We are in the process of restoring an old farm house that comes complete with it's very own old in-ground concrete swimming pool. "Lucky us!" My husband says we should fill it in, but I have always wanted a pool. Although the water looks nasty, the walls surprisingly don't appear to have any cracks and minimal pealing paint. The pool looks to have been winterized when last used, but it probably hasn't been used in years. Is there a chance it's salvageable or do you think this would just be a money pit? As much as I'd like a pool, I only want to spend the money to fix it if it's not going to keep breaking because of its age. If it is salvageable, where should we start?

Have you tried to operate the pump to circulate the water? If the pump works, pipes do not leak and filter operates you may have little to do other than cosmetic surface repair. Many pool maintenance companies will do a free assessment of the pool and tell you what they would do and how much $ it would cost, get 3 bids

Congratulations on your restoration project, sounds like fun to me.

One of the expenses of building a new pool is the hole in the ground, and you have that. It is now a common practice for pool re-modelers to build a new pool inside the shell (hole in the ground) of the existing pool.

Some concerns on a 30 year old pool would be as follows:
1. The life of a plaster job is 10 to 15 years, so you would at least be looking at a re-plaster.
2. Pool equipment IE: Pump, filter, heater, timer, etc. that is now 30 years old would probably all need to be replaced.
3. Underground plumbing could be a concern on a 30 year old pool. I would want to know the size of the pipes, what they are made of, and do they leak. A pressure test of the entire plumbing system would not be that expensive and would help you make the decision about keeping or filling in the pool.
4. Electrical codes have changed greatly in the past 30 years. You would want to know if the existing electrical would support newer more modern equipment, or would this also need to be upgraded?
5. I am in the pool service business and can assure you all pools are a money pit to varying degrees. Once everything is repaired or upgraded, that is not the end of the expenses. You need to either pay for regular pool service or buy your own chemicals and do it yourself. It increases your electric bill to run the pool equipment the needed hours to properly circulate and filter the water. You mentioned winterizing the pool which tells me you live in a cold winter climate and that means your swim season is probably fairly short.

I guess the main advice I could give you is to do your homework and estimate the total cost of restoring this pool prior to making your decision.

Hope this helps,

Mike