Decorating Small Indoor Pool Ideas – If you are one of those people who have been tempted by the idea of a private swimming pool but have no backyard to build one on, don’t fret. There are countless options for constructing a pool inside your home. Small indoor pools are the best option when there is no space for an outdoor pool. Your perfect idea can be built in the basement, garage or even a sunroom. As these have a roof or ceiling over them, they can be used on every day of the year irrespective of rain and snow. The overhead shed also helps keep the temperature of the water cool. Here is a look at the different types of indoor swimming pools that you can opt for.
Above-ground Pool
Above-ground indoor pools are easy to install and are inexpensive. This is the best option for you if you are planning to fix it in by yourself without the help of pool builders. Make sure your garage or basement floor is level and smooth. A rough surface will not be able to provide stability or support for your pool. By constructing a high wall, small children and pets can be kept away easily though it might require you to add a stairway to enter the pool. Above ground pools resemble a hot tub and water heating equipment can be built to get the complete hot tub experience.
Partially In-ground Pool
This pool is one of the most popular types of indoor pools. Since it is only partially inside the ground, it is an easy way to swing your legs into the pool. People with weak limbs are advised to construct this kind of indoor pool. You can raise your floor to give a built in the ground appearance. Raising the floor is inexpensive but make sure you have a high ceiling to avoid space issues.
In-ground Pool
Heating costs for indoor swimming pools is less expensive compared to pools that are built outside the house. These types have very easy access and can be customized in any way you want. If you wish to have a deep pool, raised flooring will be an inexpensive method to construct it. Another available option will be to break the flooring in the room. If you want to keep children and pets away, a fence can be built around the pool.
An indoor pool can be designed and structured in any size or shape ranging from simple to luxurious. Architects can help you engineer a plan for your pool and can advice you about the costs. A concrete base will give you stability and will lower the risks of leakages. The water purification filter and pumps should be cleaned regularly and should be placed near a floor drain to avoid clogging. Chlorine and vacuum pumps can be used to clean indoor pools. If you are unsure about how to maintain your pool, professional pool cleaners can be sought.
How Much Does an Small Indoor Pool Cost?
For many homeowners, the biggest obstacle to getting a swimming pool is the nagging feeling that they just won’t get enough use out of it. No matter how big your budget is, you can’t change the seasons or guarantee that Mother Nature will cooperate on any given day. The only way to be sure that you’ll be able to swim year round, rain or shine, is to build your pool indoors.
If this is your plan, be prepared to pay up. Indoor swimming pools cost a lot more than their outdoor counterparts, perhaps double or more the price. As the old saying goes, if you have to ask how much they cost – you probably can’t afford one. Here are some of the things that go into the (high) cost of indoor pools.
Materials and Installation
First and most obvious are the “normal” costs of building a swimming pool. You can generally use the same sorts of pool liners and other materials for an indoor pool that you can use for an outdoor pool. If anything, you might have more options for indoor pool construction because components such as decking don’t have to be strong enough to withstand an outdoor environment.
Another potentially significant difference is that you don’t have to install a pool fence or other safety equipment that may be required by local building codes. Of course, what the building code giveth, it can also taketh away. Depending on where you live, alternate regulations may apply when installing a swimming pool indoors.
Home Renovation
Here’s where the cost of an indoor pool begins to rise. In fact, you might say it skyrockets.
A swimming pool isn’t something most people can add to their homes without extensive – and expensive – modifications. Things are easier if the pool is part of a new home construction, or housed in a standalone structure. But one way or another, you’ve got to find space for the pool and all that goes with it, and that’s going to cost extra.
Fortunately, a good indoor pool design can work wonders even in a modest interior space. That’s why, while it might cost more to hire a top-notch indoor pool builder, it’s likely worth the investment. It takes a special type of expertise to handle the challenges of building a swimming pool indoors.
Ventilation and General Maintenance
Perhaps the clearest difference between indoor and outdoor pool installations is that indoor pools need a special ventilation system that either exchanges or dehumidifies air. Without it, the humid air generated by the pool can quite literally wreck your home. Buying and running a dehumidifier system can get pretty pricey. An automatic pool cover is probably a good idea to help limit evaporation, but that’s another upfront expense.
However, in other respects, indoor pools are actually cheaper and easier to maintain than outdoor pools. They require fewer chemicals, less cleaning, and zero leaf-skimming. All told, you probably don’t need a pool service to maintain an indoor pool – an advantage that can save you a lot of money over time.
How to Save Money on an Indoor Pool
As with inground pools in general, there are too many factors to definitively answer the question of how much an indoor pool is going to cost. Nor is there a simple cost calculator. What we can say is that there are a handful of ways to lower the price you have to pay (most of which apply to outdoor pools as well).
One alternative is to get an indoor swim spa. These watery treadmills feature powerful jets that allow you to swim in place. Swim spas can be installed inground, but most often rest on the floor. That, plus their limited space requirements and lower maintenance costs make them a much more affordable option than a typical indoor pool (though the price can still rise into the tens of thousands depending on the model and features).
Another option is to use a partial or temporary enclosure. This could include anything from a roof that shelters the pool from rain, to a greenhouse-style structure that can keep the pool warm even in bitter weather. Again, these setups aren’t easy or cheap to build – that is, unless you’re comparing them to getting a full-blown indoor pool.
Compact Indoor Swimming Pools
You don’t need to be rich to enjoy your own indoor swimming pool. It wasn’t too long ago when in-ground pools were considered luxury features to a home. Who would’ve ever guessed the day would come when indoor swimming pools would be a feasible option, and not only for the rich and famous? That day has come.
Indoor swimming pools, while still considered a pretty fancy feature in the home, are truly gaining popularity in mainstream America.
“I don’t consider our pool to be a luxury item, but rather something to help my husband relieve himself of pain,” said Elspeth Franks of Plymouth. For the past several months, she’s been in the process of having her home enlarged to house their new indoor pool. Her husband, Bill, suffers from a fractured spine and dangling in a pool has proven to be the best form of therapy for his pain.
“We didn’t want something we could only use three months of the year,” she said. “Being able to use the pool year-round, and especially in the winter, was what attracted us to this.”
Living in New England, an indoor pool does make a lot of sense, since our summers are not long and the outdoor pool wouldn’t be used much more than a few months out of the year. But there other things to consider, like costs. Indoor and outdoor pools are costly, and indoor pools have the added costs.
To have an indoor pool usually requires building an addition to your home or having an enclosed building. Or, as the case with an Endless Pool, neither is necessary if you have the proper room in your home already. The Franks chose to go with an Endless Pool, a pool that is often used for therapeutic purposes, and has a current that can be turned on or off. This type of pool can easily be installed in a home and for those handy with tools and putting things together, it is even possible to assemble it yourself.
Although these pools can be installed either indoors or outdoors, it’s viewed as an attractive option for indoors. If you have the room and the money, you could be the proud owner of this type of pool, which measures 8-by-15 feet and requires a room size of at least 11-by-18 feet. The standard depth is 39 inches but can be customized to depths up to 78 inches.
These pools can be installed in a sunroom, basement or garage, any place with level, concrete flooring and ceilings that are at least 7 feet high. If you don’t have a room that meets these requirements, you can always do what the Franks are doing, building a room onto their existing home. They plan to have this room be as much part of the home as a kitchen or family room.
“It’ll make life much more comfortable for Bill, and that’s worth it to me,” said Franks.
Picture reading the newspaper in the sunroom, with an indoor pool only steps away. That’s what it’s going to be like soon in the Franks’ home. It’ll be a heated room, with tile floors, a tongue and groove cedar ceiling with sky lights and big enough (22-by-15 feet) for a small table and chair by the pool.
Located off their living room and sun room, the Franks’ new room with the pool will have two walls of windows to the outdoors and French doors leading from the sunroom into this new “pool” room. They chose to go with outdoor lighting; sconces for the walls and down lighting for the floors, because of their weather-resistant nature.
And if and when they decide to sell their home, an indoor pool could be a real selling point. If not, these types of pools can be removed.
“But it would probably be more cost-effective to just cover it,” Franks said. ‘And then it would make a lovely room for an enclosed porch.”
“The good thing about these types of pools is that they are integrated into the home and can be put in just about any home,” said architect Nick Filla with Plymouth Architects. “The biggest concern with having an indoor pool is the moisture level. You’ll want to make sure you have a dehumidifier installed. That’s essential.”
Another type of indoor pool that’s attracting more and more homeowners is the “collapsible enclosures.”
“The industry as a whole has had a lot of exposure to these types of indoor pools,” said Joseph Casna, owner of Crystal Clear Pools in Pembroke. “There are only a select few out there now, but it’s coming. It’ll be the wave of the future.”
DynaDome, an Indiana-based company that specializes in pool enclosures nation-wide, agrees that this alternative is fast becoming very popular. “It’s a nice alternative to building an addition on to your home for an indoor pool,” said Cihan Ozdemir, senior project engineer for DynaDome. “And it’s a lot less expensive.”
These domes, on tracks and rollers and with a structure made of aluminum framing, can fully or partially enclose a pool simply by being closed. In the summertime, you have, the option to open the dome.
“It’s very simple to use and it’s great for people who really want to extend their pool usage to more than just three or so months out of the year,” Ozdemir said. “The TeleDome pool enclosure is made of a series of rigid frames that are inserted into the two parallel tracks that are anchored to the pool deck. Frame moves mechanically by either gentle pushing or pulling along the tracks.”
The cost for these types of enclosed pools vary anywhere from $35 per square foot up to $70 per square foot, or about $31,000 to $45,000, depending on what you’re looking to do and the size of the enclosure.
A heating unit can be installed in these enclosures to contain the heat and to make it more comfortable during the winter. The pool would be heated with a pool heater. In addition to a heating system for the pool, an indoor pool should have a good filtration system to keep the water clean, a pool cover, which helps to keep the moisture level down and a ventilating system. The Franks are still anxiously awaiting for their addition and pool to be completed, a process that has taken much longer than they’d anticipated.
But in the long run, the pool and the addition will be worth the wait.
“We’re looking forward to enjoying our pool,” said Franks. “It’ll be nice having an indoor pool right here at the house instead of having to trek all around to pools. It’s going to make a big difference in our lives.”
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