Looks awesome.!! Well done, I put a pool in last year, have a youngish family so did it… Still learning how to look after it, in terms of balance of chemicals but all good. It got used a heap last season. I am starting to get it ready now… looking to jump in later this week.
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Thanks! It’s been a process for sure, but we are happy.
I’ll post abit later after work with how we went, but basically the dig started in Feb and I need to work on some fencing heights to be able to then get our glass pool fence installed before inspection. There is so much to think about, we project managed it ourselves and constantly had to think ahead for our own benefit and for the trades! - it was just crazy. Still, I don’t think we have missed out on to much. I’ll post abit more later.
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thanks! - Post some pics of your pool!
I’m still not finished myself, project started back in Oct 22. Currently finishing off my gazebo, just finished putting the ceiling lining boards, also building a little outdoor toilet which is now starting to take shape. Need to plaster and tile inside, then paint outside and I am pretty much done. I am exhausted as I have done everything myself too!
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Looks really nice, amazing job… Such a great space to relax. I know what your saying in terms of finishing stuff off. I still have paving that needs to go on a lid for an inbuilt pool cover… Just finished off an equipment room. Never ending.
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So I put in a 7x3m pool with some decking. Which has been good as the kids chill out there on the lounge chairs. Picture makes it look a bit small…
Lit up at night… must have gone fancy on the phone with this one. makes the pool look 10x4m
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Very nice
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Thanks appreciate it… You go through a fair bit in terms of the financial side and the emotional investment when you put a pool in. Well I did, so when it turns out all ok in the end it’s a relief!!
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Absolutely, I found the whole project more stressful than when I built my house!
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Yea I hear you… You would have thought supporting this club for the past 20years would have prepared me…
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Mrs Doe passed this article on to me and I figured it may be useful for your thread (never read it by the way so no idea if you have a pool that may need a plan B in case things go awry).
A firefighter spent $3,000 turning a broken swimming pool into a sunken man cave with a full-service bar. See inside.
Dec 8, 2023, 8:59 AM AEDT
Ethan Richards’ man cave in a disused swimming pool in High Point, North Carolina, which was featured on the Instagram and TikTok account Zillow Gone Wild.
Shelby Brown of Lighthouse Visuals
- Ethan Richards turned his in-ground pool in North Carolina into a sunken man cave for just $3,000.
- The 18-by-20-foot structure includes a working television, a refrigerator, and a full-service bar.
- Admirers flocked to open houses to get a peek at the man cave, Richards’ listing agent said.
When Ethan Richards discovered his High Point, North Carolina swimming pool would need major repairs, he dove headfirst into a new idea.
Instead of filling his pool with water, he’d fill it with a man cave.
The 18-by-20 foot structure was actually his wife’s idea, Richards, a firefighter in High Point, which is about 90 minutes west of Raleigh-Durham, told The High Point Enterprise.
“When we found out what it would cost to repair the pool or fill it in, she asked if I could build something in the pool,” he told the Enterprise. “I wanted something I could enjoy year-round, and this is what I came up with. It’s perfect, because I tend to drink a lot more than I swim.”
The man cave has a fully stocked bar.
The entire project cost around $3,000 and took under two years to complete. Now, the man cave — along with the larger three-bedroom, two-bathroom house it serves as an escape from — is on the market for $340,000.
The home’s listing caught the attention of popular TikTok account Zillow Gone Wild, where a December 4 post racked up over 400,000 views and helped drum up interest in the property locally.
In this aerial shot of Richards’ home, the man cave in the pool can be seen in the backyard.
Shelby Brown of Lighthouse Visuals
After 72 days on the market, the house is now under contract, but listing agent Carolyn Belk of Keller Williams Realty told the Enterprise the man cave attracted curious fans even before it appeared on Zillow Gone Wild.
“At the open houses I’ve done,” she told the Enterprise, “we’ve had people who just wanted to come see the pool. They’re kind of amazed by it.”
Richards and Belk didn’t return requests for comment.
What it’s like inside the swimming-pool man cave
The “front yard” of the man cave is made of turf and stones on the bottom of what was the swimming pool.
Shelby Brown of Lighthouse Visuals
Take a staircase down into the pool and it looks like you’ve stepped onto entirely new property, with a mini turf lawn, a fire pit, and a welcoming facade with an oak door and two windows.
Inside, the wood-paneled man cave is wired for prime television viewing with a surround-sound system. There’s a full-service bar with vintage-looking stools, a refrigerator, and a dartboard for hosting parties.
Inside, the wood-lined man cave has a table, chairs, TV, and a dartboard.
The cave has achieved some notoriety in Richards’ neighborhood. It even played host to a local baby shower for nearly 40 people, where Richards said some friends who were initially man-cave doubters begrudgingly gave him accolades for his DIY project.
“Some of them were there drinking beer with me at the baby shower,” he told the Enterprise. “They had to eat their words.”
As a commenter on Zillow Gone Wild’s Instagram post about the house, which has attracted more than 60,000 likes in three days, said: “Now that’s a real dive bar.”
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With the weather we have been having, the man cave is definitely the better investment.
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I didn’t see that twist coming.
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We are thinking about installing a small pool in our house when we undertake a renovation (as access will be a problem at any other time).
Who would you recommend in Melbourne and why?
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I heard a couple of tradies discussing pools inthe fishnchip shop. In our area, most houses have them. One comment was cost will range from $70k minimum to $150k +.
Clearly that depends on surfaces but travertine gets very hot on a summer day and you can cut costs with other paving options. Fake grass also gets hot.
I have travertine and it is fantastic around the pool. It does not get hot at all.
You are correct about the cost though.
I used Endless Pools and Spas. The shell is very good quality. There are cheaper options out there that include everything including cranes. My brother used Tanzanite pools which seem ok, but shell did not look the same quality as mine. All that being said, I’m sure it will last just fine.
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Good info on travertine. Thanks for that.
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Followed up prima facie on the reasons given for the relatively “cool” feel of travertine you vouch for.
1 porous nature, 2 high heat conductivity, transfering heat to the substrate. Against that, the specific heat, emmissivity and selectivity do not seem to conver a significant advantage against other minerals like brick, concrete and marble, the last of which, involves $$$
The ultimate test is actually walking on it on a sunny day around the 21st of December so I will run with that, to the extent that there might be variations in installation methods which effect the efficacy of the material, not to mention which type of the many travertines one selects.
Bricks and black slate are unbearably hot, which I know from experience.