Inground pools in Medina, Ohio

Medina was founded in 1818, first under the name Mecca, and much of its Public Square was rebuilt in Victorian style after an 1870 fire. About 26,000 people live in the city today on roughly 12 square miles, with US 42 and State Routes 3, 18 and 57 running through it and I-71 close by. The Medina City School District serves the city.

The city's edges are uneven, and it takes in pieces of Lafayette, Medina, Montville and York townships. Many homes with a Medina mailing address sit outside the city limits, which changes who handles the permit. Inside the city, the City of Medina Building Department on North Elmwood Avenue issues both the pool permit and the zoning certificate. Outside it, you get zoning approval from your township first, and then the Medina County Building Department handles the residential building permit.

Medina uses a single Pool Permit and Zoning Certificate application. For an in-ground pool it wants three sets of drawings, a scope of work, a materials list, spec sheets for the pool and pump, and a site map with the pool and its distances from the side and rear lines marked. The form also asks whether the property is in the historic district. Then comes the part that matters most on our end: the city's Engineering Department does a grading inspection before the permit is issued.

The city's residential pool handout sums up the zoning and fence rules:

• Pools that can hold 3 feet or more of water, or have a 36 inch sidewall, count as structures that need a permit.
• Pools cannot go in front yards and must be at least 5 feet from side and rear property lines.
• The owner must build and keep up a fence that keeps out people and animals not invited to the pool.
• The fence must be at least 4 feet and no more than 6 feet high, with no more than 3 inches of open space between the bottom of the fence and the ground.
• Gates must have locks.

One detail differs between the city's own documents. The handout allows up to 4 inches of clear opening in the fence, while the text of Section 1155.01 as published says 3 inches. We build to 3 inches, since that passes under either reading. Inspections cover the electrical trench, the electrical final and the building final, and a heated pool adds a plumbing or HVAC permit.

A 5 foot setback is generous compared with the 10 to 20 feet we see in some Summit and Mahoning towns. It does not mean the pool should hug the fence line, though. The deck, the fence and a path around the water all need room, and grading has to carry runoff away from both the pool and your neighbor's yard.

We pulled the USDA soil survey at points around the city. Ellsworth silt loam, mapped with urban land, covers much of the older part of town. Wadsworth silt loam turns up on the flatter ground at the south edge, and Orrville soils follow the stream bottoms. All of the upland soils formed in glacial till.

The USDA describes Ellsworth as moderately well drained with slow water movement through the subsoil and a perched water table 11 to 24 inches below the surface from November into May. Wadsworth is wetter still. It has a fragipan, and its perched water table sits just 7 to 11 inches down from October to June in normal years.

Put a pool and a concrete deck into that ground and you add a large hard surface that sheds water fast onto soil that takes it in slowly. That is why the city looks at grading before it issues the permit, and it is why we draw drainage into the plan instead of fixing puddles after the fact. In the dig itself, a spring start on Wadsworth ground means planning for water in the hole and a way to relieve pressure under the pool.

Many Medina lots are established neighborhood lots rather than acreage, which suits a mid-size fiberglass shell. The 11 to 12 foot wide models, like the Victory 11x22 or Virtue 12x24, leave room for the fence and a usable deck, and a one-piece fiberglass shell with no liner seams handles freeze and thaw in wet clay well. Where a family wants a shape no mold makes, we build ICF concrete pools, whose insulated walls help stretch the season. Latham vinyl liner pools are the choice when a custom size matters more than the finish.

Because grading is already on the table, this is a good town to plan the patio, walkways and any retaining walls with the pool. We build those too, so one drainage plan covers the whole yard.

Our Liberty fiberglass packages start at $68,400 installed, and each one includes Pentair equipment, LED lights and a 4 foot concrete deck. What gets added depends on the lot: the required fence, more patio, drainage work, dewatering, spoils hauling and the electrical run from your panel to the equipment pad. We walk the site and price those plainly, and we can help line up financing through our lending partners.

At about 32 miles, Medina is still inside the area we cover well, and we set site visits and inspections so the drive never holds anything up. Most of the waiting is on paperwork and weather, so a winter design and permit round usually sets up a late spring or early summer dig.

Around Medina we also build in Wadsworth, Copley, Bath, Strongsville and Richfield. If you are in one of the townships just outside the city, we file with your township and the county instead.