To Cage or Not to Cage in a Pool (Tampa: rent, HOA fees) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

sueinge · 03-23-2010, 07:28 AM

We are getting quotes to build a pool in our yard, and we have a question of opinion I guess. We have a big yard, with a privacy fence and already have a huge screened in porch. We are considering NOT caging in our pool...but everyone says "Oh, you have to--the bugs are awful!"...but the pool company we are going to probably use says there is a system you can buy (for about $3500 inital installation and about $200 a year for the chemicals) that can safely remove all bugs from your yard. It isn't harmful to pets or children and is kind of like a sprinkler system but it shoots out bug spray. He is installing one in Derek Jeters yard and some other big homes in South Tampa...the cage would cost approx $8500 so the bug system is cheaper. Anyway, we kind of like the look of the pool out in the open without the cage...but I wanted to get some more opinions or pros and cons to the cage. We will install a safety fence either way as we have pets and kids...thanks!

TriMT7 · 03-23-2010, 07:37 AM

I have an open pool. It does get more leaves and such than normal, but am very happy with the look vs. a caged pool. In my neighborhood, in fact, probably 90% of pools or more are open.

algia · 03-23-2010, 07:54 AM

Pro cage:
leafs
bugs
other wild life
mosquitoes galore...

My father in law has his patio screened but not the pool, also fenced yard, and one day he had a baby alligator swimming in the pool!......It is your choice, do you want to keep hitting yourself to catch the bugs? make alligator boots? LOLOL I would not have a pool without a cage around it...I am not sure how efficient the spray would be in the summer with all the rain we're getting!? I wouldn't want to spend that kind of money and realize it doesn't work, not to mention LOVE BUG season twice a year!!! My pool cage was half covered by them!

annaegel · 03-23-2010, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by algia

Pro cage:
leafs
bugs
other wild life
mosquitoes galore...

My father in law has his patio screened but not the pool, also fenced yard, and one day he had a baby alligator swimming in the pool!......It is your choice, do you want to keep hitting yourself to catch the bugs? make alligator boots? LOLOL I would not have a pool without a cage around it...I am not sure how efficient the spray would be in the summer with all the rain we're getting!? I wouldn't want to spend that kind of money and realize it doesn't work, not to mention LOVE BUG season twice a year!!! My pool cage was half covered by them!

I totally agree. I had asked my pool guy if people without a cage have more problems. He said they do because of what algia said. The bugs, leafs, wildlife and mosquitoes. I am sure glad to have a cage around my pool. When we first were looking at houses, we saw a nice house, but the pool did not have a cage around it. The pool looked gross from the leaves, so we passed up on the house.

lavender · 03-23-2010, 09:41 AM

I know people with both, we actually have two oaks in our garden but I'm thinking of having ours taken out, it so spoils the look of the garden. However, if we do, then I wont unless we have a pool service, so I don't have to do too much of the work. Mosquitoes are more of a problem if you have other still water nearby, my friends in NE st pete with open pools love them, and we have been at several evening events and I am the bug attractor and rarely had any problems and their gardens look wonderful. If you are by the beach or on open intracoastal, I'd say no leave it, it is so much nicer a look for you not to have it enclosed. I dont like the sound of that bug spray thing, you might want to read this on the ingredient that are used in these yard systems permethrin PERMETHRIN - Insecticide Fact Sheet.. Read before using this poison before you make a choice.

FloridaKash · 03-23-2010, 11:31 AM

Curious as to how much would you say it costs to own a pool if you have a pool guy maintaining it? Water + Electricity + Maintenance + etc. Trying to determine if it is worth having our own pool or living in a place with a community pool. Oh and yes.... it will be a covered pool. Forget being eaten by mosquitos and dealing with debris in the pool. No thank you.

lavender · 03-23-2010, 12:23 PM

House with pool - costs more to buy than house without pool for same (like for like) - generally.
Running a pool does add some to elec but unless you heat it in winter, its not terrible
Covered pool takes longer to warm up naturally in spring and cools off quicker in fall
However, it also saves your skin a little as you don't fry so easily poolside in summer with the screen keeping out some of the harsher sunshine.
community pools are generally uncovered, but you dont have to worry about cleaning them and you'll probably pay for it indirectly in HOA fees.
Self maintaining is obviously going to be less than pool service - probably quite a lot less.

bentlebee · 03-23-2010, 01:12 PM

JMO....if I would buy a home with a pool and there is no cage, I would move on to look at the next or the deal must be very good.

I hate the bugs and to me (I never had a pool in my yard) a pool without a cage is just a pool that will get more bugs in it. Look at the community pools in the Summer....if the pool guy is about to come, the day before the pool looks bad...

algia · 03-23-2010, 01:15 PM

We pay an average of $250 for electricity, never over $300 so far, we have a fairly large pool, it all depends on how often you run the pump, if you keep up with the chlorine, you don't have to run it non stop.....if you want to heat up your pool with electricity versus solar panels it will cost a lot more, ours is not heated, also, when it is 30, 40, 50, & 60 degrees out you won't catch me in a bathing suit, heated pool or not, brrrrrrr....we generally use the pool between April & late September......

OK, now if we were to buy a home, we would rather buy it with a pool already there....it is always cheaper to resurface it than to put one in.....then if the yard is not big enough you definitely don't want a pool that eats up your whole outdoor space, you always have to have at least 5 feet in from the izements.....no city will allow less or straight to the fence line.....We lived in a home without a pool back in 2005 and the cheapest quote we got (we gathered over 15 quotes total) was $45,000 for a simple kidney shape......again that was back in 2005, now the prices are probably higher.......luckily we moved and didn't end up putting one in....

We paid $100 for the pool service when we first moved here and after we re-negotiated our rent my hubby decided he will keep up the yard & pool.....

bentlebee · 03-23-2010, 02:44 PM

I would think the prizes for building a pool have come down due to less people installing a pool and prizes can be negotiated, just as i had my bathroom remodeled way cheaper then years ago when demand was high. Some companies were asking crazy high prizes but almost came begging later on for our business, which we already had given to one company who asked the lowest and came across as having the most knowledge and we had it done 2 years ago when the market went down and up to this day never regretted to have it done by them and saving us a lot of money