[poromo]

We've decided to purchase a Designer house on the golf course. Should we get a pool installed in the birdcage ? Can anyone help me out with the pros and cons of having a pool and whether the lack of privacy on the golf course is an issue? We've never owned a house with a pool but many people have said "if you move to Florida, you must have a pool". Are they correct?

[mickey100]

With all the pools in The villages, I'm surprised that people want to spend the money to install and maintain private pools. We don't have a pool - we opted to put in a hot tub instead, and enjoy it very much. We can swim laps at the sport pools which are close by, or just cool off and socialize at the neighborhood pools if we choose.

[ilovetv]

Every neighborhood's adult-only and family pools are extremely nice and there are plenty of them for every village. The sport pools for serious aquatic workout/training are beyond compare.

However, there are good reasons to have a home pool:

• Not having to listen to others talk and gripe and gossip;
  
  Being able to swim whenever you want to...scheduled classes take up pool times;
  
  Being able to keep the water at your preferred temperature;
  
  Being able to swim after dusk!!!!
  

For privacy from golfers seeing in, you can put screens or build a short wall just in the area where walkers could see in.

[Bonny]

We love having our own pool. We just put a small one in. 8' x 16' with a waterfall and it goes from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet deep. Just perfect to lounge in or do water aerobics. Very little upkeep. We put solar heat in. Also great to have a few friends over for a pool party.

[stuckinparadise]

We have an appointment with T & D Pools and Spa this Friday during one of our weekend visits. I am in total agreement with ilovetv having the freedom to swim anytime I want is a blessing. Our home is on a lot shaped like a pie piece with a water feature on one side and a horse farm in the back, so we have plenty of room for a pool. If we want to swim for excercise (laps) we can visit one of the many TV pools.

[Beatit]

We are building in Sanibel and decided to get a pool. We have never owned a pool either. It will be a very interesting experience. T&D is building it with a bird cage. They were extremely easy to work with more so than the experience we had with the design team. We don't know anything about pools, but Vera made the process very easy. We decided on a fiberglass with a waterfall and 3 therapy jets, heated and salt water. Can't wait!!!!

[Bonny]

T & D did ours. They are great to work with. Mine has been in for 8 years.

[tpop1]

Had a pool for 9 years in Sarasota ....work ( as a snowbird there was lots of work each time we came down - pool and deck cleaning!) and expense was major reason for selling there.

Supported 3 pools there while only using ours....Neighborhood, country club abd home!!!

It was great though, when the grandkids came....we all lived in the pool for 2 weeks!

[JoeC1947]

If you can afford it, why not, but for me it's not worth the expense and work when the neighborhood pools are so nice and you can socialize. Remember, you're paying for TV pools whether you use them or not.

[RedChariot]

I cannot stress enough how wonderful it is to have your own pool. Ours is small. About 24 ft long, kidney shaped. Cement. 7 or 8 ft deep at one end. We do not have to dress in the heat and go in the car or golf cart to get to a pool. We walk out our door and there it is. There has been a recent thread about the community pools and loud music etc. You will not have to put up with that. T& D pools did the work and we use them for our pool service at about $21 a week. I will not own another house here unless it has a pool. If you have the space, do it.

[Happinow]

We also have a pool and love it. I haven't found any negatives so far. We came from Up State NY and had a pool there and there is no comparison. In NY we felt it was all work and here.....very, very little. We also have solar heat so we can keep it at the temp we want. More advantages is that it is there for you whenever you want to swim. You can have friends over, swim anytime of day and not have to adhere to any pool schedule. We swim, morning, noon and night. What a pleasure it is. We can also have pool floats and you don't have to worry about other peoples music or chatter if you don't want to. If you have T&D clean your pool then you just sit and enjoy. You can always go to the public pool if you'd like to socialize or do laps.

[MACH7SS]

For those of you with solar pool heat on the roof, do you need to run water thru it every day in summer to keep it cool? If yes, how do you keep the pool water from getting too hot? What about leaks and extreme sun exposure? Any info would be greatly appreciated as we are debating adding solar. Thank you in advance.

[keithwand]

Another vote for getting a pool.
Our first pool too.
We did a 15X30 3.5 feet to 5 feet deep and used it everyday before leaving for the summer so it will only be used October through June.
We'll be adding a heat pump (wanted solar) but the pupm is on the opposite side of where the panels would go and I don't want a pipe running across the length of the roof.
Its a great water feature as well.

[Shimpy]

I had a pool in S. Fla. and loved it, but had no option of a neighborhood pool. To tell you the truth, I enjoy our neighborhood pool here more and there is always someone to socialize with. Most of the people I've met have been in the pool. I don't miss the maintance of the pool.
The only disadvantage of a neighborhood pool is you have to wear a swimsuit.

[lovesports]

[QUOTE=ilovetv;527454]Every neighborhood's adult-only and family pools are extremely nice and there are plenty of them for every village.


North of 466 there are some villages and other older villages which have no pools. If you want to use your village pool, be careful what village you buy in. All the new villages, south of 466 have pools.

Oops- Bridgeport at Lake Sumter doesn't have a pool.