Kinda interested in excavating and making a below ground pool hoa permitting. Fools errands and a money pit like a boat? Was going for maybe 5 to 6ft deep and maybe a short run 6 wife by 12 to 18 long. So can seem very brief lap or just soak. Get the dogs in it. Want to do a tight cover when not in use keep the bugs mostly out.
Wouldn't ask but thread just happened to pop up.
Have you looked at the costs or gotten quotes in your area? Installation will vary wildly depending on type of digging and if they have to reroute utilities, how far to run electrical, etc. etc. etc.
I'll say this, I love my pool - but I live in the desert, it's basically 6-7 month season without a heater. In most places in the country, it's not that usable - this means either you'll use it a lot more tenaciously during the hottest times of the summer and have tons of parties or never at all. It also depends on what else you have in your back yard and if you invite people over. If you have a really developed outdoor area with a kitchen/shade/landscaping/etc. you'll probably use it a bit more. If your yard is a shithole and you are expecting to go out around the corner into the dirt area and go into the pool... well, I'm not so sure.
From a cost perspective, they're really not THAT expensive to maintain properly but refurbishment will cost a lot. Your long term is looking at replacing interior finish (ideally pebble tech type thing, but plaster, tile or vinyl liner in some cases) which is 7-8K every 7-10 years, maintaining the coping and decking (varies based on material) every 2-3 years which is mostly just say touch up coating, etc. and major repairs irregularly depending on damage. You also will go through chemicals and random supplies (really, maybe $50/mo AT MOST if you blow through brushes/poles/cleaner parts/chlorine tabs/chemicals) or 70-150 if you pay other people to do everything for you. Electricity is basically a joke (assuming you don't heat) and have a new variable speed pump for most areas of the country.
Maintenance is going to be skimming (depends largely on wind and nearby flora to shit all over your pool) and emptying skimmer baskets, chemical maintenance (really pretty easy once you nail down the schedule and feel of it), irregular cartridge washing or filter backwash (maybe every 2 months at most if really dirty season/area) and brushing/assisting whatever cleaner solution you have (robots don't do stairs and corners/top of walls/etc. well). If you don't have an auto-fill you will be adding water almost daily during the worst parts of summer.
That's not much for me because I have no nearby shitty trees, wind storms that bring dirt in aren't super common based on the orientation of my lot, chemicals are balanced and my robot does a decent job. For someone in a colder climate with active weather (especially rain which washes in organic matter ie lots of algae), uses it only for 2.5 months and the pool is under 8 mature pine trees, you will hate your life and despise it.
I'll say that from what you describe, I would almost recommend a hot tub (even a swim spa). It isn't as nice if you genuinely like to swim or have a lot of fam/friends over and would legit use a pool a lot, but for just everyday soaking you can't beat an outside hot tub compared to a pool year round.
