Not so long ago, real estate agents and experts starting warning homeowners about the risks of having swimming pools in the backyard and how they can lower the value of the property. Thankfully, this has changed! We now know that while some buyers prefer to not have a pool in the backyard, there is a completely separate market of buyers who do -- but they have some specific requirements as to what they are willing to pay for.
This option is probably not going to help raise your home value.
The real key to maximizing the value of your home with a pool is to make sure that the pool works with the landscape instead of dominating it. Having lots of useable space is very important to showing the flexibility of the yard. Too often, homeowners sacrifice the useable space to have a bigger pool. Remember, everything needs to be in proportion when dealing with an urban yard.
My latest renovation is a perfect example of all the focus being on the pool at the expense of the rest of the yard.
A beat up pool in the backyard that is dirty and in need of help is one of the quickest ways to lower the value of your home. Luckily, buyers Stew and Rebecca overlooked the weeds and neglected yard when purchasing their home because they saw the potential of the saltwater swimming pool that was already installed.
In this case, this backyard just needed a really big deck to cover over absolutely everything. With all of the different elevations and slopes around the pool, there really wasn't any useable space. Adding a massive wood deck is the easiest, and most affordable to get them enough room for lots of neighbours all summer long.
When choosing wood. I selected MicroPro's Sienna for a couple of reasons. Sienna wood has been endorsed by several registered environmental agencies to be safe for use in areas that include water and children's playgrounds. I also felt that it was important for homeowners to have a pre-stained wood so that it's easy to maintain with an application of a water repellent.
I also wanted the linear lines in the space to help make the yard feel even bigger. Too often with backyards that have pools, the pool visually dominates the area. In this situation, I wanted the deck to be prominent enough so that it wasn't dwarfed in the yard.
Even though we went with a wood deck, it was important to have a stone coping around the edge of the pool. This bullnose coping from Rinox.ca is perfect for getting in and out of the pool with ease and it visually creates the perfect transition between the wood and the water.
Some homeowners may think of a pool in the backyard as a luxury, while other think of it as a necessity. Either way, make sure to do it right the first time to ensure that when it is time to sell your home, you make the biggest return on your investment.