Demand for in-ground pools soars with COVID-19 cabin fever in Windsor

Kal Jouni's daughter Myrna jumps up and down with anticipation as she watches a crew from Paradigm Pools install a pool in their backyard.

"We were supposed to be the last one of the year back in October of last year, but they couldn't start till the beginning of this year," said Jouni, who ordered the pool in April 2020. 

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Jouni wants to have the pool this year to give his family something to do rather than sit around watching TV.

"Last year, the kids were stuck at home all summer, really had nothing to do, all the parks were closed, just wanted something for them to do and enjoy the summer this summer. Hopefully everything opens back up so we can get back to normal," said Jouni.

Meghan Mailloux, co-owner of Paradigm Pools, said they are getting triple and quadruple the number of calls for estimates they usually get.

"They're not able to travel or they anticipate that it's unlikely they'll be able to travel for the next few summers. They're taking that money and investing it. A lot of people are remortgaging their homes and rolling the price of a pool into their homes," said Mailloux, who says they are all booked up for this year.

She said anyone wanting a pool won't be splashing around in it until next year.

"We're getting 30 to 40 requests, and they come in through our Facebook page, they come in via email. The phone rings like crazy," she said, adding that the demand for hot tubs is also just as high. 

The City of Windsor issued 110 pool permits in 2019 — they only had four requests by this time that year.

Last year, the city received 23 requests between January and March, rounding out the year with 176 permits issued.

This year they have already issued 89 permits.

The Jouni family expect their pool will be ready by next week.