Four-Motrin day?

[mystreba]

Three hours mowing on the tractor. Another hour with push mower and string trimmer. Fixed the $%#& broken deck adjustment gear Cleaned the tractor. Took a tree down. Cleaned up 4 perennial beds. Hard-raked the gravel pathway. Transplanted some yucca plants. Finished opening the pool.

What an awesome day! (I feel bad for you folks dealing with rain)

 

[RobertBrown]

I thought that you just took delivery on that thing....why are you fixing it?
What does "opening the pool" mean?
I tried some Mc Chouffe Artisanal Belgian brown Ale.
Check your inbox.....

 

[mystreba]

I thought that you just took delivery on that thing....why are you fixing it?

My question exactly. The deck adjustment gear is made of some cheap metal alloy and it sheared a gear tooth. I'm still (cautiously) optimistic though

What does "opening the pool" mean?

LOTS OF WORK! Get filter element out of winter storage. Assemble filter. Remove all winter plugs. Remove antifreeze and gunk from skimmers. Assemble, prime and start pump. Load filter with diatomacious earth (DE). Remove, clean and store winter cover. Clean, lube and lock down all winter cover anchors. Scrub the deck. Get all deck furniture out of storage and clean. Get diving board out of storage and install.

And then....

- shock, shock shock (with chlorine)
- backflush filter and reload with DE
- clean robotic vacuum
- skim surface

...over and over and over again for about a week. You lucky folks in florida don't have to worry about all that! The good thing is, once it's open it isn't really all that hard to maintain. And after a hard day working in the yard, it sure feels good!

 

[twall]

What an awesome day! (I feel bad for you folks dealing with rain)

I feel bad for us, too...:frown: Yesterday was the first rain-free day we'd had in a week - and today it's raining again, with no end in sight......I could cry. No wonder JD's in a bad mood (if Michigain is as bad as NY).

 

[RobertBrown]

I feel bad for us, too...:frown: Yesterday was the first rain-free day we'd had in a week - and today it's raining again, with no end in sight......I could cry. No wonder JD's in a bad mood (if Michigain is as bad as NY).

If it makes you feel any better, I'm envious of your rain. We haven't had rain in three weeks. With the low humidity, high temperatures, and no rain in the forecast, the landscape is starting to wilt. Soon we will have wildfires if the rain does not come.

...over and over and over again for about a week. You lucky folks in florida don't have to worry about all that! The good thing is, once it's open it isn't really all that hard to maintain. And after a hard day working in the yard, it sure feels good!

I don't know much about pools, but I think we have a different set of issues here. The pool becomes more difficult to maintain in the summer as the direct sunlight increases the chlorine requirement and then things get complicated. Something about ph levels and....whatever. I decided pools are too much trouble. I won't consider buying a home with a pool. Some people love em, as we sure have lots of them here.
I have heard that because our water table is so close to the surface, some pools cannot ever be drained as the water will force it's self though or float the whole pool.

 

[twall]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm envious of your rain. We haven't had rain in three weeks. With the low humidity, high temperatures, and no rain in the forecast, the land cape is starting to wilt. Soon we will have wildfires if the rain does not come.

How's this : Let's petition "management" upstairs to split the difference between us. You could have half our rain (only 3 full dry days in 3 weeks) and we can have half your dry days.......sounds like the weather guy up there isn't paying a lot of attention. :frown:

It's like these weather patterns aren't really moving, they are just doing the same thing over and over for a month......we're flooding, while you're drying to a crisp! It's so wet, very few farmers have been able to plow! Last year, this time, they'd plowed, disked, and PLANTED!

 

[mystreba]

How's this : Let's petition "management" upstairs

Good luck with that :wink:

 

[mystreba]

I don't know much about pools, but I think we have a different set of issues here. The pool becomes more difficult to maintain in the summer as the direct sunlight increases the chlorine requirement and then things get complicated. Something about ph levels and....whatever. I decided pools are too much trouble. I won't consider buying a home with a pool. Some people love em, as we sure have lots of them here.
I have heard that because our water table is so close to the surface, some pools cannot ever be drained as the water will force it's self though or float the whole pool.

You gotta add stabilizer as the temps go up, to keep the chlorine from evaporating. Pretty easy to do around here, but we obviously aren't dealing with quite the same level of sun exposure.

Ph seems like a non-issue. Haven't had to adjust mine in 5 years. Always right on the money.

I've seen pools float out of the ground - gotta keep 'em full! But most of them have weep holes in the bottom, with plugs. When you empty the pool you remove the plugs to relieve the groundwater pressure. Then you just have to pump the groundwater coming through the holes. But you should never have to empty a pool unless you're refinishing it. Mine's 35 years old, and truth be told could use refinishing. But it's low on my priority list

 

[JDgreen]

I feel bad for us, too...:frown: Yesterday was the first rain-free day we'd had in a week - and today it's raining again, with no end in sight......I could cry. No wonder JD's in a bad mood (if Michigain is as bad as NY).

IT'S WORSE HERE. I have measured SEVEN ACTUAL INCHES OF RAIN THIS MONTH, FIVE within the last two weeks.

I am already three weeks behind in yard care and garden preparation so far this spring....:thumbdown:

 

[RobertBrown]

You gotta add stabilizer as the temps go up, to keep the chlorine from evaporating. Pretty easy to do around here, but we obviously aren't dealing with quite the same level of sun exposure.

Ph seems like a non-issue. Haven't had to adjust mine in 5 years. Always right on the money.

I've seen pools float out of the ground - gotta keep 'em full! But most of them have weep holes in the bottom, with plugs. When you empty the pool you remove the plugs to relieve the groundwater pressure. Then you just have to pump the groundwater coming through the holes. But you should never have to empty a pool unless you're refinishing it. Mine's 35 years old, and truth be told could use refinishing. But it's low on my priority list

Perhaps my information is outdated, help me out here:
What is the estimated service life for a concrete /gunnite pool? How often should you resurface or repaint? How many hours a week do you spend maintaining your pool total, inculding the "Opening and Closing"? What are the annual operating costs, including electricity?

Last time I checked it was "I don't think so". Between the the pets the wife and the machines, I've got enough to maintain and have time for my personnal interests.
Thanks for the help.