Kids like them but they are a worry. I thought I would want one for myself but the novelty wears off.

I've always wanted one because I love to swim, so I'm in the yay camp. Downsides are cost, supposedly depreciate value of the home and limit buyers. Teenagers, esp. males, would make me MUCH more nervous re: having a pool, than little kids, who are, in theory, under constant supervision. Once they're teens, I'd definitely put a camera in there and let them know it's there and that you'll see them if they're drinking/partying and swimming when you're away.

Safest pools, though, are deeper and angular, i.e.: square or rectangle, and larger (believe it or not). Put a large bank of straight-edge steps, and sitting shelves in a couple of places where the water is deep so there is the ability to get out of the deep end as well.

I don't like the curvy style pools with boulders along the edge, that sort of thing, because it's too easy for someone swimming with their eyes close to hit their head on one of the curves or on a boulder coming up out of the water. I would keep the lines of the pool straight.

Also, light color for the floor of the pool. Dark colors are like a pond and you can't see a thing.

For you, I would say Nay.

If you are so uncomfortable that you would need a cover, fencing and locked gate with combo to not feel at risk, it will be too stressful for you to have a pool. You are also not a big pool fan - red flag - like getting a puppy - there is adult work to be done around a pool.

I think it depends where you live. In the south where you can use it almost year round, go for it! We are in the northeast though so a pool would get 2-3 months of use max. Not worth the cost hassle and maintenance for that length of time. Neighborhood pool or ymca will work just fine for us.

I am with Butternut. We have a great town pool, would not want a pool in my backyard.

I say yay!

We have always had a pool in both houses we've lived in, since our kids were born, and gotten tremendous enjoyment out of of them. We have three kids, now middle schoolers. We are putting a pool in at our beach house, too, this spring... we just bought the house about 18 months ago and wanted to put it in last summer but got delayed and waited till this summer. One of my conditions for purchasing a Beachhouse was that it had room for a swimming pool.

They say the most satisfying expenditures are experiences, not things. I would put a pool actually in the "experience" category. I have so many memories of all the different parties we've had around the pool ...dinner parties, birthday parties, school parties, block parties. Ot just sitting around with family. Or I remember all the nights in the summertime when we would get in the hot tub with the kids. To me hot tubs are really kiddie pools. You just don't heat them up that high when they're young. Many a summer night we would spend in the hot tub after a day of swimming. Eating popsicles, looking at the stars, blowing bubbles with a wand. Great times.

I would definitely incorporate a hot tub into your design. Especially if you're in an area with a more temperate climate. It will extend the season to use the pool.

A few general thoughts on pool design. People spend the vast majority of their time in the shallow end, so emphasize that. The warmer the water is, the more people will use it and the longer they'll use it. Yes it costs money - but what good is a pool that people don't use. By the way we're in the Northeast. We always opened the pool early May and close it in late September (in our current primary home it's so happens our pool is indoors so obviously it never closes ).

You need good covers, locking gates, and fences that are up to code, to keep out other kids. For your own kids, to me, like everything, the only answer is really supervision. That's where safety comes from. Personally in an area like the northeast where the pool is covered so much of the year, I don't like a pool that's visible from the house, because I think it's a bit of an eyesore. On the other hand if it is not visible from the house you really have to be vigilant about someone being out there when it's in use.

One last point. People will want to dive. Especially as your kids get older. We thought about putting a diving board in the new pool that we are installing. A pool has to be designed in terms of depth and width to provide enough space to dive safely. We ended up going with something called a diving rock instead. Because it doesn't provide the bounce of the diving board it's a little bit safer.

As far the impact on home values it depends upon the home. In some homes a swimming pool is de rigeur or expected and in those homes to not have a pool or a place to put one could actually be a negative. When we were selling our last house I never once heard any negative comments at all about our swimming pool.

Edited to add: our old pool was chlorine, and so is our indoor pool (although for an indoor pool used only by a family you need very very little chlorine... no leaves or birds ... so it does not smell of chlorine at all). Our new pool at the beach will be salt water and I think that is what most people put in now. You will probably get an automatic robotic cleaner; those are very helpful. The amount of extra work beyond that will depend on how often you use it and how many people (bather load) and the location. Our last pool was wedged in amongst a bunch of deciduous trees I refused to remove. It made a lovely setting but there was always something ... leaf, needle. bud, pollen ... from somewhere falling in. Made it a lot more work to keep clean.

we had a pool in our previous home i used it almost every day and loved it
some upkeep is unavoidable, but if you tinker five minutes or so with it daily, it's not difficult
our pool was older-25 yrs when we purchased the house and 35 when we sold it
since we lived on the outskirts of houston, it was warm enough to use at least 8 full months of the year ours was a chlorine pool and the chemicals were somewhat expensive and of course the electricity to keep pumps running
the pool did not deter us from purchasing the home nor from selling the home (it sold before the sign went up)
if adults in the household are not interested in a pool i'd say think twice about getting one

I am not a fan of a pool cover because they give a false feeling of security. Kids think that they can walk on them, run on them, etc and they'll be safe. I think a really good fence is the best choice and that's what we have. We've also signed our kids up for the best year round swim lessons available. My younger son who turned 4 in February is learning side breathing and the back stroke right now.

As for pool design, I would consult with your homeowners insurance and your city code. Some cities have pool codes and some homeowners policies for example increase if you have a diving board. I am not a fan of diving rocks. I've seen many that got surprisingly slippery when wet. When you combine the slippery surface with horseplay they can get quite dangerous. I had to stop a group of 8 year old boys from jumping off the rock at a friend's house because they wouldn't follow the few safety rules I gave them for jumping off the rock. I was really concerned that someone would get hurt.

If you're concerned about resale I would consult with a local realtor who specializes in similar homes in your area. He or she will able to show you recently sold or for sale homes in your area with pools versus without pools. Never assume you'll recoup the pool cost though because you won't. It's about whether or not it will make it harder to resell your home. In my area it's hard (but not impossible) to sell a home like mine if you don't have a pool.

If you can afford it, go for it!

Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this...and come up with solutions to potential problems. No matter how short your summer, if it's hot...you want a pool!

We have 2 months of 90-100 degree weather and I would LOVE to have a pool. And I'm not even a very good swimmer...but oh, to cool off and splash in the water :)

I say, "Yay!" if the following conditions are met:

- You're in a climate where you can use the pool most of the year.

- You've reviewed the cost of installation and can do it without borrowing (a pool is a luxury, and you don't borrow for luxuries).

- You've reviewed the time necessary for upkeep and are willing to put in the time.

- You're going to stay in this house for the foreseeable future, which means that the enjoyment you'll have from the pool will outweigh the hit you may take when it's time for resale.

A pool that's 45' the biggest direction is fairly large. I'd consider going smaller; smaller means less money, less upkeep. I agree that the shallow spaces are going to be used more frequently, and I agree that incorporating a hot tub is a great idea.

I would not include a diving board. They're just too dangerous. Instead, teach your kids that diving just isn't an option at home.

I totally agree with you on the fence and the lock (to keep out unwanted swimmers), but I agree with the above poster who says that covers can provide a false sense of security. To protect your own kids, I'd install locks UP TOP of the doors, where the kids can't reach. And I'd also include some type of alarm so you'd know when your kids went out the back door.

I would agree with MrsPete. We had an above ground pool most of my growing up years and we spent pretty much every day from May-Sept. in that pool. By the time my youngest sibling was about 16 though, we had stopped using it and my parents stopped putting it up. We got a solid 10 years out of it, but that was it. We were in the country so no easy access to town pools. I'm sure an in ground pool is even more maintenance/cost so I would want to be sure some is going to to get enough use out of it to warrant the time spent maintaining once kids are no longer using it.

We had a pool in our last house-we put it in when our youngest was five-they loved it. I loved the convenience of not having to pack everything up to go to the town pool. By the time they were in high school they didn't use it much. I'm not a pool person so I didn't use it. My husband is a pool person and when he was home(he traveled a lot for work) he really enjoyed just sitting in it at the end of the day. Since you indicated you had kids that were frogs I say go for it. It does have a lot of maintenance-my husband did most of it(we helped with closing and opening) until our daughter was old enough to help. She traded mowing the lawn for vacuuming the pool :).

I say no for you. Your children are young and you want more. I pulled a child out of the water a couple of weeks ago. She was drowning. Drowning does not look like you think drowning would look. After that, someone at the party told me his employees daughter drowned the same age. We were at a party and the parents thought each other was watching the child. This man said same thing happened..it was at a party. Two days ago a neighbor told me the house on the corner for sale, a child drowned in that pool. We are at a hotel this weekend Complete chaos as a family's daughter went missing,my guess was she was around three Guess where they found her?? In the indoor pool area Thank goodness she did not get in the water. Kids are fast !

Every activity has some inherent risk and a horror story to go with it. A friend of the family had her 9 year old out riding a horse as she'd done everyday since she was very little. Fell off the horse, broke her neck and died. Kids die riding bikes, skateboards, etc. I think our job as parents is not to stop the enjoyment of these activities, but to supervise the kids in a responsible way. It sounds like you are a thoughtful and conscientious parent, and that to me is 90% of the safety factor right there.

However, based on your description, pool ownership does not seem to be a good fit for you. I honestly believe you must enjoy a pool to warrant the time and expense associated with it. If you don't care for swimming or lounging in the pool, you will grow to despise it. It is a labor of love and if you don't love it, don't get one. And this is coming from someone who's had pools in my last 2 homes and would never buy a house that doesn't have one. But I know they aren't for everyone.

That said, if you learn how to care for them the correct way - chemically speaking - they don't involve a lot of work or expense. The method I use is called the BBB method. You can google to learn more if interested. It's cheap, it works fantastic and is easy on the pool equipment. Also, there are also a lot of new pool features that take care of a lot of the work for you, such as salt water chlorine generating systems, in floor cleaning systems, etc. But, even with those, during swim season you have to dedicate about 3 days a week to checking chemicals, adjusting levels that are too high or low, and picking out any debris. This only takes about 10 minutes, but it is one more chore to add to the list.

An automatic cover is a MUST for me. Not even close - it is the single most important accessory to go with the pool. It absolutely adds safety - and not a false sense of safety as some have indicated but actual safety. If properly maintained, a pool cover can stand the weight of several adults standing on it. A small child would not be at risk of falling through. The covers are made of a heavy duty material that is surprisingly strong. Besides safety, the auto covers make maintaining the pool 1000000% easier. If you keep it closed except when in use, it will keep out leaves, dirt, bugs and will block the sun from creating algae (assuming you keep your chemicals in good order). If you decide on a pool absolutely budget in for an auto cover. They aren't cheap - they add $10-12k to the price of the pool but are worth every penny. Do not confuse a solar cover with a safety cover, they are two very different animals. Solar covers are inexpensive bubble wrap type plastic sheets that lay on top of the water. They do not provide a bit of safety whatsoever, but they do work well to keep the water warm - but so does the auto cover.

This is really a question you must answer for yourself, but given your disinterest in swimming and your fear of the pool, it really seems like it would be in your best interest to skip it.

We all take risks every day. Some are more avoidable than others. The riskiest thing we do by far is drive, but that would be too inconvenient to forsake. Only a parent can decide if it is too risky for their child to say, play football, or take up flying, or have a swimming pool.

Here is some data. It shows, for example 116 drownings among 5-9 year olds for the year studied. There are about 21 million 5-9 year olds. Of course, you don't have 21 million yourself.

injury_deaths_

I had long ago realized that I didn't want the pool to have my "main" hot tub (which is for actual pain, and so the individual units are WAY better--something small with room for only 2 people with really intense jets that I could use at least 2x per week), BUT I just realized that a "social" hot tub with only the "moving water" jets would make me like the pool about 100x more. Seriously. I would actually like to hang out and watch the older kids play, and I could put it just behind the Baja shelf so it would be a simple leg-swing over into the shallow end when #3 turns three and is at an age where he could be a bit more than an arm's reach away in the kiddie pool if I set up a barrier on the other end.

I don't know how hot I can realistically keep the pool. I'd go for a DARK cladding and the covers would be insulating, so there's that--along with the auto cover (which would be rated fro child safety).

Pool drownings ARE rare, but pool ownership isn't that common, either. Adjust for ownership, and the rate of drownings rises a lot.

sklka--the housekeeper would take care of the pool. (I have cleaners who come every other week and take care of the filth in the house--I call her a housekeeper for lack of a better word, but I guess 'sanity saver' isn't a job title, but she mostly doesn't clean.)

Also, I think anyone with children who doesn't have a very strong system is in the same category as people who leave loaded pistols in their nightstands around small children. It's not a matter of "comfort." It's a matter of actual risk.

I'm fortunate that I could write a check for the pool right now. :) My business is finally doing very well. I do want to save for an au pair, though, as that's the only possible way I can have a 4th child and not go crazy. I can work pretty well with a baby on my lap (and have done so with three), but I do need some breathing time.

My husband is not a fan of moving. (Also, Hitler was a bad man.) I doubt we will ever leave this house. I'm overimproving for the neighborhood, but I so don't care. If I'm staying here forever (and my husband has been told by multiple upper-level managers that he's considered a core member of the company and they will do anything within reason to keep him--he's famous enough in his field that his name on contracts brings money), I'm going to have the house I want. Even if he loses his job, there are companies lined up to poach him. Even if all that falls apart, I'm the primary breadwinner, and he could just create products on his own and I could support him while his business takes off. My husband was emotionally attached to our first crappy apartment in NM without working AC, to give you an idea of how much he gets attached to places. And he hated New Mexico.

tcufrog--we will have the fence as well. The cover is backup and for particularly determined neighborhood children who might decide to take a swim.

The alarm system will be hardwired and integrated into the design. Locks up top only works until a kid can reach them on a stepladder, though that's where we'll place them, anyway. Mine are...exceptionally inventive.

ourgeorgiahouse--I know what drowning looks like. :) I've taken water safety courses and am a certified diver, so I've done some basic water rescue practice, too.

The fact is that if my poor kids depend on me to TAKE them to the pool, it will happen at most 6 times a season. Now that I have a FT housekeeper, that can be more often, though at a sacrifice of other things. The pools are a good distance away, especially those that don't completely suck for children.

"square or rectangle, and larger (believe it or not). Put a large bank of straight-edge steps, and sitting shelves in a couple of places where the water is deep so there is the ability to get out of the deep end as well."

The diving well can't have any obstacles, but I do have a shelf planned along the rest of the pool. Even in the 3.5' deep area. And yes, it's angular. A true L. The baja shelf is on the short leg of the L.

There will be no pool without a safety cover!

OH! And surveillance is going in with lighting in the very FIRST round of landscape improvements. :)

Georgia- How awful! Thank goodness you were there, to save that child.

I'm going to make a generalization from what's been said...and that is lack of supervision seems to be the biggest problem. Again, I said generalization, because there are always accidents (like the poor child falling from the horse) but when parents are not watching children, they will be at risk. Many times this is because the child does not know how to swim....or hurts themselves falling off a diving board.

Being one of those children that was not a good swimmer (I can't float to literally save my life) I did learn to dog paddle :) And that allowed me to save my younger brother, at the lake. And being tall and bouncing on one toe. My parents were talking to friends and my brother (also not a great swimmer) went a little too far from the shallow area.

That being said, I think a pool is MUCH safer than the lake...and kids go to the lake all the time. In our climate (long winters, hot summers) people get a little stir crazy and 'live' at the lake in the summer. I would much rather have a pool, with safety features the OP listed above, as well as a shallow shelf...than kids at the lake...or a friends' pool.

As many of you know....I have horses and yes, they can be dangerous. NO CHILD is allowed in with the horses, for any reason. Horses can kick you without even thinking about it and while mine are very sweet (not a mean bone in their body) they bump into each other like kids shove back and forth. They feel it, but it doesn't injure them....it would injure us.

Again, SUPERVISION is the key, IMHO.....

I want it a lot more now that it dawned on me that there's no reason not to have a second hot tub! lolol.

Supervision is great, but all humans sleep. And all humans can make mistakes. Or things can go wrong for an instant. No cover, no pool. :)

Also, ALL the pools around here that are outdoor are unheated. The $2000-a-year swim club pools are unheated. The $800-a-year swim club is unheated. The public pools are unheated. The $30-to-$60 a month sportsplex with an outdoor rec pool is unheated. And I'm miserable except in the height of summer. I hate the pools SO MUCH because of it. The nearest place that's heated to a rec temp--not a sport temp--is an indoor pool 45 min away. I loathe taking the kids to the pool because of it. Cold temps put me in physical pain.