Is it wrong to charge my neighbors - pool rental?

amother

Mintgreen

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 3:38 pm

I grew up with a pool.
The maintainence and upkeep, when additional people use it, should NOT be underestimated.
You can see the effects of more people instantly...the water gets more cloudy, needs more chlorine, vaccuming, and other work.

I remember my parents going out at night to sprinkle certain strong chemicals into the water after it had turned very cloudy, hours after they had allowed a group of people to use it. The pool couldnt be swum in for hours after those steong chemicals were added, so they had to do it at night. Our pool maintainence company cautioned us outright that the more people used it, the more we'd have to take care of it. Simple things like sunscreen, deodorant etc will cloud up the water. If its only a family of 6 using it, its one thing. If you add a whole bunch of neighbors and friends, its another.

And its not as simple as just letting people swim in your pool because its no skin off your back...they need the bathroom. The floors to and from the bathroom gets wet. The whole pool area gets messed up. Theres extra noise, and extra use of pool noodles and floats, which get worn out quicker. (Unless the pool owner wants to shlep them back into her house every time she finishes swimming. Which is annoying itself).

If I have an amazing Jacuzzi in my house, and its "just sitting there", would it make sense of people to think they can come use it?

watergirl

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 3:39 pm

amother [ Jean ] wrote:

You can say the same about anything else. Neighbors cannog use my swingseg withoug paying. Yes in theory you may be right but if no one is renting the pool at the moment and a friend or neighbor would like to borrow it is seems petty beyond to nickel and dime them, whats the difference to you if you are say not home or not using it. Yes if your family is there or ur renting it by all means say no. But charging neighbors and capitalizing on something you are using anyways just looks very annoying

If it looks annoying to somebody, that person has every right to not use that persons pool.

amother

Crystal

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 3:46 pm

amother [ Jean ] wrote:

This isn't a one neighbor situation.
The only way to control it that the entire block doesn't take advantage, is by charging money.

Nobody wants the entire block on their swings either.

Last edited by amother on Tue, Dec 21 2021, 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total

Chayalle

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 3:47 pm

amother [ Jean ] wrote:

And in fact, I never use my neighbors' swingsets. There are local parks that are paid for with my tax dollars, and we use those.

If it's annoying to you, then don't go use their pool, and you won't need to pay.

Chayalle

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 3:51 pm

amother [ Coral ] wrote:

OP, it seems that you consider your pool a business rather than a feature of your home. In that case, it is entirely appropriate to charge neighbors for pool use.

They are paying not only for the pool use, but for the privacy. You presumably agree not to use not only the pool, but the adjacent yard from which the pool can be seen.

It would be entirely different if you were also using the pool, or not agreeing not to be in the yard or anywhere from which the pool can be seen.

As someone else said, you need them to rent through swimply for the insurance.

Well, it depends on what the price of the pool includes, what the arrangement is. My friend rents out her pool, and the pool area is gated such that people who rent it get privacy in the pool area. The rest of her yard is not included, and the inside of the pool area is not visible from the yard.

I also know people who charge per person, so those using the pool are not paying for privacy, but just for the use of the pool. In this arrangement, others might be using the pool at the same time they are (they have separate times for men and women.)

Amarante

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 5:02 pm

Is no one worried about liability by renting a pool or even by allowing lots of people to use it.

If there is any kind of accident, odds are that you will be sued and if you are charging money, your insurance might not cover the damages.

I wouldn't rent my pool nor would I want anyone to use it except those few people who I wanted to socialize with or who were genuinely close friends of my children - e.g the kind of friends who there would be sleepovers with.

amother

Coral

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 5:08 pm

Amarante wrote:

Swimply provides insurance. I checked.

Amarante

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 6:44 pm

amother [ Coral ] wrote:

Swimply provides insurance. I checked.

Actually it it not as clear as that as Swimply seems to retain the right to make a claim against your insurance company. I believe they state they are nit an insurer and this was buried in their boilerplate althiugh I can’t confirm it hasn’t been removed. And of course some people are renting pools directly without the use of Swimply in which case there is definitely no insurance under a standard homeowner’s policy.

Swimply can make a claim under your insurance: If you are a Member, you understand and agree that Swimply may make a claim under your homeowner’s, renter’s or other insurance policy related to any damage or loss that you may have caused or been responsible for or to a Pool or any personal or other property located at a Pool. You agree to cooperate with and assist Swimply in good faith, and to provide Swimply with such information as may be reasonably requested by Swimply, in order to make a claim under your homeowner’s, renter’s or other insurance policy, including, but not limited to, executing documents and taking such further acts as Swimply may reasonably request to assist Swimply in accomplishing the foregoing.

amother

Coral

Thu, Jul 08 2021, 7:39 pm

Amarante wrote:

I believe the insurance is new. Previously, it was left to homeowners insurance, which obviously doesn't cover business use.

https://swimply.zendesk.com/hc.....aged-

amother

Babyblue

Fri, Jul 09 2021, 8:03 am

Amarante wrote:

Where I live it is actually illegal to rent your pool due to municipality law. Insurance also explicitly does not allow it. But no one cares including the township. Everyone does it. Neighbors could report each other and used to but I haven’t heard about it in a long time.

amother

Blueberry

Fri, Jul 09 2021, 9:35 am

amother [ Babyblue ] wrote:

This would create a possible issue with insurance through Swimply as they require that the homeowner/renter obey all laws which would possibly provide them with a justification for not insuring a homeowner. It is a bit like Air BnB since many cities do not permit short term rentals of homes or apartments.

amother

DarkGray

Tue, May 30 2023, 11:45 am

Before I bought my house with a pool, I thought a pool was just a big hole in the ground filled with water and the more who swim, the merrier! Well, I have been taking care of (and renting out) my pool for the last 8 years, and boy, was I wrong.

Every person who jumps into the pool immediately releases all their body oils, sweat, dirt, shampoo residue...etc. into the water, which then needs to be cleaned OUT of the water to keep it sanitary and pristine. Ten people jumping in the water for 5 minutes is more wear and tear on the pool than 5 people swimming for 4 hours. It is a lot of work, time and money.

A pool is like a car. The more it is used, the more upkeep it takes, and the more wear and tear it is on the pool. A heavily used car needs more gas (pool = more chemicals, e.g. shock is $270/bucket), more routine maintenance e.g. oil changes, tire rotations/replacements, sparkplugs etc., (pool = backwashes, vacuuming, replacement of minor parts, cleanup of the pool area) and over the long term, more frequent major repairs, e.g. brakes, transmissions, tons of expensive repairs! (pool = heater/pump repair/replacement, motor replacement, new liner - $6000!, fence repair, cracked steps repairs... plus much, much more.)

It is not worth it for me to rent out my pool for $25/hour. I would rather it sit empty. I charge $45/hour, and I am happy to have my kids friends on the block join when they are swimming. A neighbor who would like a to use my pool for their own family's private swim - they can rent it for the same price as anyone else. My neighbors completely respect this, and actually they would feel uncomfortable using my pool for free. I do occasionally give close friends/family time, but it is not so often and they would never take advantage. And I have set open boys/girls hours during the week that my extended family is welcome to come swimming.