SEDKJohnson...sorry to hear the news about your son. Planning a pool for him is a fabulous idea.

When we decided to have a pool installed for our family..the initial idea was an indoor pool. After much research, we decided to do a larger outdoor pool with more features for about the same amount of money. We live in a warmer climate (Louisiana) so this also heavily factored into our decision.

The HVAC equipment to provide adequate air quality was expensive. Also, a quick calculation of energy needs for HVAC and pool heating was an eye opener. We're pretty energy conscious so this was a big determining factor also.

That being said, I recall one member on this forum who installed a pool along with a telescoping pool enclosure. I also believe she was providing heat during the winter with a standalone space heater and relying on controlled openings within the telescoping structure to provide fresh air. Just search this forum for "joanneswimsct". This is her username and read more about her installation and experiences.

I would also recommend meeting with some local pool builders to learn more about indoor pool construction...such as decking sloping toward the pool and deck drains to keep water away from the walls of the structure. Some builders may even know about proper construction and equipment selection for the structure around the pool to provide adequate air quality to avoid moisture problems and provide a healthy environment. This helped us make our decision.

Hope this helps.

All the indoor pools I know, except one, use an enclosed walkway with doors on each end so as to minimize the environmental issues and indoor pool has on the home.

Nearly every commercial one I have in my area that I have seen does this too. The exceptions have been a few hotels.

Building an indoor pool is like building a pool and a small house combined. There may be no kitchen, living room, or bedrooms but there are other aspects that will take up the money those amenities would have cost. Forget about stick built construction. There aren't too many woods that would last.

Your township/county engineer might not be a bad resource to ask. He'll tell you what materials and requirement they need to see or where to look it up. Then look at the local facilities like Y's, hotels, etc... where you will see what they did.

Scott

I had looked into doing an indoor pool as well in the past and came to the same conclusion as trhought - very expensive upfront and in operational costs. Here's a couple of worthwhile sites to visit for more info - http://www.dry-air.com/, http://www.southwestenclosures.com/

Hi there
I did build an indoor/outdoor pool w a telescoping structure. We live in CT and thought we'd be able to swim year round but found it to be waaaaaaaaay too expensive to heat after Nov. Our season runs late Mar thru Nov which is a heck of a lot longer than anyone else we know in CT w a traditional pool. We have a 400K BTU propane heater and over the course of a year will use approx 1000 gallons. We have a south facing backyard so the sun does a fabulous job of heating the pool April thru mid Sept. It's amazing (and scary) how quickly we blow through propane Sept-Nov. Our structure was manufactured by Libart of Canada. They have since sold the US business to Stoatt (sp?) Industries... I'll look it up and get back to you!
I have a friend who has a son who is special needs. They are in the process of installing an indoor pool. I'll get back to you about their build as well...
Joanne

Hey it's Joanne again. Here is a pic of the finished product prior to any landscaping. Haven't had a chance to speak w/ my friend who's son has special needs...