My video on dismantling our Intex pool went viral, and many of you asked what happened next. This is the whole journey, from an abandoned "forest" of a garden to our small sunken-pool oasis in a condo in the south of Italy, with every euro we spent.
A forest, then COVID
We bought the house in early 2019. The previous owners used it as a holiday home and hadn't looked after the garden for years. It was overrun. Once we cleared it, we realised how big the lot actually was. The kids enjoyed it first, with an inflatable castle and a kiddie pool. Then, in 2020, as we were finishing the renovation, COVID hit. It was tough, but we felt lucky: the garden became our sanctuary. Paola and I built the succulent corner ourselves, stone by stone. That was our lockdown project.
That spring the weather was perfect, but we couldn't leave the house, so we ordered an Intex Ultra XTR Frame for about €1,000. Summer 2020 was unforgettable. The kids were four and already swimming, and having a pool ten metres from the lounge, with no sand and no hassle, is a luxury you only understand once you have it.
It looked like we were camping
Let's be honest: the pool was great, but it didn't look good. It was tall and grey, and it didn't blend with the greenery. Plus, our garden has no exit to the main road, so bringing anything in was an adventure. We called a contractor, got the permits, and a truck delivered an excavator into the garden. We dug down 50 cm, the legal limit at the time, for €1,000. A second contractor poured a concrete base and a small containment wall for €300. By then it was deep winter. In summer 2021 we simply dropped the pool into the hole. It already looked better, and I modified the steps so we could get in.
Steel skeleton and WPC decking
That winter we spent months looking for an iron worker. We're close to the sea, so I wanted galvanised steel that wouldn't rust in a couple of years. If you're an iron worker, come to the south of Italy: they're rare and expensive. I had to go outside the province. The structure cost €1,500.
For the cladding, we chose WPC (wood-plastic composite), made of natural fibres and plastic polymers, because real wood needs treating every year and, knowing myself, I wouldn't do it. We ordered it from a supplier in Slovenia, with some spares, for €2,500 including shipping. The guy who laid our parquet had just done a training course on this exact system, and he installed it in mid-July 2022 for another €2,500.
Fake grass and real succulents
We tried to grow real grass for three years. With the sun and the buildings around us, it grew beautifully in two square metres and burned everywhere else. So we went for high-quality 3 cm artificial grass: no mud, no mess, and I clean it with a roller machine. The installer never finished the job, so I finished it myself. Paola and I also drove from Gallipoli to Brindisi with all the plants my mother-in-law had in pots and gave them new life in the soil.
Around €10,000. Worth it?
All in, the oasis cost about €10,000. I don't think that's a lot for the heart of our garden. It's early June and 40°C outside, and I can go out, swim, and have drinks around the pool with friends. Every penny was worth it. My two tips: study your local laws (rules can change 300 km up the road), and spend a season watching how the sun moves. We moved the pool three times before digging, so when the excavator arrived we knew exactly where it had to go.