Swimming Pool Enclosures - Fencing
Swimming pools, bylaws and fencing are all tied together in one package. A pool enclosure is mandatory if you live in the city and fencing is certainly not cheap.
You can click on the photos to enlarge them.
Last year, we purchased a little bungalow in the country and it came equipped with lots of land, a small creek running through the back of the property for my fishing needs and this oversized mammoth pool. Now this thing hadn't been looked after in five years. It had even gone to all the trouble of establishing a life of its own over that time period by inviting a whole slew of wild creatures to come over and party in its depths I called, "the green Lagoon."
It took quite a while last year to finally establish some order in this monstrosity that had actually become a swamp --a very big swamp. Snapping turtles, frogs and slime were having a field day here, but the Cavalry had finally arrived -- Me, -- and it was my job to turn the ship upright again.
After a new pool liner had been installed, then came the water and lots of it. 35,000 gallons of water was poured into this structure and it appeared that we finallly had ourselves a nice swimming hole just in time for the summer heat. But hold on a second. City bylaws require that all backyard pools must have a fence surrounding it so that kids can't get anywhere near the water and sustain injuries or worse. We didn't have a fence around this pool because that's the way it came, without one. The question now was, "is there a bylaw out here in the country to enforce such a ruling." I didn't think so but I found out last week that yes indeed, there was such a law, and now after all the work and money that went into this project last year, more dollars had to be put out on a fence.
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Well, as I mentioned earlier, the cold and rain had now left us and it was as good a time as any I guess, to get that fence up. The small town we live in does have a farm store that carries practically everything you could think of for use on a farm, hobby farm or any backyard adventure. My adventure this time around was surrounding that pool with a decent, up to code enclosure. Fencing is not cheap, especially for this big a job, but I had done an acre of land a few years back for a relatively cheap price and it was done fast, without having to hire anyone. The bylaw here requires a four foot high fence to go around an inground pool but I was going to go one foot better with a five footer. The cost was a little more, but in the city the mandatory height is five feet and that's what I was going to install here in the country as well, just to be safe.
I bought one hundred feet of strong, 12 guage animal fencing, so I called it and that's what we used at our dog resort before moving here. Along with that, I also got seven foot T posts to attach the fencing to. These would be sunk to a depth of two feet. There were already enough 4x4's around the pool from the previous old fence so buying posts wasn't a big money issue at $9.00 a pop.
Once home, I wheeled the fencing over to the pool area and banged in the T-posts to where I wanted them. In less than an hour later, with a litle help, I had the pool fenced in -- almost. Tomorow, I'll go and get another thirty feet, seeing that I came up a little short with the distance measurement.
This do it yourself project would have cost over $2,500 to have a fencing company install chain link, so I saved $2,100 by doing this job myself with one other person assisting. It's strong, it looks good and it's meets all the standards of any Bylaw. I've taken some photos to show you a before and after look. So, if you're in the same boat with having to surround your pool with a fence, this is a great way to go about it for less money and in just a few hours. Your neighbours will thank you.
Now I guess it's just about that time to get that lawn tractor out. Next Project Please!
