Dingdongler

Well since we have had about 48 hours of decent weather (26 degrees where I am) its got me thinking how nice it would be to have a small pool.

We've got the little inflatable paddling pool thing for the kids but they have almost outgrown this, and I obviously can't get in

There are the large, inflatable type ones but they must take a couple of days to fill up, the water will be freezing and the water gets filthy very quickly.

A 'proper' pool is out of the question on cost grounds but I came across things like these

http://www.splashandrelax.co.uk/prod...8.2m/683131213

. They can be semi sunk into the ground with decking around them so shouldn't be an eyesore.

Anybody got any experience of these? Are they actually useable ie can you keep them warm and clean? (summer use only, but just don't want freezing cold water)

I'm probably having a whole load of work done on the house this year and while the builders are around I could get them to dig the hole, lay the concrete base and provide leccy and water.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Go for it! At that price seems a good addition to the house. A mate of mine who married into a sceffy chav family had a pool in his garden on some council estate so can't be that expensive... I'm not putting you off am I lol

Ant

At that price just have a proper pool

ScoobyDoo555

I've got a 12ft circular pool - All I was going to do was build decking around the pool.
A fraction of the cost for something that, let's me honest here - we've had a few days of hot weather (this is IT - Summer is over: next week will be snow and sub-zero temps!! )........ just won't be used too much.

Just get a boggo "big" pool - stick in a "pool magic" tablet (fantastic things btw), and bit of chlorine etc....... enjoy when you can.
Take it down in 12 weeks time.

Simples


(but in all fairness, your link does look very pleasant though!)

Dingdongler

What does sceffy mean?

Chip

DD,

A tip for you

Why not buy a cheapy plastic pool for a few hundred quid and see what use it gets over the summer first rather than splashing out a few grand straight away. With the cost of the excavation , removal of spoil, concrete, electric etc youll not get any change from £10k there.

And dont forget the extra £400 for the heater and the cost to keep it heated as well.

Chip

Dingdongler

Ant, I'm pretty sure a proper pool will cost a lot more than that?

Scooby555, yes that was my initial plan to do what you have done/are planning. I just happened to come across these above ground pools and they do look very good.

When you build the decking around yours will the actual pool element stay there all year round or will you take out the pool bit and leave the decking there?

Do you drain it everyday and then refill it?

Thanks

Dingdongler

I've been waiting for your tip all weekend

The thing is I'm trying to get a feel for how useable these pools are, ie will they justify the cost. With the cheap plastic pools I'm not sure if they are very user friendly in that with a garden hose medium sized pools take hours to fill up.
Then the water will be freezing cold, but I suppose some sort of heating element can be added. Then they get dirty really quickly as they are open air with no filtration system. My paddling pool is full of flies and grass in about two hours.

This is why I thought if the pools I linked to could actually be kept filled all summer with a suitable filtration and heating then they would actually be used more. Still only perhaps 4-6 weeks a year, but 4-6 weeks a year for the next 7-8 years while the kids are still small is not a bad return on £10k.

Once all the building work has been done you are right there will be little change from £10k. But then I've seen people spend £5k+ on a hot tub.

ScoobyDoo555

I'll leave the decking in situ, but take down the pool.

The pool magic tablets afford you the luxury of only treating the pool every month or so - lovely crystal clear water.
My pool gets filled once. Shock treat the water. Pool magic. Leave. Enjoy for a month or so. Re-Pool Magic. Enjoy for another month.

All on the same water - it's something like 4500 litres so NO chance of daily refill.

Just change/clean the filter and check your chemical levels.

Has worked well for the last 2 or 3 years

Dan

Chip

If the pool was heated you could probably use it from April through to late sept. Have you thought about solar panels to heat it?

Sinking the pool as deep as you can will help a lot with insulation.

Chip

ScoobyDoo555

Good point

Tried those panels the act as a pool cover, but it REALLY causes a false impression of warmth.....

First couple of inches are LOVELY..... then the dawning realisation of how cold it really is starts to sink in

I had a 2nd time-controlled pump running through a matt-black household radiator and black pipe. Radiator was housed on top of our shed, akin to a solar panel. Even set to 5 min intervals, this would be sufficient to heat up to "kettle" temperature..... much cheaper

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

A good excuse for a pic of mine

I put in a 15ft steel walled pool in the ground and decked around it.
Didn't bother heating it initially, found it was cheaper to heat the kids than the pool with a couple of Tesco wetsuits. (Also helps their buoyancy.) We now have an air source heat pump which is a really economical way to heat it. Switched it on last Sun, kids have been in all week at 26C ! Total cost c.£6k. (excl soil disposal, and I fitted the pool and plumbing)
My pool was from http://www.agbudget.co.uk , they're very good and credible.
If you want any more info, probably easiest to PM me your phone no and I'll give you a call to run through what I've learnt !

D

scud8

iTrader: (1)

My cousin's house was flooded a few years ago when a neighbour's above-ground pool collapsed (as were several other nearby houses). Make sure your house insurer knows about it if you do get one.

ScoobyDoo555

VERY nice

David Lock

We went from the kids splash pool to a 12 ft round to a 4 x 10m (?) overground. I went in them all. None of them heated (too expensive) but kids don't seem to mind the cold! The big one looked rather like the Aztec in your link but about half the price. Needed a mate to put it up properly and it was terrific. Just sat on sand on ground so no need for major civil engineering About 4 ft deep IIRC. Got all the gizmos like vacuum cleaner and chemical house and decent solar cover. Sorry can't remember name of company but I know it was near police rugby ground in London (Amber Court or something, Twickenham way??)

Happy splashing dl

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

My in laws have a decent sized outdoor pool, to be honest for the amount of use they get they are a pain in the ****, ok its nice on a hot day but the rest of the time its a huge thing of water that needs heating, cleaning and repairing. They look nice on the website but five years down the line it might not.

Dingdongler

Dunk, that is fantastic!! Love it

The slide is also a fantastc touch, your kids must think you're the best dad in the world

Yes, I'd love to have something like that, but on a smaller scale, I get the impression your garden is a lot bigger than mine


I will pm you at some point if that is ok? I need to have a think to make sure it will fit and leave enough garden (I've just bought a huge climbing frame/swing/slide thing as well!)

A few quick (and stupid) questions though please

1) How do you fill it? Where/how does the water supply come from?

2) Do you have a filtration system and how does that work?

Thanks and congrats on such a fantastic garden

Chip

DD
You can obviously fill it with a garden hose but you should have a meter for this and will take a while to do. Don't fill it direct from a hydrant as the flow will disturb all the crap in the pipe and youll have dirty watrer in your pool and taps as will the neighbours.

You can also get clean water tankered to your house by specialist firms, we use this systen in work to test pipes though it can get a bit pricey, £1k plus for a large 26000l tanker.

Chip

DARB

I jumped into the fish pond last night forra bit of a swim, ( no fish in it now ) it's not heated and as soon as the initial cold shock wears off it's fine !! Although the Stella could have helped with this !! Lol

Leslie

Certainly looks smart enough and the children would love it I bet.

Les

Dingdongler

So how are proper home swimming pools filled? Is it just basically water flowing at the same rate you would get out of a hose pipe?

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Sorry Deep, it's a word used in Scunny for pondlife and scummy types

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

Yep !

D

Chip

Yep , and dont forget that once its filled you will need to maintain the water quality by filtering ,chlorination etc.

Useful info and TIPS here for you

http://www.1st-direct.com/pool-volume-calculator.htm

Chip

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

Have you seen the one at costco that can be above ground or dug into the ground. its massive and under a grand too

Dingdongler

Thanks, at least now I know what you are implying I am

zip106

If you make it big enough you'll be able to drive that crap car of yours into it

Dingdongler

Thanks. I think its something worth pursuing. I've been mapping out the garden and think I have space for a 4 by 8m pool with surrounding area of decking.

I'll try and visit a centre and then fire all my questions at them.

Chip, are you somehow involved in this industry?

Chip

No, but I know a few people with pools and I do sometimes work with large volumes of water when carrying out hydrostatic testing on pipelines.

For an 8X4m pool with an average depth of 1m you would need 32000 litres of water which you could get in one HGV tanker.

Chip

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

These damn sleepless nights you see