You undoubtedly want to get the most out of your property, and there are few better ways to do so than renovations. But there are some areas of renovation, like pools, that aren’t exactly straightforward. However, when you learn about what goes into the process you can get the most out of it. The renovation won’t just open up all the fun that comes with a pool. You’ll also increase the value of your property. So, read on to discover exactly how to get the most out of your pool renovation.

Why Renovate?

Of course, the first point to address is why you’re renovating in the first place. Your reason for renovation will largely drive a lot of the choices involved with it. New ownership is one of the more common reasons for renovations. A pool is often one of the big selling points for a new home. However, anyone with a pool can also attest to the fact that they need a great deal of care. Care that’s often not present with properties that have been on the market for a while.

As such, new homeowners are often presented with a pool that’s been neglected for some time and which has built up some considerable wear and tear as a result. This obviously calls for a great deal of renovation. But renovation is also a great way to simply take care of similar issues before they have a chance to grow into something more severe. And even adding new features or remodeling your pool will fall under that broader banner of renovation.

Sometimes pool owners simply want to upgrade their outdoor space and include more features, there is an almost endless amount of design ideas you could incorporate into your new pool design. A common addition is to include water features into your current pool to give it a new lease of life.

Signs It’s Time to Remodel

Unfortunately, it’s not always obvious when it’s time to renovate or remodel your existing swimming pool. But there are a few things to look out for which will tell you that it’s time to put the work in.

You have a leak/problem

Leaks are one of the more pressing reasons to renovate your pool. A leak can often snowball in severity at a fairly rapid pace. A small leak will grow into a larger one as water pressure intensifies the damage. But it’s not always easy to notice a leak.

You should keep your eyes open for:

• Abnormal spikes in your water bill
• Wet spots in your yard
• Drops in water level
• Cracked tiles

Any of these can be a sign that your pool has a leak.

Your pump, filter, and/or plumbing are outdated

Staying on top of your pump, filter, and plumbing helps keep leaks and similar problems from popping up in the first place. Not to mention that new ideas and improvements are always showing up on the market. Changes can often be far less costly and involved than you might imagine and come with surprisingly significant benefits.

More sustainable

Green designs are one of those recent innovations that might prompt renovation. You can leverage a wide variety of environmentally friendly concepts for your pool. Heating is one of the most significant. Solar-based systems can offload a huge amount of the standard heating costs for a pool. However, there are also some less well-known but breathtaking designs like natural pools. This type of design leverages aquatic plants to help keep your pool healthy. It’s effectively like recreating a natural lake within your backyard pool area. And these concepts are only a few of the many new options for sustainable designs.

Your pool style is outdated

Functionality isn’t the only reason to renovate. Sometimes you just want to change the look of a pool to suit your tastes. There’s a wide variety of choices out there that can drastically change the impact of your pool. For example, black bottom designs can create an illusion of depth. And changes to your coping can make it perfectly mesh with your deck and other surroundings.

Your decking, tiles, or lights are worn out

Wear and tear is a lot more noticeable in some areas of your pool. It’s generally fairly easy to notice problems with your deck, tiles, and lights. You’ll obviously want to fix those problems as soon as they come to your attention. But you can also take the opportunity to do a more in-depth pool remodel. For example, you might decide to stain your wood deck at the same time you do work on it. Or, when working on your lighting options, you could upgrade to something that could frame your pool area in a new and more impressive light.

You want added features

Renovation can also add totally new features to your pool. This is especially important as your life changes over the years. For example, you might have moved into your home before starting a family. But kids, pets, health concerns, and everything else involved with family life can change how you use your pool. You might find a newfound appreciation for aesthetics and want a fountain as time goes on. A partner might want a tanning ledge. And everyone can agree that spending time as a group in a hot tub is amazing. Not to mention romantic nights with a partner where you can enjoy a swim and then relax in the hot tub. There’s a wide variety of extra pool features that might appeal to you as you work your way through life.

Your circumstances have changed and your pool needs to keep up

This goes along with the previous point about time changing people’s needs. Take children as a good example. Teaching your kids to swim might be the first thing to come to mind when you think about the subject. But consider just how dangerous a pool can be for youngsters who can’t even manage to climb a ladder on their own. You can absolutely safeguard a pool to make it safe for pets and small children. But doing so often requires renovations.

Renovation Options

All of the prior options should be considered within the context of your renovation. It’s best to look at a pool project of this size from a few different angles.

First, consider the practical necessities. Why do you “need” to do a renovation? Next, think of some of the things you’d simply like to take away from it. The things that fall into “want” instead of “need”.

These are often some of the larger-scale changes that you’ve always wanted but didn’t want to dedicate an entire renovation to. While there are a lot of concepts that fit into that category, the following two considerations are often applicable.

Changing pool types

Saying that this is a big project would be an understatement. But you can go from one pool type to another. This includes changing an above-ground to an inground pool. Or changing from something like fiberglass to concrete. This is arguably the most significant form of renovation that anyone will go through with a pool as it essentially means changing almost every aspect of it. This even extends to plumbing and filtration. You might even need additional reinforcement.

Chlorine to salt

Going from a choline to a saltwater pool is a far less extreme renovation than changing your pool type. But it can also provide some significant benefits under specific circumstances. For example, some people have adverse reactions to the amount of chlorine used in pools. Switching over to a primarily salt-based solution can help people avoid dry or itching skin.

Budgeting and Cost Considerations

Anyone who’s worked through pool options can attest to the fact that the costs aren’t always straightforward. It’s quite common for options to have a high initial investment that turns into net savings over time. Solar power is a good example of this principle. The equipment comes with a high initial cost. But you shave money in the long term. Eventually, the money saved from electrical heating will pay for the equipment. And once that’s done you’re essentially saving money every moment you use solar.

There are also similar but less obvious options. Take covers for example. An automatic pool cover is more convenient to use than the alternatives. This typically translates into people using it more often than they would a cover that needed to be manually deployed. Consistent use of a cover can save money on cleaning and heating. But you’ll often need to work through some renovations before your pool can benefit from it.

Budgeting-based renovations are often less flashy than something like adding a pool slide. But they can be an amazing benefit over time. And, as with many other renovations, they also improve the local property value.

Choosing Contractors

Talking to contractors is another important part of the process. One of the big reasons is that, as you’ve seen, the term renovation covers a wide variety of different jobs. A small change to your pool deck and a total rethinking of the pool’s design both fall under the larger banner of renovation. But one is a fairly quick job and the other touches on everything involved with building a pool and more. It might even require additional legal work for proper permits.

You’ll also want to compare issues like the pool builder’s down payment, their overall behavior, and how well they seem to match your needs. Sometimes a contractor will be a good match on a technical level but just won’t seem to be a good match for your overall vision. It’s important that you feel comfortable with every aspect of the contractors before hiring them and you can get a good grasp on how they operate by asking them the right questions.

Timeline

It’s also important to set out a firm timeline. This is another significant part of your discussions with a contractor. It’s easy to get your heart set on your pool’s new lease on life. But remember that pool-related projects tend to take a while. For example, if you need to get new permits then you’re looking at one to eight extra weeks before real work can begin.

Thankfully renovations are typically faster than creating a pool from scratch. You might have some extra delays stemming from the fact that old structures need to be removed before their replacements can be installed. But for the most part, once the actual construction begins things should move along fairly smoothly. However, it’s often difficult to understand the specifics of the project from an outside perspective. Or to know which elements of renovation might be dependent on other elements being completed. This is another reason why having the contractors construct a timeline is so important. It helps you understand exactly what’s going on at any given moment. And if delays occur you can easily understand the reason.

Deciding on the Scope of Your Renovation

Swimming pool renovations can range from a simple to an extraordinarily complex process. But there’s one constant between all of the options – they provide immense value. You can essentially get a whole new pool experience. And you’ll generally raise the value of your property by transforming your outdoor space into the highlight of your home.

Viking Capital can help you with bringing your pool project ideas into reality by offering financing at affordable rates. You will be able to have the pool of your dreams with all the features you always wanted just schedule a free consultation to talk with one of experts.