Swimming Pool Inspections - Should I get ONE?

In today’s world, swimming pools are becoming more and more desirable for homeowners, especially here in South Louisiana. When planning on purchasing a home that has a swimming pool, many people often wonder whether or not they should get the swimming pool inspected, as well as who should inspect it? Many home inspectors disclaim swimming pools as part of their inspection, as the Louisiana State Board of Home Inspectors does not require licensed home inspectors to inspect swimming pools and/or spas. However, at Southern Source Inspections, we believe in being a “one stop shop”, and are certified through the InterNational Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI) to inspect swimming pools and spas. Swimming Pools absolutely should be inspected before purchasing as home, as they can represent a major expense for the homeowner.

Swimming pools are meant to be fun, and a great form of entertainment at your home. However, it is unfortunate that each year, thousands of families confront swimming pool tragedies, drownings, and near drownings of young children. At Southern Source Inspections, we want to help prevent these tragedies, which is why our guidelines to pool safety are clearly outlined in our pool inspection report.

The first thing you can do to make sure you swimming pool is safe, is to ensure that it has a proper pool barrier. A child can get over a barrier if it is too low, or if it has handholds or footholds to allow for climbing. Current safety standards recommend that the top of a pool barrier be at least 48 inches tall, measured on the side of the barrier that faces away from the swimming pool. The barrier should also not be climbable, as this could allow neighbors or other guests to have access to the pool when the homeowner is not home. If a wooden fence is built around the pool, then the horizontal members of the fence should be on the homeowner side of the fence, and should be no less than 45 inches apart. The vertical members of the fence should not exceed 4 inches. You should ensure that no child can get over, under, or through the barrier.

Another aspect to pool barriers is the gate. The pool barriers should be equipped with a gate that restricts access to the pool. A self-closing, and self-latching device should be installed, and the gate should open away from the pool. The gate latch should be high enough to where a child cannot reach it (ideally at least 54 inches from the bottom of the gate, or 3 inches below the top of the gate). This prevents a child from reaching over the gate and unlocking it.

All doors which give access to the swimming pool should be equipped with an audible alarm that sounds when the door is opened. The alarm should sound for 30 seconds or more, within 7 seconds after the door is opened. It should also be loud enough to hear it from at least 10 feet away. The alarm should have a different sound than other alarms in the house, and should have an automatic reset feature. Since adults will likely want to turn the alarm off when only adults are using the pool, it should have a temporary switch the de-activate the alarm. This can be through the form of a keypad or manual switch, and should be out of reach of children (at least 54 inches above the floor).

The final way to protect your swimming pool is to cover it when it’s not in use. This method is the one that is least used by homeowners today, but it can save someone’s life. We cannot over-stress enough the importance of protecting you swimming pool, and these methods of safety we mentioned are just a small piece of the puzzle that we check for when we are inspecting your swimming pool.




Source: InterNACHI