Buying a house with a pool that has not been used in years

[cyburham]

We are looking at a house that has a huge inground pool. It goes from 3 feet to 10 feet. The owner says he bought the house as an investment and has never lived there. The pool looks nice but is has about a foot of snow and ice. All utilities have been shutdown and the owner says he has never seen the pool running but was told before he purchased this 3 years ago that it had been winterized. We are trying to have the utilities turned on and have this checked to see if it works but the weather is in the 20's here. I don't think we are going to be able to actually fill this up and check. The problem also is this house is being foreclosed so we only have a few days to stop this. What can I look for and how bad can it get? The pool was built in 2003. It was supposed to be a group home and the county denied the permit so it was never used for this and that is when the owner bought it as an investment. We are not even sure the pool has ever been used. it looks brand new. One more thing what are the aprox costs of maintaining a large pool like this? We would only use it Mid May thru August and then have to winterize. Temps in these months would be between 75- 95 most days.

[Eric]

I can make a few suggestions.

First, what equipment is installed? Filter? Pump? Heater? Are they connected? Do they look in good condition? Any leaks or cracks in the filter or pump? If there is no equipment, or it is damaged, plan on spending >$1,000 for a filter and pump. You can determine the size needed by calculating the volume of the pool and then look up typical prices.

Open the skimmer and look in. Is it filled with water? Is it frozen? Are there any cracks in the plastic? If the pool was not properly winterized the skimmer could be leaking. Replacing it is possible, but expensive and messy.

Look at any pipes that are visible. Any leaks or cracks? Is there water in the pool? If so, it's probably frozen and may have frozen in the pipes. Replacing pipes is messy and very expensive.

Given the history of this pool, I strongly suggest you hire a local pool repair company to inspect it and give you a report. The pool could be working fine with minimal effort or it could take thousands of dollars to get it running.