swimming pools

[Guest kellyjamie]

Hi all, just wondered is it common to have a pool in adelaide? on the last wanted down under acouple in adeliade asked a real estate guy about putting in a pool and he said it can be quite hard as adelaide is quite a rocky city? alot of folk cant have pools as thier gardens are full of rocks etc and it makes the digging process particularly lengthy? is this correct or a bit of crap? many thanks

[Guest kangomik]

poms get pools!

It can be rocky. You also need permission now from the councils etc for the water useage.

Have a look on google maps you will see a few dotted around.

 

Space would be a factor on the new builds, most want the biggest house on the plot.

[Guest guest569]

As houses are better value here as well alot of poms go for the biggest house they can afford and leave themselves no garden for a pool.

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Hi,

There are quite a few pools but nothing like the number that you encounter in warm countries like South Africa (we lived there for a while and had pools at our homes).

The excavation process here can get complicated if you encounter hard ground or rock but it's nothing that can't be overcome.

If you are thinking of buying a house with a pool or a house that has enough space for a pool there are a few things to consider. We have had a house with a pool for the past 20 years but as the kids get older the need gets less. Pools are bottomless money sucking holes! The upkeep for chemicals and the cost of water (which will increase when the desal plant comes on line) are all things to consider. Then there's the pumps and filters and the constant hands on maintenance to keep it looking good. We have a pool at our Christies Beach house and it's been a headache at times. It was rented unfurnished for a year to Brit migrants who thought that the idea of having a pool was the way to go. To keep the water clear it has to be filtered and that means that the pump has to run for many hours per day....that cost them money as electricity is not cheap. Although it is solar heated you need to look at the temperature and work out how many months are swimmable as well as there are months that it's too cold and rainy to use. All these are reasons not to get a pool but we still have one!

Hope that this helps!

[Guest guest569]

You paint such a gloomy picture Tamara ! Its not hard word Nor rocket science to keep the pool in good order.. Filteration in the summer should be up to 10 hours a day and in the winter between 1 and 3 hours a day all done on a timer. If you have a salt chlorinated pool then very little chemicals need to be added.

ON THE OTHER HAND .... I do agree that once the kids have left home then the pool may be redundent but we seem to use it more than the kids anyway so i don't think that will count for us.

You say" warm countries like South Africa" Do you not think SA is warm then ????

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

Sorry for the gloomy picture and it's not even me that's been doing the pool cleaning! Maybe it's listening to moans about the chore of pool cleaning from my OH for the past 20 years!

What I really wanted to get accross is that the crystal clear Spain type pool can be hard work and there's costs involved.

How warm is it here now?! Fancy going for a swim this evening? The swimming season is not year round. We lived in Cape Town and every 4th house has a pool. Winter in Cape Town can mean weeks of 25 degree plus days which is great for year round swimming. Just how cold (yes cold!) it can get here was a shock. But...if I had come here straight from Preston then maybe I would be swimming in the middle of Winter!

[Guest motlyman]

Hi,

There are quite a few pools but nothing like the number that you encounter in warm countries like South Africa (we lived there for a while and had pools at our homes).

The excavation process here can get complicated if you encounter hard ground or rock but it's nothing that can't be overcome.

If you are thinking of buying a house with a pool or a house that has enough space for a pool there are a few things to consider. We have had a house with a pool for the past 20 years but as the kids get older the need gets less. Pools are bottomless money sucking holes! The upkeep for chemicals and the cost of water (which will increase when the desal plant comes on line) are all things to consider. Then there's the pumps and filters and the constant hands on maintenance to keep it looking good. We have a pool at our Christies Beach house and it's been a headache at times. It was rented unfurnished for a year to Brit migrants who thought that the idea of having a pool was the way to go. To keep the water clear it has to be filtered and that means that the pump has to run for many hours per day....that cost them money as electricity is not cheap. Although it is solar heated you need to look at the temperature and work out how many months are swimmable as well as there are months that it's too cold and rainy to use. All these are reasons not to get a pool but we still have one!

Hope that this helps!

 

 

 

Then there are people like me who do it for you...........

 

Colin

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

:)Thank you Colin!

 

If there's anyone out there on a long term rental and the property has a pool then Colin is your man.

If the pool is not salt water and running on a chlorinator then there are PH levels, total alkalinity, stabiliser and the correct chlorine levels to think about.

If you are on a short term furnished rental then it's not your problem but getting a pool expert to keep it looking good is a real good option especially if you have had no experience of pools before.

I reckon it would be a good idea to keep Colins details if you are planning to get a home with a pool!

[Guest LordLucan]

Sorry for the gloomy picture and it's not even me that's been doing the pool cleaning! Maybe it's listening to moans about the chore of pool cleaning from my OH for the past 20 years!

What I really wanted to get accross is that the crystal clear Spain type pool can be hard work and there's costs involved.

How warm is it here now?! Fancy going for a swim this evening? The swimming season is not year round. We lived in Cape Town and every 4th house has a pool. Winter in Cape Town can mean weeks of 25 degree plus days which is great for year round swimming. Just how cold (yes cold!) it can get here was a shock. But...if I had come here straight from Preston then maybe I would be swimming in the middle of Winter!

I had an above ground pool, which I put in myself for under $5000, and found it remarkably easy to maintain. You soon get used to how much of this and that to put in, and I spent about 10 minutes a day in summer, and 15 minutes a week in winter, maintaining it. Swimming from early November to late April was normal for me, though floating about on the lilo is definitely only for the summer months. I did go in once in August at the end of a week of 27 degree heat, water temperature was 18 which sounded alright - it was freezing!

[Guest guest569]

We have been in ours from sept but i would say its comfortable from oct to april ( easter this year). Colin is a great help if you run into troubles

The rest of the year its a great water feature !!!

[Guest kangomik]

is it possible to get the pumps running off solar power, or do they require to much 'juice' for this?

[Guest Jo&Phil]

Easy option is to buy a house (or rent) that actually has one already.

Outer suburbs (20-30 mins from city) over 15 years old (north and south) often have larger blocks with room for pool and garden whereas newer properties may be on smaller blocks where the pool is the back garden (as someone else mentioned).

We have an unheated saltwater pool (it's over 20 years old) which is generally in use November through March. Cleaning isn't too hideous a job (says she who rarely does it!) although it does take some effort at the start of the season.