In-ground Pool Owners: do you regret it?

Growing up we had an in-ground pool at the house. It was put in around 1991 or 1992. As a kid and teenager my parents absolutely loved it. It was the center of family gatherings and social events for our youth sports teams. Since the 3 kids left the nest, my parents view it as more of a hassle, though we still have several pool gatherings a year as a family.

The best thing I did was to hire a pool guy to maintain our pool. First couple years I resented having the pool because of the maintenance. The money I spend on someone else maintaining the pool is worth it for my personal enjoyment of the pool

When I had one it was for a home in a neighborhood that didn’t have a nice neighborhood pool

Build in a nice neighborhood with a country club and a pool overlooking a mountain or lake.
You get to enjoy it without maintenance

I know someone who has one and spent money fixing the pump and some of the plumbing every other year until he finally had the entire thing resurfaced and all plumbing replaced. Cost him $80,000. I told him he’s legit retarded for not just filling that fricker in.

Yes and no.
No, because when it came time to put the house on the market, it sold faster than others that didn't have pools.

Yes, because my kids used it fewer than 15 times over the course of four years. The ex-wife was very particular about having 2nd and 3rd tier guests over (parents of kid's friends we weren't super tight with, etc.) which means we never had people over for the pool, hence the kids didn't use it.

As a dad, everything will be on you. It wasn't the actual pool maintenance itself that was a chore, it was picking up the half eaten food, towels scattered about, toys that never got put back, etc. And never forget the people that work at places like Leslie's usually only have a high school diploma, be your own expert.

Love my pool. Necessity in FL.

Glad I put mine in before 2020 though. Cant imagine the price tag building one now. I got someone who comes come out once a week to clean and maintenance it. Def worth it, esp if you have kids.

Had a huge pool in an old neighborhood. It had a 12 foot deep end and was like 60k gallons.

But it also had a lot of trees around. It was a nightmare. Once it went south, it took major intervention to correct.

TLDR. Don’t get an inground pool with a lot of trees near it.

Its a love/hate relationship for sure.

I love it for my kids and their friends.

I hate it for the maintenance and the up keep.

My wife and I got in our pool every afternoon this Summer.

It feels great to finish yard work and jump in the pool to cool off.

The maintenance is minimal if you have an automatic pool cleaner like a Dolphin.

The pool was a life saver during the pandemic, too. Kept us from going crazy.

No.

Don’t underestimate how dangerous they are for pets and small children though