Renovate, reshape or remove

Fall is often when you look more closely at your swimming pool and realize you need to make some changes.

Perhaps the decking is cracking and peeling, or the interior needs resurfacing. Maybe you want to redo the deck or add a waterfall or fireplace.

Maybe you’re no longer using your pool. The kids have moved out of the house, and you now own one of the thousands of home pools in Arizona where no one dips even a toe in the water anymore. Maybe you want to get rid of it or change it dramatically. Is that even possible?

Pool builders say that many pool owners want to make cosmetic changes like building waterfalls or fireplaces along the edges of pools or adding tile trim inside the pool rim.

When it’s time to redo the pool deck, builders say, many people choose pavers over concrete; another common choice is tumbled travertine tiles. Whatever the decking, it will heat up in summer, but lighter-colored materials are slightly cooler. It’s probably best to redo the deck in a paving material to match your patio, or you’ll probably have to do the patio as well.

You can actually renovate the pool in other structural ways to make it more attractive. How about adding what builders call a Baja sun shelf? This is an enlarged entry step at the shallow end where sunbathers can relax on lounge chairs nearly covered with water.

Another recent trend is for homeowners to remove their diving boards and make their pools shallower at the diving end, according to Doug Sydenham of Postorino Pools in Scottsdale. This renovation can appeal to those with children or grandchildren or someone who wants to swim laps but always wants to be able to touch the bottom. As a bonus, it can be safer to get rid of the diving area, because many older pools with diving boards aren’t deep enough to meet current building standards.

According to pool companies, for a depth change like this, the pool’s floor is chipped out and drains are relocated or stubbed up. Then, an aggregate base of crushed rock is put in and compacted. A steel grid connects the remaining parts of the old shell with the new area and shotcrete is sprayed into the grid. Finally, the pool is resurfaced.

You can also make a pool smaller, believe it or not. It’s not cheap to do, but you can move the walls in on a big pool to create more deck space. Many times this requires removing all the walls to change the configuration.

Some fixes like these can actually cut water and heating expenses for the pool a little bit — but certainly not enough to pay you back for the changes during your years in the house.

To end utility and maintenance costs forever, you can remove the pool completely. That may sound like an extreme measure, and it can be pricey.

The cost will depend on the size of your pool, but it also depends on access. Can an earthmover be moved easily into your yard? One demolition company told us it can cost from $2,700 to $13,000 for the entire removal. Afterward, landscaping and fencing might have to be moved or replaced to accommodate the work.

Removing an in-ground pool is not easy, and sometimes it is never completely “gone.” Here’s what happens. Often a pool company will subcontract the demolition. Be sure that the contractor has checked with your city to get any permits required. Cities vary in their regulations about how the removal must be done. The utilities — typically water and power — must be turned off.

The water has to be drained out of the pool, of course. Then the demolition contractor digs a 5-foot by 5-foot hole in the bottom of the pool that gets filled with an aggregate base of crushed rock. This will provide drainage from rainfall or other water after the pool is filled in.

Generally, cities require that the top 2 feet of the pool walls plus the decking be removed. Often the demolition contractor will dump this debris into the hole rather than carrying it away, if the owner agrees to it. Finally, top soil is brought in to cover the site, and the area is graded so a homeowner can relandscape.

Craig O’Grady of Desert Sun Pools, which specializes in renovations and building, says he will do the job only if the entire pool is removed. The concern is that a homeowner who later sells the home might not disclose to a buyer that a partial pool is still in the backyard.

There might be legal problems if a new owner tries to build something in the backyard, such as another pool or a villa, and then discovers a carcass of a dead pool underground.

So, unless your pool is in terrible shape, you might consider renovating instead. After all, an attractive swimming pool can add value to the price of your home when you sell.