Mild January has contractors already digging for indoor pools

Most people in January are only daydreaming about a swimming pool, but higher temperatures and hardly any snow means jumping into the pool could come sooner for some.

News Center 7's Katy Andersen spoke to a local pool company that's now months ahead of schedule, with crews at work, thanks to Mother Nature.

Breaking ground in January is a first for Paul Schear, the owner of Heatwave Pools.

“We’ve never done it before,” he said. “We’ve built an indoor pool, we have broken ground on those before in January, but never an outdoor pool in January.”

On Thursday, Schear and his team were working on one of many outdoor pool projects.

“We dug one last week, we dug one two days ago, and we are doing another one next week,” he said.

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Normally this time of year, the Miami Valley is dealing with snow and ice, putting construction projects to a halt.

Storm Center 7 meteorologists say on average we get around 8 inches of snow in January. This year less than an inch has fallen, making it the fifth least snowiest January recorded to date.

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Schear credits the mild weather to allowing them to start three months ahead of schedule.

“Some days it's a little cold, chilly. I definitely prefer the heat,” he said.

Jesse Mercer is the construction manager for the site in Liberty Twp., and is usually out of work this time of year.

“I am glad to be back to work. I don’t like sitting for the winter and getting unemployment. It’s not my favorite,” he said.

Still working in January has its challenges.

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“It takes longer to move around, our machines can’t move around, we can’t back-build. The cold temperatures are going to slow us down from being able to pour concrete properly, so that will have to wait,” Schear said.

But it’s keeping crews busy in the middle of a record-breaking January and may make their clients happier as well.

“If they have their pool earlier and it’s warm out, they’ll jump in right away,” Schear said.

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