We bought our new home in October last year. One of the benefits of the home was that the previous owner had already done a great deal of renovations. New kitchen, great new guest bathroom, etc...The swimming pool, though had not been worked on in quite some time. They kept it working and clean, but it hadn't been resurfaced in nearly 30 years, had no heater, and was leaking. Since winter was coming, and it'd be far too cold to swim without a heater, we let the pool go until now. It got ugly, but spring is here (and with it our income tax refunds!) and the time has come to get the pool renovated! Resurfaced (PebbleTek), replacing the non-working light, adding a heater, new tile. Pretty much a new pool!

If you had a skateboard with off-road tires you could really have some fun in that empty pool.

Very cool! Speaking as someone who has scraped his chest on the bottom of a pool after diving where I should not have... diven? ... that pool looks like it could really hurt!

You could have left it, and just thrown a few bass in it...

Your first picture looks more like a man made pond :D.

Congrats on the "new" pool!

I am often surprised with the number of pools I see while flying around that look similar to the top picture, I've also seen a couple of them that have been filled with dirt and made a garden out of. Without punching a couple of equalizing holes in the bottom of that pool it would have already been pushed out of the ground by the water table around these parts, I've seen that happen before.

That pool and surrounding area has a lot of potential Craig, have you considered switching over to a salt system at all?

Just curious Craig, What's the temperature swing in your area of LA between winter and summer? What would the pool water be in the winter, unheated?

I ask because, being curious, I Wikied this.
"The period of November through April is mild and somewhat rainy with average high temperatures of 68 - 73°F (20 - 23°C) and lows of 48 - 53°F (9 - 12°C), but temperatures could occasionally drop to low 40s (~5°C) or be as high as 80°F (26°C) for few days during winter."

It' all relative to what your used to, of course, but to me, those conditions and a pool with good exposure to sunlight would result in an enjoyable swim almost all year. At least for those of us up here accustomed to our NE Atlantic Ocean temperatures. I expect if I lived there, I would soon acclimatize.

But then I also read this..
"The Los Angeles area is also subject to the phenomenon typical of a "microclimate." As such, the temperatures can vary as much as 18°F (10°C) between inland areas and the coast, with a temperature gradient of over one degree per mile (1.6 km) from the coast inland."

So then I wondered what your area specifically is like.

We'll be going salt water in a few months. With that and a "kreepy-krawly", maintenance should be super easy.

The pool water was between 58-62 degrees this winter. I don't know about you, but that's too dang cold for an enjoyable swim for us.

Being essentially a desert with water piped in, the days can be pleasant, but the evenings are rarely warm. That cool dry air sucks the heat out of a pool quick.

Pete - you'll get MUCH better results if there is water IN the pool when you dive.

58-62 degree water temperature is freaking cold, we had few very cold days this past winter and our pool temps got down into the late 50s and early 60s also ... way too cold to try to swim in. We'll run our heater a lot in the winter and have the temp set at 83*-87*, although this past year we didn't run it much at all.

Craig you'll really like the salt system, it is so much easier to maintain.

I used to waterski in the lakes around here where most temps reach mid 60'sF by summer. I found wetsuits are not very warm when the water temps are below 60. I used to be one of the first ones out on the lake waterskiing, quite often about a week after the ice disappeared, water temps around 40F, I am much older and wiser now

That's when you break out the drysuit.

Naaa, drysuits are for wimps and I couldn't justify one at the time for the few times I went in at really cold temps early in the spring or late fall. Once EVERYTHING goes numb its not so bad, but I wouldn't do anything that crazy now.

58-62 water would be within my comfort range for a refreshing dip if I'm overheated or overworked, or it would even be fine for a short swim. Some here would certainly disagree though and I would not be happy if trapped into longer exposure.

I'd certainly prefer 18-20 Celsius for a day at the beach. Ocean water will go a few degrees over 20 here but only for about two months of the year. Not even refreshing for me if it goes too high over 20. 20 Celcius = about 68 F.

I'd have OD at 68 degrees, let alone 58!!!

70-72 seems good to me.

Hopefully I'll have new pictures soon. They're installing a bench tomorrow.

When's the Axiom open house?

UPDATE!

They finally got the tile and bench installed!

It's looking better all the time.

So, to get that cool texture on the pool sides, did they slap up some wet concrete/plaster/goop, wait for it to set slightly, and then toss a large clawed animal in there? It looks like it was desperately drying to climb out of there.

It does look like that doesn't it. I think they used a jack-hammer to remove the old tile. I wasn't home when they did it.

Almost done!

I can't wait to see it full of Jell-O!

Lookin' good!

Wow, what a transformation! beautiful, Spiff.

So, again: When was the Axiomite open house?

A pool party is in the works. When we've confirmed the date, I'll post it here, and any and all Axiomites will be gladly invited! I've got the Algonquins working outside so the tunes (and beer!) will be flowing!

So where's the lawn?

We've just got a small lawn out front. This is LA!

Btw, there is a huge snake drinking water out of your pool in the second pic!

You could put salt water in there and float like in the dead sea.

That looks just great, Craig!

Looking Good Craig. We want the inaugural bellyflop picture as soon as it's complete. Better yet, video to better catch the splash..

The salt is being added next week.

...though it doesn't make you float...the salt is converted to chlorine. It's not really a "salt water" pool.