Looking at a house which has a heated indoor pool. Looks lush, but I'm hesitant about the upkeep.

Pros/Cons?

They are expensive. I asked a friend once who performed pool maintenance as to whether he had a pool. He laughed a long time.

Several thousand per year in maintenance should cover repairs, electricity, chemicals etc.

My pool experience:
Grew up next door to a large heated outdoor pool and learned to clean / maintain it, in exchange for using it.
Rented a house with in ground pool. Unheated.
One above ground pool with deck surround.
Based on this experience:
Never again! Sorry to be a downer, but the expense and time invested in the whole pool thing was not worth the time I actually used it. Heating a pool (at least when I dealt with a heated one) was $$$. Chemicals, cleaning systems and tools likewise. Want to have relatives, friends and neighbors who you have never seen before splashing happily while you watch and foot the bill? Own a pool! Your homeowner insurance may escalate when you own a pool, too. One of the best days of my life was watching a backhoe tear into my above ground. They can be fun and a great way to spend time with your family. But tread carefully. At least with an indoor (especially in MN) you dont have to winterize it!
Good luck!

Unless you are an avid swimmer for fun and exercise, no way I'd entertain an indoor pool. Seems too much like swim class compared to outdoor swimming pools, plus I'm sure there would be humidity issues in the pool area.

Outdoors isn't fun to maintain, but it's tolerable if you live in a warm climate like CA or FL or TX.

A friend in highschool's (Upper Midswest) father was obscenely wealthy. They built a monstrosity of a house that included an indoor pool. Obviously, they didn't do the upkeep themselves but it was a very humid environment so they had to pay to even have the tile walls of the room cleaned (i.e. not just pool cleaning). I was there often enough that it convinced me that it wasn't something I would ever want to own and maintain.

I've had two customers with them, as others have said, very expensive upkeep.

Hole in the ground in which you pour your water & money into, much like a boat.

That's confirmed my own opinion. Thanks.

At least you'd finally get to try out some Glock maritime spring cups and underwater shooting! I hear that's somewhat discouraged at public pools.....

Having a pool here in South Florida has many benefits, especially during the hot, humid summer months. Getting off work from a job where I worked outdoors, coming home and jumping in the pool with a cool drink was ultimately relaxing. I always did all the upkeep and pool maintenance, enjoyed every minute of it too. Now that I'm retired and some health issues, taking care of the pool has become much more difficult and certainly not as enjoyable.

Monthly commercial pool maintenance is fairly expensive and not quite a bonus if you don't enjoy it as much when I was healthy enough to do all the work myself. My pre-retirement plan was to transfer up to North Florida and purchase my last home...minus a pool but plans sometimes don't work out and now the pool just sits mostly, though in the summer I will get in once in awhile but not as much use as in the past.

I still keep it clean but I now have an auto-pool vac that does the cleaning and I just add the chemicals. It's an unnecessary expense and a good bit of work if you don't use it. They are nice to have though.

Maintaining an indoor pool is a little different than an outdoor pool. Part of it is easier as leaves, bugs, frogs, lizards, etc. won't be getting in it so you won't spend as much time vacuuming. Not getting sunlight means less of an algae problem and you won't need to brush it as often. Both of these lead to the filter not needing to be rinsed as often. You won't need stabilizer in an indoor pool which prevents sunlight from burning off the chlorine.

The part that may be harder is keeping the chloramines under control. Chloramines are what happens when the chlorine combines with the stuff you are trying to get rid of (sweat, pee, oils, etc.). They are what cause the chlorine smell. The smell dissipates quickly outside. You get rid of chloramines by super chlorinating (aka shocking) the pool with extra chlorine. I don't know more than this because I use bromine in my parents' indoor in ground spa because chlorine doesn't work as well in 100 three plus water.

I'd keep it covered to reduce evaporation. Adding a cover to my parents' spa really helped keep the humidity down inside.

A pool is like anything else, if you use it's great. Otherwise, it's a complete waste of money. With three kids and a dog, we use ours 5 times a week.

Outdoor pool in the right climate with the right setting? Sure.

Indoor pool? No.

I’ve swam for fitness since the late 90’s. To consistently awaken at 5am in order to jump in a pool and crank out 2500-3000 yards, I need a group of friends that will haze me if I fail to show up. An at-home indoor pool would sit vacant. Plus, I wouldn’t waste the time swimming laps in a short pool.

An easier solution? Buy a lake house.

I spent a few years of summer months and a year out of school working for a residential pool company. Installs, maintaining, opening/closing for the season.

It convinced enough that I would never own a pool. I don’t ever recall hearing a dad or husband actually saying he enjoyed his pool. They were always complaining about the time and money involved.

Even now, I live in a fairly new subdivision. In the “keeping with the Jones’ mentality, I see pools going up left and right. And unfortunately even their kids get bored with them. But you can’t just let them sit idle, or they will get disgusting in a matter of days.

A hot tub? That’s a different story.

You don’t want it. I have been taking care of an in ground 30k gallon pool for 14 years. It’s a pain in the ass enough that I’d never ever want another one and certainly wouldn’t want an indoor one. If you are making 6 figures, and don’t mind the thousands it will take per year go for it.

quote:

With three kids and a dog, we use ours 5 times a week.

That's one very happy looking dog

She loves the pool. My 13 yo son swims the 100 yard free in under a minute, but Maggie smokes him in the 40 foot dog paddle.

Pool maintenance isn't that bad, but you have to stay on top of of. Our 40'x12' requires about 40 minutes a week. Brush it, vacuum it, turn off the pump, take out the filter, rinse the filter, reinstall the filter, and turn the pump back on. Chemicals run about $15 a week. When I'm gone, I pay $120 a month for someone else to take care of it including chemicals. Heating it adds $50 a month during the cooler months.

Additionally to add in expense with an outdoor pool is the resurfacing costs at larger intervals. Luckily so far in almost 30yrs of ownership I've only had to address this once so far. Costs were in the range of 5k on an average. At the same time I had my contractor install the auto-vac which does a great job with minimal maintenance, just every now and again changing the flexible bands and maybe a quick adjust of the mech if needed. Of course there is also an inline skimmer trap that has to be emptied but other than that it saves a good bit of work and does a great job.

I’ve heard the horror stories of indoor pools due to mold, maintenance etc. apart from that I don’t agree with the hate for pools. I’m 50 and we just put in an in ground pool. I had one in my previous marriage and we loved it. I don’t swim much. But we relax in it and have drinks with friends. I cool off when doing yard work for a quick refresh. I love it. Maintenance isn’t expensive if you learn how to test and do it yourself. If you just go to pool store with water samples they will bend you over with chemical sales.

We had a friend years ago that had a huge house, over 10,000 sq ft in CA, not a new build, it was exactly like a small hotel. It had two pools, one outdoor and one indoor, the latter was in a ballroom sized patio type of room with huge windows. It was extremely humid, and smelled like a mixture of a locker room and a YMCA pool. The indoor pool was heated most of the year, they rarely used the outdoor one. At the time, their monthly gas/electric bill was over $3000 a month. After that, I never understood the appeal of an indoor pool.

We have a 14,000 gal outdoor pool, it is the center piece of our overall landscaping in the backyard. It is nice; a connected spa, step waterfall, etc. I maintain the pool, and I actually like the routine, it is a hell of a lot easier than maintaining the landscaping at our previous house. Usually about 30 minutes per week, including additives (chlorine tabs/shock, muriatic acid, etc), brushing tiles and walls, cleaning skimmers and filter baskets, and leaf skimming the surface. We have a Polaris auto vac in the pool also. We spend maybe 250 bucks a year on "chemicals" and the only things replaced were the Jandy filter motor pump (original, 18 yo), and the autofill valve, which I fixed myself. We never heat the pool, nobody does in our neck of the woods during summer. We only use the heating system for occasional hot tub sessions.

We're not in the pool everyday in the summer & early fall, perhaps 1-2 times a week. The spa gets used maybe 1-2 times per month on average. But it is relaxing to sit pool side with a cigar and drink. We love it.

I'd wager that most of the people who aren't into Pools (and Boats and such) have never owned one.

I've had two pools at houses, my first happening in my 30s after a lifetime (to that point) of "oh my gawd, the hassle and expense, it's just too much, and then the kids, oh lawd the kids, it's so dangerous. "

After a combined 10yrs with pools, I don't know WTF people are going on about.

Anyone with more than a handful of functioning neurons can handle the regular maintenance. I don't think I've ever spent more than an hour a week (on average) messing with them.

Granted, an indoor one adds complications and expenses, and I agree, the rooms often smell like gyms. Excellent ventilation is the key... and that, too, adds to the hassle and expense.

Wouldn't stop me, though, if I liked the house.

Best of luck.