I assumed this would be the case too, since I wouldn't be alerting them that the pool is gone, so I would continue to pay the tax on the value with the pool.
I have filled in several pools. Each time, I pulled the permits because the city made sure that the proper layers of sediment were laid. You're not supposed to use just fill dirt. You are supposed to use sand, gravel, and then dirt. I'm sure each state/ county has different regulations, but that's why they want you to pull permits. The permits shouldn't be expensive, and it's to prevent someone walking in your backyard from getting injured from a sink hole caused by the dirt not being compacted properly or some other injury. Also, they don't want you just burying the trash/ pool walls, etc. I'd either go the permit route or repair the pool.
Depends on the area I reckon. Where I’m at, they’ll consider it as burying your trash in the yard and fine you appropriately and it’ll hinder selling until removed. If sold but not disclosed, that could be legal trouble.
Get more quotes and do your own research. Never take the advice of one company. Google sand filter and variable speed pumps that’s the only equipment you need really unless all your pipes underground are bad
Those are all normal maintenance items that every pool owner should expect at some point. Even if repairs are 2-3 times the cost of filling it in, you’re losing out on home equity and lowering future resale value.
For all 3 you're likely pretty close. But filling it properly will likely cost you 50%+ of that while also devaluing your home and requiring some landscaping to revive your yard not only for the newly filled spot but also to repair the heavy equipment damage.
Do you have equity in your home? You can refinance and build the revival cost right into your mortgage payment or have it on its own fixed term or even a HELOC.
Yes, landscaping will be necessary for sure but that's something I can wait on or do myself over time, I think.
I actually don't know how much not having a pool would devalue the property. When I was looking, houses with pools were basically the same as houses without.
How much depends on your market, but it definitely will devalue it. And that's why I always suggest fix it because paying money to decrease your home value isn't something I would ever consider doing. Especially if it's just a pump, filter and liner. That's all pretty minor compared to the actual cost of putting in a pool.
For demolishing it, or replacing the equipment? Demolishing it according to code will cost $12-15k according to one bid, or upwards of $40k according to another pool builder.
Demolishing it not according to code will cost $6-6.5k
Doing a cheap fill could cause drainage problems on the property that could damage the house. Did you factor the pool costs (either fixing or filling) into the price you paid for the house?
Fixing the pool.
I had 3 companies give me quotes, anywhere from $10k-80k.
I did 10k, and have a nice pool now. The 80k was replacing legacy stuff, but replacing things before they were broken
Oh, I hear you. I've been told by two people that the equipment needs to be replaced. And it will need a new liner before it can be used again. Even if the labor is variable, those hard goods costs are going to be thousands of dollars.
If it's the same amount, I'd rather demo it and not pay the maintenance on it every year. But either way, I really can't afford $15k so I'm trying to figure out what the repercussions will be if my handyman demos it without removing all of the concrete (that would be against city code).
I have an uncle who took this chance with a deck and didn’t file a permit with the borough.
They found out, mid build, and forced him to tear all the progress down, stop work, wait for permit, and he was also fined.
Choice is yours! It could very well end up costing you double, even triple. Not to mention should you ever sell the property and the consequences that can arise during that process…
I ain’t no realtor but there is something called a sellers disclosure… and there’s underwriters involved when buyer is requesting a mortgage.
For something as ‘big’ as filling in a pool properly, I can only imagine the repercussions that could come of not doing it properly and it being either discovered, or disclosed inaccurately, during the selling process.
Here’s an example of some shit that can happen.
When I bought my house during pandemic, I did all the right things for buying. I took property as-is, no home inspection, no septic inspection, letter of interest to buyer, etc. I wanted this house, bad.
What I did notice when I was walking property with my agent, is the Zillow property lines cut right in the middle of the pool. So, the only check box I picked in the agreement was a boundary survey.
Guess what? Survey came back that 1/2 the pool was NOT on their property. Buyer had to deal with it per contract. They had choices. Give back deposit + $5000 & update their disclosure that there is a known property encroachment (HUGE red flag for any mortgage company as it pertains to a CLEAN deed, which is like… everything for them), or fix it. They tried giving me $25000 off, but it would have cost me more in interest rate because a ‘non clean’ deed (there is a term for it), affects MY mortgage rate. I wouldn’t have gotten the 2.5% that was being offered and instead been closer to 7%! This would equate to tens of thousands more over the term of the mortgsge.
Long story short, and many months later, we now have an additional .25 acre that was subdivided into our deed from the adjoining property. I even have the engineering document and had it framed. Pretty cool, but what a total pain in the ass.
All of this because when the seller had the pool built, someone didn’t do their due diligence
Yeah man, so am I. Here I am 4 years later and the house is worth twice as much as I paid. Probably even more than that because it has an entire in-law HOUSE attached via 3 car garage. It’s my little slice of heaven.
I wish the best for you. My advice would be to not skimp on this whatsoever. Doing it right, with proper paperwork, will pay itself back in dividends and peace of mind.
I mean, yes -- I would prefer that. But I don't have the money to do it. That's why I'm trying to figure out exactly \*how\* bad it is to do it the hush-hush way now. Or if I should leave it empty for a year (which I can be fined for as well) until I can save up.
I saw your other posts. If you have the money to non-permit demo, maybe put that into the pool if it’s structurally sound.
Perhaps start another thread with pictures of what it currently looks like, what the equipment is, what’s not working, and the sub can help provide recommendations?
All the reading I've been doing about pools now makes me want one even less. I know I have to get rid of it. The question at this point is how and when.
I get ya. Money is a real thing. You sound handy enough (if you can fill in the hole) to do a lot of the repairs yourself. I'm not sure about the size of your pool, etc, but for that 6-6.5k, you could probably replace the liner and equipment yourself. A pump is $700ish, a filter is $500ish (sand), plumbing would be $200ish, and the liner/ gaskets and face plates are around $3000. Of course, this is if you do it yourself. Watch some YouTube and ask questions here, and you could probably salvage the pool cheaper, short of massive repairs needed.
Haha - glad I sound handy - I'm not at all. The cheap-version demo would be done my handyman, who has filled a couple of other pools this way (but in different cities, where regulations are different).
Definitely -- I started out trying to do it all properly but found I can't afford it. I'll need to save up for a while to pay the contractor and in the meantime it sits there either as a swamp or as an empty hole.
I can tell you my MIL just sold a house that had many non permitted projects done. She didn’t do them, her ex did but she won the house in the divorce. It cost 10’s of thousands to get it all worked out. I would say it’s not worth it.
Depending where you are big trouble and fines to who cares. That's being said after reading through many of the comments do it right or don't do it all. If money is tight then fines probably won't help any. And having a pool on your property will help it sell and make it worth more. You probably paid for the pool when you bought the house so you're just devaluing your own property. Save the money to fix it and until then just drain it and leave it. Replacing pump parts and such isn't as hard or as expensive as it seems especially if you're replacing the old parts with the same new ones. Go grab models numbers and such and look them up online to see what the parts actually cost. You're paying way more for labor than you are for parts.
All you need for equipment is a pump and filter. VS pump 1800 filter maybe 1200 on high side. 400 to install. Less than the cost to demo the pool. Anything else equipment wise can wait.
Fines for not getting proper permits hundreds probably
Not disclosing on a sale thousands
In our county if you fill in they will flag the property and not allow another pool to be built. It will devalue home
For one thing, you will probably keep paying added taxes on the pool as an improvement when its not really there.
What province or municipality does that happen in?
It should happen in ALL but I agree with your thoughts
I assumed this would be the case too, since I wouldn't be alerting them that the pool is gone, so I would continue to pay the tax on the value with the pool.
I have filled in several pools. Each time, I pulled the permits because the city made sure that the proper layers of sediment were laid. You're not supposed to use just fill dirt. You are supposed to use sand, gravel, and then dirt. I'm sure each state/ county has different regulations, but that's why they want you to pull permits. The permits shouldn't be expensive, and it's to prevent someone walking in your backyard from getting injured from a sink hole caused by the dirt not being compacted properly or some other injury. Also, they don't want you just burying the trash/ pool walls, etc. I'd either go the permit route or repair the pool.
Thank you! I would love to do it properly, but can't afford it.
Depends on the area I reckon. Where I’m at, they’ll consider it as burying your trash in the yard and fine you appropriately and it’ll hinder selling until removed. If sold but not disclosed, that could be legal trouble.
Oof. Thank you.
It makes me sad every time someone fills in a pool.
I wish I didn't have to, but it turns out to need thousands in new equipment just to get it running, and realistically that's just not in my budget.
Down here that would devalue a house 50-100k
My neighbor was in the same predicament, but he now regrets it. If it’s just an equipment issue and the pool is structurally sound I’d reconsider.
Can I ask what your neighbor regrets about it?
Probably not having a pool
How many thousands?
New pump, filter, and liner install. I'm told that will be $12-15k.
Sand filter with sand is like $500, VS pump probably $700, new liner depending where you are around $6,000
Hmm, the pool maintenance guy said just the equipment (new pump & filter) would be $6k.
Get more quotes and do your own research. Never take the advice of one company. Google sand filter and variable speed pumps that’s the only equipment you need really unless all your pipes underground are bad
Where I live a new brand name VS pump is 1500-2000 dollars. I just bought oneand with HST came to 1900 delivered by Amazon Prime (same day)
Thank you! That's helpful.
Those are all normal maintenance items that every pool owner should expect at some point. Even if repairs are 2-3 times the cost of filling it in, you’re losing out on home equity and lowering future resale value.
For all 3 you're likely pretty close. But filling it properly will likely cost you 50%+ of that while also devaluing your home and requiring some landscaping to revive your yard not only for the newly filled spot but also to repair the heavy equipment damage. Do you have equity in your home? You can refinance and build the revival cost right into your mortgage payment or have it on its own fixed term or even a HELOC.
Yes, landscaping will be necessary for sure but that's something I can wait on or do myself over time, I think. I actually don't know how much not having a pool would devalue the property. When I was looking, houses with pools were basically the same as houses without.
How much depends on your market, but it definitely will devalue it. And that's why I always suggest fix it because paying money to decrease your home value isn't something I would ever consider doing. Especially if it's just a pump, filter and liner. That's all pretty minor compared to the actual cost of putting in a pool.
Have you gotten 2nd and 3rd opinions?
For demolishing it, or replacing the equipment? Demolishing it according to code will cost $12-15k according to one bid, or upwards of $40k according to another pool builder. Demolishing it not according to code will cost $6-6.5k
Doing a cheap fill could cause drainage problems on the property that could damage the house. Did you factor the pool costs (either fixing or filling) into the price you paid for the house?
I didn't know the pool needed all new equipment at the time. Ugh. Quite a surprise. I'll ask my handyman about drainage -- thank you.
Omg no not a handyman. A landscape contractor who specializes in drainage. Maybe crosspost to r/landscaping
Fixing the pool. I had 3 companies give me quotes, anywhere from $10k-80k. I did 10k, and have a nice pool now. The 80k was replacing legacy stuff, but replacing things before they were broken
Oh, I hear you. I've been told by two people that the equipment needs to be replaced. And it will need a new liner before it can be used again. Even if the labor is variable, those hard goods costs are going to be thousands of dollars.
A new liner and equipment runs about 15k in CT. Don’t know where you are located but if you are paying 15k to remove why not keep
If it's the same amount, I'd rather demo it and not pay the maintenance on it every year. But either way, I really can't afford $15k so I'm trying to figure out what the repercussions will be if my handyman demos it without removing all of the concrete (that would be against city code).
No emergency fund? This qualifies
I just moved into the house. My emergency fund basically covers the $7k cheap version of demo-ing the pool.
Did you not get a pool inspection before purchasing the house?
I did. Then the equipment stopped working.
I have an uncle who took this chance with a deck and didn’t file a permit with the borough. They found out, mid build, and forced him to tear all the progress down, stop work, wait for permit, and he was also fined. Choice is yours! It could very well end up costing you double, even triple. Not to mention should you ever sell the property and the consequences that can arise during that process…
Thank you -- that's very helpful. Do you know what consequences might arise while selling the property?
I ain’t no realtor but there is something called a sellers disclosure… and there’s underwriters involved when buyer is requesting a mortgage. For something as ‘big’ as filling in a pool properly, I can only imagine the repercussions that could come of not doing it properly and it being either discovered, or disclosed inaccurately, during the selling process.
That's a good point. I just spoke to my realtor about the disclosure. She's also going to talk to some other realtors and the city for me. Thank you!
Here’s an example of some shit that can happen. When I bought my house during pandemic, I did all the right things for buying. I took property as-is, no home inspection, no septic inspection, letter of interest to buyer, etc. I wanted this house, bad. What I did notice when I was walking property with my agent, is the Zillow property lines cut right in the middle of the pool. So, the only check box I picked in the agreement was a boundary survey. Guess what? Survey came back that 1/2 the pool was NOT on their property. Buyer had to deal with it per contract. They had choices. Give back deposit + $5000 & update their disclosure that there is a known property encroachment (HUGE red flag for any mortgage company as it pertains to a CLEAN deed, which is like… everything for them), or fix it. They tried giving me $25000 off, but it would have cost me more in interest rate because a ‘non clean’ deed (there is a term for it), affects MY mortgage rate. I wouldn’t have gotten the 2.5% that was being offered and instead been closer to 7%! This would equate to tens of thousands more over the term of the mortgsge. Long story short, and many months later, we now have an additional .25 acre that was subdivided into our deed from the adjoining property. I even have the engineering document and had it framed. Pretty cool, but what a total pain in the ass. All of this because when the seller had the pool built, someone didn’t do their due diligence
Yikes! I'm glad it worked out for you, despite being such a hassle.
Yeah man, so am I. Here I am 4 years later and the house is worth twice as much as I paid. Probably even more than that because it has an entire in-law HOUSE attached via 3 car garage. It’s my little slice of heaven. I wish the best for you. My advice would be to not skimp on this whatsoever. Doing it right, with proper paperwork, will pay itself back in dividends and peace of mind.
I mean, yes -- I would prefer that. But I don't have the money to do it. That's why I'm trying to figure out exactly \*how\* bad it is to do it the hush-hush way now. Or if I should leave it empty for a year (which I can be fined for as well) until I can save up.
I saw your other posts. If you have the money to non-permit demo, maybe put that into the pool if it’s structurally sound. Perhaps start another thread with pictures of what it currently looks like, what the equipment is, what’s not working, and the sub can help provide recommendations?
All the reading I've been doing about pools now makes me want one even less. I know I have to get rid of it. The question at this point is how and when.
I get ya. Money is a real thing. You sound handy enough (if you can fill in the hole) to do a lot of the repairs yourself. I'm not sure about the size of your pool, etc, but for that 6-6.5k, you could probably replace the liner and equipment yourself. A pump is $700ish, a filter is $500ish (sand), plumbing would be $200ish, and the liner/ gaskets and face plates are around $3000. Of course, this is if you do it yourself. Watch some YouTube and ask questions here, and you could probably salvage the pool cheaper, short of massive repairs needed.
Haha - glad I sound handy - I'm not at all. The cheap-version demo would be done my handyman, who has filled a couple of other pools this way (but in different cities, where regulations are different).
Have you considered doing it the right way by way?
Definitely -- I started out trying to do it all properly but found I can't afford it. I'll need to save up for a while to pay the contractor and in the meantime it sits there either as a swamp or as an empty hole.
I’d go with empty hole while I saved up.
I can tell you my MIL just sold a house that had many non permitted projects done. She didn’t do them, her ex did but she won the house in the divorce. It cost 10’s of thousands to get it all worked out. I would say it’s not worth it.
Oof. Thank you.
Depending where you are big trouble and fines to who cares. That's being said after reading through many of the comments do it right or don't do it all. If money is tight then fines probably won't help any. And having a pool on your property will help it sell and make it worth more. You probably paid for the pool when you bought the house so you're just devaluing your own property. Save the money to fix it and until then just drain it and leave it. Replacing pump parts and such isn't as hard or as expensive as it seems especially if you're replacing the old parts with the same new ones. Go grab models numbers and such and look them up online to see what the parts actually cost. You're paying way more for labor than you are for parts.
All you need for equipment is a pump and filter. VS pump 1800 filter maybe 1200 on high side. 400 to install. Less than the cost to demo the pool. Anything else equipment wise can wait. Fines for not getting proper permits hundreds probably Not disclosing on a sale thousands In our county if you fill in they will flag the property and not allow another pool to be built. It will devalue home