CyprusLiving

Am looking at buying a villa, but hubby insists he wants a pool. So, my question is how much would an 8m x 6m pool cost to put in? Or has anyone recently had a a pool installed and can give me names/phone numbers?

good question!..sorry that I cannot help .. but would also be interested.
Common let us know please.
Also what is the best form of construction in your experience/opinion....is that liner/concrete& tiles.. or fiber glass molded pool?

Eilz
Would it not be easier to buy a villa with a pool?,,,,,just a thought.

Eilz
let me have your email address and I can send photos / details etc.etc.

After 10 years of assorted problems and expense, I had my pool filled in last year. May I make a few observations.

Most new villas (and many resales) come with a pool. For most owners, it will be an expensive and troublesome water feature that will cost a considerable sum to run and to maintain. It will also increase the amount of Immovable Property Tax that you will have to pay

I can see seven pools from my office window. The only time any of them are used is when the owners have visitors from the UK, which usually means one or two weeks a year, so effectively the owners are paying to provide and maintain a pool (using professional pool company employees) for the use of non-paying guests. Better use could be made of the space.

The time when a pool might be considered pleasant is in the heat of the summer, but then the water temperature can be in excess of thirty degrees, which is too warm for comfortable bathing. At such time you would be better swimming in the sea.

Some of the pools (and all those I can see) have been badly fitted and have needed expensive maintenance work on the underground piping. This is largely attributable to the use of flexible underground piping, which the pool fitters claim to use to counter earth movements due to seismic activity. In reality it is done for cheapness. I can virtually guarantee that you will need the pipes replaced after about ten years.

Most pools have plastic liners. These last around 10 years and cost a couple of thousand euros to replace.

If you are buying a used property ensure that the skimmers are running strongly as poor flow is an indication of pipe problems.

I can all but guarantee that the novelty of a pool will soon wear off and it will be unused for most of the year, but you will still have to run and maintain it or it will quickly become a health hazard.

If you are not deterred, a pool will cost around €20,000 to have installed, the figure depending on accessibility to get heavy machinery on site and the amount of groundworks involved. Do ensure that the fitters install rigid pipes bedded in sand. They will make all sorts of spurious excuses not to do so. It will cost more but it will be cheaper in the long run. Don't skimp on the liner or the quality of the fittings.

When you realise your mistake, it will cost at least half that to have it filled in (subject to the same provisos).

Stand by for lots of comments from members who say their pools are wonderful and are used every day

KG wrote:

Stand by for lots of comments from members who say their pools are wonderful and are used every day

Yep that's us! Not at present but certainly during the hot months. It is a lot of work but my husband doesn't mind doing it & we get a great deal of pleasure from it.

There is a market for villas without pools.

We have a communal pool which we share the costs with our neighbours.

Agreed, pools look nice in the garden, we prefer the beach.

Alan

Hi Eliz
Are you renting at the moment? if so why not rent a villa for a year or so with a pool then you can asses if having one is a good idea.

This is our fourth year living here and we have a private pool. From May till the middle of October my wife and I use the pool on an almost daily basis. I use swimming as an alternative to the gym to keep fit, and for us it is a "must have". In July and August the water does get warm but it is still lovely. My wife is not a strong swimmer and therefore the sea is not an option. I can remember getting up one night last year and it was very, very hot. So, pool lights on, and into the water. Fabulous.

Our Uk guests love it, but that is a bonus. The pool is for us and I think that if it had been a "one day wonder" it would have palled by now. I clean the pool and it is just part of the routine. But the idea to rent somewhere for a year to see whether the pool is a must is a good one. But for us it comes back to the dream of living in Cyprus, and what we always wanted.

Chacun à son goût ...

Many of our friends have pools and I can count probably on one hand how many times some of them are used. We dont have one
but go down to the beach., From what they say, yes they are expensive to run/maintain. I am quite happy without one.

I have seen a villa offered for rent with the no pool option . It saved 300€ a month off the monthly rent (plus running costs) .

I have lived here five years now and would choose no pool if given the choice .

Buy an above ground pool for a few hundred Euro's - simples! Just as good as any if its only to cool down. Mine's 3m radius but you can go a lot bigger. Packs away in winter.

Emma Roydes

Having lived in our (rented) property now for a while I would agree this is a far better option. As I type our pool is being fixed as the afore mentioned 'flexible' pipe has leaked. The patio slabs have been taken up and the cause was found to be tree roots from a pepper tree. We are fortunate this falls under the responsibility of the owner to pay for the repair. We probably dipped in and out of the pool 10-12 times last year. Again the only time it is used to good effect is two weeks the family are here.
By choice we would not worry in future about having a pool.

We rent an apartment on a complex and use the pool virtually everyday. My wife likes to knock out a kilometre in lengths, me about half that. Much like MacManiac, it's a must have for us as a great form of exercise and fun to boot. We're currently looking at buying, and after a year renting in Cyprus (both apartments and Villas), wouldn't entertain the idea of going pool-less.

Horses for courses and all that.

The sea?...not that far for any of us! and free.

After my time here I never sun bathe so pools are not used in our complex by us..

Jim

Love the sea too, but invariably also like a drop of plonk to lubricate the swimming and sunning muscles, so driving to the beach is out

You could not drink!!!!

After seeing friends of ours who had a villa with a private pool and the messing about they had to go through on a daily basis of scooping and cleaning plus the odd shock treatment once in a while (and this for a salt water pool), if it was me, I would be inclined to go for a communal pool rather than a private one.

However, I prefer to bathe in the sea rather than a pool as I find most pools don't get warm enough except for those few weeks in the height of the summer months. During our 12yrs in Cyprus you would always find me in the sea a good month before I would venture into a swimming pool.... probably something to do with the sea constantly moving and the sun warming the shallows which made it easier to get into. I've swam in the sea in early March and up to the middle of November in Cyprus but pools would always be from end of May to end September although I have been in the pool later than that, it would only be if we had fabulous weather so I could warm up again afterwards.

Definitely rent a villa with a private pool and make sure you do all the maintenance yourselves rather than having someone to come and do it for you. That way you will really find out if it's something you want to continue with on a daily basis...

When we bought our villa 14 years ago my husband wanted a private pool but I knew we were only here for holidays and with a growing family thought it better to have a communal pool and share the cost and maintenance.
The children like the chance to meet other children in the height of summer, (fellow owners children/grandchildren) but being a small complex we have the pool to ourselves a lot too.

I think you have to do what's right for you, we are all different!

If you buy a private villa they normally come with a pool, if like me you live on a complex they also have pools, we do share the cost between us (11 properties) including liner replacement and pumps! that were very expensive,also day to day pool cleaners do not come cheap, but given the choice I would not bother, although it must help to sell your property as those who do buy usually think a pool is a must have, not in my thinking it's not.


CL has a pool section I should go have a look in there..

viewforum.php?f=106

Our pool is 8x4, reinforced concrete construction, and is mosaic tiled. Tiles are more expensive initially than a plastic pool liner. But, they do not need replacing, unless you wanted to change the look of the pool. We have had to replace individual tiles due to wear and tear over the years. Touch wood, the pump is still running! The pipework was galvanised metal and has been OK, despite the occasional seismic earth movements. Perhaps we have been lucky, but the pool is now 16 years old.

It is expensive to run in terms of electricity consumption for the pump and uses some water (they all do). Initially it was constructed by L**t*s , and cost around 15,000 Cy pounds.
I agree that it is only used in the summer months, end of May -early October, but it is great to have it when the weather is very hot. Do, I think a pool is essential? Well probably the answer is no.

Dee

Ours is an 8 x 4 precast fiberglass pool with built in steps. Never been a problem in the 15 years we have had it and with this type of pool there is no liner so no expensive replacement ever needed.

Saw this and thought it a good compromise.

http://www.metaspoon.com/backyard-pool- ... 1gbm4565t0

Get him to Cyprus - he will never be out of a job!

Saw this and thought it a good compromise.

Hardly, no water supply or drainage, no filter, no circulation pump, it would be green in days with no means of correcting the water balance.

IMHO it may look nice initially, but a waste of time & money long-term.

Many thanks for all replies and input!!

Pool is magical. Wouldn't be without it.

Ellie that frame pool is identical to mine. You can buy them in Debenhams home centre. It does have a pump, and we put in chemicals when needed. The pump it comes with is more than sufficient to keep it clean, plenty of circulation.

I like the decking idea around it!

You don't mention whether you have school age children. A pool is a big plus during spring and summer school days as well as the long school holidays.