Owning a home with a pool in the backyard provides a convenient source of fun for the entire family. However, you'll be on the hook for regular (and expensive) maintenance when the pool is in use. In temperate areas such as Washington, D.C., pool season typically stretches from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but, in places such as Florida and Arizona, pools are used year-round.
Experts recommend that a pool be cleaned weekly when in use. As part of the cleaning process, the pool's pH level will need to be tested to ensure the alkalinity isn't too low or high, which could make the water too acidic or reduce the effectiveness of the chlorine. When this happens, the water is no longer safe for swimmers and can cause corrosive damage to the pool's surface and equipment.
If you don't clean the pool yourself, which requires purchasing equipment and administering chemicals, you'll need to hire a pool maintenance service — and that expense can quickly add up. Pool owners spend between $115 to $353, on average, to have their pool maintained weekly by a professional, according to HomeAdvisor.com. The national average is $234. The service includes skimming the water's surface for floating debris, vacuuming the pool floor, brushing the pool walls, cleaning the filter, and checking the water and pH levels. Taking the median cost, at the end of the month that's $936 spent on maintenance alone.
A tear in a swimming pool's lining, a protective layer applied to the pool before it's filled, is a common repair encountered by pool owners. The liner acts as a barrier between the pool walls/floor and water, and it helps prevent mold growth. Vinyl lining is popular largely due to its affordability. According to HomeServe, depending on how big the tear is or if the entire liner needs replacing, it can cost anywhere between $1,000 and $6,000. If the tear is small enough, you may be able to repair it yourself with a vinyl pool liner patch kit (starting at $5 on Amazon).
If a gradual decrease in water level leads you to suspect a slow leak, professional leak detection will cost you anywhere from $100 to $500 to have a repairman inspect your pool to find the leak and fix it (if it's small). If there's a leak in your pool's plumbing — which could affect the pool filter pump and heater later — you'll need to have a professional assess the damage. The average cost to fix a plumbing leak is $704.
When considering purchasing a home with a pool, you'll want to be sure to ask the seller about any previous repair work, advised Frank Lesh, founder of Home Sweet Home Inspection Company in Indian Head Park, Ill. Find out the specific type of repairs and when they were completed. A pattern of small repairs could be a warning sign of a larger, costlier repair to come.
Nearly 379 children under the age of 15 drown in backyard swimming pools every year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Children younger than 5 years old account for about 75% of these drownings, more than half of which are attributed to a gap in adult supervision.
Many localities require a safety barrier to be installed around a residential pool to help prevent accidental drownings. You want to be sure to install a separate fence specifically around the pool and not just the backyard. If you have small kids at home, consider buying a fence with a self-closing door with a locking mechanism that's positioned high up on the door panel and out of their reach, recommended Mary Roberts, former president of the Arizona Association of Realtors.
Pool fencing options vary by type (glass, mesh, vinyl, etc.) and price. You’ll pay anywhere from $15 to $40 per linear foot on average, according to HomeAdvisor.com. Chain-link and mesh run $1,000 to $5,000, while wrought iron, aluminum, vinyl, or wood are double that price, at $2,000 to $12,000. Tempered glass is the most expensive and ranges from $7,000 to $20,000.
The CPSC recommends going a step further and installing door alarms on all doors in the home leading to the pool area, as well as on the pool fence door itself.
A diving board also poses a major safety risk. Three common injuries include falling while climbing the ladder; hitting the diving board while trying tricks; and divers accidentally landing on swimmers in the water, Realtor.com warns. As a result, insurance companies will likely charge a higher premium or won't cover diving-board injuries at all, the site states.
If you make an offer on a house with a diving board, ask the seller to have the diving board removed before you go to closing. If that doesn't work, you can simply do it yourself once the home is in your possession.
Since homeowners with pools face the potential for pool-related injuries or even deaths, insurance providers commonly refer to residential pools as "attractive nuisances." Consider increasing your liability coverage beyond what's already offered through your homeowners insurance policy. Taking out a personal umbrella insurance policy is a good way to do this.
Should you ever get sued, an umbrella policy kicks in once you've exhausted the liability coverage provided by your homeowners policy, which usually maxes out around $300,000. The additional coverage can help cover paying for judgments against you, as well as attorney fees, according to the Insurance Information Institute. You can purchase a $1 umbrella liability policy on average for $383 a year, according to Progressive. Find out how much you can get with our umbrella insurance calculator.
You might think that adding a pool to your backyard would boost your home's resale value significantly. It won't. The most your home's value might increase is 7% and that's only if it meets certain criteria when it's time to sell, according to HouseLogic.com. This includes living in a warmer climate and residing in a high-end neighborhood where most of your potential neighbors have a pool in the backyard, as well as having a lot big enough to accommodate a pool while still having room for a garden or play area for kids, the site notes.
A backyard swimming pool might even scare away potential buyers who are turned off by the work and expense required to maintain a pool, said Christopher Suranna, a Washington, D.C.-based real-estate agent with Metro DC Houses. And even though a swimming pool doesn’t necessarily add value in the eyes of home buyers, it still adds value to your home which means in turn you pay more property tax. Note: this only applies to inground pools.
Energy bills are already close to a two-decade high, add an in-ground pool to the mix and they will climb even higher. You could end up paying an extra $500 to $2,000 per year on utility bills annually for the additional electricity required to run the pool pump, pool lights, etc., according to HomeAdvisor.com.
If you have a pool that's heated, you'll spend much more. The cost to run a pool heater averages between $120 and $850 a month. The low estimate is for a heat pump, and the high estimate is for propane powered heaters. A gas heater, which is the most common type of pool heater and uses either natural gas or propane, runs $200 to $400 a month.
Recreational water-related illnesses such as ear and respiratory infections, rashes and diarrhea are caused by exposure to water contaminated with germs and chemicals found in swimming pools, hot tubs, water parks, and various other public swimming spaces, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
So, what can pool owners do to avoid water-related illnesses? Never allow swimmers with diarrhea to swim in a pool. It's a leading cause of pool contamination. Regular pool maintenance is also critical to help prevent these types of germs from making you, your family and your friends sick.
And, when buying a new home with a swimming pool, you should also get the pool inspected to ensure it meets state and/or federal safety regulations.
The out-of-pocket costs that come with buying a home are already high, but purchasing a home with a pool is even more expensive. That's because hiring a traditional home inspector to examine the pool won't cut it. Most have limited knowledge and training, said Maria Zamora, a real estate agent based in Addison, Texas. "You'll want to hire a certified licensed pool inspector to do a comprehensive inspection that includes a leak detection test within the shell of the pool," she notes.
The pool inspector will also need to examine the operating systems (both plumbing and electrical), the pool's interior surface, main drain and deck surfacing, Zamora adds. This person should also be able to identify any federal, state, or local issues pertaining to fencing, as well as any other safety-related problems.
Buyers interested in purchasing an existing home with a pool can expect to pay between $200 to $500 according to Homeguide.com. The average cost is $350. You can find a certified pool inspector in your area online by using InterNACHI's "Find an Inspector" search tool. Enter your home address, then click on the advanced search dropdown and select "pool/spas." Hit enter. You'll get search results for certified pool inspectors within a 10- to 50-mile radius of your home.
Zamora also advised buyers to purchase a home warranty that includes coverage for any major pool repairs. "Since the pool is used and not new, there's a possibility that certain repairs will come up in the future," she said.
For families with young children, having a home with a pool can be a great source of recreation during summer breaks from school. Parents don't have to shell out a small fortune to visit a water park or worry about paying for overpriced food and drinks at the concession stand. However, by the time the kids hit high school, hanging poolside with mom and dad is likely the last thing they'll want to do. Parents may find that their backyard oasis is getting used a lot less, yet the maintenance fees and related costs continue to add up.
Should you find yourself in such a predicament, you can get rid of the pool — but it's going to cost you. To permanently partially fill a standard in-ground swimming pool averages between $4,500 and $6,250, according to HomeAdvisor.com. The pool can be filled with gravel or dirt. It's cheaper to use gravel (about $5 to $8 per cubic yard), but it can settle over time making the ground above it less stable, HomeAdvisor.com warns.
Mosquitoes and water bugs are drawn to swimming pools, especially during peak season. Skimming the pool's surface to remove insects helps, but frequent skimming is time-consuming and detracts from the actual use of the pool. Another solution is implementing a routine maintenance schedule to deter the growth of algae, which many bugs are attracted to and eat, along the pool walls and steps.
Water-loving wild animals can also be problematic for homeowners with pools in the backyard. It's not uncommon for these homeowners to find dead animals floating around first thing in the morning (after possibly getting stuck overnight and drowning). While most don't pose a health risk to humans, there's still a major yuck factor when you have to fish out an animal carcass from your pool — especially if you were planning to get in a couple of laps before starting your day. As long as the pool is well-maintained and cleaned regularly, chlorine will kill most germs carried by animals, according to the CDC.
However, there are some wild animals you do need to worry about. For example, raccoons can carry parasites, and if one happens to enter your pool and contaminate the water, it could lead to severe neurological illness in humans, especially children, the CDC states. Birds, particularly ducks and geese, can foul a pool with their droppings, which can lead to illnesses caused by Salmonella and E. coli.
And even wilder animals, like alligators and snakes, have been known to find their way into swimming pools, too, especially in Florida. This is another reason why it's important to install fencing around your pool to help keep wildlife at bay.
