Inground pools in Kent, Ohio

Kent grew up along the Cuyahoga River, and much of the city sits on material the glaciers and their meltwater left behind. We checked the USDA soil survey at points across town and got a different answer almost every time. South and east of downtown we found Chili loam and Oshtemo sandy loam, both deep, well drained soils that formed in outwash, which is sand and gravel sorted by running water. Near downtown the map shows Canfield soils mixed with urban fill, and Canfield has a dense fragipan layer that holds water up in the soil from November to April. On the north side we hit Jimtown loam, which the USDA lists as somewhat poorly drained, with a water table 6 to 12 inches down from October through June in most years.

For a pool build those are two different jobs. Sandy, gravelly outwash drains well and digs easily, but the walls of the hole can slump if it sits open, so we keep the dig tight to the schedule and slope or brace it where needed. A Jimtown or Canfield yard in April may fill with water as fast as we dig it. There we plan for pumping and for relieving water pressure under the shell before the pool is ever set. We look at your lot on the soil map before we price it, so neither one comes as a surprise.

Kent's own website calls it the original Tree City, and the Davey Tree Expert Company has its headquarters here. Walk most of the older streets and you will see why. Mature maples and oaks are lovely until October, when a pool under them catches every leaf on the block.

We handle that in the design. The 3D model we build before digging shows where the canopy sits relative to the water, and sometimes shifting the pool ten feet away from a big tree is the cheapest fix there is. Roots matter too: we would rather route plumbing around a large root zone than cut through it. And if you are only going to add one upgrade in a leafy yard, make it an automatic cover. It keeps the debris out, holds heat overnight and covers the water whenever nobody is swimming.

Kent's zoning code puts a pool behind the house, never in the front or side yard, and at least 15 feet from any side or rear property line. In the R-3 district a single-family lot can be as small as 8,000 square feet. Do the math on a lot 60 feet wide, for example, and the 15 foot setbacks leave 30 feet across for the pool, the deck and a walkway. That is enough for a lot of good pools. It is not enough for a 16 foot wide shell with a generous patio on both sides.

So on the tighter lots near campus and downtown we often point people to the narrower Liberty models. The 9 foot wide Enrichment comes in 17, 21 and 24 foot lengths, and the 11 and 12 foot wide models, like the Victory 11x22 or the Hero 12x26, fit many Kent backyards with room left for a deck. Bigger lots open up the 14 and 16 foot wide shells, or a custom ICF concrete pool if you want a shape no mold makes.

Most Kent families end up with fiberglass. A one-piece shell with a nonporous finish shrugs off freeze-thaw winters, goes in faster than a custom build and does not need a liner replaced or a surface redone down the road. In sandy ground that installs cleanly. In wet ground it needs the drain and pressure relief we mentioned, and it has to stay full over the winter, which is how we close every fiberglass pool anyway.

ICF concrete is the pick when someone wants a custom shape or plans to swim into the fall, since the insulated walls hold heat. Latham vinyl liner pools give a custom size and shape at a lower starting cost. We are happy to walk through all three at your kitchen table.

Kent handles pools itself, through two divisions that work out of the same building at 930 Overholt Road. The city's zoning page lists swimming pools among the projects that need a zoning permit, and the Building Division runs the city's building approval and inspection program. Fences need their own approval from the Zoning Inspector. We prepare and file all of it.

The pool rules are in Section 1106.11 of the city code. They apply to any in-ground pool that can hold more than 24 inches of water:

• The pool cannot sit in a front or side yard.
• It must be at least 15 feet from every side and rear property line.
• It has to be fully enclosed by a fence or other permanent barrier at least 4 feet high, compliant with the Ohio Building Code, with no gaps larger than 4 inches.
• Every gate and access door needs a working locking device.
• Pool gates must open outward from the pool, be self-closing and have a self-latching device that can take a lock.

Under Section 1106.12, fences along side and rear lines can go up to 6 feet and front-yard fences stop at 4 feet. A 6 foot privacy fence at the back of the lot can double as part of the pool barrier as long as its gates meet the pool rules.

Our Liberty fiberglass packages start at $68,400 installed. That price covers the shell, Pentair pump, filter and LED lights, a 4 foot concrete deck, start-up chemicals and electrical hook-up at the equipment. The barrier fence, more decking, hauling away the spoils, pumping water out of a wet dig and the electrical run from your panel out to the pad are extras, and on a Kent lot they vary with the soil and the distance to the house. We price them after a site visit. If you plan to finance, we work with lenders to find a rate that fits.

Because both permits come from the same building, the paperwork tends to move without much back and forth once the plot plan is complete. Weather is the bigger variable. A spring dig on the north side can wait on the water table in a way a dig in gravelly ground on the south side usually does not.

Kent is about five miles from our shop, so we can meet an inspector or look at a wet hole on short notice. We also build in Stow, Munroe Falls, Tallmadge, Cuyahoga Falls and back home in Ravenna.