for display only
Big Blue Interactive The Corner Forum  
Back to the Corner

Archived Thread

NFT: Pool Maintenance Costs

Mellowmood92 : 3/24/2015 10:01 pm
My wife and I are house hunting in Northern / Central Jersey (MIddlesex County to be exact) and have come across a few houses with well-maintained pools that we really like - but have absolutely no clue what it costs to maintain a pool in Northern NJ. The one house in particular has a very large heated pool, with a self-cleaning filter? Does that make sense? What are we looking at for a monthly maintenance cost - ballpark, for the summer months?

Disclaimer - i have never had a pool or lived in a house with a pool so i have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about.

As always - thanks BBI for the home buying advice.
I have a salt water pool  
pjcas18 : 3/24/2015 10:11 pm : link
with a filter that self-regulates the chemical levels.

I don't have any trees so it's as close to zero maintenance as you can get. I vacuum weekly, but I actually enjoy that.

the electric bill goes up about 100 to 125 dollars a month from mid-May to mid-September.

and I don't have a heater. It will be more with a heater if its electric. I don't need a heater really, but I'm considering a propane heater to extend the season a few weeks.

I've heard some older pools are a lot or work, but so far mine is very little.
I live in Florida and had my first pool down here  
TheCatch : 3/24/2015 10:19 pm : link
I can tell you that it was a little harder to figure electric cost for the pump ....well because it's on year round . But I estimated it costs about an extra $100 In electric and about $80 in chemicals , those are per month . Funny part was I paid for a service the next year that included chemicals and it was cheaper . Paid $60 a month and they came out twice a month.

I have had friends claim it adds $200 a month just in electric ....but most people exaggerate 😀
I swim in the tub  
RasputinPrime : 3/24/2015 10:29 pm : link
the swan just never stops looking at me.
I go to  
spike : 3/24/2015 10:47 pm : link
public pools
I participate in  
Gman11 : 3/25/2015 8:30 am : link
baseball pools.
You want to consider the pool as part of the house carefully  
jcn56 : 3/25/2015 8:35 am : link
I just went through the same - I went in with the mistaken opinion that a well implemented pool would add value to the home. Turns out, it adds squat to the value - and in many cases can just serve to drive up taxes and actually disqualify the home from some people's consideration should you decide to sell.

Not trying to dissuade you against it, just thought you might find it useful since I did. I've decided to go with an above ground pool, since it'll be mainly for my kids and when they're too old to find it fun anymore I can just tear it down and move on my merry way.
Thanks guys  
Mellowmood92 : 3/25/2015 8:56 am : link
The house has been on the market about 5 months and i have a feeling it's because of the pool. I'm certainly a little concerned about it and can see the effect it could have on the re-sale value, home-owners insurance, etc.
Pools are generally irrelevant  
pjcas18 : 3/25/2015 9:21 am : link
to value of a home (positive or negative) and my home owners insurance was unchanged with the pool addition. If I had a diving board there would have been a slight increase, but I don't. Yet.
And in my town in MA  
pjcas18 : 3/25/2015 9:25 am : link
there is zero tax effect of a pool. interestingly enough the pool deck is considered a taxable improvement. the pool however is not.

most pool owners didn't put the pool in as an investment. it was done for recreation/entertainment.

I like them. I get the negatives and disadvantages.

my in-laws filled in their in-ground pool a couple years after all their kids graduated college and it cost around 2500. Not immaterial, but not a holy shit amount either.
Mine was about 3K/yr.  
WideRight : 3/25/2015 9:26 am : link
Opening & closing costs, biweekly service, heat and chemicals.

Obviously you can do it yourself, but the annoyance of it defeats the pleasure of having the pool. Thats why is a zero value-added amenity. But for kids in the summer, nothing beats it.
Opening/Closing Costs About $500-800  
clatterbuck : 3/25/2015 11:31 am : link
unless you can DIY. I do the routine maintenance myself and it's not a big deal. I have a salt/chlorinator system so chemical costs are low.
If I don't fix the growing pot hole in my driveway  
Giants2012 : 3/25/2015 11:57 am : link
I might fill it with water and drop the kids slip & slide in front of it. Good times
Growing pot in your driveway  
BobOnLI : 3/25/2015 12:09 pm : link
can make your car handle erraticly.
Back to the Corner