What do I need for a small backyard pool or spool for exercise?
August 19, 2024 4:27 PM Subscribe
I'm in coastal San Diego and have a very small yard. I'm exploring whether it might be possible/feasible for me to put in a small swimming pool. What I have in mind is an alternative for treadmill-based walking/light running so I can have a way to exercise at home without straining my feet and joints. I'm envisioning water aerobics, treading water, walking around in the pool, etc., not really laps. Looking for advice on what features and elements such a pool should have to meet my needs. More details inside.
My priorities are:
1. have a way to exercise at home that doesn't require me putting weight on my feet
2. privacy (I am thinking the pool might need to be in a small poolhouse or covered thing, the roof of which can hold the tubes for solar heating??)
3. safety/accessibility
4. comply with the law/zoning/whatever I don't know that I need to know for this (I am in the Coastal Zone)
5. comfort - heat is important because San Diego doesn't get that hot; I expect to be able to use the pool year-round
6. making a nice/pleasant space that's a fun addition to the yard
I've never had a pool before. I know they're expensive and a lot of work. At this point I'm trying to understand what are my must-have features that will help me accomplish the above, and I'd also love to know what kinds of professionals I should be asking for advice, particularly on the compliance aspect.
I'm aware of the Endless Pool type of pools that make a current for you to swim against. I'm open to that if it's a better option. I just find those pools to be quite unattractive and they seem kind of limiting to me, but please educate me if that's not true.
Here are some pictures of the kind of small-pool-in-poolhouse thing I'm envisioning. (All of which are too big for my yard I think, at least the buildings themselves but maybe not the pools?)
More questions:
- How deep does it need to be?
- How big does it have to be to get what I want?
- Do I want saltwater or...?
- What other stuff does it need? What kind of exit/entry is preferred (stairs, ladder?)?
- Should I make it also have jets and stuff like a spa?
- What kind of budget should I set for this? I want to get the right thing for me and I don't mind saving up for even a decade if that's necessary.
Thank you for your help. I'm really having trouble figuring out how to start this whole project so any advice would be great.
My priorities are:
1. have a way to exercise at home that doesn't require me putting weight on my feet
2. privacy (I am thinking the pool might need to be in a small poolhouse or covered thing, the roof of which can hold the tubes for solar heating??)
3. safety/accessibility
4. comply with the law/zoning/whatever I don't know that I need to know for this (I am in the Coastal Zone)
5. comfort - heat is important because San Diego doesn't get that hot; I expect to be able to use the pool year-round
6. making a nice/pleasant space that's a fun addition to the yard
I've never had a pool before. I know they're expensive and a lot of work. At this point I'm trying to understand what are my must-have features that will help me accomplish the above, and I'd also love to know what kinds of professionals I should be asking for advice, particularly on the compliance aspect.
I'm aware of the Endless Pool type of pools that make a current for you to swim against. I'm open to that if it's a better option. I just find those pools to be quite unattractive and they seem kind of limiting to me, but please educate me if that's not true.
Here are some pictures of the kind of small-pool-in-poolhouse thing I'm envisioning. (All of which are too big for my yard I think, at least the buildings themselves but maybe not the pools?)
More questions:
- How deep does it need to be?
- How big does it have to be to get what I want?
- Do I want saltwater or...?
- What other stuff does it need? What kind of exit/entry is preferred (stairs, ladder?)?
- Should I make it also have jets and stuff like a spa?
- What kind of budget should I set for this? I want to get the right thing for me and I don't mind saving up for even a decade if that's necessary.
Thank you for your help. I'm really having trouble figuring out how to start this whole project so any advice would be great.
Response by poster: Thank you HearHere - I have seen that document but I don't really understand it nor how to apply it to my specific situation. If anyone has advice or personal experience that would be awesome!
posted by pupstocks at 5:07 PM on August 19
posted by pupstocks at 5:07 PM on August 19
Response by poster: I should have added into my original question - do I want above ground or in ground or is there another option I should have? Thanks all. I promise to leave now and let you cook.
posted by pupstocks at 5:08 PM on August 19
posted by pupstocks at 5:08 PM on August 19
What HearHere googled/posted might not apply to what you want to do - it's more for super basic standard pools, not pools contained in a building in the Coastal Zone. Wanting the building makes things tricky for a number of reasons - for pretty much every other pool in San Diego, people just have a fence (required by code actually!) for privacy, so why doesn't that work? I don't know for sure, but if you didn't try to put it in a building the Coastal stuff wouldn't be an issue and you could use that master plan thing.
Otherwise, you're looking at something that might be worth hiring a professional landscape architect or building architect that has experience with coastal stuff, and ultimately you'd be hoping to be exempt from any requirements because what you're doing isn't big enough to trigger them. It kind of feels like overkill for just a pool building to hire those people, but I don't think coastal is something to F around with.
I think you basically want to call a pool designer and talk to them about what you want. The one guy I know in the San Diego area is Skip Phillips, but he does a lot of high-end vanishing edge kinds of things, is more of a designer than a builder, and wouldn't be too well versed in coastal or zoning things if it came to that. It might be worth talking to some of the contractors he has listed that he works with - they probably have enough experience to be able to guide you on depth/salt vs chlorine/endless pool/above ground vs in-ground and all that stuff. Like:
Mission Pools
posted by LionIndex at 5:23 PM on August 19
Otherwise, you're looking at something that might be worth hiring a professional landscape architect or building architect that has experience with coastal stuff, and ultimately you'd be hoping to be exempt from any requirements because what you're doing isn't big enough to trigger them. It kind of feels like overkill for just a pool building to hire those people, but I don't think coastal is something to F around with.
I think you basically want to call a pool designer and talk to them about what you want. The one guy I know in the San Diego area is Skip Phillips, but he does a lot of high-end vanishing edge kinds of things, is more of a designer than a builder, and wouldn't be too well versed in coastal or zoning things if it came to that. It might be worth talking to some of the contractors he has listed that he works with - they probably have enough experience to be able to guide you on depth/salt vs chlorine/endless pool/above ground vs in-ground and all that stuff. Like:
Mission Pools
posted by LionIndex at 5:23 PM on August 19
(You might realize this already, but in case not: the top image of the three you linked is an Endless Pool.)
posted by minervous at 7:27 PM on August 19
posted by minervous at 7:27 PM on August 19
How small is your small yard? (Small outdoor-pool examples at Waterair; In the Swim sells inflatable pool domes.) Some folks just extend their house. (Preceding links are inspirational. Homeguide's ballpark figures, a different site's take.) What you're describing (water exercises - maybe an aqua bike? - no lap swimming) can happen in a compact space, and it made me think of small enclosed pools.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:48 PM on August 19
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:48 PM on August 19
A designer that I follow, Emily Henderson, put in a Soake pool, and has a great write-up about it. Lots of good info. (I don't want a pool; never want a pool; ... but her review makes me think I want a pool.)
posted by hydra77 at 7:19 AM on August 20 [3 favorites]
posted by hydra77 at 7:19 AM on August 20 [3 favorites]
I can't speak to the local issues related to zoning and whatnot, but I can mention a bit about maintaining a pool: it's not nearly as intense as people think, and need not be expensive. If you're willing to learn a bit about basic pool chemistry and the 2 or 3 things necessary to keep the water clear and safe you can get the supplies at Wal-Mart or Home Depot 99% of the time and avoid the crazy pool-store markups on unnecessary stuff.
The single best resource available is free online and I can't recommend it highly enough: troublefreepool.com. Start with the Pool School section and go from there. The forums and wiki cover everything from equipment to design, troubleshooting, getting started, and everything in between.
posted by jquinby at 7:26 AM on August 20 [2 favorites]
The single best resource available is free online and I can't recommend it highly enough: troublefreepool.com. Start with the Pool School section and go from there. The forums and wiki cover everything from equipment to design, troubleshooting, getting started, and everything in between.
posted by jquinby at 7:26 AM on August 20 [2 favorites]
...and regards the time for maintenance - maybe 5 minutes a day if I need to test a chemical or two? Brush the sides takes maybe 23-30 minutes in a week. The vacuum robot takes care of the bottom and it's on a schedule. There are a couple of annual tasks that take a bit longer, but the daily care and feeding requirements are minimal.
Like anything else, neglect can compound issues that subsequently take longer to resolve, but even the grodiest greenest pool can be made crystal clear again in a relatively brief time...if you follow the general TFP approach in the website above.
posted by jquinby at 7:37 AM on August 20
Like anything else, neglect can compound issues that subsequently take longer to resolve, but even the grodiest greenest pool can be made crystal clear again in a relatively brief time...if you follow the general TFP approach in the website above.
posted by jquinby at 7:37 AM on August 20
The single best resource available is free online and I can't recommend it highly enough: troublefreepool.com. Start with the Pool School section and go from there.
Came here to recommend TFP as well: we bought (and have now sold) a vacation house with a small pool and hot tub, and I was able to maintain them both easily with the help of their app and a professional pool chemistry kit. there's a free and a paid version- I found the paid version- at I think 8 bucks annually- was totally worth it. It's a very no-nonsense site. The two things I learned from pool maintenance is that many, if not most pool care products are BS, in that they do not properly disinfect pools or hottubs or add a bunch of extra chemicals you don't need; and that if you aren't around to regularly maintain your pool, a saltwater pool is preferred as it constantly generates a low level of chlorine at all times. Our pool was in the woods under trees and critters loved to romp on the safety cover, so that whenever we were away for a bit it required a lot more chemical messing around before we could get in it.
Anyway, I enjoyed the pool maintenance. i found it very satisfying to have people comment how nice and clean it looked, and how little chlorine smell there was (this smell comes from chlorine breaking down organic material). I liked opening a green pool in April and having it crystal clear in three days (not an issue in San Diego). YMMV of course.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:53 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
Came here to recommend TFP as well: we bought (and have now sold) a vacation house with a small pool and hot tub, and I was able to maintain them both easily with the help of their app and a professional pool chemistry kit. there's a free and a paid version- I found the paid version- at I think 8 bucks annually- was totally worth it. It's a very no-nonsense site. The two things I learned from pool maintenance is that many, if not most pool care products are BS, in that they do not properly disinfect pools or hottubs or add a bunch of extra chemicals you don't need; and that if you aren't around to regularly maintain your pool, a saltwater pool is preferred as it constantly generates a low level of chlorine at all times. Our pool was in the woods under trees and critters loved to romp on the safety cover, so that whenever we were away for a bit it required a lot more chemical messing around before we could get in it.
Anyway, I enjoyed the pool maintenance. i found it very satisfying to have people comment how nice and clean it looked, and how little chlorine smell there was (this smell comes from chlorine breaking down organic material). I liked opening a green pool in April and having it crystal clear in three days (not an issue in San Diego). YMMV of course.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:53 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
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posted by HearHere at 4:54 PM on August 19