Swimming pool - inside or outside

[oosik]

I have never owned a pool. However - for almost 20 years I worked for the Health Dept and inspected pools - all were public pools. No such thing as an outside public pool in Anchorage, AK. All were inside - heated with natural gas - disinfected with gaseous or a liquid chlorine solution. All enclosures were made of wood. All enclosures required scraping, sanding and repainting or restaining - EVERY year.

All private pools that started life as outside open pools were eventually enclosed. Too much problems with dirt, leaves & associated CRAP. Plus the questionable liability of a fenced outside pool. An enclosed pool has little to no liability questions.

Private pools soon lost their allure and became a PITA regarding continual maintenance requirements. So much so - many private pools were eliminated prior to the sale of the house.

You will find out exactly how much dirt, dust & debris is carried by even the slightest breeze with an outside pool. Have a very efficient manual vacuum system to augment any built in automated filtration system. Pool covers - while nice - usually add to the maintenance problems. Removing the dirt, dust & debris from the top of the pool cover. Security fencing & pool covers will only limit the liability. Enclosures will, in most cases, eliminate liability.

Then there is the question of pool sanitation. Unless you have received proper and adequate training, your pool, either inside or outside, could easily turn into a chemical nightmare.

 

[EddieWalker]

Mine is outside and I'm still working on it, but also using it. I don't actually swim in it, I just like floating in it at the end of the day and having a beer or two. It's very relaxing!!!! Once the weather cools off, I have no desire to be in a pool and that doesn't change until it warms up outside again in late Spring.

 

[Big Barn]

Gotta love that dog mosaic, Eddie!

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you. We love our Akita's.

 

[joeyd]

Eddie, I thought that was for the Akita's to cool off in? I guess being the builder has a few perks....

As for an inside pool or outside I have only had an outside pool so my experience would make me lean that way.

 

[EddieWalker]

They are welcome to go into it, but they are not water dogs and so far, they have not tried to swim or cool off in the water. Mostly they use it as a giant water dish to drink out of, which is why it's salt water and not chlorine. Akita Pool is the name because of the mosaic I put on the wall.

 

[gsganzer]

I probably have the most over-kill redneck pool you've ever seen.

I built a "cool pool" using a 6' round galvanized water trough. Like Eddie, we just enjoy soaking in it after dinner with a glass of wine or jump in when we need to cool off when working in the yard. I used a special epoxy paint on the inside so it doesn't oxidize from the chlorine. I insulated the outside using the bubble foil wrap and then clad it with T&G cedar, held in place with stainless banding that you use for banding pallets. The bottom is insulated with a 1" thick rigid foam board on the outside. We use a cartridge filter we got from Walmart.

I also have 12V colored lights (it's actually a LED light that goes in a boat's drainplug hole) and a thermal siphon wood fired heater coil (that I need to install). I also turned it into a water feature by making a water fountain from a freezeproof hydrant.


I'll have to see if I can get some photo's uploaded for it. It's awesome!!

 

[RalphVa]

Never had an indoor pool; so cannot comment on that. We had a pool for 20 years in NJ and have had the house (bought with it) here now for 19. The one in NJ had concrete in the lower half with fiberglass in the upper 3 to 4 feet. Was great except I blew out the seal between the concrete and fiberglass with a pressure washer. Fiberglass at the upper part eliminates freeze galling of concrete.

The one here is a liner pool. Liner replacement and repainting of concrete are both about 7 or so year intervals and near the same cost. Liner is cheaper initially; so, I'd be inclined to build a linered one.

Cannot beat use of a "crawlie" on the discharge of the pump to auto clean the bottom of the pool.

A safety cover is great but makes for a longer cleanup when you open the pool. That's what we have here in Va. In NJ, we had a solid plastic cover with those water bags around the side. Could pull it and start the pump and be in the pool within a 1/2 day. With the safety cover and longer cleanup, it takes 3 or 4 days, if one is lucky, to be able to use the pool.

Used solar panels (the type without the cover, just plastic tubes between 2 plastic headers), 5 of them at about 4x8, on the NJ pool to extend the season about a month on each end. Had the panels on the roof of the house.

Here, I put in 4 of the 4x8 panels but they're really needed to cool the pool here rather than heat it. Can run through them between about midnight and 4 or 5 am to cool the pool. The panels I bought here were a poor design vs. the ones in NJ, so I ditched them.

Get an auto chlorinator, one of those where you fill with 3" tabs with a flow restrictor (resettable) valve on the inlet. Newest 3" tabs have an algae preventer built in, too. Otherwise, 4 oz/wk of algae preventer plus auto chlorinate is all you need (with crawlie) plus some pH+ when pH gets low due to either acid rain or the chlorine. Get a digital pH meter. Can get them online for about $20. You cannot read the pH accurate enough with color testing or strips.

Ralph