Pool features I would do again

By Scott moore, Realtor

In Winnipeg at this time of year, people are thinking about pools a lot. For good reason! Having a backyard pool improves your quality of life. You socialize more, you have better quality family time, you get more exercise and fresh air, and it keeps the kids at your house rather than getting up to trouble out in the world.

If you’re toying with the idea of buying a house with a pool—please reach out. So far, we have three homes coming to market this summer with gorgeous pools, and I’d be happy to give you the details.

If you’re thinking of installing a pool in your backyard, I’ve got some suggestions. We installed a pool in our backyard in 2021 and these are the things I would do again.

1.     We extended our shallow end. Usually as you increase the length of the pool, they distribute the extra length across the whole pool, but we added all the extra length to the shallow end. We included a built-in basketball net at one side of the shallow end, and it’s the perfect basketball court. Hours and hours of fun for kids and adults. This was probably the best choice we made.

2.     We extended our steps across the whole length of the shallow end. This created a spot for sitting, chatting, and relaxing. Total win. I would definitely do this again.

3.     We did not add a slide. The price tag was a lot higher than I thought it would be, so we nixed it. We figured that kids outgrow slides quickly, plus I’ve seen enough houses over the years to know that the water supply to a slide seems to be the first thing to break. I don’t regret skipping the slide.

4.     We included a hot tub. Having the option to warm up in the hot tub means that we get a lot more use out of the pool in the shoulder seasons and when the weather isn’t perfect. This was a huge win, especially because the price for the hot tub was only about 25% more than the cost of a slide. We get way more value from the hot tub than we would have from a slide.

5.     We added extra lighting. We weren’t sold on it at the time, but we knew it wasn’t something we could add in later, so we did it. I don’t think we understood how beautiful the pool would look at night, but it’s incredibly nice. Really glad we did that.

If you’re thinking of building a pool, all I can say is: do it! We built our pool with Aqua-Tech and I would definitely use them again.