We sometimes get emails with the question: “What does a swimming pool cost in France?” Quite honestly, that question doesn’t really make sense. It all depends on what kind of swimming pool you want to buy. In principle, anybody who has a house or holiday home in France can afford a swimming pool. It’s just a matter of adjusting the size and quality of the pool to your budget.
Cheap – Soft – Swimming Pools
The least expensive swimming pools are the so-called ‘Intex pools’. Named after the brand that introduced them. You have probably seen these big blue bags, held up by an inflatable rubber ‘sausage’. I say ‘sausage’ because the French call these floating devices ‘boudin’ (blood sausage). Not strange considering the shape. Depending on the height (50-120cm) and the diameter (up to 5.50 meters) these pools cost between 200 and 800 euros. This includes a simple twisted ladder and a pump with filter. These pools are obviously temporary. If you are very careful with your set-up pool, they may last for three years. Especially for families with children have recently learned to swim (or still need inflatable ‘wings’) it’s ideal. It’s soft, not too deep and you can lean comfortable against the inflated tube. Personally, in ten years, I’ve worn out about five of these and my children have always enjoyed themselves tremendously. For adults who want to swim, however, they are useless.
Affordable pools with tubes or walls
With this second category of pools there is no inflatable edge that holds the structure up, but a kind of skeleton on the outside. These are either metal tubes between which the swimming pool is suspended, or metal or plastic plates that are used ad walls. These pools are often also available in elongated circular form, but the Achilles heel remains durability. Five years, you’ve had it. These built-up construction pools cost between 500 and 2000 euros.
Hard-structure swimming pools
More expensive – but also a lot more durable – are the so-called ‘construction pools’. They have a hard outer wall of thick plastic or treated hardwood fitted with a liner. They relate to the inflatable bath as a jelly fish to a lobster. But for the rest, everything is the same. You still need a stairway to get in and the package usually includes a pump with filter. Also, they are not much different from the plastic ‘automatic lift’ baths. You can go to a somewhat bigger size, but with about 8 m diameter the limit is reached. The durability is a lot better, though. A hard shell setup bath will last up to 15 years. But then you are talking about a wooden bath class 5, so treated tropical hardwood – a more expensive pool. There is also a lot of junk in the market, with baths that have to be written off after about five years. With these types of swimming pools the price range is pretty big, from 1,000€ for a DIY kit to tens of thousands of euros for a complete project.
Tip: In a terrain with sufficient height difference, you can also build a wooden bath against an elevated terrace. Your swimming pool looks like “in-ground” from the house. As you can see on the following two pictures of one and the same pool. Incidentally, this is a project of our own swimming pool builder in South-Burgundy.
In-ground swimming pool – a long term investment
Basically, water is not meant to stand in a receptacle above ground. In nature, water always flows into a hole or through a ditch. Therefore, in-ground swimming pools always give a more natural feeling. Even if it is basically a big, bright blue concrete box in the ground, the water at ground level feels more natural. In dug-out baths, the surrounding earth helps to keep everything together, which means that in principle there is no limitation on the size. Except of course for the size of your garden or barn (for indoor pools). In-ground pools range from around 20,000 euros for a simple and modest size entry-level pool. Once you start looking at a larger, good quality dug-in pool (monobloc or concrete) with built-in staircase, lighting, technical installation, safety cover and / or alarm, a beautifully landscaped terrace and garden repair, you should count on at least € 50,000 euros all-in.
Want to get a specific pool price? Let us give you a quote!
If you want to build a swimming pool in the (South) Burgundy and you want to know all about the costs, please contact us. We are happy to give you a free cost approximation or very precise quote for your project. If required, English-language support is available.