What Does it Take to Add Running Water and a Bathroom to a Pool House?

Up to this point, the mess of a large construction job hasn’t bothered me too much…but this is hard to contend with…..

Not sure why…maybe because the mess was contained in the back of the house? At any rate…this is unnerving. Large construction projects are messy…no question about it. Inside or out….there is no getting away from the shock of seeing what once was…turned into something else. In reality, this is our intention – to turn an empty or outdated space into something fresh, new, and exciting. But getting there can be awfully painful. I know you are familiar with the feeling too.

The Beginning of Our Outdoor Project

It’s been almost a year since we embarked on a huge outdoor project. I remember in January 2020, we started the process to relocate the Force Main Line that was running through our backyard. Moving the line was necessary to accommodate the location of our pool and pool house.

One year later, much of the project is done. I would guesstimate about 75% – 80% of the project is complete at this point in time. If you are just starting out and thinking about building a pool and or pool house, I encourage you to read

Before Taking “the Plunge” to Build a Swimming Pool, Ask Yourselves these Questions and Before Taking “the Plunge” to Build a Pool House, Ask Yourselves these Questions.

I have many posts about the pool building process that you can also reference along the way.

When Building a Pool House, Should I Add a Bathroom?

This topic deserves a full blog post of its own, which I will do…but for now…let me just say this. The decision to add a bathroom to a pool house is a big one and should be considered carefully. This decision will add to the overall cost of the project considerably and drag out the timeline as there are so many factors involved when a bathroom is added. The end result can be well worth it, but you need to weigh cost vs benefit.

Let’s talk about the trenching aspect of this decision.

Adding a Water Line to a Pool House and Trenching in the Front of the Home

Official trenching definition…a construction method that involves digging a narrow trench in the ground for the installation, maintenance, or inspection of pipelines, conduits, or cables.

My definition..an ugly and unnerving process involving a huge piece of machinery used to dig a massive hole in the ground in order to install a tiny pipe, while digging up your beautiful grass in the process. Seems accurate to me 🤷‍♀️

Could We Have Avoided Digging Up Our Front Yard?

Because we are adding a bathroom/shower and a sink with hot and cold water to our pool house, we need water run to the area. Seems like there is never an easy way to run water to a new outdoor space, and in our case, coming out the front of the house was the “best” method. Other ways that were considered would have involved ripping up our basement. All options were considered and this was the lesser of the evils.

Is the Decision to Add a Bathroom to a Pool House Worth It?

The decision to add a bathroom and running water to an outdoor pool house or pavilion is a huge deal. There is a reason the majority of people choose not to do so, there is a lot involved in this decision.

We knew going into this project, that a bathroom is a game changer in many ways and we determined that the benefits of having an outdoor bathroom outweighed the costs and struggles to build one.

This is a personal decision for each, only you can determine if it is worth the cost.

The Trenching Begins

So we started the trenching process to install a water line. The trench begins in the front of the yard and continues all the way around to the very far end of the backyard.

Watching the process was painful….

Thinking about our landscape and pretty green grass was painful….

Watching as the area around our beautiful oak tree was dug up was painful….

And this is only partial way to the pool house, we continued to dig through the fence and up to the back of the yard. It helped me to think about the grass being dormant as we are doing this during Winter months. The ground is also surprisingly soft considering this is one of the coldest months of the year.

What’s Next?

This is the beginning of the trenching. Still need to run gas and septic…yay! NOT!

Thinking about the end result and the greater good also puts a smile on my face. Fingers crossed this will all be worth it and we will be enjoying the space in a few months.

Have you endured any painful renovation projects? Would love to hear from you.

Update on the Pool House

The full reveal of the Pool House in Youtube Form is HERE or read it HERE.

Denise

XO

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