We put in a pool when we built our house 23 years ago. It was great when our girls were around, lots of social activities here at our house that we enjoyed. Now that it is just my husband and I it doesn't get much use, and is somewhat of a chore and expense to clean and maintain.
It is warm enough here in The summers we don't need to heat it. Winters are cold so we shut it down, winterize and cover it from October (before the leaves fall!) and open it up in April. We never drain it.
I think it was worth it when we had kids here. One grandson is learning to swim so maybe it will be good for grandkids!
We have always had dogs, but none of them had any interest in getting in it. We have had a couple fall in it, so I have tried to teach them to swim to the corner with the steps so they would be able to get out if they did get in it.
We have been thinking about getting a safety fence installed around the pool just In case a toddler grandchild got in the backyard without anyone seeing. Our back yard has a 6' privacy fence so we don't have issues with deer or other animals.
A pool an be great but they are also a big upkeep item. So make sure you are ready for that, even if you hire a pool service to come once or twice a week.
Lastly, consider your landscaping and how it will impact your pool. We have lots of trees and flowering shrubs so there is always debris blowing in the pool. We have a pool vacuum (creepy crawly) running 24/7 as long as the pool is open until we shut it down in the fall, and still have to go out and manually skim/clean the pool at least every other day.
Last edited by Jeanne S; 08-30-2016 at 06:02 PM.