Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

[GreyGhost]

I am no pool expert but I think the classic permanent above ground pools that are higher may get around some of the fence rules if the sides of the pool are high enough to prevent easy climbing and deck/platform has a tall enough lockable gate and railing. Maybe the taller sides and the deck provide all the required restricting access requirements.

For the lower sided inflatable/temp pools it will come down to someone complaining, specially if it is out of general site from the street. Pretty much like any artistic license interpretation of the local bylaws..... can't see it, no one complains, no enforcement.

The approved permit drawings for our pool show a 5' fence is required. A 4' fence was constructed and the permit was successfully closed. No idea wtf happened.

For MP's pool, I am assuming it has a stepladder to get in and out. I would put the entire ladder in the pool when I wasn't using it. Makes it harder to get in and gives them and island to climb on in case they are resourceful and manage to get over the side.

 

[Robbo]

Hmmm didn’t know that applied to above ground pools. There’s a bunch in our neighbourhood so I can see if the nosy neighbour complained to anyone.

thanks for the notice. I’ll keep it packed until I’m good.

EDIT: Holy crap….never realized these rules were also for the temporary / inflatable pools! Thought it was only for in ground. I’ll hazard a guess that 99% of people don’t declare anything. My buddy bought a 16ftx48” above ground. Nice pool but it’s basically open to all the neighbours cause their fence is so low, and the residential building next door with a large pool as well.

If your little one/ones can open a door to the backyard, and no one notices, it can be tragic.

Easy solution is put a lock high up on the door that can’t easily be reached.

We did this to meet requirements for our inground pool.

Also, put a lock on your gate.


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[GreyGhost]

If your little one/ones can open a door to the backyard, and no one notices, it can be tragic.

Easy solution is put a lock high up on the door that can’t easily be reached.

We did this to meet requirements for our inground pool.

Also, put a lock on your gate.


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With our house design, the pool is directly out the back doors and no pool fence is possible. I don't like that but no real way to solve it. They are sliding doors so there are pins up high to lock the doors together. Accomplishes the same thing as your chain. Kids are never allowed in the back yard without adults. Little one can swim widths unassisted now. Hopefully in the next week or two I will be confident in her ability to self-rescue. They still won't be allowed back there unsupervised but I feel better knowing they have a fighting chance.

 

[mimico_polak]

You guys are making me regret buying this pool. I may not bother this year as a safety precaution and then build a proper fence around the pool.

Friend at work said her friends teenaged daughter died a few years ago when she went into a hot tub, slipped, hit her head and was found drowned by the parents an hour later.

One thing I want to do is get the kids into swimming lessons.

 

[GreyGhost]

You guys are making me regret buying this pool. I may not bother this year as a safety precaution and then build a proper fence around the pool.

Friend at work said her friends teenaged daughter died a few years ago when she went into a hot tub, slipped, hit her head and was found drowned by the parents an hour later.

One thing I want to do is get the kids into swimming lessons.

You need to treat the pool with respect but I would put it up if you think your kids will listen. Our kids are similar age and they have never gone in the backyard without us. We have an inground so we are worried about them falling in. With an above ground, drawing the line at never touching the pool without adults around seems reasonable. If they cross the line, their world instantly collapses and they learn that this is not a game nor an optional rule.

I found swimming lessons for little kids to be mostly a waste of time and money. They need hours in the water and they will figure it out. We did two sessions of lessons with the older one but then I figured out that they wanted four more sessions before he could swim 3' unassisted. F that. Stopped lessons, bought lots of tickets to use public pool and took him every weekend. By ~four both of them will be capable of swimming unassisted. Some kids get there at three. They just need time in the water.

 

[mimico_polak]

Our plan was to get the higher 40” because once we remove the ladder they can’t get in.
My son is about 29” tall and the little one is less so they would have to muscle up. The inflatable we had was only 16-17” off the ground due to the squat.

But we will give it a few tries and see how it goes before deciding. I want to build a proper deck around it, but with costs of wood it may be cheaper to dig out the yard.

 

[GreyGhost]

Our plan was to get the higher 40” because once we remove the ladder they can’t get in.
My son is about 29” tall and the little one is less so they would have to muscle up. The inflatable we had was only 16-17” off the ground due to the squat.

But we will give it a few tries and see how it goes before deciding. I want to build a proper deck around it, but with costs of wood it may be cheaper to dig out the yard.

Might as well excavate your man cave at the same time and add another 1000 sq ft to the house.

 

[timtune]

I have a small pond in the backyard - maybe 13 feet long, roughly a figure 8 max depth 36" in one area most is less than 24" deep. Backyard had to be fully fenced to code. Numerous large storm managment ponds in town open to the public - no fences. WTF?

 

[nobbie48]

If your little one/ones can open a door to the backyard, and no one notices, it can be tragic.

Easy solution is put a lock high up on the door that can’t easily be reached.

We did this to meet requirements for our inground pool.

Also, put a lock on your gate.


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A person can drown in a few inches of water. A bathtub will do.

The only way to guarantee supervision is to be handcuffed together. A phone call, a chatty neighbour and your attention is drawn away.

With kids, where do you draw the line between negligence and wrapping them in a bubble?

 

[Robbo]

You guys are making me regret buying this pool. I may not bother this year as a safety precaution and then build a proper fence around the pool.

Friend at work said her friends teenaged daughter died a few years ago when she went into a hot tub, slipped, hit her head and was found drowned by the parents an hour later.

One thing I want to do is get the kids into swimming lessons.

Hey MP, that was not the intent at all. I just want to make sure you and your family are safe by sharing what we had to do.

My kids did lessons at Making Waves in Brampton when we lived in North Miss. That’s about 15 yrs ago so unsure how they are today.


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[nobbie48]

You need to treat the pool with respect but I would put it up if you think your kids will listen. Our kids are similar age and they have never gone in the backyard without us. We have an inground so we are worried about them falling in. With an above ground, drawing the line at never touching the pool without adults around seems reasonable. If they cross the line, their world instantly collapses and they learn that this is not a game nor an optional rule.

I found swimming lessons for little kids to be mostly a waste of time and money. They need hours in the water and they will figure it out. We did two sessions of lessons with the older one but then I figured out that they wanted four more sessions before he could swim 3' unassisted. F that. Stopped lessons, bought lots of tickets to use public pool and took him every weekend. By ~four both of them will be capable of swimming unassisted. Some kids get there at three. They just need time in the water.

How do the kid's swimming lessons work for the supervising adults?

A) Do the adults not panic because the situation is more under control? Good.

B) Do the adults become complacent because "The kids know how to swim"? Not so good.

I was in E.R. waiting my turn for a minor issue and realized I knew the guy sitting next me. He was waiting for a friend to be OK'd after surviving a drowning incident at a pool party. People all over the place and he was the only one that noticed the guy at the bottom of the pool, jumped in, dragged the guy out, did resuscitation and got the victim breathing. Apparently there were lots of nurses at the party. They were screaming OMG.

 

[Robbo]

A person can drown in a few inches of water. A bathtub will do.

The only way to guarantee supervision is to be handcuffed together. A phone call, a chatty neighbour and your attention is drawn away.

With kids, where do you draw the line between negligence and wrapping them in a bubble?

My kids were never wrapped in a bubble.


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[nobbie48]

My kids were never wrapped in a bubble.


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I wonder if people that wrap their kids in bubbles realize their kids will outlive them. Then who does the bubble wrap?

 

[mimico_polak]

Hey MP, that was not the intent at all. I just want to make sure you and your family are safe by sharing what we had to do.

My kids did lessons at Making Waves in Brampton when we lived in North Miss. That’s about 15 yrs ago so unsure how they are today.


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I’m 100% in agreement with you and @GreyGhost though, need to be super safe with the kids. We will see how they react. Good thing is the older is in daycare all day, and the little tornado is with MIL all day, and since MIL is deathly terrified of water she’ll never let her out of sight.

But will talk it over with my wife a few times first to be sure. Wish I had more of the baby gate panels around as I’m about 4 shy of being able to envelop the full pool.

 

[nobbie48]

I’m 100% in agreement with you and @GreyGhost though, need to be super safe with the kids. We will see how they react. Good thing is the older is in daycare all day, and the little tornado is with MIL all day, and since MIL is deathly terrified of water she’ll never let her out of sight.

But will talk it over with my wife a few times first to be sure. Wish I had more of the baby gate panels around as I’m about 4 shy of being able to envelop the full pool.

Scary flashback. Years ago when our daughter was a toddler we went to one of the Erie beaches and we took along my M-I-L. We set up a blanket in a shady area and were about to go for some snacks, leaving our daughter under the supervision of M-I-L. Then M-I-L says to our daughter "Why don't you go and play in the water?"

The waves were whitecaps. Think undertow. M-I-L wasn't a water person and hadn't a clue.

You never know what the other person doesn't know. Never assume.

 

[GreyGhost]

How do the kid's swimming lessons work for the supervising adults?

A) Do the adults not panic because the situation is more under control? Good.

B) Do the adults become complacent because "The kids know how to swim"? Not so good.

I was in E.R. waiting my turn for a minor issue and realized I knew the guy sitting next me. He was waiting for a friend to be OK'd after surviving a drowning incident at a pool party. People all over the place and he was the only one that noticed the guy at the bottom of the pool, jumped in, dragged the guy out, did resuscitation and got the victim breathing. Apparently there were lots of nurses at the party. They were screaming OMG.

I know of a few people that had drownings or near-drownings at pool parties. Well intentioned people with medical training that thought that a person in trouble would cry for help. They often don't. It is silent. The emotional scars are real. Thinking that there are a lot of people around, someone will see something does not work. One person needs to be responsible for the kids. If that person needs to step away, there needs to be a conscious handoff to another responsible party (think pilot/co-pilot handing over controls). No ambiguity, no stepping away quickly.

Tragedy in oshawa last week at a kids birthday party. Lots of people there so neighbours called cops for a covid violation. As cops arrived they realized a child was missing. Somebody said they had checked the pool and it was clear so the attendees and cops spent an hour searching the neighbourhood. Kid was in the pool. Horrible. Always check the pool first. Do not trust anyone else to clear it. Jump in and clear it if there are any doubts.

 

[Mad Mike]

The approved permit drawings for our pool show a 5' fence is required. A 4' fence was constructed and the permit was successfully closed. No idea wtf happened.

For MP's pool, I am assuming it has a stepladder to get in and out. I would put the entire ladder in the pool when I wasn't using it. Makes it harder to get in and gives them and island to climb on in case they are resourceful and manage to get over the side.

Many municipalities have a 4' code for pool enclosures. Pool companies may use a standard 5' in their drawings/permit applications -- if you meet code by installing a 4' fence, they will pass you.

Barrie's code, like most appears to be 4'.

 

[Scuba Steve]

You guys are making me regret buying this pool. I may not bother this year as a safety precaution and then build a proper fence around the pool.

Friend at work said her friends teenaged daughter died a few years ago when she went into a hot tub, slipped, hit her head and was found drowned by the parents an hour later.

One thing I want to do is get the kids into swimming lessons.

Put it up just make sure the ladder isnt in it, ours has a 4 foot gate on the deck outside the patio door. 5 year old can swim well and can get in and out easy, but the 3 yr old can barely swim keep an eye on them.

 

[backmarkerducati]

Well with a pool, if the kids are always wrapped in bubbles they will float....

Like many things a pool has risk and reward. Do the most you can do to mitigate the risk (physical and education) and enjoy the reward. Sadly the number of people, specially kids that drown in pools each year is too high at the same time in my family and circle or friends it has never happened, either something is being done right by them or pure dumb luck.... The fence etc. bylaws are of course based on forced physical risk mitigation.

Personally, like a cottage or a boat, I don't want to own one I just want to know people that do....

 

[hdsomeday]

I had an above ground pool. Before it was installed (14'x4' deep if I remember correctly). I wanted a bigger one but had to go with 14' as it had to be at least 4' (maybe 5') from any fence.

Also.....

- Fence had to 5" high and be 'non-climbable'. We have the normal wood fence, 1x4x5s spaced apart on either side. I was required to nail 1x1s between every fence board (on BOTH sides) as there had to be less than 2" space, making it 'non-climbable'. Btw, 2" chain link was a no-go as well, too easy to climb.
- Any gate had to to be 'auto-closing' so had to install springs on both.
- Any gate had to have a lock.
- Access from the house to back yard had to have 'child proof' locks.
- Ladder had to be removed when not in use or a locking cover over it. Went with the locking cover after a few tries lifting it out or all the way in

I think there were a couple of other things but I dont recall. Neighbors on one side were ok with the 1x1s nailed on his side of the fence. Other neighbor insisted I do his fence on the opposite side of his yard as well because 'it looked stupid to only have them on one side of his yard' So I did.

Inspection was done before install, to let me know what was wrong and before being filled to verify that all was up to 'code'. I almost failed because on gate opened inward as was too easy to push, even with the spring. I had to tighten the spring. Made it difficult to get the lawnmower from the back to the front. Inspector was ok though, told me sometimes the springs 'get loose' after he leaves, 'it happens with springs sometimes'. He was smiling as he said it. Wasnt as hard to get the mower out a week or two later.