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Because of the extremely high cost of having someone install an in-ground lap pool, I am looking for plans – or where to get information – on how to build a homemade pool.
Also thinking of incorportating pool into an addition on the house I am soon going to build, and need information on how to construct the common wall (because of the elevated moisture levels), venting, etc.
I want to use the heated lap pool year-round and help heat the house with all that heated water. What sort of a system do I use? I appreciate any and all suggestions.
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I have two comments for you. Is your "post message button" stuck? three posts of the same topic in less than five minutes?
Second comment,IMHO, d.i.y.s. in-ground pools is not only a bad idea but frought with trouble. This is very complicated work.
If you have experience in doing this kind of work, you can disregard my comment. Bill Swales
*Gunnite is a fairly specialized trade. The pumps and the nozzles can not be rented, at least in my area. Rather than try to design, form up, and pour concrete yourself, why don't you see a local pool builder who can excavate reinforce and shoot the pool in a couple of days. Thats what I would do. I actually think it would be cheaper for you, and the pool would be a better quality.An HVAC guy could probably figure out how to use all that hot water and circulate through either base board units or floor systems. I sure hope you have one of those two systems, or this will get expensive. Bear in mind that the challenge will be to figure out what to do with all that water that is heated to 65-70 degrees. It won't be hot enough to heat your home, but in a re-circulating system it might be fine. You should also ask an HVAC guy whether extremley clorinated water is appropriate for home heating pipes.
*Yeah, what William and Scooter said.I have a neighbor who has a lap pool whose house is slowly being destroyed from uncontrolled moisture. Separate heating/cooling system but still coupled with the main structure.And he spent almost $60,000 for this?? 3 years ago.His home is up for sale and all the hardwood floors are now covered with carpet. The home (once very comfortable and fresh smelling) now smells like a kitty-litter box.If you have the dough, hire a top notch engineer to assure the your exercise pool doesn't turn your home into a cesspool. And then, if you feel that you can handle the rudimentaries, go for DIY. BTW: You can rent a compressor and a pump and do your own shotcrete. Ever done it? [g]Jeff
*With regards to "use the heated lap pool year-round and help heat the house with all that heated water"I think your bigger problem is using all that "house heat" to heat the lap pool. Not the other way around. What ever you use to keep the pool heated (if it's the most effecient way to heat water) should also be used to heat the house, not the pool itself.For example if you use some kind of fuel fired (or electric if it's cheaper where you live) water heater, it could be sized to heat both the pool and the house. If you're relying on solar or some other heating source, it should be done under the same guidelines. Heat the pool AND the house, don't try to use one to heat the other. You should also avoid mixing pool water and heating water. You really don't want to swim in water that's been flowing through a heating system, and your heating system problably won't enjoy the pool water either.As to the pool, depending on how deep it is, you may want to research fish ponds. There's scads of information available on constructing ponds of any size (certainly more than constructing pools). They tend to be shallow, but I've seen some quite deep and the mechanics of it are the same regardless of the size of the "fish" doing laps.We constructed a pond 4' deep when we built our garage. The ground had already been excavated due to the garage foundation (2' deep grade beam). My dad and I dug the pad out a little deeper, and worked a deal out with the concrete sub. They layed the rebar, placed the concrete, then built what amounts to a 4' high basement wall (8" thick, reinforced with bar) on the slab. We got a bit of a break on the price because the crew was on hand and I did the leg work, leveling and marking the layout. It still cost quite a bit, but it's built like a tank and will probably outlive the rest of the house.If you're already in the process of building, then you might want to explore having the concrete subs quote you what you want, not unlike building a mini basement. If they have all the tools and equipment on site, you might be surprised at the cost. At the very least I find concrete subs to be excellent tradesmen and quite willing to discuss different ways to doing things.BTW that's still going to leave you a ton of DIY work sealing, tiling, finishing, plumbing, etc before it becomes a usable pool. (my fish have a different view of esthetics)
*Check out this link (www.endlesspool.com). I saw someone install one of these once and it seemed like a good idea for someone who wanted the exercise benefits of a swimming pool but did not want the expense of building (and heating) a large swimming pool.
*You have a number of options that are suitable for diy, and a gunnite pool is not one of them. You can consider an inground vinyl pool. Dig a hole, have a liner made and put it in. I don't know the details on this but it is a common and economical way to make a pool.You can build the pool out of concrete blocks, or poured in place concrete, and then install a vinyl liner. In this case you wouldn't even need a concrete bottom, sand would do nicely. Or you build it out of concrete as above and have it pool plastered. It is the plaster that makes a pool waterproof anyway. If you are really ambitious you could build the pool as above, but first line the hole with vinyl, then tile the whole thing. If you heat the pool, solar with fuel backup is the best, you will have a considerable heat sink. Since you undoubtedly will have to keep adding heat, there are more efficient ways for space heating. However putting the pool in an enclosed and attached space will accomplish a lot toward tempering your heating. By enclosing the pool you will reduce the heat loss considerably. The pool heat will heat this space nicely. If you attach it to the house, you will have essentially no heat loss through the common wall, which should be treated as an exterior wall of the house to reduce humidity problems.
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Because of the extremely high cost of having someone install an in-ground lap pool, I am looking for plans - or where to get information - on how to build a homemade pool.
Also thinking of incorportating pool into an addition on the house I am soon going to build, and need information on how to construct the common wall (because of the elevated moisture levels), venting, etc.
I want to use the heated lap pool year-round and help heat the house with all that heated water. What sort of a system do I use? I appreciate any and all suggestions.