So you would like a swimming pool but the cash outlay is holding you back. You could build your own if you were game. To have a pool installed now is pretty expensive. Especially some of those state of the art pools with stone waterfalls etc. But, like I said, it is not difficult to do your own and you could end up with something pretty unique and save a bit of money.
The first place to start is some of the concrete block manufacturers, Some of them actually have a swimming pool block designed for you to build your own pool. To assist you they will provide a complete set of plans and engineered specifications for your building authority along with the complete list of steel reinforcement and the sizes and shapes required.
So now you are ready to start so you need a hole in the ground. It is probably best to hire a digger of some sort to do this unless you are feeling energetic. If you have plenty of time on your hands you can dig a whole for an average size pool in about two weeks. There are not many that way inclined but it has been done especially when you have no access for machinery.
Make your hole a random shape as you want something a bit unique. Just throw all the dirt to the outside of the hole as we will use it later. So now we have a big hole and a pile of dirt right round the hole. Next dig a pit at the deep end of the hole. This needs to be about 3 feet square and 2 feet deep. This is where our hydrostatic valve will go, at the lowest part of the pool.
The pit will be filled with stones. Then we have to make a level foundation round the outside of the hole ready for our block walls. You can get this area level by using the garden hose with a short piece of clear tube at each end. Fill the hose with water and have someone at each end adjusting the water so it is level.
This foundation doesn’t have to be heavy and a couple of inches of concrete will do just to get a level base for our blocks. Lay your blocks right round to the height you want and the first block will be one with a hole in one side for your reinforcement to come through. Back fill on the outside of the blocks with some of the dirt.
Lay mesh reinforcement in the floor and the pre-cut rods from your material list down through the block wall and out into the floor mesh and out the top and over the pile of dirt. Lay some other lighter mesh over the pile of dirt at a random level and tie it all together with wire. Install your hydrostatic valve in the floor and have your electrician run an earth wire from the reinforcement to an earth pole. Install the leaf catcher and plumb it in as well as a return pipe to your highest part for a little waterfall.
Order your concrete and a concrete pump. Concrete the floor first and finish that with black ocher before you climb out and then fill the block wall. After the wall cover all the pile of dirt right round the hole and just finish it in a random fashion because it is going to look like a big rock. Before the concrete is dry cover it with black ocher sprinkled all over.
Over that sprinkle randomly other ocher in red and white and orange. When the whole lot is dry it will look surprisingly like a large rock and maybe resemble an extinct volcano filled with water. Lightly render the inside of the wall with black color render and give it the same sprinkled effect. Give the inside of your pool three coats of a good concrete tank sealer and the last coat can be colored too.
Hook up a filter and pool pump and you are ready to go. The kids are going to love it especially if you can incorporate a rope swing over the top. They will have their very own jungle pool and will spend hours in it having a ball.
Buy Them a Big Water Slide With Low Budget
What do we do with our kids at holiday time? There is no school and the house seems full of kids all bored and looking for something to do to keep out of mischief. We take them to the mall, to the park, to the lake, to the theme park and anywhere we can think of to try and keep them amused.
If you live near the beach you can count yourself lucky because every and any kid can amuse himself at the beach all day long. It doesn’t matter what age they are they simply love the beach. The little ones will sit and build sand castles all day while the bigger ones will spend most of the time in the water swimming or body boarding etc.
After all that there is always the game of beach baseball or cricket and a multitude of ball games. Your kids will run all day with never a complaint. You may have to stop at lunch time for a quick sandwich or a bag of fries but otherwise they will go no stop. Once you finally get them home and feed them again, fresh salt air is good for the appetite, they will soon be asleep completely worn out.
And what is the best thing about the beach. It is completely free, in most countries anyway. We went to the beach in the Philippines once and it was all fenced off. We had to pay to get in and pay again to rent one of those little cabin things for shade. If you are running your kids all over the country chasing interesting things for them to do you are spending a fortune.
Everything costs money these days just to get in and then snacks and drinks plus all the extras that they can think up. So the beach is the best and cheapest option. The kids will never get tired of it and so you can go day after day and they will still come back for more.
The alternative if you are too far away from the beach is to have your own backyard swimming pool. What is it about water that kids love. They can get into the pool first thing in the morning and run till they drop. No pool?
We are running out of options now. However, there is one one way to give them some inexpensive summer fun. Get them a big water slide for the backyard. That will keep them occupied for hours and hours. There is a multitude of styles and designs available now and some with two lanes so the kids can race each other. Some of these are really cheap costing only $20 or so but just watch the quality.
If you are going to get a big water slide you may as well invest in something a bit heavier duty so it will last past the first summer. Remember, the kids are going to give it a fair pounding but not only yours but half the neighbors kids too. Well once they learn that you have one they will all be there having fun. Check out the many water slides that are available and read the shopping reviews. If you really want to spoil the kids why don’t you go for a really big water slide.
Something that they actually climb up and slide down with water jets and sprays. Some of these are more expensive but you have something that will last for a long time and the kids are really going to get spoiled. They will love it and isn’t that what kids are for. To be spoiled I mean. Especially if they are grand kids. It is so good to see kids having fun. That spontaneous laughter is worth every penny that you may spend.