Posted on May 29, 2020 at 6:00 am
Photo credit: Danny Tumberger’s new above-ground pool. (Courtesy Danny Tumberger)
The 18-foot Coleman was a little taller than Overland Park’s Danny Tumberger … but it’ll be enough.
After being home both online and in stores across town and with mounting pressure in the form of triplet daughters at home for the summer after their freshman year, Tumberger finally found his swimming pool.
Think of him as one of the lucky ones. With most public swimming pools closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, an oasis at home in the form of a garden pool is in great demand as the pandemic turns into summer.
Sabeena Hickman, president and CEO of the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance trading group, told MarketWatch that the alliance had a busy spring season compared to 2019.
“Most of the industry has been closed for a while,” Hickman said, noting that consumer dollars that would have been spent on travel are now being tossed towards blue water for the backyard.
“Now they say their phones are ringing.”
Bob Dro, former owner of Leisure World Pool and Hearth in North Kansas City, Missouri, can relate to this.
“When that phone rings, the person calling probably wants to know whether we’re creating above-ground pools or not,” says Dro.
And before someone picks up the phone, the answer is no.
Dro, who’s retired but stays at the store to help, says Leisure World pulled out of above-ground pool game years ago, but that didn’t stop the calls.
“I think anyone who does that has all of the business that they can do at this point. The demand exceeds the supply of the above-ground pools, ”said Dro. “Because the public swimming pools aren’t open, people are looking for things their families can do.”
On Memorial Day weekend, the 18-foot above-ground Coleman swimming pool is in operation at the Tumbergers.
“Well, it was the last one that was left,” says Tumberger and begins the overview of his arduous search for the pool, which is now in the middle of his green backyard.
Tumberger expects the pool to replace the family’s annual Overland Park pool membership. The pass typically opens the gates to five of the city’s public swimming pools, each of which will be closed for the 2020 season.
It’s summer crap without royals baseball, at least not yet. However, before you venture into the back yard hunt for swimming pools – pools like Tumberger cost anywhere from $ 700 to $ 3,000 on Amazon – or take a dip at a friend of a friend’s house, a doctor has some simple advice.
According to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, Infectious Disease Specialist at KU Med, is very wary of concerns about close human contact around the pool, not necessarily in the water.
“The virus that falls in the pool isn’t really the problem,” says Hawkinson. “If it’s in the water, it will spread and the area around the water and chlorine is likely enough to inactivate or kill it. It’s really the people coming together and the inability to stay separate is really going to be the biggest risk instead of being in the pool or something. “
And those are not the only words of wisdom.
Dro, who has been in the pool business for “far too long”, says that first-time pool buyers like Tumberger can end up with maintenance.
“People are going to buy a pool with the idea that they have this mental image of floating around sipping margaritas and all that just to relax,” says Dro. “But I think sometimes they don’t realize that they have no idea how much work it really takes if they don’t really enjoy maintaining the pool.”
Many above-ground pools are out of stock due to high demand. (Amazon.com)
The average cost of an above-ground pool, including professional installation, is around $ 7,000, according to Hunker.com. However, it depends on where you live, in your garden, on the quality and size of the pool.
If you’re out and about and staying at home, the average price for an in-ground pool is $ 30,000.
In terms of maintenance, the home improvement website plans to spend $ 90-100 a month on required chemicals and cleaning supplies.
Tumberger welcomes the work. He says it won’t be a problem to take care of the slightly oversized pool.
What other choice does he have?
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