I will need to bring my yard and home up to local code because of the swimming pool. Local adopted code states that any home door or exterior gate that allows access to the pool area has to have an audible alarm when the door or gate is opened. Swimming pools and spas or hot tubs may be constructed in the rear or side yard when :
2. A barrier of not less than forty eight (48") inches to the top as measured from ground level to the top of the barrier on the side that faces away from the pool, with self-closing and self-latching gates at all entrances, which completely encloses either the pool area or surrounding the yard area.
7. All doors with direct access to the pool through that wall shall be equipped with an alarm which produces an audible warning when the door and its screen, if present, are opened.
#2 I can do easily, but #7 I don't want to rewire the whole place. Solar powered with motion detector and audible alarm comes to mind but not sure where to start. The back door is pretty easy since i have power to an external outlet a few feet from the door but the gates on each side of the front of the house are a little different.
(It won't be inspected since the pool is already there but last thing i want is coming home one day and finding a kid face down at the bottom of my pool)
Suggestions?
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 05-26-2022).]
Local adopted cade states that any home door or exterior gate to allows access to the pool area has to have an audible alarm when the door or gate is opened.
Suggestions?
A small yappy dog attached to every door and gate?
I suppose on 2nd thought, it might be easier and maybe even cheaper in the long run, to just enclose the pool with it's own chain link fence and one access gate. The back yard is currently completely enclosed with a 6' wooden/cedar privacy fence but it will need some major work or replacement in the near future. IMO 4' is insufficient so would prefer at least 5' tall. I'll have to check with my homeowner policy too.
With a new chain link fence, I should only have to deal with one gate and one alarm. It will be easy enough to make the gate self closing and self latching. Spring loaded hinges and the same kind of self latch I had on several of my farm gates. Probably something I can do myself, since the fence will be relatively short compared the the thousands of linear feet of fence i put up over the last 14 years at my previous place. Besides, I would have to leave at least one of the current gates available for entry by the electric meter reader. Not worried about privacy either. If someone wants to oogle a 72 year old man and his 15 year younger wife, so be it. Many of the homes in the block have no fence at all. Might just get rid of the cedar fence altogether. Weathered cedar planks sell well as so called 'barn wood'.
I will need to bring my yard and home up to local code because of the swimming pool. Local adopted code states that any home door or exterior gate that allows access to the pool area has to have an audible alarm when the door or gate is opened. Swimming pools and spas or hot tubs may be constructed in the rear or side yard when :
2. A barrier of not less than forty eight (48") inches to the top as measured from ground level to the top of the barrier on the side that faces away from the pool, with self-closing and self-latching gates at all entrances, which completely encloses either the pool area or surrounding the yard area.
7. All doors with direct access to the pool through that wall shall be equipped with an alarm which produces an audible warning when the door and its screen, if present, are opened.
#2 I can do easily, but #7 I don't want to rewire the whole place. Solar powered with motion detector and audible alarm comes to mind but not sure where to start. The back door is pretty easy since i have power to an external outlet a few feet from the door but the gates on each side of the front of the house are a little different.
(It won't be inspected since the pool is already there but last thing i want is coming home one day and finding a kid face down at the bottom of my pool)
Suggestions?
MJ, are they requiring you to get up to code before you can buy? Or are you just doing this because you want to be up to code?
This is a law in Florida as well, and all new homes have alarms installed in all the windows and doors that have access to the fenced in area. They have big "one-touch" buttons that disable the alarm to turn it off once you exit or open a window. For the most part, these doors and windows, the home owners disable them entirely... unless they have small children. But most people do keep the ones on the gates.
They're a little expensive though... like ~$190... and you would need two of them. One for each of your exterior gates. The interior stuff, there's usually a specific style / configuration that you'll need to get.
But at least in Texas, they don't require you to upgrade to modern code unless you are making changes to the home.
Doing it mostly because I want the pool to be safe and secure. There are small children in the neighborhood. Code compliance is secondary and they probably have no clue but should 'something' happen, they would likely enter the picture and I imagine a homeowner's insurance claim may also be affected by the property not being in compliance or me being lax in my safety standards. Thanks for the link to the alarm.
Doing it mostly because I want the pool to be safe and secure. There are small children in the neighborhood. Code compliance is secondary and they probably have no clue but should 'something' happen, they would likely enter the picture and I imagine a homeowner's insurance claim may also be affected by the property not being in compliance or me being lax in my safety standards. Thanks for the link to the alarm.
Yeah, the gates are the most important part. I wouldn't worry about the windows and doors just yet. In Florida (at least), there are companies that provide insurance evaluations which will go through the list of "insurance discounts" and validate if you meet any of them, and WHY you don't meet the others, and what you would need to do to get into compliance. For Florida, it's all about hurricanes, so they call it a "Wind Mitigation Survey" which covers everything from roof straps to impact windows, to whatever. But there may be something that you can do. My personal opinion, I wouldn't call your existing insurance company because it might reveal things that they feel would require them to raise your rates, but see if there's an insurance adjuster or inspector that focuses on these things. Usually it's ~$200 bucks for an inspection and report (for insurance). In Florida, they waive the Wind Mitigation Survey and the state pays for it (encourages people to get up to code).
When I was in San Antonio, I remember that there were two things that specifically reduced my insurance premium:
1 - Modern / updated deadbolt locks on all exterior doors. 2 - An active security system.
For #1, just having new Schlage or Kwikset locks w/ deadbolt would solve this problem. But for #2, the insurance was willing to pay (by virtue of reducing insurance costs) for about 2/3rds of the total cost of an active security / alarm system from say ADT or Brinks or whatever. I only mention this, because ADT, etc... MAY offer something that can also provide you the sensors / alarms you need for your windows and doors. Not something like...a whole house alarm every time someone opens the doors.
They have the big "reset" buttons like they do in Florida. Florida requires them to be wired. I'm trying to find an image of what that looks like... I'll post it when I can find it.
Ok... just found it. In every home in Florida that I've been in that was built after say... 2004, they ALL have these. (EDIT: Each window and exterior door that opens into the pool area has one of these)
Basically, the alarm and deactivation button is built into each switch. It's a 1-gang, so installed in a normal outlet style box. They're 120v and wired to a magnetic sensor on the window / door like a normal home security alarm.
Note, almost every house I've been in, the home owner disabled them. Literally... the builder will even disable them for the home owner before they move in, after they get the certificate of occupancy. Not suggesting this is right, but just something I noticed.
[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 05-26-2022).]
Personally, I like the enclosed pool chain link fence option. Keep the big nasty dog inside the enclosure. Just make sure he's got some shade. Gets warm out there I'm told.
We've found it to be incredibly cool compared to where we left from. 30% humidity, light breeze, cloudless sky and high of 94 predicted. I'd be drenched in sweat at the same temp back in E Texas.
We have 4' chainlink around our pool. That's all that's ever been around it, even before we added the perimeter "animal wire" fences. Not that there are any kids likely to come near the pool. A few frogs, mice, and squirrels, maybe.
We're not quite as "out in the country" as you were, but we're certainly not in the 'burbs.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 05-26-2022).]
Our pool security requirements were upgraded from a simple 4-foot fence to a solid barrier fence when a pre-school kid got out of the house, crossed the street, went over 2 4-foot chainlink fences in 1 yard, then another around the pool in the next yard. He was found in the pool and didn't survive. It was determined that he was able to use the openings in the chain-link fence as steps and hand grips to climb over.
Above-ground pools must now have a platform completely around the pool to aid in rescue and removing a victim from the pool for cpr, and that platform must have a fence or solid railing with a self-locking gate. That applies whether or not the full yard is fenced.
Seeing them retrieve that child from the pool and hearing the anguished screams of the mother is something one never forgets.
