6 Things to Know Before Building a Pool

Having a pool in our backyard has been one of the most fun things about our house. I love that we can use it year-round, and it really helps to keep us cool in the summer. I absolutely do not regret putting in a pool, but I will say that the process wasn’t all bunnies and rainbows. Obviously, there can be many challenges and surprises when doing a construction project, and that couldn’t have been more true with pool construction. Today on the blog, I am going to share 6 things you must know before building a pool. Had I known these things myself, I probably would have been a little less stressed during the construction process.

1. The construction is chaotic.
   • Even though all of the construction is happening outside, it will impact your life. I remember thinking to myself, “Oh, this won’t be a big deal! I won’t be distracted by this. It’s all outside. No problem.” I was so wrong. It was complete chaos for 6+ weeks, and I was praying for it to be over ASAP. There was mud and dirt everywhere, and a lot of that got tracked inside our house. We lost our internet connection multiple times throughout the construction process due to the cables getting cut. It is very loud, as you can probably imagine, and our windows got extremely dirty from the construction as well.
   • Overall, the process can be quite crazy, so be prepared for some surprises. If you can leave your house during the day, I would. It was really hard to work at home while this project was taking place.
2. There are hidden costs.
   • I hate to say this, but you are going to have to pay more than what the pool builder quoted you. Why? Because things break during the construction process, and they aren’t liable to fix it. Take your sprinkler system for example. Most likely, your existing sprinkler system is going to get torn up during the construction process. It’s hard for them to avoid that while they are digging a big hole in your backyard. Unfortunately, the pool company is not going to pay for a new sprinkler system once it’s all said and done.
   • Another thing that you will (most likely) have to pay for is new grass. All of the sod on the side of our house was gone after the excavator came in. The good thing is that we were aware of this expense before starting the project.
   • In general, watch out for the hidden costs and know that there will probably be something that comes up after the construction is all said and done.
3. The expenses don’t stop after the construction is over.
   • Taking care of the pool can be a lot of money and a lot of work. If you don’t want your pool to turn green, you need to be testing the water and adding chemicals as needed. Obviously, all of this costs money.
   • There are several pool cleaning services out there that charge anywhere from $100-$200 per month. I think we were quoted about $150 per month, so we decided that we were going to take care of the pool on our own. We are saving money by not having a pool service, but we still have  spend money on all of the chemicals. We’ve probably spent about $250 this summer maintaining our pool, so it still isn’t cheap. The good thing is that there isn’t much maintenance needed from November – April, so our costs decrease significantly during this time.
   • Not only will you need to spend money on chemicals, but you will probably want to spend money on all of the pool accessories. Make sure to budget for things like pool chairs, towels, floats, plastic cups, etc. All of this can add up quickly!
4. You probably will need HOA approval.
   • If you have a homeowners association, you will probably need to gain their approval prior to starting the project. For us, we had to submit a copy of our pool design along with a $1,000 deposit. The deposit was given back to us after the construction was over and they validated that there was no damage to the street. Overall, it was an easy process for us, but definitely make sure to account for this in your timeline. It could take several weeks to gain approval.
5. Don’t cut corners on materials.
   • As we all know, building a pool is a huge expense. The cost can vary greatly depending on what materials you use. Don’t just go with the cheapest option for everything because you want to save money. Do your research and make sure that the material is going to last for several years. You may have to spend more money down the road if you choose bad materials.
   • If you want to save money on your pool, I would cut out things like water features, fountains, waterfalls, fire bowls, etc. These are all “nice to have” features and won’t impact the integrity of your pool.
6. You might not get a schedule.
   • Maybe this is the project manager in me, but I was really thrown off by not having a schedule or timeline. All they said was that it could take as little as 4 weeks or as much as 12 weeks to complete. This is a huge variance, so it was hard for me not knowing. I also like to know what is going on at all times.
   • Something I would recommend doing is to text or call the project manager daily. Since I wasn’t given a schedule, I would ask him what they were working on that specific day. I would also ask what the plan was for the next couple of days. I do think you need to stay on top of it so that they don’t drag their feet with the construction process. Our neighbors told us their pool took 8 months to be completed…..don’t let that happen to you!

Overall, I am very happy with the way our pool turned out, but there were definitely a lot of surprises along the way. I am hoping that this post will help anyone who is considering a pool for their home. Just know that you are not alone and the process can be difficult at times. In the end, it will all be worth it when you are floating in your pool with a margarita in hand!

If you went through the process of building a pool, what are some other good things for people to know? Did you encounter any other surprises along the way? Let me know your experience in the comments below!