Three Considerations Before Installing a Pool

Search data on realestate.com.au shows that Australians remain fascinated with pools. Over seven million searches featured this word alone last year alone on realestate.com.au!

Before breaking out the shovel and digging, it pays to understand exactly what you’re getting yourself into. Although pools often add value, this is not always true. If you plan to sell later on, it pays to know exactly how much your property is worth and which items add or detract value from its overall valuation.

I know a thing or two about living with a pool – we own one of the largest residential pools ever seen! And while that might sound appealing, it has actually been more like an ongoing struggle than anything else since moving onto our property 10 years ago.

Recently, it has been more love than hate; but let me assure you that having a pool isn’t all sunshine and roses.

1. Bigger Doesn’t Always Mean Better
One of the first questions people ask when I post pictures of my pool on social media is “what are the dimensions?” My response: it is too big! At 150,000 litres it certainly exceeds any reasonable requirements; however it came with my block so we have no plans of disposing it anytime soon.

Above and beyond this, our pool provides us (my children) with hours of fun. It offers relief from hot days while serving as the centerpiece of our home; giving us views from most angles of its beauty.

On the downside, however, our pool has cost us thousands in maintenance due to insufficient pool pumps, broken chlorinators, malfunctioning pool cleaners, endless supplies of chemicals and sky-rocketing power bills – it would have been foolish of us to build such an expansive facility under such circumstances as climate change and rising electricity bills.

My advice would be: go for it; you won’t regret it – but keep costs within reach by starting small and scaling as needed.

2. Climate and Trends Influence Installation Costs
Dave Franklin from Franklin Pools Australia notes that costs associated with installing a pool vary considerably across states due to climatic differences as well as trends. In Queensland an 8x4m pebblecrete pool costs between $25k-$30k while one located in Victoria typically sits in between $55k-$70k range.

Victoria stands out in that almost all pools are installed with heating. Furthermore, their preferred trend of fully tiled pools tends to entail higher labour costs compared to pebblecrete used by most Queenslanders.

3. The Industry Is Evolving This is one of the most crucial pieces of advice you can have regarding the pool industry today: chlorine and salt pools are becoming less popular while mineral systems of various sorts have quickly gained ground in popularity. Our family recently made this change themselves – and found it to be life changing.