Swimming Pool

[Bangkokbutcher]

My father in law (farang married to my wifes mum) should/may be in a position to take early retirement next year, and all being well will be looking at getting their dream house built in the village.

Now I've tried a little search but came up with nothing substantial, but was really looking for pricing and info on getting a 'smallish' swimming pool built.

Has anybody had any experience with having one built before?

and if so was it

1. worthwhile

2. easy to maintain

3. cheap enough to run

4. value for money to get built

All input appreciated

[lampard10]

My father in law (farang married to my wifes mum) should/may be in a position to take early retirement next year, and all being well will be looking at getting their dream house built in the village.

Now I've tried a little search but came up with nothing substantial, but was really looking for pricing and info on getting a 'smallish' swimming pool built.

Has anybody had any experience with having one built before?

and if so was it

1. worthwhile

2. easy to maintain

3. cheap enough to run

4. value for money to get built

All input appreciated

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We built one see http://www.farangconnection.awebspace.com rental properties for picture. Cost was very cheap,in fact my Thai brother-in-law built it. Accessories from Pool Mart Pattaya. We got a good second hand sand filter for 10,000, the ladder was 12,000. We built it from scratch. i.e. dug hole,layed standard reinforcing,concereted over. Then tiled. Sides,we built a reinforced wall,three inch gap then a second reinforced wall. Filled the gap with concrete. Friend of ours (well aquaintance) built his using chicken wire for reinforcing. We're still waiting the out come.

Maintainance; Pump on one hour mornings,one hour evenings. We actually hang a hessian bag of chlorone in the water. Keeps lovely most of the time. We also have a full size pool (see web site) that's a different story for maintainance. If you're down Surin way pop in for a look.

[Ajarn]

A couple of extensive threads on the subject in the last year where most of your questions are dealt with. Do a search.

Anyway, here's what I had built last year for just under 200,000 baht, using all grade A materials and equipment. Electricity is around 500-1,000 baht per month, and chemical costs are around 500pm. It's 2x10 meters, perfect for laps...

[pluto_manibo]

Here are some questions you must ask yourself first....

1. What size pool

2. Free form or rectangular

3. Skimmer or overflow

4. Jacuzzi incorporated or not....

5. How many jets....

All these factors will come into play in the cost of the pool. Basically you have two varieties of pools, Skimmer and overflow. Overflow pools, need extra space for the extra storage tank of water which will make the pool full of water up to the rim...The water goes over the sides into a gutter like rim (covered by a white/cream plastic grill) and is collected/filtered and pumped through again. The Skimmer is a much simpler unit...It is called Skimmer because all debris which falls on the surface of the water is pumped with the jets(skimmed) to a gathering tank at the end of the pool. The main difference is that the pool will not look full, there will be 2-3 inches between the level of the water surface and the edge of the pool. On the other hand it is a lot simpler to build and maintain in a limited amount of space.

Other things you should consider while building, is to absolutely build footings for the pools....Reinforced "roots" to keep the pool in place in case of slight land movements. A lot of the pools here are not build with footings, therefore cracks appear in the concrete and leaks develop....Use a reputable pool builder. Use top quality materials, in the long run it will save you lots of money...There are some great pumps,jets,lights,maintenance equipment for sale from Australian companies. Use top quality tiles as well...You don't want to go the cheap way with a pool, better do it right the first time...

To answer some of your questions;

1. Worthwhile: Yes, if you like exercising or have guests often...

2. Easy to maintain: 50/50....you might have a pool company do the maintenance, clean the pool, add chlorine and soda ash, check the pumps etc....This costs between 1,500 -3,000 Baht/ month in Pattaya....and some of them are useless...

3. Cheap enough to run: Electricity and the maintenance costs are considerable if you do not use the pool and have it only as a decoration in your garden...Depending on how often the pump runs on average 4 hrs a day for a well kept pool....2hrs morning-2hrs afternoon....

4. Value for money: Yes if you are far away from the sea, in a hot and humid climate, or if the community pool looks like a urine bucket....But do not think it will add so much value for the house, because a lot of prior pool owners who buy houses do not always want to go through the experience of having one again...

[aletta]

Three hundred grand for a small pool.Even an old miser like me could be persuaded to get out the cash.

[Ajarn]

Three hundred grand for a small pool.Even an old miser like me could be persuaded to get out the cash.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just to be clear, my price is not typical, it seems.

When I first started looking around CM, I saw one place with an Oval above ground pool on display. About 3x5 meters, roughly. 600,000 baht the salesman says...

I've heard commercial prices from 8,000 baht to 12,000 baht per square meter for construction only.

In my case, I hired a consultant who had the right experience, and he worked through me. I watched over as best I could. I estimate I saved at least 200,000 baht, but I probably could have saved 50,000 on what I did pay, had I been better prepared on the accounting end... The internet helped a lot with pricing pool items and getting specs about pumps and filters. I also built a solar pool heater, which works great.

[jayenram]

Friend of ours (well aquaintance) built his using chicken wire for reinforcing. We're still waiting the out come.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just an update on that. The size is around 8 m x 6 m if I recall correctly. The side walls (45 deg angle) are constructed of 2" thick concrete reinforced with chicken mesh (yes! 2" thick!). I dread to think of the base thickness. Given that the water is around 1.5 metres deep average, there will be 70 tonnes of water in there. And, potentially, 70 tonnes of upthrust when empty.

I'll give it a week.

[Bangkokbutcher]

Thanks for all the input guys, some very valid points to take on board before making the commitment by the sounds of things, some good, some bad.

Bottom line is that as long as it is built and installed properly, then it does sound like a value for money purchase, as I'm 100% sure that it will get more than it's fair share of use, and with the nearest publicly accessible pool being approx 30-40 km's away in Nong Khai (that i'm aware of) from their village in between Tha Bo and Si Chiang Mai.

I have passed all your info and pointers onto the in-laws and will let them make up their own minds.

Lampard10 - Thanks for the invite, I will most certainly look you up next time i'm in the Surin area.

please send my best wishes and luck to your friends attempt at building his pool, sounds like he is going to need it

Thanks again

[croftrobin]

I too built my own pool 2 years ago.

Its 8m x 3.8 m x @ 1.5m.

Total costs including sand filter, pump, chlorinator & ladder were around 220k. Built by my wifes uncle and a team of local labour.

Prices will have risen as the price of steel bar has gone up a lot in 2 years - and you need a lot of steel! (Chicken mesh will not do!) I sized a new pool for a neighbour last month and over a kilometre of steel bar was required for that.

I run my pump about 12 hours a day as the pool is used daily and I like sparkling water!

Chemical costs are now about 1000 baht per month.

(They were higher but I have covered the pool now to shade it) This means that the water temperature is lower and more refreshing, it reduces the algae growth and so less chlorine is used up)

You do have to sweep it and hoover it weekly and pick out snakes and scorpions and dead frogs when they decide to have a plunge also but its just a few hours work a week keeping on top of it.

Pics are in December 2003 and This month

[Bangkokbutcher]

Nice job on that one there croftrobin, handy tip on the cleaning of it as well, thanks.

From what I can imagine, that looks as though yours would be ideal for what they are looking for.

[moziman]

I have just had a pool installed 10m x 3m by a company so I guess the price should be current, I got it cheap apparently, because the boss is in the family, the price should be 450,000 baht. All looks very nice but could have done with a filter timer added, otherwise they did a good job. My advice would be keep the pool fairly shallow, mine starts at waist heght and goes to chin height, less water means less filtering, less chemicals and less electric and you really don't need the depth.

I can get away with about 4 hours a day filter time and chlorine a cup every 3 days plus vaccum every three days. Putting a net above the pool saves on leaf and bug cleaning.

Very impressed with the sand filter unit, cleans itself with the backwash function and is almost silent in operation.

Big bonus is these jazzy pool light filters that can be changed by just pulling off and pushing on, the green filter creates a lagoon like effect at night or you can go Carrie style and go red or blue.

Biggest thing is to watch out for is the pile of dirt that comes out during the dig, wrecked my lawn, also a busted street lamp that is still not repaired, also maintenance instructions were non existant, had to work it out all myself and the filter has 6 different settings, each setting require you to change the different pipe valves to on or off. All in all though very happy now and use the pool almost every day knowing that I have perfect PH and safe chlorine levels and no pee!!!!!!!!!!

Bottom line is requires a small amount of effort but what the ###### else am I going to do, feel fitter, excma cleared up and I am clean as whistle. My wife complained tonight that the water was a bit chilly, hmmm try swimming outdoor in the UK.

If your confident in doing it yourself cheaper do it, but for a nice proffesional finish leave it to the experts.

moziman

PS. Pools do not put off potential house buyers, probably the biggest selling point of your property in a hot climate like Thailand.

[moziman]

Sorry just to add the filter unit looks like HG Wells time machine, ugly as sin, so think about best location and how best to diguise it, bom bom!!

moziman.

[aletta]

You do have to sweep it and hoover it weekly and pick out snakes

Are the snakes accidently falling in or are they actively seeking the water do you think.?

Got a huge local population so would have to be very vigilant.

[Bangkokbutcher]

A couple of handy tips there moziman, thanks.

The in-laws are actually considering building the pool as a walk in covered unit now, basically like a giant conservatory to help keep the pests out.

Whether that will help or not, I really dont know....

[legendarysurfer]

What about an ecologically-friendly pool? Is there such a thing and has anyone integrated such a "natural" pool into the home property's total water-usage scheme?

[Bangkokbutcher]

What about an ecologically-friendly pool? Is there such a thing and has anyone integrated such a "natural" pool into the home property's total water-usage scheme? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds pretty interesting...would be good to hear of anyone that has.

[eddie11]

What about an ecologically-friendly pool? Is there such a thing and has anyone integrated such a "natural" pool into the home property's total water-usage scheme? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds pretty interesting...would be good to hear of anyone that has.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here is my eco-friendly swimming pool

at f****** last

Edited June 11, 2005 by eddie11

[Ajarn]

What about an ecologically-friendly pool? Is there such a thing and has anyone integrated such a "natural" pool into the home property's total water-usage scheme? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds pretty interesting...would be good to hear of anyone that has.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, I use natural urea sometimes to balance the Ph in my pool

[Bangkokbutcher]

What about an ecologically-friendly pool? Is there such a thing and has anyone integrated such a "natural" pool into the home property's total water-usage scheme? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds pretty interesting...would be good to hear of anyone that has.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here is my eco-friendly swimming pool

at f****** last

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dont suppose you can get much more eco friendly than that