Diving Boards For Residential Pools

[@terrilhargrovejones]

I purchased a home almost 30 years ago with a 16 x 32 inground Dream Pool with a diving board. Still going strong.

[@keypoolequipment000]

It;s great to see you explain this. You get tired telling people the same thing again and again. At least if a customer asks you , you can send them this link.

[@realjustinmann]

I purchased a house built in the late 70’s with a 20x40 in-ground pool. At one time, it did have a diving board but was removed and I imagine for liability purposes because that’s the first thing insurance agent asked about when we mentioned a pool.

[@sbearly]

We got our 30k gallon pool, kidney shaped with diving board in 1992. Our kids loved the diving board and now their kids love the diving board. If I'm lucky I'll see great-grandkids jumping and diving off the diving board.

[@mayorb3366]

The MeNeely case in the late 90's was another huge factor. The incident happened in a "hopper bottom" vinyl pool was built in the late 1960's. A diving board was added a few years later. In 1991 Shawn MeNeely, 16 at the time, dove in head first from the diving board, arms at his sides, and hit the transition wall between the deep end and the shallow end. This broke his neck and tragically rendered him a quadriplegic. Though the depth standards had changed since the board was added, the National Pool and Spa Institute (NSPI) was held liable, and faced a $6.6 million judgement, putting them into bankruptcy, then going insolvent. The person who installed the board almost 20 years earlier got hit with a $1.2 million judgement. That was the end of diving boards. No builder would put one in. I wouldn't even replace them, and would advise people who had diving boards to have them removed. But Steve is right, diving pools required a lot more area and a lot more water (and stronger pumps, more chemicals, etc.) solely for the benefit of having a diving board. So the "sport pool" design soon became the standard.

[@lordgarth1]

I have a 20x40 built in the 90s pretty deep for most of its length with a diving board. Love it. We use it to dive and swim laps more than stand around and drink. Although that does happen.

[@paulstefaniuk27]

Good points Steve. We have a 16x32 humpback kidney and the deepest part is 4.5 feet. We love it because we can stand in the entire pool, swim too and no need to tread water. Our friends who have deep ends say they would never do it again because most people spend their time standing.

[@jamesbradford1815]

My cousin broke his neck (back in the 1970s), from diving into the deep end of his family’s pool….just newly built at the time complete with diving board. His life was ruined as a result. Needless to say, this incident really bothered me and I was reluctant to put a pool in our backyard. But I did, without any diving board….and I restrict those using it from diving.

[@andyroberts5266]

Our new pool was installed a couple of years ago and a diving board was included. I was surprised at the difference though. Back when we were kids you coukd actually jump and have spring from the board. Our new one is as solid as a rock.

[@terry5477-h6k]

i had one that came with the pool. never got used by me. took it out this past year. metal base was starting to rust and corrode.

[@disjustice]

I've got a free form 30k gal pool with a 9.5' deep end and a diving board. Basically the opposite of what I would build if it didn't come with the house. I'm pretty strict about no head first diving off the board. Yeah, it might be fine now when the kids are all 4' 6", but in a couple years when some of them are 5' 8" or 6' I don't want them in the habit. It's still very fun to do a cannonball off the thing though.

[@JohnMartin22222]

My pool is in Thailand. It’s 11m x 5m then 3m deep at the deepest point. Heating is not needed. We have a rock jump 3m hight

[@testboga5991]

How exactly does the depth influence the temperature? Most heat loss is through the surface, and a deep pool has the same surface as a shallow pool. A deep pool will just show lower swings in temperature between day and night, but it makes zero difference for the heating bill if a pool is 1,5 m deep or 2,5m, assuming there is at least some insulation of the wall.

[@Sylvan_dB]

Isn't the heating cost primarily due to the surface area and not the depth? If heating deeper is a problem, then the pool needs insulation? I'm sure there is a reasonable size surface area for diving, but that is definitely smaller than 20x40. And then you need depth.

[@nifethrubutter]

Larger surface area is going to cause additional heat loss but if we focus on heating water, there’s very simple equations and it’s absolutely true that the larger volume of water is going to take more energy to heat it.

[@Sylvan_dB]

@nifethrubutter the ongoing cost is in maintaining temperature. Of course more water requires more energy to raise the temperature. That's a once per season expense. This same confusion is exploited to sell on-demand water heaters to people who don't read about or measure energy used by their tank-type heater.

[@nifethrubutter]

@@Sylvan_dB it’s not confusion. You never said anything about ongoing heat. If you’re going to argue a specific point, present that in the beginning. There are LOADS of people who just heat for a pool party and never again for several weeks/months. If your goal is constant heat you should consider covering the pool (surface area becomes irrelevant) and a heat pump.

[@Sylvan_dB]

@@nifethrubutter enjoy your wading pool.

[@JohnMartin22222]

Rock jumps are where it’s at now

[@nunyabitnezz2802]

Lawsuits

[@zeb3050]

I removed my diving board a few years back due to insurance concerns. Apparently, it's a pretty big liability and you pay for it.

[@lordgarth1]

Where do you live? No issues with insurance in Michigan.