'It's Like Panic Buying': Demand For Backyard Pools Pushes Wait Until Next Summer
BOSTON (CBS) - Doesn't a pool in your backyard sound nice right about now, as the weather is finally heating up? Well, if it sounds good now, it will sound even better next summer, because that's about how long it will take to get it done.
In-ground pool builders are in such demand, you can order the work today, pick a style, and put a down payment in their hands, but work won't start until next year. They're that backlogged and the demand is through the roof.
"It's like panic buying on pools," says Katie Lenihan of Aquaknot Pools in Weymouth. "That is just not the way to buy a pool to begin with."
Last summer, because of COVID, families discovered swimming pools were a great addition. Now, the demand is so high it takes about a year to get one built.
"Last year it was, you know 'how soon can you get a pool in? Can you start tomorrow? How fast can the permits happen?'" Lenihan said. "Now we get the calls and it's like 'well do you have availability next year?'"
And then there's the issue of all-important chlorine, which keeps the pool clean and sparkling.
Even though chlorine supplies are adequate for the summer, internet rumors turned chlorine into last year's toilet paper.
"Last week was just crazy," Lenihan said. "People wanted to buy years and years' worth of chlorine."
Aquaknot started limiting sales.
