[afarah]

I was wondering if it is common to have an in-ground swimming pools in homes? I mean it would be nice to have one in the garden :) for those hot summer days. Does any one know of the cost of installing an in-ground pool, I searced the net but could not find any costs, I found good looking in-ground pools but no estimated costs ..

[victoria24]

i read somewhere that pools in NZ can devalue the home?

[BkyMonster]

The only local company I can think of that deals with pools is (and I kid you not on the name) Poolland. The trucks around town look like they leave off one of the L's...
Here is the website http://www.pool-land.co.nz/ You might ask them if they know install costs.
Having spent a summer here...it doesn't get *that* hot. Oh sure we had a few freak 35C days but other than that its kind of mid 20's. There are houses with pools but not really common and I think most people go to the beach or local water (lake, river etc) anyhow.
In the US at least the ROI on pools (installing/maintenance versus addition to house sale price) is not that great so I don't have a good opinion of them.

[jandk]

Priced one recently and the $50,000 mark was an average quote for a 4.5m x 9m pool. Iended up with an out of ground parapool that size fitted by a local builder for just short of $15000 , 10 years guarantee and when kids are done with it i can just sell it on trade me.

[M-Squared]

Public swimming pools are generally cheap enough and lovely enough to negate the need for private pools, let alone Hollywood-style ones that are *inside* the house!

It costs $7.50, I think, for me and daughter (7 yr old) to go to our local pool. It has a sauna, steam room, 3 spas (jacuzzis), a lap pool (nice and warm) and the main pool has a wave machine and a lazy river. Oh, and a water slide too. :D

[afarah]

Thank you all you've been very helpful :nice1

[icemaiden]

i read somewhere that pools in NZ can devalue the home?

Is this correct? Any particular reason?

[JandM]

I've heard this said about homes in S England, and the reason is the cost involved in maintenance, even if you were to leave one empty of water and never use it.

[Sam B]

Quite a few houses in Cambridge have in-ground swimming pools and I would say that these houses seem to be more expensive than those without when I compare houses in the property papers. I know 2 families that have had a pool put in this year, both of them are in my book club. I didn't ask them how much it cost though.

[afarah]

i read somewhere that pools in NZ can devalue the home?

This is strange!! I'm not an expert on the subject but I think a swimming pool would increase the value of the property among other things. How much is the estimated annual cost of maintenence of swimming pools?

[victoria24]

I think Cambridge is an exception due to distance to the coast

[alancoll]

Pools are painful! Nice if it's hot for 8 months of the year, otherwise I don't think worth the money (unless you have lots :cool:)

[mylesdw]

We had a small above ground pool and it was a right PITA. I spent many more hours maintaining it than ever the family spent swimming in it.

The other problem in NZ is the rather draconian laws that mean that instead of an in ground pool looking rather attractive you end up with what looks like a young offenders establishment in your garden.

[icemaiden]

We had a small above ground pool and it was a right PITA. I spent many more hours maintaining it than ever the family spent swimming in it.

The other problem in NZ is the rather draconian laws that mean that instead of an in ground pool looking rather attractive you end up with what looks like a young offenders establishment in your garden.


I've noticed that in some of the ads. However, I've also noticed some houses where there is no fencing whatsoever. Is there a directive on depth/width, etc. which states when you have to have a safety fence?

[stellachiara]

Here's an interesting story on the subject, from the US point of view: http://www.realestatejournal.com/homegarden/20060809-hoak.html

[afarah]

I agree with all of the above but still pools are nice to have around when you wanna just take a quick dip.

[richard]

I think Cambridge is an exception due to distance to the coast

Maybe it just depends what part of town you live in. Three of our immediate neighbours have in-ground pools and there are another 4 within 10 houses of ours.

We must be the poor relations as we just make do with a metal framed 15 foot pool that we get out for the summer. It is large enough for the kids to have a good time in and we even managed to get my 70 year old mother in for a dip on New Years Day!

Last year the kids were a bit cold in the pool so this year they wore spring wet suits and were able to stay in until they got bored.

[jeffanar]

2 of the 4 houses I grew up in had in ground swimming pools and as a kid I thought that was great! We spent a lot of our summer holidays in or by the pool, and it was always great for having friends over. When we moved out of one of the houses they filled in the pool which I thought was criminal :wah


The other problem in NZ is the rather draconian laws that mean that instead of an in ground pool looking rather attractive you end up with what looks like a young offenders establishment in your garden.

Unfortunate but necessary - kids are still drowning in pools

[bobo]

I've noticed that in some of the ads. However, I've also noticed some houses where there is no fencing whatsoever. Is there a directive on depth/width, etc. which states when you have to have a safety fence?

You may get an exemption depending upon the location / access to the pool. But it is very rare. On a similar note spa pools need a fence as well, but in Chch they think that approx 80% of spa owners don't comply.

[victoria24]

how many people have hot tubs over there?

[afarah]

they filled in the pool which I thought was criminal :wah

I totally agree with your statement :cheers

[Billy]

We have a 12m x 6m in-ground pool. The kids love it. I dont use it much, but just sitting out there is great. We got a solar cover for it this summer, and that took the average water temp up to 26 or 27 degrees, which is very nice. It doesn't cost much to run. We run the filter on average a few hours in the day, and not every day. Throw in some chlorine once or twice a week and thats about it. We have got one of these snake things that moves itself around to clean the pool, its attached to the filter so works off the suction, no extra running costs.