

A man, a vision, and the swimming pool he built in his garage - shard
http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?issueID=70&sectionID=4&articleID=1174

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Zolt
Not many stories actually make me laugh-out-loud, this one was an exception. I
think it was the picture of his four daughters smiling in the picture that
took me over the top!

I thought I was doing good with creating a square-foot-garden with my kids
(<http://www.toddalewis.com/square-foot-gardening.aspx>)... hard to compete
with an "indoor" swimming pool.

~~~
mrtron
Absolutely. My projects tend to be pretty dumb and over the top...but this
rates right up there.

I actually worked building pools during one summer[1], so I would have went a
more traditional poured concrete route. I probably would have also had a plan
to fill the pool in and cap it with concrete if I planned on selling the
house.

Kudos on the indoor garden - I was just thinking of building one, but spring
is near.

[1] Caveat - I worked almost every variety of job during high school in a
small town...so the 'experience' factor is minimal. Mechanic several
times/several farm jobs/baker/librarian/general contractor/factory/etc

~~~
mikeyur
You can't fill in the pool, unless you want a few foot difference from road
height to the height of the garage.

There was no digging involved when putting in the pool, he just put it down on
top of the old garage floor.

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ars
Totally awesome! Too bad if the city ever find out, he'll be in trouble -
sometimes government is a little too rule oriented.

And this makes we want to put one in my basement - I get water in there
anyway, and the concrete floor is all cracked.

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cdr
Yes, damn those governments and their insistence on rationality and safety and
all that nonsense.

~~~
jrockway
You seem to be being sarcastic. But a guy did this inside his own house. Do
you really think the government should come in and save him from himself? Why?

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derf
The article didn't give a good description of the area around this guy's
house... I, for one, would be concerned if I found out one of my neighbors had
3000 gallons of water in a poorly structured container in his garage. A
collapse would most definitely affect me and my neighborhood. Aside from the
inconveniences that would be caused, the neighborhood could very well end up
stuck with the bill for repairing damage done to infrastructure (street,
sewer, underground power lines, ...)

For what it's worth, I'd also be concerned if I found out my neighbor was:
stockpiling firearms, making meth in his bathtub, keeping pet tigers, storing
3000 gallons of gasoline in a tank in his garage. I'm not trying to make a
direct comparison, just hopefully illuminating the fact that it might not all
be about the government "[saving] him from himself"

~~~
jrockway
_Aside from the inconveniences that would be caused, the neighborhood could
very well end up stuck with the bill for repairing damage done to
infrastructure (street, sewer, underground power lines, ...)_

After criminal damage is done, the state can press charges. Everything else is
a very slippery slope.

As an example, imagine your neighbor has a gas stove and accidentally leaves
it on, unlit, all day. A pilot light turns on, and the house explodes, causing
hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage.

Should the government ban gas stoves? How about electricity?

Finally, stockpiling firearms, making meth in the basement, keeping pet
tigers, and storing 3000 gallons of highly-flammable liquid is not the same as
having a small swimming pool. The things you list are generally illegal in all
circumstances, but having a swimming pool is never illegal. Also, water just
isn't that dangerous. The pool collapsing would probably not cause any more
damage than watering a tree and forgetting you left the hose on.

So, as I mentioned earlier, you are heading down a very slippery slope.
Individual rights should trump the possibility of "inconvenience" to your
neighbors.

If anyone should be upset, it's this guy's insurance company.

~~~
mr_justin
Building codes exist for a reason, simple as that.

~~~
unalone
So... once somebody creates a code that makes it perfect and right and
unquestionable?

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sanj
That's the among the most naive bits of work I've ever seen.

Concrete carries essentially _no_ bending or tension loads. I'm amazed it's
stood up to this amount of additional pressure.

~~~
Retric
The total weight of the pool is effectively meaningless. The load per square
inch = weight of water at that depth. Thus the pressure at the top of the pool
is effectively zero. At the bottom it's around .42psi/foot * 3feet = 1.3psi
which is not all that bad. Anyway, I suspect the load is actually less than
the average basement wall which often holds back 6 feet or more of soil.

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wallflower
If I were him, I would look very carefully every day for 45 degree cracks in
the concrete below the pool. 45 degree cracks in the concrete indicate that a
structural condition may exist (e.g. the load bearing of the concrete is
significantly compromised) (other angles than 45 are ok).

~~~
ckinnan
The thing I'd worry about is that a collapse seems most likely when the kids
are using the pool. It is irresponsible. He should have poured concrete,
perhaps on bearings so the whole thing could be removed in the future.

~~~
mattmaroon
Totally. If you're worried about water rocking back and forth, kids playing
marco polo would seem like the most likely cause.

The author of the article seems to mention how heroically he ignored all of
the educated naysayers. We'll see how heroic he sounds when his children are
dead and he's in jail for criminal negligence.

~~~
patio11
OK, if you want to pick the dangerous part of this, folks, it is NOT the
construction. It is the fact of there being a pool, itself. Standing water
kills children. It is one of the most prolific killers of children in the
United States -- not as bad as that noted scourge, plastic buckets, but almost
there.

Seriously -- we have REALLY warped senses of what is dangerous. What is the
scenario for the pool "collapsing" when his children are playing in it? A 60
pound girl waves her arm displacing perhaps 2 pounds of water at a few inches
per second, which then pounds the surrounding concrete to dust, causing it to
fly at supersonic speeds into the water, in the direction opposite the water
pressure? I didn't exactly do so great in physics but I'm finding that sort of
unlikely.

The most likely failure -- his pool springs a serious leak. The garage gets
written off. Oh well.

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pchristensen
This is even cooler than the guy that built a Lamborghini in his basement!

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=350019>

~~~
jcl
Crazier, maybe. I'd say Lamborghinis are inherently cooler than swimming
pools. (unless you meant thermally)

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brandnewlow
"Paul" sounds like he stepped out of a Faulkner or Hemingway novel.

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teej
As a resident, I can assure you that your statement describes a fair number of
Baltimoreans.

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Tichy
Am I the only one who finds such stories depressing? It depresses me that so
much effort has to be spent on living in some place.

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tocomment
Any more pics? I can't really picture how it looks? I wonder why he didn't
just get an engineer to help him out?

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mattboyd
Wow, haha. This story gives everyone hope!

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weegee
he's going to have a hell of a time parking his car in there...

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furburger
good luck passing a housing inspection there dude...presuming he wants to be
buried in the house after this bit of idiocy, cuz he'll never sell it

