Pool Renovation & Resurfacing in Wainscott, NY

Probably, if you own the pool for the long run and fix the corrosion details. A conversion costs $500–3,500 (about $1,000 typical: a $600–2,000 generator plus $100–500 to install; no draining if the water is balanced). Ongoing chemicals drop to under $100 a year against $175–800 for chlorine, the water is softer, and there is no chlorine to store. The recurring cost is the cell: $200–1,800 depending on which of four sources you believe, every 3–6 years, roughly $200–360 a year. The catch is corrosion: copper heat exchangers, soft limestone or natural-cleft coping, and steel hardware near the water. On the South Fork that means a cupro-nickel heater exchanger and sealed bluestone or porcelain coping, and near the ocean the salt was already in the air anyway.

Gunite is what the South Fork builds: any shape, a spa in the same shell, a 30–50+ year structure, and a finish that needs redoing every decade or two (plaster about 10 years, pebble 20+). On Long Island a standard gunite pool runs $90,000–140,000 and a custom one $100,000–400,000+. Vinyl is the budget route at $40,000–70,000, with a liner every 8–10 years at $5,000–7,500 and a 15–20+ year structure. Fiberglass is a factory shell at $45,000–85,000, a 20–30 year shell, the fastest install and the fewest shapes, and it needs a crane, which matters on a village lot. The vinyl and fiberglass Long Island figures come from a single source; treat them as a starting point.

Yes to both, with one exception. New York requires a barrier at least 48 inches high around any residential pool, with no openings over 4 inches and gates that close and latch on their own, and since December 14, 2006 every pool built or substantially modified must have an approved pool alarm; where a house wall forms part of the barrier, the doors need alarms too. The exception: a pool with an automatic safety cover does not need the alarm. Villages add rules: Southampton Village allows pools only in rear or side yards behind a 4-foot fence with gaps under 4 inches; the Town and Village of East Hampton double the setbacks for pools and pool equipment; Sag Harbor reviews any fence visible from the street in the historic district. Every pool circuit needs GFCI protection and bonded metal parts, by a licensed electrician.