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How Swimming Pool affect the value of Property part 1
By arlene | November 13, 2008
Swimming pools
South African summers are reason enough for either building a swimming pool or buying a house with one. But the convenience of having such a leisure outlet at home is not the only benefit. For the average home on, say, a 2 000 square metre stand, a pool can increase its value by some R6 000 and for larger properties the figure would rise accordingly. With all aspects of home ownership, however, there are drawbacks and pitfalls, and pools are no exception. For example, choose the wrong site and you could have a costly white elephant on your hands; choose the wrong builder and you might saddle yourself with endless problems. Maintenance costs too can be high, and there is no escaping the fact that pools are an added and considerable responsibility for the home-owner as no safety system is infallible.
If you are intending to buy a home with a pool, you do not have many options — you either accept it as is or you carry on searching until you find a property where house and pool come close to your requirements. If you intend building your own pool, however, don’t make rash decisions and give plenty of thought to where the pool is to be sited, how big you want it, and what shape is preferred. These three S’s — site, size and shape — are the initial considerations.
Swimming pools Site
In deciding on the site, you must decide whether your family enjoys early morning, sundown, or late-night swimming. Obviously, the ideal is to have the pool in an area which gets the maximum sunlight. But if it’s a pool in use round the clock, certain compromises will have to be reached in terms of encroaching shadows. A worthwhile precaution is to mark out roughly the pool site and monitor the pattern of shadows falling on it during the day. Also, if there are trees in the vicinity of the intended pool site, bear in mind that there will be a problem with fallen leaves and blossom making pool cleaning so much more difficult. However, trees do provide shady spots for out-of-pool relief from the heat of summer days.
The pool should be conveniently sited; it should almost draw you down to it, a tremendous advantage not just from the recreational aspect but also in that it requires less motivation on your part to clean and treat it. With small children in the house, even with safety fencing around the pool, parents should be able to see it clearly from the lounge or patio areas for their own peace of mind. Ask anyone who has tried to tuck the pool away into a little nook where it isn’t easy to see or reach. It’s not worth the worry each time a small child plays in the garden near an out-of-the-way pool, even if it is ’safely’ fenced.
Some people intent on having a pool don’t have the choice of where to install it. Often there is only one possibility — the back yard. This is where size consideration is important.
Swimming pools Size
If you entertain a great deal and intend incorporating the swimming pool as part of the entertainment area, this will influence the size of your pool, as will the size of your home and garden. Aesthetics are important and a gigantic pool squeezed into a small space will look as out of place as a tiny pool dwarfed by an enormous home and expansive gardens. Today, however, the trend is for smaller pools that are easier and less costly to maintain; the average size pool is about 40 square metres.
Also, people are tending towards shallower pools where the shallowest point is 1 metre. Shallower pools heat up more quickly and provide more playing area or area where the feet can touch the ground. This is a safety as well as a functional consideration, especially when small children are learning to swim.
Swimming pools Shape
The shape of your pool is very much a personal choice, although it should also reflect the character of your house and garden. Rectangular pools are best in a formal setting or next to a house of modern linear design. Curved, free form designs, ideal for small pools, are aesthetically pleasing and allow free range to automatic pool cleaners which are defeated by sharp corners. Small round pools are also gaining in popularity, especially with the do-it-yourselfers and those with small gardens or patios.
There are many different shapes to choose from in the pool companies‘ brochures, but if you hanker after a pool constructed to your own design this is also possible. Discuss your design with the pool company representative and give him a sketch showing the position and shape of the pool in relation to the house, garden boundaries, major trees, shrubs and outbuildings. As an added precaution mark out the approximate pool shape in situ using bricks, pegs or rope. It should cost no more to build than a standard pool unless you want to include ‘natural‘ features such as rocks, waterfalls, etc. Pools today can also incorporate features such as ‘islands’, pool bars with built-in seats, and built-in containers for growing plants, but as with all optional extras in the home or garden, these luxuries come with a considerable price tag.
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Topics: Development, International, Investment, Listing, Property, Residential, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
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