5/4/10 Three pool waterbags, trashedToday likely marked another major milestone. I've worked on our swimming pool for the last time. Yes!
When we bought our house, I was completely psyched to have my own swimming pool. What kid hasn't dreamed about having a house with a pool someday? I did, and there was definitely some of that kid peeping out when we first walked onto our property.
In many ways, the pool has been great. It's a dream to float around on a hot summer day, a book in one hand and a beer in the other. Yes, six summers at the Casco Cabin gave me many afternoons like that.
But, a pool is also a lot of work, especially at the beginning and end of the season. As a dedicated do-it-yourselfer, I quickly learned how to close and open the pool (as well as how to do all the maintenance in between). Opening is always the worst, because my mind loves to imagine the million things that can go wrong over the winter: the liner ripped, the pump got plugged up, the filter developed a leak, the skimmer line cracked, and (my personal favorite) a skunk crawled under the cover, drowned, and has decomposed in the bottom of the pool.
As the final stage of our house inspection, the buyers of our house wanted to make sure the pool was in working condition. May 4th is WAY too early to open a pool in Maine, but I agreed to pull the cover back part-way and hook up the pump and filter to show that everything worked. In doing so, I discovered that three of the water bags that help hold the cover on over the winter had sprung leaks and were now worthless in their original capacity.
When other water bags ripped in the past, I, of course, held onto them. This time, I contemplated putting them back on the cover when I pulled it back over the pool, using them as a pad under the cinder blocks. My mind naturally defaulted to "keep 'em" mode, figuring that surely the new owner would have use for eighteen feet of blue plastic. Who wouldn't.
Fine. I'll haul them to the dump.
Inspection over, the pool is temporarily closed again, hopefully until ownership has shifted to others, who will assume all that responsibility of maintaining the watery monstrosity.
Of course, they also get to do the bit with the book and the beer, so no need to feel sorry for them.
Swimming pool in a home increases the monetary value of that house. In your case you could have consulted any quality pool leak detectives who would have solved your problem.
ReplyDeleteWell, Jimmie, I never had a leak in the pool, just in the waterbags, so I don't think a lead detective would have been much help. It was pretty clear where the leaks were.
ReplyDeleteAs for a pool increasing the monetary value of that house, I've got to dispute that. Especially in Maine...