[meriboo]

Moving to the villages and I am interested in a pool in my yard. Looking for information on swim spa pools… Size, cost, upkeep. Yes, I realize there are community pools within a stones throw of every house but I think I would like a small pool in my yard.

[jane032657]

We have a Michael Phelps Propulsion Wave pool. It has the wave pool and a fabulous hot tub with a divider between the two. You can turn the wave levels up or down; it has waterfalls, colored lights. The waves make it great for a more intense workout and the hot tub has great and plentiful jets.

The MP Momentum™ Deep model Michael Phelps Swim Spa by Master Spas

[photo1902]

Originally Posted by meriboo

Moving to the villages and I am interested in a pool in my yard. Looking for information on swim spa pools… Size, cost, upkeep. Yes, I realize there are community pools within a stones throw of every house but I think I would like a small pool in my yard.

The first consideration is if you have room for a pool, given the setbacks along the side and rear of your home. As far as cost, they can range from $25k and up. The sky is the limit. It really all depends on the size of the pool.

[Goldwingnut]

Size and cost are going to be all over the place depending on what you decide you want and the extras to be included.

For a really good idea of what people are building and their costs go to the Sumter county permitting site at eTRAKiT select Permit Search (you'll need to create an account, i's free). Select the search criteria "PERMIT_NO" and "Begins With" and enter PS2019 or PS2018 and click Search

This will give you the list of pools that were permitted for that year. On the Permit Info tab you will the plans that were submitted and at the top if you click on Permit you can bring up the actual permit with the expected/contracted cost of the project.

Some pool builders are much better than others with the data they upload to the site. At one end is T&D with very detailed plans with all the options and features listed. At the other end there is a company that submits what looks like hand drawn cocktail napkin drawings with few details.

We used T&D two years ago to build ours. After looking at all the numbers and what was included and not included, T&D had the best total price. T&D did a turnkey job and included EVERYTHING from the pool to the sod and fence replacement to providing the gas tank and filling it. Nobody else offered a turnkey package and when I added in what wasn't included, not including the cost of my time, T&D was still over $1200 less expensive.

Upkeep is simplified with a saltwater pool, this adds about $500 to the build cost but so worth it, I add salt, a little acid, and some stabilizer when needed, last year's chemical cost including 6 bags of salt was less than $125. I do all my own maintenance including cleaning the pool (I use a robotic suction cleaner once a week) and cleaning the filter once a month and spend less than two hours a month doing it. T&D offered to maintain it for about $100/month including chemicals which isn't bad.

The other cost is electricity for the pump which will depend on the pool size, features, pump size, and how long it's run. For us that is about $50/month. Our pool is 15,000 gallons and 475 sqft with a spillover spa and I run the pump about 14 hours a day.

Heating the pool will be important, solar is you best bet here in Florida. Our solar panels keep the pool at 80 or higher March through November and keeps the spa above 90 in December and February. We also put in a gas heater to supplement the solar in the winter but only use it for the spa. The gas takes about 20 minutes to heat the 8 person spa from 70 to 103 in the winter time. A lot of people use heat pumps to heat their pool and don't deal with a gas tank buried in the yard. Below about 45 degrees heat pumps aren't very efficient, which is of course when you want it the most. This is a personal choice, I spent 40 years dealing with heating and cooling systems and HVAC systems, I chose gas.

Again, the cost to build and operate will all depend on what you decide you want in your yard. Many will argue against it because there are so many neighborhood pools close by, this is a very personal choice. For me, I was in the pools last night around 10 PM drinking a glass of scotch and playing with our golden retrievers and couldn't imagine not having the pool.

[Fraugoofy]

We had an estimate about a month ago from T&D and for a small pool (almost the size of a hot tub) the price started at 35k. Hope that helps.

Sent from my SM-N920R4 using Tapatalk

[vintageogauge]

If you are building a home chances are it will be south of 44 and natural gas is available for your auxiliary heat as well as for cooking, clothe dryer, summer kitchen grill, etc.

[meriboo]

Thanks everyone for taking time out of your day to share your thoughts.headed to the Villages this week to see what I can find.

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

Size and cost are going to be all over the place depending on what you decide you want and the extras to be included.

For a really good idea of what people are building and their costs go to the Sumter county permitting site at eTRAKiT select Permit Search (you'll need to create an account, i's free). Select the search criteria "PERMIT_NO" and "Begins With" and enter PS2019 or PS2018 and click Search

This will give you the list of pools that were permitted for that year. On the Permit Info tab you will the plans that were submitted and at the top if you click on Permit you can bring up the actual permit with the expected/contracted cost of the project.

Some pool builders are much better than others with the data they upload to the site. At one end is T&D with very detailed plans with all the options and features listed. At the other end there is a company that submits what looks like hand drawn cocktail napkin drawings with few details.

We used T&D two years ago to build ours. After looking at all the numbers and what was included and not included, T&D had the best total price. T&D did a turnkey job and included EVERYTHING from the pool to the sod and fence replacement to providing the gas tank and filling it. Nobody else offered a turnkey package and when I added in what wasn't included, not including the cost of my time, T&D was still over $1200 less expensive.

Upkeep is simplified with a saltwater pool, this adds about $500 to the build cost but so worth it, I add salt, a little acid, and some stabilizer when needed, last year's chemical cost including 6 bags of salt was less than $125. I do all my own maintenance including cleaning the pool (I use a robotic suction cleaner once a week) and cleaning the filter once a month and spend less than two hours a month doing it. T&D offered to maintain it for about $100/month including chemicals which isn't bad.

The other cost is electricity for the pump which will depend on the pool size, features, pump size, and how long it's run. For us that is about $50/month. Our pool is 15,000 gallons and 475 sqft with a spillover spa and I run the pump about 14 hours a day.

Heating the pool will be important, solar is you best bet here in Florida. Our solar panels keep the pool at 80 or higher March through November and keeps the spa above 90 in December and February. We also put in a gas heater to supplement the solar in the winter but only use it for the spa. The gas takes about 20 minutes to heat the 8 person spa from 70 to 103 in the winter time. A lot of people use heat pumps to heat their pool and don't deal with a gas tank buried in the yard. Below about 45 degrees heat pumps aren't very efficient, which is of course when you want it the most. This is a personal choice, I spent 40 years dealing with heating and cooling systems and HVAC systems, I chose gas.

Again, the cost to build and operate will all depend on what you decide you want in your yard. Many will argue against it because there are so many neighborhood pools close by, this is a very personal choice. For me, I was in the pools last night around 10 PM drinking a glass of scotch and playing with our golden retrievers and couldn't imagine not having the pool.

Can you give me more info on the "gas tank" in the yard? You can do that in Hillsborough? Is it propane and how big?

[photo1902]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

Can you give me more info on the "gas tank" in the yard? You can do that in Hillsborough? Is it propane and how big?

Yes. It's a large propane tank buried in your yard, which is allowed. We opted for solar only as a heat source, in order to avoid the cost of additional equipment and propane.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

Can you give me more info on the "gas tank" in the yard? You can do that in Hillsborough? Is it propane and how big?

The propane tank that T&D installed with my pool is 200 gallons and is burred in the front yard. The tank added about $2000 to the cost of the pool and the gas heater was an additional cost and the gas heater another $2000.

Yes you can do it in Hillsborough and most other villages that don't have natural gas service. I have a courtyard villa with a lot large enough for a pool and because of the location I have a relatively large front yard for a villa so the tank was able to be buried out front.

I have seen some plans for pools where the tank was put in the back or side yard due to lot geometry and setbacks.

[TidalWalkers]

Call Orca Pools for an estimate. Great company. 352 -552-3696 Talk to Michelle or Chris. They do our pool Maintenance also. Highly recommended.