We'll just put a POOL in the Back Yard!

By Kelly DeBrosse | eXp Realty | 23+ years serving Raleigh, Wake & surrounding counties

Sometimes we’re out looking at homes, and the buyers love the house so much that they immediately head out back to talk about where they could put a pool. They’re figuring out how it would sit off the deck, where the chairs would go and whether there’s still room for the kids and dogs to play. Meanwhile, I’m looking for information that could change that whole conversation: is the home on city sewer or septic?

Around here, most homes inside the city limits don’t have enough yard for the inground pool and surrounding space many buyers are imagining. That often leads us toward larger lots,

where we begin seeing more homes on septic systems. Before we assume that big backyard will work, we need to know where the septic tank is, where the distribution box is, where the drainfield lines run and, especially, where the repair area is located.

I worked with a super cool couple whose experience is a good example of why this matters. They were ready to find their next home and sell the one they were living in. We did our homework on the value of their current home, got them prequalified for their purchase and started looking. It didn’t take long to find the perfect home, complete with the elusive perfect music room and a location close to both of their workplaces.

Everything went smoothly until we got to inspections, which is not an uncommon place to hit an obstacle. Both HVAC systems had been suffocated and overworked, and both needed to be replaced. Between moving, buying a home, selling a home and the kids switching schools, this family already had a tremendous amount going on. Now we had two HVAC systems to address as well.

Their current home was a beautiful story-and-a-half on an acre, surrounded by beautiful land, with an inground pool just off the back deck. I knew it was going to be a buyer favorite. We had made sure it was fully prepared to show beautifully, and our summer market timing for a home with a pool couldn’t have been better.

Then we learned that the septic field was saturated and the drainfield wasn’t receiving wastewater as it should. When we went to look for the designated septic repair area, it was smack dab where the pool had been installed. I remember thinking, “What the fuck?” We already had a family managing two transactions and an HVAC problem at the home they were buying. Now the home they were selling had a septic problem, and the land reserved for a replacement drainfield had a pool on it.

It has been long enough that I don’t remember every step of how that situation was ultimately handled. What I remember very clearly is discovering where that pool sat and understanding how much more complicated the problem had just become.

A septic repair area is land reserved for a replacement drainfield if the existing one fails. Nothing may be installed there today, so it can look like an unused part of the yard. But that space needs to remain available and suitable for the home’s future wastewater needs. Excavating it for a pool, building over it or damaging the soil can take away the very option you need when the existing system stops working. NC State Extension’s septic guide explains why this area needs protection.

Depending on the county and the records available, I can sometimes pull up GIS information and septic documents while we’re still standing at the property. We can compare the recorded layout with the yard in front of us and begin figuring out whether the pool plan looks workable or needs more investigation. Those records are a starting point. We still need to confirm the actual locations and what will be approved before anyone starts construction.

There are also situations where we can make changes. I’ve been involved in multiple projects that included moving septic tanks and lines to make a plan work. Early in my career, a structural engineer answered a question I asked with, “It’s sticks and bricks. It can all be fixed.” That has stayed with me ever since. It changed the way I approach a problem, because I want to understand what a solution would involve, what it would cost and whether it makes sense for that particular property and owner.

I’ve been involved in creating more basement headroom where the work included lowering septic components to maintain the slope needed for drainage. I’ve also been involved in making room for a circular driveway by taking an existing system out of service, having additional soil evaluated and relocating the lines. Those things can be possible, but they need to be designed and approved for the property. Another open area of yard is only useful for septic if the soil and site conditions support the proposed system.

I’ve written before about a permitting problem that changed an entire home design. Sometimes understanding the requirements leads us to a different solution that still accomplishes what the owners wanted.

That is the good news: a conflict with the existing layout doesn’t necessarily end the plan. We may be able to find a solution that works within the budget. We may also find that the available options are too expensive or that the property simply cannot support what the buyer wants to do. I would much rather help someone work through those questions while they still have a choice about buying the home.

I’ve seen screened porches built over septic tanks. I’ve seen both the existing drainfield area and the repair area damaged so badly that the home could no longer use its septic system. On two recent occasions, I’ve seen circular driveways built over the only designated repair areas the properties had. Once those areas are lost, the owner may be facing a much more complicated wastewater solution, assuming a suitable option can be approved.

This is why understanding what you’re doing on your own property matters so much. An improvement can damage your home’s value if it interferes with the systems that make the home usable. County requirements are there to protect things an owner may not realize need protecting.

If the home is on city sewer, we still have homework to do. The lots are often smaller, and property boundaries, setbacks and easements can reduce the space available for a pool. These considerations apply to septic properties too. Figuring out the plumbing is one part of determining whether the backyard plan will work.

I usually start with the recorded plat, which we can often pull from the county’s online records at no cost. It shows the lot boundaries and may show setback lines and recorded easements. For a septic property, we also need the septic permit and its site drawing, which may be available through the county’s permitting portal. We may need several records to understand what affects the area we’re considering.

There could be a setback requiring certain improvements to stay 15 feet from a property line, or a drainage or utility easement crossing the spot where you pictured the pool. The requirements vary, so we need to confirm what applies to the pool, surrounding deck and any additional structures. HOA documents also need to be reviewed for restrictions and required approvals.

The plat gives us a place to begin without immediately spending money. Before committing to placement, I would bring in a surveyor to confirm the boundaries and show the relevant easements, existing improvements and proposed layout on a current survey. That gives us measured information to work from as we pursue approvals.

Alongside location, the next major thing to check is impervious surface: how much of the lot can be covered by surfaces that keep rain from soaking into the ground. The house, driveway and existing patios may already use much of the property’s allowance. We need to understand how the local rules count the proposed pool project, including the decking, patio and other improvements around it. There may be room between the property lines without enough remaining allowance for everything you want to build. Raleigh’s residential stormwater guidance explains the information needed to evaluate that coverage.

During the busiest years of the pandemic market, buyers were often deciding whether to buy a home before they had much opportunity to learn about it. The pressure to compete meant accepting more uncertainty, asking for fewer repairs and sometimes moving forward with issues that deserved much more attention.

What I’m seeing in today’s market is that many buyers have more time and more homes to choose from. If adding a pool is an important part of the purchase, there is more opportunity to pull the records, review the septic layout, investigate setbacks and easements, and determine whether the project is realistic. That is time worth using before committing to a home based on what you hope to do with it.

For sellers, this has been a difficult adjustment. After years of watching homes sell quickly, at or above asking price, with very little requested in repairs, it can be frustrating to face a buyer who wants documentation, further inspections or a problem resolved before closing. But buyers with other options have less reason to take on an expensive uncertainty. Sellers should expect questions about permits and major property issues, even if those questions weren’t asked when they bought the home.

If you have a pool, a porch, an expanded driveway or other improvements, gathering the records should be part of preparing your home to sell. Finding a problem early gives us time to understand it and explore the options. Finding it while you’re also buying another home, packing and getting the kids ready to change schools makes an already demanding process that much harder.

And if you’re the buyer standing in the backyard telling me where you want the pool, I’m happy to help figure out how to make it happen. Before you buy the house counting on that plan, let’s find out what the property will allow and what it will take to build it.