What to Check on the Pool Before You Buy a Home in South Florida

Walk out back on showing day and the pool does exactly what it's supposed to: water clear enough to count the tile grout lines, chlorine just barely there in the air, the deck still dark and wet from being hosed down an hour earlier. Everything about it says don't worry about this part. That's exactly when it's easiest to miss the things that don't show up in a photo: a resurfacing job that's overdue, a pump that's about to fail, or a leak that only reveals itself once someone stops topping off the water every few days.

A general home inspection usually covers the pool at a glance: functioning drains, visible cracks, basic equipment operation, because a home inspector's real focus is the house. That's reasonable. It also means the pool can end up as the least-scrutinized major system on a property that has one, right when it's one of the more expensive things to get wrong.

Start with the surface and the structure

Pool surfaces don't last forever, and resurfacing a gunite or shotcrete pool is not a small expense. Look for:

• Rough, pitted, or discolored patches on the plaster or pebble finish, especially near the waterline
• Visible cracks in the deck or along the pool shell, and whether they're hairline (common, usually cosmetic) or wide enough to catch a fingernail (worth asking about)
• Stains that won't brush off, which can point to metal in the water, a struggling filtration system, or a surface that's been neglected for a while
• Tile that's loose, missing grout, or lifting at the waterline

None of this means walk away. Most of it is normal wear on a pool that's been used and enjoyed. It's just easier to ask about, or factor into an offer, before closing than after.

Ask about the equipment's age, not just whether it runs

A pump can run on the day of a showing and still be close to the end of its life. Salt air and South Florida humidity are hard on outdoor equipment; metal housings and fittings corrode faster here than they would inland, and a pump, filter, or salt chlorine generator that's already several years old is worth pricing out as a near-term expense, not assuming it'll last indefinitely. If the seller has receipts or a service history, that's the fastest way to know what you're actually looking at instead of guessing from the outside of the equipment pad.

Clear, blue water is a good sign, but it's not the whole picture. A pool can be chemically balanced and still be losing water through a leak, running on a pump that's overdue for replacement, or sitting on a surface that needs attention within the next year or two.

Check for permits and documentation

If the pool, the screen enclosure, or any resurfacing work was done after the home's original construction, it should have a permit on file with the county or city. It's worth asking the seller or their agent whether permits were pulled for the pool itself and for any major additions, like a screen enclosure or an equipment upgrade. Unpermitted work isn't always a dealbreaker, but it's something to know about before closing, since it can affect insurance and any future work you want to do on the same structure.

Screen enclosures in particular take a beating from South Florida's storm season, and it's common for a home to have had a section rescreened or repaired at some point. Ask when, and whether it was permitted.

A few direct questions worth asking the seller

• How old is the pool equipment, and has any of it been replaced?
• When was the pool last resurfaced, if ever?
• Has the water level ever dropped noticeably between fills, outside of normal evaporation?
• Is there a service history or record of regular maintenance?
• Were permits pulled for the pool, the screen enclosure, and any major repairs?

A seller doesn't need to have perfect answers to all of these. What matters is whether the answers are specific or vague. "We've had the same pump since we bought the place in 2014" is useful information either way.

Once you're in

A general home inspection plus a few direct questions to the seller will catch most of the obvious issues. If something about the water level, the equipment, or the surface still doesn't sit right after you've moved in, a methodical leak inspection with the diagnosis and pricing confirmed before any repair work is a reasonable next step, rather than guessing or waiting to see if it gets worse. And once the pool is genuinely yours, the easiest way to stay ahead of all of the above is routine care: a pool that's tested, balanced, and looked at every week rarely turns into a surprise.