Indoor and enclosed pools are more common in the Southern Highlands than in most of NSW, a direct result of the region’s short outdoor swimming season, and removing one is a genuinely different job to a standard backyard pool removal. The pool itself is demolished using the same core methods as any inground pool, but the fact that it sits inside a building, under a roof, behind glazing or masonry walls, changes access, machinery choice, dust and noise management, and often the approval pathway. This guide covers what’s different about indoor and enclosed pool removal, the two broad scenarios homeowners face, and what it typically costs.
Why Indoor Pools Are More Common in the Highlands
At 650-900m elevation, the Southern Highlands has a genuinely short comfortable outdoor swimming season, often just 10-16 weeks a year. Where budgets allowed, some homeowners addressed this by enclosing the pool in a sunroom, conservatory-style structure, or a dedicated indoor pool room with heating and dehumidification, extending usability across the colder months. These structures appear most often on larger, established properties in Bowral, Burradoo, Sutton Forest and similar premium pockets of the region, though enclosed pools also turn up on more modest properties where a previous owner built a simple skillion-roofed cover over an existing pool.
The economics that drive standard pool removal decisions, an ageing pool, high running costs, low usage, apply just as much to indoor pools, sometimes more so. An enclosed pool typically has additional equipment: heating, dehumidification, ventilation fans, sometimes a cover system, all of which need servicing and add to running costs well beyond what an uncovered outdoor pool requires.
Two Different Scenarios
Indoor and enclosed pool removal generally falls into one of two categories, and the scope, cost and approval pathway differ significantly between them.
Scenario 1: Removing the Pool, Keeping the Room
In this scenario, the enclosing structure (the sunroom, pool house or glazed extension) stays, and only the pool itself is demolished and backfilled, converting the space into a home gym, entertaining room, studio or similar. This is the more common request and, in most cases, the more straightforward of the two.
The pool is drained, the shell demolished (hydraulic breaking for concrete, extraction or break-up for fibreglass) and the resulting void backfilled and compacted to support a new floor finish. Because the work happens inside an existing building envelope, everything has to be done with smaller machinery, typically a mini-excavator small enough to fit through doorways or French doors, and rubble is carried out by hand, wheelbarrow or conveyor rather than loaded directly by an excavator into a truck. This adds time and cost compared to an equivalent outdoor pool.
Floor finish after backfill needs to support the room’s new intended use. A gym or living space floor requires a properly compacted, engineer-assessed base before any slab or floating floor goes down, this is the same principle as building over a filled pool outdoors, just inside a room where the finished floor level often has less tolerance to play with.
Scenario 2: Removing the Pool and the Enclosure
The second scenario is a full removal of both the pool and the surrounding structure, appropriate when the enclosure is at the end of its life (leaking, deteriorated glazing, failed roofing), when the homeowner wants the space back as open garden, or when the enclosure was a low-value structure not worth retaining.
This scope typically involves a demolition contractor removing roofing, glazing, framing and cladding first (with asbestos assessment if the structure predates 1990), followed by the standard pool demolition and backfill process once the enclosure is clear. Site access after the structure comes down is usually much closer to a standard outdoor pool job, larger machinery can often get in once the building is gone.
Access and Machinery Constraints
The defining challenge of any indoor pool job, in either scenario, is access. Standard 8-10 tonne excavators used for outdoor concrete pool demolition typically can’t fit through a domestic doorway or standard double-door opening. Jobs proceed with a combination of:
- Mini-excavators (1-3 tonne) that can be walked through wider openings or lifted in by crane where a large enough opening exists
- Hand-held hydraulic breakers for sections that machinery genuinely can’t reach
- Manual and conveyor-assisted rubble removal, since trucks can’t back up to the pool edge the way they can outdoors
- Dust and noise containment measures, since demolition inside an occupied or adjoining building requires more careful management of dust migration and vibration than open-air work
All of this adds time. An indoor concrete pool removal that would take two to three days outdoors can take four to six days indoors, purely because of the access-driven slower demolition and material handling rate.
Structural, Waterproofing and Damp Considerations
Indoor pool rooms carry their own set of building issues that don’t apply outdoors. Long-term moisture exposure inside an enclosed pool room can affect adjacent framing, wall linings and roof structure, condensation and humidity from an indoor pool, especially an older one without adequate ventilation, sometimes causes hidden timber decay or corrosion in structural fixings nearby. Part of a proper indoor pool removal assessment includes checking the condition of the surrounding structure, not just the pool shell, particularly where the room is to be retained and reused.
Waterproofing membranes around the pool coping and adjoining floor areas also need to be addressed as part of the demolition and backfill scope if the space is being converted to another use, an incomplete waterproofing tie-in is a common source of later problems in converted pool rooms.
Asbestos in Older Indoor Pool Structures
Enclosed pool rooms built before the mid-1980s sometimes used fibro cement sheeting in wall linings, eaves or ceiling panels, and older glazing systems occasionally used asbestos-containing putties or gaskets. Because the work is happening inside an enclosed space with limited natural ventilation, asbestos risk in an indoor pool structure needs to be assessed and managed even more carefully than in an open-air pump shed. Your contractor assesses for asbestos as part of every indoor pool site inspection and engage a licensed asbestos removalist where required, this is a standard, separately costed component of the quote, never something to skip.
Approvals for Indoor and Enclosed Pool Work
Removing the pool alone, with the enclosure retained and no structural changes to the building, generally follows the same exempt development framework as any inground pool removal under Wingecarribee or Wollondilly Shire rules. Where the job also involves removing or altering the enclosing structure itself, roof, walls, glazing, this can trigger a different approval pathway, since it’s a building demolition or alteration rather than simply pool removal. Your contractor confirms the applicable requirement for your specific structure and property before quoting, and if a CDC or DA is needed for the structural component, we explain what that involves.
Indicative Costs for Indoor and Enclosed Pool Removal
| Scope | Typical Price Range |
|---|---|
| Fibreglass pool removal, enclosure retained | $10,000 – $16,000 |
| Concrete pool removal, enclosure retained | $14,000 – $24,000 |
| Pool removal plus dehumidification/heating equipment removal | Add $1,000 – $2,500 |
| Enclosure demolition (roof, glazing, framing) before pool removal | $6,000 – $15,000+ depending on structure size and materials |
| Asbestos-affected enclosure removal | Add licensed removalist quote, confirmed on inspection |
These figures reflect the additional access, containment and hand-labour requirements of working inside a building envelope compared to open-air pool removal. Every indoor or enclosed pool job is priced after a physical site inspection, photos alone rarely capture the access constraints accurately enough for a fixed quote.
Frequently Asked Questions, Indoor and Enclosed Pool Removal
Can a full-size excavator get into an indoor pool room? Rarely, unless the room has an unusually wide opening (a full glass wall system that slides back, for example). Most indoor pool jobs use mini-excavators, hand tools and manual rubble handling, which is why they cost and take longer than an equivalent outdoor pool.
Do you need to remove the roof to get equipment in? Sometimes, particularly for larger concrete indoor pools where there’s no practical way to move a machine or remove rubble through existing doors and windows. This is assessed at the site inspection and the options talked through, including whether temporary roof or glazing removal is more cost-effective than an extended hand-demolition timeline.
Is it cheaper to remove the whole enclosure along with the pool? Not necessarily cheaper overall, but it does often make the pool demolition itself faster and simpler once large machinery can access the space directly. The total cost depends on the enclosure’s construction, size and whether asbestos is present.
What can the space be used for once the pool is gone? Common conversions include home gyms, media or games rooms, studios and additional living space. The floor build-up needs proper compaction and, for anything load-bearing, engineer sign-off, the same principle as building over a filled outdoor pool applies indoors.
Do I need council approval to remove just the pool inside an existing room? In most cases no, if there’s no structural change to the building, this generally follows the standard exempt development pathway that applies to other inground pools in the Wingecarribee and Wollondilly Shires. Your contractor confirms this for your specific property before quoting.
Considering removing an indoor or enclosed pool on your Southern Highlands property? Book a free on-site inspection and access, structure and pricing will be assessed specific to your home.