Didn't like THIS surprise...

[Bird]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>It's more work and expense (chemicals, supplies, electricity, propane for heating) than it is worth</font color=blue>

I agree! Yours sure is pretty. We just had a rather plain rectangular pool the last 10 years we lived in town, and I'm not sorry; both our girls learned to swim like ducks, but after they got old enough to start working as lifeguards during the summer, the pool saw little use. That's another of those high maintenance possessions I vowed to never own again./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[Harv]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

Well, I cleaned the filter elements and put everything back together. Kinda surprised I didn't find any damage to the filter housing. I know stainless steel has some elasticity, but I would have expected to see at least some deformation. Maybe it will reveal itself when I finally get the pool filled back up so I can fire up the pumps. Ever stand next to a large metal canister that might explode? Puts a real strain on the ol' pacemaker. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Mark -
Yeah, I guess captions would have helped on the pictures. The bottom left shows the canister as I found it -- keeper ring still intact on the upper half, but clearly separated from the lower part. The bottom right pict shows the filter with the top part of the canister removed, revealing some really grody filter elements. I guess it would help to know what they look like clean, but take my word for it -- these are grody. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bill -
I think in Sunnyvale swimming pools are required. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Fact is, I don't (usually) mind the pool maintenance. I spend about 60 hours a week sitting in front of a computer, so it feels good to get outside and skim some leaves or fiddle with the mechanisms. Okay, I don't like changing the D.E., but on a good year I only have to do that a couple of times.

Mind you, my wife (master's degree in molecular biology) takes care of the chemistry and water quality. Plus we installed a "chlorine factory" a number of years ago which runs electrical current through salt brine to produce liquid chlorine and meters it automatically into the pool. All I have to do is dump a sack of rock salt into it every couple of months.

Now, when/if we move permanently up to the property, I haven't decided if I'll dig a pool. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Thomas -
The only thing affected by this sort of thing is the filter housing. When the filter elements get too clogged up, the pressure from the pump has nowhere to go. It's times like this when I think maybe a pressure switch to shut off the pumps would be handy. Then again, this is the first time it's happened in 14 years. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Darin, Rob -
I don't know about Muhammad, but my pool was there when I bought the house. In fact, being a water rat since I was little, the pool was the deciding factor when I was house shopping. Pools are not uncommon in this area, and it has worked out great.

Bird -
My daughter learned to swim when she was two, and now, at age 8, is in her third year on the swim team and is doing very well (see attached for some proud daddy photos). My boy is taking a little longer, but we think he's going to "take the plunge" this year (he is three). We didn't give them lessons or anything -- they just want to do what they see us doing and we're there to help. There's no motivation like self-motivation. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Muhammad -
Your pool area looks very nice! Since you've already impressed me with your sense of asthetics, I just gotta ask if you did your own pool design, or did it come with the house?

 

[Thomas]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

Nice..very nice!
Not sure what us country boys would do around those cement ponds,for we still swim in the brooks and ponds. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Just what would the maintenance etc.. cost run per year.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Muhammad]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>Now, when/if we move permanently up to the property, I haven't decided if I'll dig a pool.</font color=blue>

Backhoe!!

<font color=blue>if you did your own pool design, or did it come with the house?</font color=blue>

Came with the house... black liner and all! I rebuilt the landscape, though... it was quite overgrown, needed to be stripped down to dirt, etc... that was a job. 10 tons of red tipple sitting there, and 5 tons in the front. I think that was worth it though, since all I will have to do in the spring is minor raking of the rock if any settled, or got washed away (shouldn't happen since it's stone) and blow the debris off of it with a leaf blower... good as new! Mulch would have been a lot cheaper ($15/ton vs up to $100/ton for the stone) but it requires more maintenance, doesn't look anywhere near as good, and attracts termites... or so I hear.

 

[Muhammad]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>Just what would the maintenance etc.. cost run per year.</font color=blue>

I think it comes out to about $1000 for May 1 - October 1 operation (about 5 months)... for everything... but I rarely use the heater; that would add another +/- $100/month in propane. That is assuming no repairs or service calls... pool service charges $72/hour plus parts. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif (Haven't made it through a season without at least one service call.)

 

[Bird]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

That's a cute gal, Harv. If I still had kids at home, I might want a pool again myself. I didn't know those pumps built enough pressure to blow the filter cannister apart. Mine was a lot different; a "sand filter" (big fiberglass housing) with a pressure gauge, so all I had to do was clean out the strainer at the pump, turn a handle on top of the filter, turn on the pump, and it backwashed the filter into the sewer.

I never knew exactly what it cost, but I guesstimated that my little pool cost me about $50 (electricity, chemicals, and water) a month on a year round basis to maintain, since I did it all myself and never had any service calls to pay.

Bird

 

[Harv]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

Just to wrap this one up --

Got the pool filled back up in just over 9 hours. Fired up the pump and added some new D.E., and all is well. I'm still amazed that I didn't have to do any repairs. It's almost as if someone wanted to make sure I changed the filter like I promised.

Hmmmmmm. I thought I heard my wife get up in the middle of the night. You don't suppose ... /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Bird - I've got a couple of horsepower pushing water through a 2-inch pipe into a tank which is nearly 4 feet high and 18 inches in diameter. My brain is too frazzled at the moment to do the math, but I think we're talking about some pretty good hydraulic pressure here. With the right plumbing, I think I could hook a log-splitter up to it. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Muhammad]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>we're talking about some pretty good hydraulic pressure here</font color=blue>

Oh yeah. I think mine runs... 65-75GPM. Log splitter? Toys! I'm thinking boom arm rotary cutter. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[bpence]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

Harv, I'm guessing here, but I'd bet your daughter got her looks from her Mom. Nothing personal, just seen a photo of you.

Pools are one of those great ambiguities in life. Some people love 'em.....other folks wouldn't have another. We put in a 28' round above ground 8 years ago. Built it into the side of a small hill, put on a deck, and it almost looks like an in-ground (but not anything like the ones you guys are showing). Anyway, last year when I re-filled the pool and hooked up the filter, apparantly I didn't secure one of the pipes coming off the pump quite as well as I should have. Filled the pool, fired up the filter, and went to town. When I came home an hour or so later, I had the greatest water gusher you'd ever want to see blowing 20' straight up into the air. It was pretty in the bright sun light. I figure it it blew out 7,000 to 8,000 gallons of freshly chemicaled water before I was able to control the gusher.

I don't view the pool as all that much work and figure it only costs about $500 per year to maintain. Even with our kids mostly grown, we find that now my wife and I can use and enjoy the pool without a few hundred kids jumping in and out all day. And, nothing better than jumping in on a hot day after 3 or 4 hours of mowing.

Bob Pence

 

[Harv]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>bet your daughter got her looks from her Mom</font color=blue>

Why does everyone say that? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Wish I could have seen your geyser, Bob. Sounds like a thing of beauty. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I agree that pools aren't that much trouble (usually). Of course, I already admitted that my wife shares a lot of the duties. In fact, I'd have to ask her how much it's costing us per month. I don't think it's too bad since we got the "chlorine factory" (disregarding the couple of grand it cost to buy and install it), plus the water is solar heated, which works out well from about April through September.

The real pain, as any of you other pool owners can probably attest, is when you let the chemistry get away from you for a few weeks and the dreaded algae monstor takes over. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif We've had some real battles with that stuff over the years, so now we're very diligent about the regular upkeep. It's one of those things that's easy if you stay on top of it. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif