Pool shower: indoor or outdoor ?

12 years ago

Hello. We are building a new home with our first-ever pool and, when complete, our three kids will be ages 10-15. We are currently designing a tiny shower inside a tiny bathroom close to pool (via mudroom). Our landscape designer is lobbying for an outdoor shower even closer to pool...I have no doubt he would design something pretty and discrete, and I get that it would be fun and convenient, especially when we are entertaining. And yet I worry that it will be a magnet for clutter (wet towels and suits, shampoos, brushes, etc) and too far from warm towels, a place to change, toilet, etc, to be very useful. (The only outdoor showers our family has enjoyed have been at vacation resorts where lo & behold all of the junk is magically spirited away.)

Any advice from pool owners/lovers, especially with teenagers ? I suppose we could do both but that seems over-the-top given that they will only be about 50 feet apart. Thank you ! (I also posted to the Pools Forum)

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Comments (6)

LilFlowers MJLN
12 years ago
My cousin's grandmother had a small area attached to the house with a small 3/4 bathroom and a dressing area (big enough for at least 5 kids to get dressed)with a hamper for all wet items to go in. The laundry room was attached to the "pool" room. She had hooks and a bench just like in a mudroom but there was a drain in the middle of the floor for all of the water to go to. The hamper was accessible to the "pool" room as well as the laundry room. That house was amazing. Every single room in that house had a view of the beautiful pool. She had a hall full of windows and several sets of French doors that led to the pool area.
lannie59
12 years ago
Placement of the shower is not the only issue. Do you want kids and adults going into the house with wet suits and feet to use the bathroom? Outdoor showers work well for removing chlorine and or salt, but that is only a fraction of what a bathroom would be used for. Hot summer days with drinking and swimming would make a toilet more important than a shower. A cabana gives a place for dressed guest to change without going into the house and to hang wet towels after swimming is over. Yes you have to cleanup after everyone leaves, but the mess is not in your house. A few people we know with pools wish they had a bathroom with toilet outside to keep the wet guest out of their house. If it is in the budget and doable then consider building one.
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putschki
Original Author
12 years ago
TiffanyLA and Lannie59--thanks for great input. You paint a tempting picture of a dedicated outdoor pool bathroom. I'm just put off by the inevitable mess that will accumulate in there.....and worried that we will take an "out of sight out of mind" approach to tending the space !
chiefneil
12 years ago
We have a bathroom with a "pool door". It's basically one of the kid's bathrooms with a door that goes out to the pool area. It's great for when you have a lot of kids running around - as others have said, a toilet is more important than a shower.

I actually wouldn't also mind an outdoor shower. Just something like an indoor/outdoor showerhead to rinse off chlorine. It would only be useful for the times when you're not going directly to shower and change after swimming. Like if you're just taking a break to eat poolside then getting back in. I don't see people shampooing and soaping up outside, personally.
amyktexas
12 years ago
Growing up my grandparents house had a great outdoor shower near the back door/laundry, it was used a lot and then there was a bathroom a few steps off the back door. I know the guys always washed their hair out there then brought their towels in so that the bathroom did not get so clogged up. With the tall trees planted all around the backyard for full privacy I also know that my grandparents showered out there year round when we were not there.
putschki
Original Author
12 years ago
Chiefniel and Amyktexas--thanks ! I love the visual images of memories made as well as the helpful info. We have three daughters so shower time tends to involve primping, but maybe an outdoor shower will encourage more no nonsense hosing off, and as you say it could be a fun and quick option on its own for those who choose it. Maybe we will do both if the budget allows.....