For more information contact our Rosie Certified Partner:Deckover###. Composite is a wood-polymer lumber made from wood waste mixed with reclaimed plastic from shopping bags and plastic film. Find a company specializing in pool-to-deck conversions. Can I bury trees I cut down under the crushed rock and dirt in the pool? Mosquitos are carriers of disease, and specifically bad ones at that, and this alone should be enough of a reason to avoid leaving your pool closed for extended periods of time. Ive been involved in RVing for 50 years now including camping, building, repairing, and even selling RVs. This option wont put an end to maintenance or insurance costs and may require new equipment, partially filling the pool with gravel or even installing a new liner, but can transform an unused responsibility into a tranquil water feature that adds beauty and diversity to your backyard environment. A longtime owner may face costly repairs to an older pool, lose interest in swimming and dont want to continue spending the hundreds or even thousands of dollars it takes to maintain a pool or hope to reclaim the lost real estate in the yard for mother purposes. When it comes to the technical process of waterproofing concrete pools Basecrete is the most effective product that I know of. Take a tip from "The Beverly Hillbillies" and consider converting your inground swimming pool into a koi or wildlife pond. Having a structural leak in a pool without the money to attend to the problem is a real issue. In order to keep this resource about pools and spas available for free to all readers I earn commissions for purchases made through links on this page. Most storm drains run into lakes or rivers. It will also require that you have a pool that can hold water which means if expensive leaks are the reason you are closing it these need to be repaired before you take your pool offline. Then its filled with dirt and landscaped over. Visit your townships website or call them to find out for sure. I can not stress enough the importance of using a waterproofing solution for concrete swimming pools. Follow our steps to get the dishwasher out yourself in no time. Deckover, a Phoenix pool & spa retirement company, covered Wrights pool with composite material decking. Its also virtually maintenance-free. Conversions will completely cover an inground pool, sometimes employing pumps to keep standing water from collecting in the pool below. Doing this will not guarantee that the pool avoids damage while "in storage" but at least this should minimize the risk to your pool and maximize the quality of life for anyone who needs to live in or around a dormant pool. www.PoolPartsToGo.com I NEVER USE MY SWIMMING POOL. Best left to professionals, removal of an inground pool can cost as much as $15,000, but allows complete recovery of yard space and permanently puts an end to the maintenance costs of a pool that accrue even when not in use. Before You Hire A Home Repair Handyman 9 Things You Need To Know! So how long is too long when it comes to closing a pool? Each area differs. The pump should be removed completely from the installation and stored indoors. Having a permanently closed pool in your yard where people and animals can access the body of water is an extreme safety concern. You can however at least do a little bit of work to minimize the amount of bugs you have. All contractors are Rosie-Certified for the state of Arizona. If you do, it will float up out of the ground, possibly damaging plumbing and electrical connections to the pool. The following links and products are to affiliates of the Swimming Pool Steve website. Remove your kitchen cabinets in record time by following our four simple steps. You may not be able to leave the vinyl or the concrete. In some cases, a pool-to-pond conversion is reversible, leaving the possibility of restoring your backyard pool in the future. Also, if you sell the house or land, you have to let whoever buys it know that there is a partially-removed pool there, which will drop your property's value. All too often pool owners in these situations pool owners simply "walk away" and neglect the pool entirely. Composite wood is substantially more durable than the 100 percent vinyl or plastic wood products on the market. No longer will you have to maintain a fence or removable cover over the pool in order to meet local safety ordinance requirements. The pool is going to smell bad no matter what if you are not treating the water. A Deckover is constructed very much like a standard composite deck that is attached to a house. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. This will require that you periodically pump out some rain water and snow melt to avoid constant overflowing. Filling an in-ground swimming pool can lead to all sorts of unexpected problems. Rosie recommends that you cover your unused pool with a deck made from a composite material. This post may contain affiliate links. - Swimming Pool Steve How much would it cost to close in my in-ground pool? Now that you know some of the concerns with leaving your pool sit dormant and unmaintained, if you find yourself in a situation where you need to close the pool at least try to follow some of the steps outlined below. If you put salt water into them, or water that has chemicals in it, it may cause harm to the river or lake's ecosystem. Please note that these endorsements can include monetary compensation, affiliate links and referral fees to Swimming Pool Steve, however there is zero additional cost to you should you use one of these products or services. If the space is destined to become a garden plot, removal of the pool itself may not be necessary, but its not as simple as filling the pool with soil. Absolutely. IS THERE A WAY TO COVER IT PERMANENTLY? Things like the interior surface of the pool (all types of pools including fiberglass, concrete and vinyl liner) are specifically prone to damage from sitting stagnant. Regardless of your reasons to want to close the pool permanently, you need to consider that the pool will continue to deteriorate without regular maintenance. You can, but the trees will deteriorate and cause a void in the sand/dirt, causing additional settling. This, certainly, will result in damage to the pool, complaints from the neighbors, a reduction in the real estate property value, and eventually an ordinance from the city warning you to take care of the pool (one way or another) or risk experiencing substantial fines. This article has been viewed 312,661 times. How many holes should be in the bottom of the pool and how big should they be? Often the process follows a familiar path where the pool is mostly neglected for many years, during which time regular repairs and maintenance are not performed, which leads to a situation where all the "little things" have now added up to giant, expensive, repair bills. The space underneath can be used as storage and its completely reversible. If you want to continue learning about pools and spas from an industry expert follow swimming pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube These are brands, products and services hand selected by Steve for endorsement. One of the best options that will put an end to the monthly maintenance expenses while allowing you to retain the swimming pool for use some day in the future is to install a pool Deckover cover. 20x40x5divided by 27 will give you the cubic yardage. Those considering purchasing a house with a pool already installed may not want to undertake the risks or expenses of an inherited pool. If the pool has a few dozen squirrels and neighborhood cats at the bottom of it this will make the problem of disgusting, dangerous and smells water infinitely worse. If you store the pump drained and dry in your basement or heated garage then it most likely will still be in serviceable condition when you want to open the pool next. If you were to replace the pool liner, or have the pool freshly plastered right before you shut it down for a year or two, you can fully anticipate that these new interior surfaces would need to be replaced again when the pool finally gets opened next. Can the salt water from an in ground pool be pumped into the storm water drain? In addition to it being dangerous, a tarp cover will be the worst offender in terms of attracting bugs and bacteria. 1737 East Jackson Street | Phoenix, AZ 85034, 1919 W Fairmont Dr. Ste 5 | Tempe, AZ 85282, 7000 North Cotton Ln. If it gets freezing cold in your area, failure to isolate and close the plumbing system will result in eventual component damage from water freezing in the lines. Should you ever open the pool again in the future the risk is very real that it will take more work to get it up and running than if you just fixed the problems that it has now, especially when it comes to the costly plumbing system and interior surface. Placing a layer of filter fabric over the openings in the pool bottom will help keep them from becoming silted, so they continue to drain properly. Unit 1040 | Waddell, AZ 85355, 6993 North Columbine Boulevard | Flagstaff, AZ 86004, 600 East 1st Street | Casa Grande, AZ 85122, 1101 West Melinda Bldg B | Phoenix, AZ 85027, 22425 North 16th Street Ste 2 | Phoenix, AZ 85024, Pro Solutions Air Conditioning and Heating LLC, Marvel Building & Masonry Supply | Phoenix North, Oldcastle Superlite | Belgard Hardscapes | Echelon Masonry Solutions, Refreshing Your Pool For A Refreshing Dip In The Summer. So what happens to all the people stuck in the middle who do not want to eliminate the pool completely, but also have no desire or interest in keeping it open and maintained? If you want to keep a pool closed for an extended period of time with minimal negative consequence then using a safety cover should be considered to be the least that you can do. To visually eliminate evidence of the pool, the decking and top few feet of the pool itself may be removed and buried. I do all of my own repair work. Research best methods for conversion and consider if the effort is worth the expense. Constructing your Deckover in a water-tight manner will provide valuable dry storage space. Completely reversible: Returning your pool to normal function is a simply matter of removing the deck that covers it. Tips on how to carefully uninstall and remove kitchen appliances and fixtures. This is no small project, involving demolishing the structure, removing the debris and filling the resulting hole with tons of compacted dirt. Be sure to drill lots of holes (or even break up the bottom of the pool) in order to facilitate drainage. Permanent Damage - In addition to the nasty bacteria and bugs, a major concern of letting your pool sit dormant is simply that the pool will deteriorate at a very advanced rate. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. A better solution is to build a temporary deck over your swimming pool so you can remove it if you decide to sell your home later. The materials for filling the pool are cheap if you use crushed concrete. Yes; it would be considered a partial removal - thats where you punch holes in the bottom of the pool, collapse the walls in and fill the remaining area with dirt. Many pools are quite wide. The soil required can be costly and should be effectively compacted to keep your garden plot for sinking over time. Even the Pool Kings' projects aren't complete without accessories. Blowing out all of the plumbing lines and capping both ends with permanent (or winterization) plugs absolutely must be done if you want your pool to sit dormant for extended periods of time. Quite often a pool that is left uncared for, even for a few years, will require extensive renovations and repairs which could have otherwise been avoided. In my town, a minimum of 3 holes is required to allow for drainage, but it varies from place to place, so you will have to check with local authorities. These types of covers will help to keep the pool safe for children, pets and animals during the time that the pool is closed. Out of frustration, and with few decent options available, this is when some pool owners just "walk away" and cease all care and maintenance of the pool. Variable speed pool pump reviews {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/ed\/Fill-in-an-Unwanted-In-Ground-Pool-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Fill-in-an-Unwanted-In-Ground-Pool-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/e\/ed\/Fill-in-an-Unwanted-In-Ground-Pool-Step-1.jpg\/aid344191-v4-728px-Fill-in-an-Unwanted-In-Ground-Pool-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":485,"licensing":"