A domestic swimming pool...anyone considered or built it?

Crybabygeeks

Yes I'm aware the celtic tiger is long gone but playing around with the idea of a pool in our new build which has yet to commence design (we've an architect on board). Probably a complete flight of fancy but having fun exploring at this point in time.

Space isn't an issue so it's really budget and maintenance. Would love to hear any boards experience on it. Thanks in advance

Gumbo

Crybabygeeks wrote: »

Yes I'm aware the celtic tiger is long gone but playing around with the idea of a pool in our new build which has yet to commence design (we've an architect on board). Probably a complete flight of fancy but having fun exploring at this point in time.

Space isn't an issue so it's really budget and maintenance. Would love to hear any boards experience on it. Thanks in advance

Assuming cost and space and maintenance is not an issue, it’s a fantastic idea.
Just be mindful of safety precautions with young kids etc

I’d be inclined to locate it in an out house with a home gym etc

ted1

What about heating costs ? That’s the expensive part

0lddog

ted1 wrote: »

What about heating costs ? That’s the expensive part

Heat with renewables
Make pool big enough to store sufficient energy to heat house for a winter
Heat house using W2W heat pump

( A house not far from me was built within the last 10 years with a pool in the basement lowest floor level )

Crybabygeeks

0lddog wrote: »

Heat with renewables
Make pool big enough to store sufficient energy to heat house for a winter
Heat house using W2W heat pump

( A house not far from me was built within the last 10 years with a pool in the basement lowest floor level )

This sounds v cool but again no idea of cost...

ted1

0lddog wrote: »

Heat with renewables
Make pool big enough to store sufficient energy to heat house for a winter
Heat house using W2W heat pump

( A house not far from me was built within the last 10 years with a pool in the basement lowest floor level )

Renewables still cost Money.

Lumen

The only people I've known with decent sized indoor swimming pools have been properly wealthy.

Not "a couple of million in the bank" well off. Tens or hundreds of millions worth.

I think this is not because swimming pools are particularly expensive, an indoor pool might only add a couple of hundred grand to the build cost, but because there are much better things to do with the money.

0lddog

ted1 wrote: »

Renewables still cost Money.

Did you ever have to look after a swimming pool ?

It aint something that you would want to be at if you are stuck for a few bob ! ( Lumen's post above is spot on )

0lddog

Crybabygeeks wrote: »

This sounds v cool but again no idea of cost...

Many factors to take into account.

Seeing as you are at such an early stage it may well be a relatively modest sum in the overall scheme of things.

Raise it with your design team.

Outkast_IRE

Have worked in several houses with swimming pools , all installed when kids were young.

Generally it can be more expensive to to heat than you would think, also factor in the whole room needs to be kept warmer than normal or people will find it cold . Ventilation is massively important as are the surface finishes on everything in the area, its ripe for mould growth.



In all the ones i seen when the kids were well into their teens or heading off to college, they became neglected and an expensive eyesore.


You will either need to be checking all the chemical levels and stuff yourself or getting someone in routinely.



Personally , for what its costs you per year in maintenance and heating for the pool you would probably get a family membership to a 5 star hotel with gym and pool and none of the headaches.



I think a detached room for a kids playroom, and then games room when they grow up is a good idea, as the noise is away from the house, cameras are cheap to monitor them and you can convert it into a guest house or adult games room when they fly the coop.

Ronaldinho

What's it going to do for the market for the house if for any reason you look to sell in future?
I would have said that generally it's going to be a turn-off for a chunk of potential buyers at whatever price-point it might be at.

If money is no object have at it but I can think of a few better things to do with the budget.
Staying on the leisure/fitness theme - a proper, spacious home gym with a sauna room off it would be something I'd consider instead.

blackbox

You will spend more than twice as much time doing basic maintenance than you will swimming.

The Continental Op

I've worked for a lot of people with swimming pools. The maintenance to keep them looking good with a good quality of water is high.

Think of keeping pool in pristine condition as being about the same maintenance as an immaculately manicured lawn.

Indoor pool slightly less so.

Crybabygeeks

All super points!! Thanks. Thinking about the reality of maintaining it, it may be more of a pain than its worth. A proper home gym would be very cool

BorneTobyWilde

his would work. I'd go from something like this, with an enclosure.

Outkast_IRE

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

his would work. I'd go from something like this, with an enclosure.

Yeah that works fine in warmer countries , where a simple single glazing enclosure sorts you out and your ventilation is outdoor air.


In Ireland just to pass the building regs you would need probably triple glazing on a setup like that around 50k if not more just for the glass id say, and you would need dedicated ventilation to have any hope of keeping it usable. Even if money was no object its a hard one to justify.

The Continental Op

One of the guys I used to work for had a house in London and dug out a cellar to put in a swimming pool. It was a long time ago and back then said he worked out that it cost him £4,500 a swim.

akasudonim

Op I bought one of these last May. The 32' version was sold out, but this turned out to be a great decision considering the year we had. Came with a sand filtration system and saltwater cleaning (as opposed to Chlorine). The maintenance was not difficult, but one of the kids will do it this summer - as long as you have testing kits and test /top-up regularly it's good. A pal has same one with about 8 years and still perfect.
Heating I hooked up an old oil boiler and it was good, though I have a heat pump heating the house so might try use that this summer.
Nothing close to what an indoor permanent pool would be like, but was a great low cost option. So good that I would seriously consider a more perm structure with a removable cover - one of the pool supplies companies were doing an equivalent sized solution for approx €25k that had jacuzzi features also - would still need the heating and cover etc., but not as outlandishly expensive as I would have previoulsy thought, considering the use this one got last year!

Crybabygeeks

akasudonim wrote: »

Op I bought one of these last May. The 32' version was sold out, but this turned out to be a great decision considering the year we had. Came with a sand filtration system and saltwater cleaning (as opposed to Chlorine). The maintenance was not difficult, but one of the kids will do it this summer - as long as you have testing kits and test /top-up regularly it's good. A pal has same one with about 8 years and still perfect.
Heating I hooked up an old oil boiler and it was good, though I have a heat pump heating the house so might try use that this summer.
Nothing close to what an indoor permanent pool would be like, but was a great low cost option. So good that I would seriously consider a more perm structure with a removable cover - one of the pool supplies companies were doing an equivalent sized solution for approx €25k that had jacuzzi features also - would still need the heating and cover etc., but not as outlandishly expensive as I would have previoulsy thought, considering the use this one got last year!

This looks great and definitely worth considering. Thanks for sharing !

iwouldyeah

Id love a pool in my house but its very hard to justify the costs and the amount of effort to keep them in good/safe condition.
i had a hot tub in my last house and im now building a new house and iv been looking at swim spa's and hot tubs for it instead of a pool even at that the extra works to even just take the swim spa over the hot tub work add above a extra €4,500 and thats for outside unit.
The hot tub use to cost about €80 every three months in cleaning products and about 20 mins of my time each week to keep it in top condition.

Before you do anything make sure you have the time or the money to keep it in top condition and also that you will actually use it.I would use my tub about 5 nights a week.

During the summer months id drop the temp of it during the day so my child could use it to play around in.

woody1

i was at an outdoor pool in the north 2 years ago, wife does "ice " swimming , long story,

but he had a 25m 2 lane pool outdoors , no cover, water cleaning / filtration was done by plants that you plant in to one side of the lanes, couple of little nooks just off the side of the pool , if you get what im talking about

theres a name for it but it wont come to me, plant filtered or natural is what google is coming up with but i thought it was something different

obvious problems are unless your cracked, like my better half, its a spring summer thing only, water wasnt heated and no shelter from the elements,

if we had one it would get a lot of use, year round,

toushea

akasudonim wrote: »

Op I bought one of these last May. The 32' version was sold out, but this turned out to be a great decision considering the year we had. Came with a sand filtration system and saltwater cleaning (as opposed to Chlorine). The maintenance was not difficult, but one of the kids will do it this summer - as long as you have testing kits and test /top-up regularly it's good. A pal has same one with about 8 years and still perfect.
Heating I hooked up an old oil boiler and it was good, though I have a heat pump heating the house so might try use that this summer.
Nothing close to what an indoor permanent pool would be like, but was a great low cost option. So good that I would seriously consider a more perm structure with a removable cover - one of the pool supplies companies were doing an equivalent sized solution for approx €25k that had jacuzzi features also - would still need the heating and cover etc., but not as outlandishly expensive as I would have previoulsy thought, considering the use this one got last year!

Sorry to hijack the thread, akasudonim would you mind if i pm'd you about your pool ?