Attractive Nuisance: Pool Removal

Children change a lot of things. You have to worry more about safety in ways you didn’t expect. People will try to child proof their houses and still find there are ways an inventive child can hurt themselves, and ways for them to get in trouble. One thing you don’t want to worry about is a child drowning in a pool, especially if you don’t use it. If you live in a place like Annapolis, MD you can use your pool for, at best 6 months a year, and the whole time it’s not in use it’s at best a drop onto concrete floor for an unwary child. This is why a lot of homeowners and parents investigate pool removal as an option.

If you use your pool a lot, and have the time and energy to supervise your child in and around it a swimming pool can be a great thing. It can devalue your house and property a bit when it comes time to sell, and it’s something you’ll have to deal with then. Is it worth more to invest in pool removal services than what you would get back in increasing the property value?  However, if you have children and you can’t guarantee constant supervision, or are just worried about the damage a child can do to themselves in the time it takes to physically prevent them, it might be worth it to investigate local options for pool removal.

The danger a pool poses doesn’t stop at your own children, but the neighborhood children. There’s the issue of “attractive nuisance” basically this is a law stating that you have take means to prevent children from getting into situations where they hurt themselves with thing that children are interested in. For example when you put a refrigerator out to be picked up by the trash guy you have to take the door off the fridge because if a child gets in there and gets locked in you’re liable for the damage. If you have a pool you’re required to have it fenced in because an open pool is considered an enticement to children. The thing to keep in mind is that if you have locked the pool behind a fence:

Children can jump/climb fences
Lawyers have sued for worse reasons

Even if the case goes nowhere legal defense is expensive. Ideally no child hurts themselves in your pool, but if it’s not something you use often it is a potential liability. Remember all it would take to face a law suit is a bereaved parent looking for meaning to what happened and an unscrupulous lawyer. Even if you don’t face a law suit you would have to live with a life time of guilt wondering if you could have done more.
Basically, if pools aren’t something you enjoy, they’re a lot of work to upkeep, a potential threat to your children, and a liability because of your neighbors’ children. Is it worth that for a pool in Annapolis, MD (let alone further north) where you can only use it a few months out of the year at best? If the situation sounds like your situation then maybe it’s time to investigate pool removal.