The dream of a personal backyard oasis, offering refreshing swims and restful gatherings with friends, often fades behind the steep bids from pool construction companies. But the growing do-it-yourself pool trend makes refreshed backyards possible without six-figure investments.
Driven by ingenious homeowners tapping into their inner designers, handy neighbors collaborating, and online wisdom sharing, savvy folks are saving $30,000 on inground pool builds instead of hiring landscaping crews.
Here you can walk through key considerations for do-it-yourself pool installations, empowering you to create the private oasis you’ve been dreaming of with greatly reduced investment using creative vision and elbow grease.
DIY Pool Benefits
What draws people to embark on do-it-yourself pool pursuits rather than handing over their backyards to traditional construction contractors? Several compelling benefits emerge:
Cost Savings – Foremost, households recognize massive expense reductions by taking the DIY route, with some saving upwards of $30,000 according to industry reports. Traditional pool company bids carry numerous markups for materials, contracted trade labor, project management, permitting fees and generalized profit margins.
By functioning as your own general contractor, sourcing many materials directly from suppliers, and utilizing YouTube tutorials in place of paid pool builders, you can put serious cash back into your own pocket.
Creative Control – Dream of an eco-friendly saltwater pool with built-in sun shelfs for lounging, surrounded by lush tropical plants? Or a sleek minimalist design featuring underwater LED accent lighting for evening atmosphere?
Contractors construct cookie-cutter pools for the masses, while DIY options offer endless customization around shapes, materials, water features and landscape integration, according to your personal vision. The backyard oasis in your mind transitions seamlessly into reality when you orchestrate the project.
Sense of Ownership – Few joys compare to admiring a backyard retreat you brought to life yourself – assessing the site, formulating plans, securing permits, doing the physical install work and watching your visions materialize. Being able to showcase your DIY pool to friends and family fosters immense pride and satisfaction from having stretched your skills.
Skill Building – Perhaps less tangible but no less valuable, self-directed pool builds strengthen new capabilities around design thinking, spatial reasoning, construction techniques, landscape integration, research assessment, materials science, sustainable practices, basic engineering and more. Even failed attempts impart learning for future success.
Choosing Your Pool Design
Envisioning your future DIY pool escape starts by formulating its parameters. Several factors play key roles:
Yard Dimensions – Measure your outdoor area end-to-end to determine maximum feasible pool length and assess spacing needs for safety code compliance around pool fencing, barriers, sufficient decking zones, and other elements your local building department will want to review. Massive rural yards offer more flexibility than compact city lots.
Shape Preferences – Classic kidney shapes remain popular for blending smoothly into surroundings, but technology now enables seamless freeform pool edges for organic looks, along with rectangular or oval templates to maximize swim lanes.
Depths – Standard depths for pool shallow ends are around three feet deep, slope gradually to five foot mid zones, and potentially down to eight feet or deeper ends depending on needs. Consider safety, usability, aesthetics and height foundation requirements as you plan depths.
Overall Budget – Cost estimating before finalizing dimensions helps balance aspirations with financial realities. Prioritize must-haves versus nice-to-have if necessary to complete Phase 1 within budget.
Materials for Inground Pools
Structural materials used for DIY pool wall containments and shell construction present another key choice balancing durability, aesthetics, maintenance commitments and costs. Primary options include:
Concrete – The gold standard for strong, enduring pool shells, reinforced concrete offers tremendous customization flexibility during forming and curing processes. However, materials remain among the highest cost options, while concrete’s porousness increases chemical usage for water balancing and staining prevention.
Fiberglass - Prefab fiberglass pool shells deliver glistening, smooth and stylish finished products, often at lower cost than concrete builds. However, sizing availability remains limited to standard options so little room exists for customization. Fiberglass also loses heat rapidly in many climates given conductive properties.
Vinyl – For cost-conscious buyers emphasizing aesthetics, custom-fit vinyl pool liner designs provide vibrant colors and creative motifs at affordable pricing, though durability proves lower than other materials and periodic liner replacement remains necessary over time.
Hybrid Options – Emerging approaches combine concrete perimeter walls for strength paired with vinyl liner pools atop stainless steel structures to bridge benefits of both materials for durability, customization and cost management.
Ultimately budget, existing shell contractors locally available, and visual appeal help determine your best material choice.
Conserving Water with Your Pool
With climate change and population growth putting increasing strains on local water supplies and watershed health in general, incorporating conservation-minded options for your DIY pool also remains advisable:
Evaporation Suppression – Solar covers floating atop pool water when not in use dramatically limit water loss. Automated rollers make application and storage easy.
Leak Checks – Small leaks easily go unnoticed for months, wasting thousands of gallons annually. Frequent perimeter checks ensure every drop available supports enjoyment. Shutoff valves also allow quick isolation if discovered.
Drought-Resistant Landscaping – Surrounding pool shells with cacti, succulents, mulch beds and pea gravel instead of thirsty grasses limits irrigation needs.
Rainwater Capture Integration – For supplemental water top-offs as needed, direct nearby roof downspouts into containment tanks feeding your pool system. This reduces tap water demands while also addressing local stormwater runoff.
Smart Pumping Cycles – Optimizing the duration and frequency of filtration system pumping saves considerable accumulated energy and water over weeks and months.
Overall, creatively integrating a few conservation-focused measures protects local water quality and supply dimensions in the long run while still letting your family enjoy the pool oasis during summer months.
Add-Ons to Enhance Enjoyment
Your DIY pool or hot tub project doesn't need to stop at a taken box! Consider add-ons like LED lights for night swims, slides for the kids, jets for hydrotherapy benefits, or even an attached hot tub for the ideal unwinding spot.
You might also think about building a hot tub deck or attaching an outdoor kitchen. The possibilities are endless when it comes to enhancing your poolside experience!
Eco-friendly Pool Options
If sustainability is a concern, look at eco-friendly alternatives. For example, natural pools use plants instead of chemicals to stay clean. This results in a lower environmental impact.
A less radical option might be switching from chlorine-based solutions to saltwater systems or ultraviolet (UV) disinfection methods which have fewer side effects. Solar-powered heaters or automated energy-efficient pumps are other upgrades that could reduce the ecological footprint of your pool.
Tips from Experienced DIYers
The extensive global DIY community serves as an invaluable resource when installing your own pool. Seasoned veterans eagerly share insights to prevent others from repeating mistakes. Pool builders also offer guidance through online workshops - cutting costs not quality.
By studying accumulated knowledge readily available online, you can learn construction best practices related to materials, safety, maintenance, and more. DIY communities help one another brainstorm clever solutions to common challenges.
Don't hesitate to ask questions - most members enjoy paying forward guidance they once needed. Leverage this collective expertise so your oasis vision becomes an informed reality.
To Summarize
You now understand how building a DIY pool offers substantial savings on construction costs while allowing complete customization. From choosing materials and designing landscapes to emphasizing sustainable practices and seasonal adaptations; it's all in your hands.
Plus, there's always room for growth, learning from others' experiences, and enhancing pleasure by adding bespoke elements. Start planning today to make your backyard a vacation hotspot tomorrow!
Disclosure
Financial disclosure
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
Source: Story.KISSPR.com
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