a muddy mess around it. People would slip on the metal steps. Was hard to watch the kids in it unless you were right on top of the pool or in it. The in ground looks 100x better and you don’t have to use it to enjoy it. Just sitting next to it enjoying a drink is nice. 

 

That's awesome that you had the pool custom designed fo dual purpose. Sounds great!

 

I'm assuming you had an up-and-down ladder for your above. Those suck for sure. For our second above we added a deck and got the wedding cake steps. It's a vast improvement over the ladder but most years I have to brave frigid waters to take the steps out and when it comes time to tear the pool down I'll have to contend with taking down the deck too. 

[Augie]

18 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

Put a deposit down today for the new pool, set to be installed in the next few weeks. Getting a jump on a few items before then, to make sure we don’t cause any delay to their timeline. 
 

Initially we were hoping to get it in early enough to hydroseed the entire regraded and messed up areas. We are leaning towards just laying sod in some of the more immediate spaces to allow the dogs access to the rest of the yard for the rest of fall and winter while keeping a temporary fence around the remaining mess. We’d follow up with seed in the spring. 
 

Our largest issue remaining is the access to the dig site. We have large trees in the front of the property, along with some other obsticles. We have three options: Get permission from the neighboring property owner to enter our yard from theirs, using about 20’ of grass on their side. 2) Significantly trim one of trees (take off half of one side) 3) allow driveway access (20 year old asphalt).

 

Anyone ever have experience with large construction vehicles over your driveway? I am trying to avoid it at all cost. Our driveway is 125’ and in great condition so really not interested in risking potential repair. 

 

Some neighbors have work equipment in their yard now for a project, and I think they just covered it all (driveway and yard) with plywood, but it’s not NEARY 125’. 

 

I’d hate to butcher mature trees if it can be avoided. I guess a lot depends on how that would look, and your relationship with your neighbors. 

 

25 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Our inground has a circle with a rectangle coming out of it (shaped like a P kinda lol) the circle is all 3.5-4 feet deep and only starts to get deeper once you leave that part and go to the other end. Have a hoop and net that goes across the circle. Leaving the deeper end still open if you don’t want to be involved in the games. They sat down with us and asked what we were using it for and changed the design to suit our needs. 
 

We had an above ground before and it rarely got used. Was a pain to get in and out with a bunch of people and would be a muddy mess around it. People would slip on the metal steps. Was hard to watch the kids in it unless you were right on top of the pool or in it. The in ground looks 100x better and you don’t have to use it to enjoy it. Just sitting next to it enjoying a drink is nice. 

We got to design our last pool in Florida. It was a BLAST!  We asked the kids for input and they wanted to be able to play volleyball, so each end was just a little on the shallow side for my taste. It turned out beautiful, but I always wished for a deeper area (maybe oddly in the middle?), especially on hot days when that’s where you find the coldest water. 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

5 hours ago, Augie said:

 

Some neighbors have work equipment in their yard now for a project, and I think they just covered it all (driveway and yard) with plywood, but it’s not NEARY 125’. 

 

I’d hate to butcher mature trees if it can be avoided. I guess a lot depends on how that would look, and your relationship with your neighbors. 

 

We got to design our last pool in Florida. It was a BLAST!  We asked the kids for input and they wanted to be able to play volleyball, so each end was just a little on the shallow side for my taste. It turned out beautiful, but I always wished for a deeper area (maybe oddly in the middle?), especially on hot days when that’s where you find the coldest water. 

What depth did you do? 
 

For our young kids (3 and 1) and just our more low key vibe, we’re thinking 4 ft shallow to a 6 ft deep end. We aren’t divers or in need of anything too deep, unless we are missing something? 

[Bad Things]

Nope, but I have Tasman Bay right across the street!

 

We had a pool growing up in Webster and I loved it.

(That said, I'm sure it was a different experience for my parents who had to do most of the upkeep.)

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Today was dig day. I loaded up on beverages in the cooler and donuts to try and buy a little extra love from the dig crew. Turns out it worked: after a lot of back and forth as the crew was arriving, we finally settled on a plan that benefited all. 
 

The entire operation was extremely impressive. They had 14 people working different jobs from assembling steel walls, gluing piping, trenching, digging, reading grade and leveling dirt. Part of our arrangement was that we’d keep all the dirt on site, limiting the amount of dig time and not needing as many heavy machinery trips. I was able to ask them to regrade the yard with the fill, hopefully rectifying some long standing water issues we’ve had in the wet season. It’s a double edged sword: we know the extra muddy mess sucks now for the dogs, but will be glad to hopefully reap the benefits of years to come while speeding up the job. 
 

Another side effect of a speedy dig, was that they were able to set and backfill the steel walls quickly. By 11 am they were making calls seeing if it was possible to fit the traditional day 2 of liner install into today. With the green light (and the greenbacks) they brought in the cement and worked well into the evening. The liner is in and the pool currently filling. We have one cut power line to an exterior outlet (they are fixing when they send the electrician to hook up the rest of the mechanics) and a lot of ground to rehab, but we could not have asked for a better experience so far. 
 

Fingers crossed the rest of the way is as smooth.