DH and I have decided to start house hunting in the near future and, since we are in California, a lot of houses have pools. I have ALWAYS wanted a pool but now that our LO is here, I don't really know how I feel about them safety wise.
Thoughts?
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Depends on location. In VA, it's a liability.
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We live in south Florida where everyone has a pool and specifically bought a house without a pool. I know there are many ways to safely do it, but I just know that once my LO is mobile it would keep me up at night. We of course still plan to do early swimming lessons, lots of time in the water, etc. as early as possible since there is so much water around where we live.
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Safety wise I see no issue. You can put up a child fence along the pool edged or get a retractable cover that creates a sturdy surface over the pool. We're going with the cover and will keep all doors outside locked. Our sliders have the usual waist high locks and then another lock about adult eye level. ETA: We also plan to do private swim lessons where our LO will learn pool safety & how to swim in our own pool.
If I had to do it all again I wouldn't get a home with a pool because of the maintenance. Our pool guy is $90/ mo + new filter every year $100 + twice a year some other thing that's extra. Then, our automatic pool cleaner broke, which is a must when your pool is not enclosed because debris falls in. Then, our saltwater system stopped working and we replaced it because salt water is really a better experience than chlorine IMO. Those two things were $2,000+ fixes. Every once in a while we have to fill up the pool because sun evaporates the water, so the water bill spikes a bit those months.
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Everyone has one in CA. Ours had a huge chain link and padlocked fence around it
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Both. Having a pool would be a lot of fun, but it is a huge safety issue that requires a commitment to vigilance from every single person who ever enters your house (since anyone could carelessly leave a gate open) and it only takes seconds for a toddler to slip out and fall in. Early swim lessons are crucial.
The maintenance cost/pain-in-the-butt is a separate issue. Definitely would be a consideration for us if we ever had the choice to buy a house with a pool or not.
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I never ever wanted one until having my lo. We just moved to a house with a pool and we love it! We have a pool fence and are working hard on pool safety with lo (who is almost 3). In a couple of years it won't be an issue at all... (I'm in SoCal.)
Also the gates these days do no stay open, they automatically swing closed.
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DH absolutely did not want one when we were house shopping. They had one at the house he grew up in. He was in charge of maintenance and said it's totally not worth it to him as far as benefits vs extra cost/chores goes.
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Personally, I grew up with one and have many many fond memories of my summers, swimming all day long, every day. Yes, they're very expensive to maintain, especially if you hire someone to do it for you. But I think that if you can see yourselves using it often and can afford the upkeep, it's an asset. If you use it once or twice a year, then it's definitely not worth the money involved.
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@simplyfelicity: We just moved this spring and had the same question. Like you, we live in a hot climate and the cooling off part is really appealing! But I was worried about safety and maintenance costs. We ended up in a development with a community pool that is steps from our front door, which to me is the best of both worlds. Our HOA fee covers the maintenance and a heavy duty fence, we have access and convenience, and it has been a great way to meet neighbors with kids! Don't know how common this is in your area but might be a good middle ground?
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I was against the pool when we were house hunting, but in all honesty, now that we have lived with it for three years, it is a big part of our weekends and I wouldn't want to NOT have it. It is fully fenced and in the winter, it's covered with a tarp that is safety rated to hold 500 pounds before it collapses.
The thing is that pools are often given a bad name, but parents need to be vigilant about all bodies of water, even in their bathrooms. It takes less than an inch of water for a child to drown.
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The maintenance was the reason we avoided houses with pools, but we looked at some with them. If the right house had had a pool, we would have bought it. However, I really don't need another chore in my life and I'm glad we didn't get one. Everyone who has one seems to complain about the maintenance. We also prefer to swim in the ocean.
We also prefer plants to pools as an aesthetic matter. Most pools are not very pretty, but our garden is and it costs very little and provides us with plenty of exercise and satisfaction. Kids love playing in the garden!
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Here in Canada we only have a few months of swim weather so I would not want a house with a pool - too much upkeep and I would worry about LO. If I lived somewhere warmer I might want one more. My parents have one though and they're only a few mins away so it's the perfect set up...they do all the work and we get to swim!
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Liability because of safety, maintenance, & drought. DH and I bid on a couple of houses with pools but we planned to fill them in.
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Asset, since you live in a hot climate and you're a teacher so you can take advantage of it. It's easy to hire pool cleaning companies or do it yourself. It's also easy to install pool fencing, auto-sliding/locking patio doors, etc. Most families I know that have kids at ANY age love their pool.... keeps them occupied for hours, and makes it easy to host play dates, parties, etc.
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I would never want one. Someone on here recently posted about a drowning at their daycare. The owner was careful, but someone else left it accessible. It's just too easy for something to happen. That plus the maintenance outweighs any benefits by far.
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We are in Texas, and it's very common to have pools. We just moved in December, and I was initially against getting a house with a pool, but now am so glad we did! DH brings DD in almost every day, and we have a child safety fence around it, so I'm not as worried.
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Personally, I prefer having friends with pools
I was actually pretty against pools, but now have two good friends with heated in grounds (I grew up with an above ground), and with a kid I definitely see the appeal. They are really nice. But the cost wouldn't be worth it to me in the long run. I prefer having more space for running and playing and gardening and animals.... But, I live in northern New England where it's only hot for like 2.5 months a year. The heated pool extends the season, obviously, but it's more $$
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If you plan on staying at the house only for two years while your baby can't swim, then I say don't get one. But if you plan to stay at your house for quite a while, then the phase where you would be worried about your baby will pass quickly and you will likely regret not having the pool especially if any part of you wants one. My niece had full pool safety skills by the time she was 3. Now that she's almost 4 she is fully swimming. Pools are so much fun. I can't imagine being in California and not having one.
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Asset if you will use it and can afford the safety and Maintenance. If we hd a pool or lived in an area where they are more prominent we would have done ISR swim lessons.
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I agree with @agold: that if you plan on staying there long then given your climate it'll definitely be an asset. You'll just have to be stricter about pool safety than the average parent.
We live in a climate where it's only hot for like2 months. But the house we fell in love with happened to have an inground pool. Right now it's a pain because we are still learning about it. But I can see in 1-2 summers where it will be positively awesome. Especially when the kids are older. The kids aren't going to stay a baby forever! We also have 3/4 of an acre so it's not like because of the pool our kids have no room to run around. Once we gets fence up around our whole property there will be even more room!
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These are all great points! I think we are leaning toward buying a house with a pool if it has good yard space and can easily be contained.
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@simplyfelicity: We live in CA and turns out our one year old is a total water baby! I was always against having a pool for safety reasons but once we realized 1) our kid loved water and 2) there weren't any public pools near us except one way on the other side of town, I sorta wished we had one. That said, I much prefer a yard but if it's in an option I would try to buy a home in a development with a pool or with a public pool nearby and get the best of both worlds. The town I grew up had an amazing aquatic center so we never missed out but it's not as simple where we live now. Parks and rec programs, parks, libraries, and public pools are all things I would make sure to check on in the neighborhood.
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Knowing where in CA you live, I would totally look at it as an asset. It wasn't necessary in So Cal where I lived before but if we bought now in the Central Valley, there is no way I would buy a house without a pool and kids! It's so dang hot during the summer and the pool is usable so much of the year that I think it's a must! We have friends with pools but for hosting and doing quick things, I would rather have a pool in my backyard with every safety feature in place.
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Asset. Backyard pools are very common in my neighborhood. LO has a swim instructor come to our house right now!
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I wouldn't want one at this stage of life-we're in San Diego, and my husband and I told the realtor a pool was a deal breaker for us. My parents built a pool for our childhood home as soon as we were much older-I was the youngest and in 3rd grade, IIRC. Having a baby now, pool safety really stresses me out. I love being able to visit a pool with him, but I'm personally glad we don't have one in our back yard!
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Liability for me. Safety hazard, expensive to maintain, etc!
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We had one at our old house and while maintenance wasn't bad as long as I kept on top of it each week, it was wasted real estate since we never used it. Now that we have a baby, we wish we had a pool because he LOVES the water.
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We have a community pool down the road, and we just joined this year. I love being able to walk to the pool, enjoy the water for an hour or two and then walk back home without the maintenance. Taking care of the house is enough work. Having a pool in the backyard would be too much.
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Our pool is relatively low maintenance. DH does it and probably spends less than 30 minutes per week. Once we have our chemicals balanced as long as he keeps on top of it, it's really easy.
That being said, this year with the new baby we hardly used the pool. I was in it maybe three times. And it does take up pretty much our backyard. Realistically though in Texas, we aren't playing in our yard either - fire ants and heat!
I view it as an asset and as long as we are in Texas we will have a pool in our yard. As a matter of fact we are starting our "face lift/update" of our pool today. It's costly ($8K) but should be the last time we spend any significant money on our pool as it should last 15-20 years.
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Another vote for depends on location.
In warmer climates (So Cal, Arizona, Florida, Texas, etc) its an asset - though will require additional precautions and expenses - totally worthwhile!
In Michigan - where we lived - we viewed a pool as an instant $25K expense to get rid of it.
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Asset. I grew up with a pool and my fondest memories were lazing around in it all summer with my cousins and family! I totally wanted one when we bought a house but DH was dead set against it. He won out and we ended up buying in a neighborhood that has 3 pools and 2 beaches.... so I guess I get to have the pool minus the maintenance. Although we only go a few times a summer vs every day if we'd had our own....just saying
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If I lived somewhere a pool was a year round entertainment option, I'd at least want a neighborhood pool. Since we live in the Midwest, this year we did an above ground pool. It was super cheap and we used it nearly every day.
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We have a pool and I LOVE it! We are very serious about pool safty and have a pool fence, our kids take ISR lessons, and we take a lot of precautions. We are in the pool on a regular basis at least six months of the year and our kids are water babies. We love having people over to swim!
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