Affordable swimming pool for your home
The concrete swimming pool can be constructed anywhere. Photo by Rachel Mabala
Have you ever returned home after a long, exhausting day at work and wished you could dip yourself or dive into sparkling blue waters and drown your fatigue, without a bother, but having your own swimming pool seems a dream too big because of the costs of acquiring one?
Today it would not cost a fortune to build your own private pool, even if you are an average income earner. “There is an increased number of importation of small sized pools mainly for children, which are typically above ground pools made of waterproof fibre and usually come in a variety of shapes and sizes,” Nelson Segawa, head of department (pools) at Davis & Shirtliff says.
Segawa says varieties of these pools are also available for adults, and prices range from about Shs7m. It comes complete with a simple circulation equipment such as a pump, filter and cleaning equipment.
“For an average income earner who needs to construct a swimming pool, it is recommended that you involve a professional engineer, who has specific skills in swimming pool construction with a number of completed projects at hand. This will help avoid substandard work,” Segawa shares.
Types of swimming pools
Segawa explains that there are three common types of swimming pools. These include the concrete swimming pool, vingl liner and fibre glass pools.
The concrete swimming pool can be placed almost anywhere and give you unlimited design options.
You can choose the size, shape and depth, and add features such as vanishing edges, steps and much more and its average cost ranges from Shs60m to Shs120m.
Vingl liner pool is cost effective. It can be constructed with concrete, plastic or steel walls. This kind of pool is approximately half the cost of construction of a concrete pool and the whole block swimming pool prices range between Shs8m-50m depending on its size and the materials you are going to use.
However, Ivan Idondo, managing director of Pool doctors, warns that for a substandard concrete swimming pool, it will go for Shs40m although but might not last long.
The last type, fibre composite swimming pool, comes in very many designs, styles, sixes, colours and finishes. Unlike other pools, this type can easily be installed. They are very good for hard-to-access areas for example hilly areas . Some fibre pools have options of inbuilt-spa pools and infloor cleaning
According to Idondo, swimming pools are not that expensive. However, it depends on the size you want and the materials to be used. Some materials such as marble tiles, are expensive.
He explains that the landscape also determines your cost.
“There are some areas that are too steep that you need a lot of materials to support the foundation and also in the wetlands it can become expensive”.
Segawa says the change in plan and design by the site owners due to generation of new ideas after the project has started may lead to the raise in costs as it had been estimated.
Avoiding the costs that might exceed your planned budget, Segawa advises that before one starts on the project, you must discuss it with a professional engineer and at least get quotations from three engineers.
“This will help you budget for an average cost and cater for a few miscellaneous, which could arise due to changes in construction materials costs and labour,” he adds.
Safety measures
Owning a swimming pool can be the best experience in a home. However, it can also lead to accidents if proper care, protection and safety measures are not considered says David Ssebuufu a swimming pool instructor.
Ssebuufu says all swimming pools must have a fence with only one entrance and exit within the vicinity of every person accessing the pool. In case a fence is not suitable, then a safety net can be covered over the pool when not in use to prevent children, pets from drowning in the pool. These safety nets can be got from Shs2m and above depending on the size of the pool.
Ssebuufu says the chemical composition of the pool should also be taken into consideration.
He advises that a professional swimming pool attendant be employed to do all the chemical applications into the water since an excess of chemicals such as chlorine in the pool water could be hazardous to the human life.
“You can also have your pool attendant trained and certified by a reputable company like Davis and Sirfliff to prevent such mistakes,” Ssebuufu says.
Maintenance
One needs not to bother about the heavy upkeep and hygiene maintenance, it is very easy for as long as the pool has a well-planned plumbing system where the water flows very well as Ivan Idondo, managing director of Pool doctors, explains.
“If the water is not flowing very well this means that you will be using only chemicals to treat your pool which becomes expensive yet it can clean up its self if the plumbing system is well fixed by filtering its self,” Idondo says.
