If you are in North Carolina you can come and visit,we had the Home Depot to do some work for us and they did a great job better than Lowes.
That was true for me in Northern Virginia. The kids enjoyed it for about 10 years. Once they were grown it was just a maintenance chore for another 10 years. When I retired and moved, I was fortunate, a buyer came along who wanted a pool and mine at 30,00 gallons was the biggest in the price range. No extra money for the pool, but it did sell the house to him without too much haggling over price.
Paul
Well how about building a G scale layout with a railroad car ferry?[:-^]
[(-D] [(-D] [(-D] [(-D]
Paul
Some good communication out of the Diner here
TF
So one solution to an empty pool is sand, filling it @60% is the same weight as water. This should keep it in place and can be removed if need be. TF, I am quite capable of doing the work if it comes to that, I helped build three houses from start to finish back when using a hammer was in fashion. Now I have a huge compressor and three nail guns. ARG…ARG…ARG! Should be a breeze.
I don’t know why I said that, actually Sand is a good idea
TF
I am hitting the rack The powers-that-be have me working tomorrow.
If you fill it with sand, you shouldn’t have to remove the plugs, therefore no water intrusion. A friend of mine recently bought a house that had a pool that had been filled in for years. He had the dirt removed and with a new liner and a little maintenance on the equipment has a functional pool. It’s not an unreasonable solution.
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That is never a consideration for my wife and I.
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Every vacation we take, every week we spend on the beach, and everything I buy for my layout is a hit on their inheritance.
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Remodeling my house from a 4 bedroom 3 bath into a 2 bedroom 1 1/2 bath with my train room will certainly hurt too.
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Not my problem. I am going to enjoy my life. If they are counting on an inheritance to enjoy theirs… tough.
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My property is literally worth more if the house is not there. The kids instructions for when we pass is to bulldoze the house and sell the empty lot.
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The $22,000.00 we put into the kitchen will be a total loss.
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-Kevin
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covering the pool will allow your home insurance to go down. By no small amount. You could always build steps down in after decking over it and use it as a work room and storage area. Multilevel layout? You can always build the layout seperate from the walls sonit is stand alone. And not touch the walls. building the floor using deck construction methods is your best bet to plan for weight considerations
Why not reach out to a pool builder or pool maintenance company and see what they say? I didn’t see anyone here that posted say they’re qualified to tell you what would be the best solution. Not that some of these suggestions posted are valid, but if you want to keep the pool, have it covered by insurance, bring in the pros.
All I have to say is, let’s trade houses. I’d love to be able to swim year-round.
I don’t know when I will hit the point where I feel I spend too much time on pool work vs the use I get out of it - I’m ALWAYS in the pool, and usually I’m the only one, but I’ve had few issues and it doesn’t cost me that much in chemicals to keep it clean and clear. If that ratio ever flips - I’m filling it in.
–Randy
That’s true, funny I didn’t think of that during happy hour last night[:-^]
But how do you support your deck on sand. Unless you’re going to drill a bunch of holes on the side of the pool for your joists. I suppose you could put footings for support beams in the sand, if the sano tubes were suspended before the rest of the sand fill. Then one wouldn’t have to damage anything and the project is still reversible.
It would be interesting to see the equipment they use to get all that sand in there. I suppose it would be equivalent to a cement pump. Not sure though.
TF
Actually I don’t know why I was so against it last night, maybe I’m more prone to think like a Carpenter doing things all out of wood. Sand is a really good idea Brent.
If that pool room in the first post is in yours, wow, it is beautiful, like something you see in a magazine. What a shame to cover it up.
My opinion is sell the house to someone who would enjoy it and buy a house more appropriate to both you and your wives needs. My wife and I passed over a number of houses which didn’t tick the major boxes, a train room being one of them. My “compromise” here was buying a house with a unfinished basement, but the basement was framed in so that was a major head start and I could do the drywall, ceiling and floor. Drywall is done and ceiling is nearing completion.
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I thought Brent explained pretty clearly that this pool is in a house they are considering, that otherwise is what they are looking for?
Pretty or not, if you don’t want a pool, why not make it a train room?
You could not give me another pool, been there, done that, for 23 years.
And as Brent and others have suggested, pools generally do not ad value to houses.
Sheldon
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If Brent’s need is a stunning train room, I think the pool room is a great option.
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Getting rid of a pool to get a magnificent train room sounds like a gateway to paradise.
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I am firmly in the “fill it in” camp.
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-Kevin
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That room is way too nice to destroy. I’d think it could be turned into a nice extra family room or game room if the pool wasn’t there, and that functionality would add more value than the pool, IMO.
I say if filling it in with sand will keep the pool intact, that’s a good solution. Seems like it can be readily unfilled and touched up if somebody really wanted a pool.
I would assume that creating a level floor would be a matter of bridging the pool with joists resting on top of the concrete floor, although it would be raised at least 10 inches up from the concrete because of the joists and subfloor. Looks like you have the ceiling height, but the windows would be off and you’d have to step down to use the doors.
I assume the photo is taken from a door going into the house. In which case, build a dogbone or E or G shaped layout along the left side with turnback loops at the doors where you could step down. Use the right side wall for a workbench and testing area, (and space for a wet bar and TV?) where you’d be standing directly on the concrete with easy access to the doors. You’d access the layout area by simply stepping up to a long floor/platform.
Worked on job decades ago, I was the concrete contractor, not the general. The house was for the William Oster ( blenders, microwaves, kitchen appliances,etc) family, on Lake Beulah, WI. ( Town of East Troy) their summer home.
The GC removed all of the pump and filter equipment, filled the pool with clean stone, compacted in layers, to the level of the floor around the pool, put down a heavy moisture barrier ( I forget the name of it, it was a heavy black reinforced paper with plastic on one side), and we poured a new floor over the top, saw cut it into 10’ squares.
I don’t know what the GC did with the plugs. Ground water is not an issue in the area, and I don’t remember any type of sump pump piping or a crock.
They didn’t want the maintainence hassle any more, and besides, they are on a lake with a nice beach.
I’ve never been back to see how it has held up. We were back there a couple of years later to do some sidewalks, and at that time, all was good with the new floor and room.
Good luck Brent with whatever you decide.
Mike.
Brent. I did some research and found your solution.
Simpson WPI414 Top Flange l-joist Hanger-G90 Galvanized.
Check it out! This piece of Hardware will simplify everything.
TF
As long as your joists are put in tight they ain’t going anywhere.
One of the houses we just looked at (Fairfax County), like, three days ago had a pool. Our realtor pointed it out as a leverage point to come down in price because it is going to be harder for them to sell. Although she then said “but…then you’re saddled with a pool when you want to sell it too.”
My basic understanding around here is garage = higher price pool = lower price