What to do with an unused pool, in California
August 10, 2015 11:18 AM Subscribe
My parents have an inground pool that fills a significant part of their back yard. Their pump is dying or dead, and replacing the pump will be a significant investment for them, moreso that neither of them use the pool much. Add the current California drought, and the pool looks like more of an unnecessary expense than a benefit. Any thoughts on what should they do with it?
My parents have a decent sized pool in their back yard, but before they dump filler in and fill it with plants or whatever, I thought I could query folks as to what they could do. My general questions at the moment:
My parents have a decent sized pool in their back yard, but before they dump filler in and fill it with plants or whatever, I thought I could query folks as to what they could do. My general questions at the moment:
- Do pools harm or help resale value?
- Can a pool be filled and the space reused in such a way as to maintain the integrity of the pool for future excavation and reuse?
- Or if pools generally more of an expense/loss than value, how to best remove the pool?
I have no idea what this would do to the value of the place, but I would make it into a wildlife pond. Try to create a self-sustaining ecosystem, maybe with a gravel base, soil, water plants, and beasties. You might still need to filter, but not on such a drastic scale. If you Google something like "convert a pool to a pond" you'll see several interesting descriptions of how people have done it.
posted by pracowity at 11:27 AM on August 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 11:27 AM on August 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Pools can be decked over and used as, well, a deck or hardscape area without doing too much damage to the pool itself (likely would require resurfacing to be used again, but pools require periodic resurfacing anyway). I ran across Deckover awhile ago but there are other companies that do this work.
As for the question on resale value, I would speak with a real estate agent familiar with the market in their area. It should be a pretty simple equation to figure out what the best financial decision is - paying to cover it up and then refinish it to sell, vs. filling it in.
posted by muddgirl at 11:30 AM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
As for the question on resale value, I would speak with a real estate agent familiar with the market in their area. It should be a pretty simple equation to figure out what the best financial decision is - paying to cover it up and then refinish it to sell, vs. filling it in.
posted by muddgirl at 11:30 AM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd wager that replacing the pump and getting the pool operational will be far, far cheaper than any options to fill or cover the pool. Pumps are only a couple hundred bucks plus install.
Filling in the pool will likely be a permanent decision. Few people would pay to excavate and repair a pool that's been filled with 10,000+ gallons of dirt and gravel.
posted by gnutron at 11:42 AM on August 10, 2015 [14 favorites]
Filling in the pool will likely be a permanent decision. Few people would pay to excavate and repair a pool that's been filled with 10,000+ gallons of dirt and gravel.
posted by gnutron at 11:42 AM on August 10, 2015 [14 favorites]
once, in college, a friend was house sitting for an obscenely rich family while they were away - but they were also in the middle of a massive renovation on their palatial house at the time so the house said friend was sitting was really the caretakers home on the property. being a swinging single he had a hot tub in his living room. not wanting their two young children to face the constant dangers of drowning in the living room jacuzzi the family had, temporarily, filled the 8 person hot tub with small (4 inch?) brightly colored pillows. needless to say we had a lot of fun sitting in the pillow pit.
i suppose that might be impractical for outdoor applications - what about a truckload of the balls that places like McDonalds use to fill their ball pits?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:45 AM on August 10, 2015 [9 favorites]
i suppose that might be impractical for outdoor applications - what about a truckload of the balls that places like McDonalds use to fill their ball pits?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:45 AM on August 10, 2015 [9 favorites]
I can just share our experience of filling in a pool on a really limited budget as a data point. We bought a fixer-upper with a pool in the backyard that had not been maintained...there was a willow growing in the shallow end.
We had to break up more concrete than I care to remember, take out the pump etc., and then take out the steel (?) panels that provided the structure of the pool, keep breaking up the sides and bottom for drainage, get clean fill to fill it in, let it settle, level it out again and then add topsoil and landscape...it was a 3-year project. It turned out fine though. But if the put a deck over it option is doable, I recommend that!
posted by warriorqueen at 12:00 PM on August 10, 2015 [7 favorites]
We had to break up more concrete than I care to remember, take out the pump etc., and then take out the steel (?) panels that provided the structure of the pool, keep breaking up the sides and bottom for drainage, get clean fill to fill it in, let it settle, level it out again and then add topsoil and landscape...it was a 3-year project. It turned out fine though. But if the put a deck over it option is doable, I recommend that!
posted by warriorqueen at 12:00 PM on August 10, 2015 [7 favorites]
For context, I live in Los Angeles, and it takes about 35 minutes to drive to the ocean even though as the crow flies, it would only take 15 minutes (I'm high up in the hills, so you have to climb down). I had a pool about 20 years ago on this property, and we decided to fill it with dirt. We built a ginormous pond in the middle of it with waterfalls feeding into the pond.
That said, this year I just paid a bundle to restore the old pool. I would much rather have a pool than a pond. I don't worry too much about water evaporation, since my pool only gets sun in the summer and at that, only until 4 pm (situated as it is in the canyon). Plus, since I ripped out my old lawn and installed drip irrigation with drought resistant plants, I figure I can justify the water evaporation from the pool.
As an added note, it cost me a freaking fortune to excavate all the old concrete work we installed for the waterfalls and pond.
I only share my tale as a cautionary one. Think twice before you decide to fill that pool up. At the time, it made since to me as I had young ones and I was fearful of liability. But now they're teenagers and they love the pool.
As for property values, I have read that real estate agents say pools are a liability and therefore reduce a property's value. Personally, I think that line's a load of crap. Think of how many real estate signs have the word "POOL" on them as a major added value feature.
If it's a fairly regular sized pool, you can get a pool cover that functions and even looks like a deck. It operates with tracks on the side of the pool and retains heat for lovely pool temperature, eliminates the problem of evaporation 100%, and reduces maintenance needs. I would consider this before emptying the pool and putting a deck. It's not cheap, though.
posted by zagyzebra at 12:17 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
That said, this year I just paid a bundle to restore the old pool. I would much rather have a pool than a pond. I don't worry too much about water evaporation, since my pool only gets sun in the summer and at that, only until 4 pm (situated as it is in the canyon). Plus, since I ripped out my old lawn and installed drip irrigation with drought resistant plants, I figure I can justify the water evaporation from the pool.
As an added note, it cost me a freaking fortune to excavate all the old concrete work we installed for the waterfalls and pond.
I only share my tale as a cautionary one. Think twice before you decide to fill that pool up. At the time, it made since to me as I had young ones and I was fearful of liability. But now they're teenagers and they love the pool.
As for property values, I have read that real estate agents say pools are a liability and therefore reduce a property's value. Personally, I think that line's a load of crap. Think of how many real estate signs have the word "POOL" on them as a major added value feature.
If it's a fairly regular sized pool, you can get a pool cover that functions and even looks like a deck. It operates with tracks on the side of the pool and retains heat for lovely pool temperature, eliminates the problem of evaporation 100%, and reduces maintenance needs. I would consider this before emptying the pool and putting a deck. It's not cheap, though.
posted by zagyzebra at 12:17 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll share these ideas with my parents, but I for one will be pushing them to cover the pool instead of filling it.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:22 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 12:22 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
A pool can add value to a home in CA, but your "pool" of potential buyers is smaller because not everyone wants the hassle, liability, etc. There are generally city or county rules as to how a pool should be removed/filled along with a permitting process.
I would caution against just leaving it and decking over it to collect rainwater. It would create a giant breeding ground for mosquitoes leaving your parents and their neighbors at risk for West Nile virus. Not to mention they could be cited for having an unfilled, unmaintained pool.
posted by cecic at 12:23 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
I would caution against just leaving it and decking over it to collect rainwater. It would create a giant breeding ground for mosquitoes leaving your parents and their neighbors at risk for West Nile virus. Not to mention they could be cited for having an unfilled, unmaintained pool.
posted by cecic at 12:23 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
This article showed up in my inbox over the weekend: 6 Genius Uses for an Old Swimming Pool. Genius might be overstating it. But they're good ideas.
posted by mskyle at 12:23 PM on August 10, 2015
posted by mskyle at 12:23 PM on August 10, 2015
One of the best ways of using an old pool I've found, is to use it for food production. It would add the benefit of growing your own veg. But it does need feed and caring.
Read more about it at Gardenpool.org, which is a non-profit organization.
posted by Rabarberofficer at 1:16 PM on August 10, 2015
Read more about it at Gardenpool.org, which is a non-profit organization.
posted by Rabarberofficer at 1:16 PM on August 10, 2015
decking over it to collect rainwater...would create a giant breeding ground for mosquitoes
Easily controlled with mosquito dunks.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:19 PM on August 10, 2015
Easily controlled with mosquito dunks.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:19 PM on August 10, 2015
Filling in a pool usually requires a permit. Some municipalities allow you to knock a few holes in the bottom and fill with dirt. Others require the concrete to be broken into small chunks and then an engineered fill to be performed. The latter costs about ten times as much as the former.
posted by monotreme at 1:33 AM on August 11, 2015
posted by monotreme at 1:33 AM on August 11, 2015
California may be different but, around my parts, an in-ground pool is definitely a negative when it comes time to sell the home. They are maintenance money pits. They also add to your property tax bill as well as insurance costs.
A house across the street from me was abandoned. It had an in-ground pool. When it was finally purchased, the new owner had the pool broken-up and buried in-place. I'm not sure you can adequately fill-in a pool, since the decking and mechanicals are usually above ground.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:42 AM on August 11, 2015
A house across the street from me was abandoned. It had an in-ground pool. When it was finally purchased, the new owner had the pool broken-up and buried in-place. I'm not sure you can adequately fill-in a pool, since the decking and mechanicals are usually above ground.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:42 AM on August 11, 2015
If you empty a pool it can cause it to "float up" on the groundwater, breaking the pool and causing damage to the surrounding area. In California if you empty a pool you are currently not allowed to refill it from the water main. You would have to get water trucked in.
posted by w0mbat at 9:19 AM on August 11, 2015
posted by w0mbat at 9:19 AM on August 11, 2015
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posted by Mac-Expert at 11:25 AM on August 10, 2015 [2 favorites]