Abandoned Pool - Suggestions Please

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carnivalday said:
Just went to Amazon and ordered some really nice acrylic glasses. Great great idea. No glass will be allowed in my pool. Probably should have ordered acrylic years ago; my floor is tile, and Ive been horrified that if I drop a glass, Ill be picking up tiny shards for the next 5 years. Great idea!!
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I used to live over formica and hardwood. Didn't realize how forgiving those are. Moved to granite and travertine and my clumsiness revealed itself after the first drop. That glass didn't just break, it exploded! Those surfaces will break some plastics, too, but at least you don't get the micro shards...
 
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Will start looking for all the pool dining ware. Definitely no glass at the pool - we have tile floors in the house and dropped a glass a couple years ago . . . I just swept up another shard :(

I just order the Suncast hose reel (another sale item). And am stalking the other items . . .

Already have the serving trays (and cart), I am not making multiple trips.

We don't have a doorbell - our property is country - if you make it past the gate, and the dogs, you're in.

Our Dolphin just arrived and has been working for a day now . . . wow! Definitely worth it!

Looking at the solar covers and reels now - going to go with the 2 reel suggestion (2- 25' x 25' covers along the long side of the pool as opposed to 1 - 25' x 50' reel at the short side). Recommendations on brands?

And, suggestions for insect repelling plants? Something I can either plant in the surrounding landscape or in pots for around the pool?

~ TWAcres
 
Re: storing the robots in the boxes- Remember that you're *not* supposed to let them rest upright as that compresses their brushes. They need to be either on the caddie or on their side. That's what Maytronics says, and I imagine other brands also.

Maddie :flower:
 
Try citronella plants for the bugs. I’m about as far across the county as possible for you so we probably have different flying things, but for me they stopped darn near all of ours. For us it always seemed like the citronella candles attracted more bugs. I wanted to hate the plants too. But they worked.

TWAcres said:
Looking at the solar covers and reels now - going to go with the 2 reel suggestion
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just for planning purposes, The reels have about 18 inches of reel, brace and handle past the cover. So for 2 of them side by side you would have about a 3 ft gap between the covers. You would probably need to stagger them one closer, one further in order to have the 2 halves line up closer together. Easily doable but the back reel will probably need longer straps to reach.
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Re: storing the robots in the boxes- Remember that you're *not* supposed to let them rest upright as that compresses their brushes. They need to be either on the caddie or on their side. That's what Maytronics says, and I imagine other brands also.

Maddie :flower:
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Oh! So did I accidently do something right by storing it on its side in the box? Score one for the "rather be lucky than smart" crowd.
 
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Pool covers pros and cons (I gave just a little thought to pool covers, and decided against them. Others can add to pros/cons, but this is what I came to terms with):

Pro:
- saves water by reducing evaporation, which:
- keeps the water warmer, which:
- saves money by reducing heating costs

Con:
- not as nice to look at as the plaster/pebble surface and water
- needs to be replaced often
- hassle to go swimming (have to take off the cover)
- hassle after swimming (have to put on the cover)
- because of the two preceding, I predicted I would not use my pool as much (especially for those "quick dips," which are my favorite thing to do with my pool)
- have to look at the reel, one way or another
- have to store the reel somewhere if I don't want to look at it (which means man-handling it twice a swim)
- inhibits skimming (I wanna say completely negates skimming, but I've never used one to know for sure)
- no proof of this, but my gut tells me they increase danger (I think I'd rather have my weak swimmers fall into water than to fall into a pool cover. Any stats on this?)
- collects leaves. Yes, a cover would keep stuff off the bottom, but what happens to leaves that fall on the cover? Do they slip back into the water as you reel up, or do they get caught on the cover, and then get reeled up, or do you have to clean them off as you reel? Or all three? Can't imagine how a cover keeps your pool cleaner, certainly would make maintenance more difficult, I would think.

I would love to take advantage of the heat retention properties of a cover, but that lone advantage doesn't anywhere near outweigh the hassle and disadvantages of a cover. Is that just me?
 
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Not just you. I got a lovely solar cover (no reel or anything) to help keep in heat. Took me only one time to put it on and one time to drag it off to decide, nope, Ill deal with colder water, which wont be that much longer. I enjoy sitting by my pool and enjoying the water too much to deal with that monstrosity. Into the dumpster it went.
 
The danger is SUPER real. My dog though it was a shortcut. If he had landed face down, he would have drowned by the time I got him and 400 gallons trapped with him to the side of the pool. Luckily he was trapped head above water.
 
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What was that movie where the bad guy falls into the pool cover and gets trapped and drowns? Hollywood, maybe, but that certainly seems possible...
 
Thank you for the pool cover input... Will need to think now on this... We have minimal leaves blowing in the pool, the pool is completely fenced (keeping most creatures and kids out, but the frogs are loving the pool reno). Thinking of the covering and uncovering though... Any thoughts on those large lily pad types?

- TWAcres
 
They're not so expensive that giving one of those cheap, cut-to-size bubble wrap versions a try for a season isn't going to break the bank (before you go with a reel type). If it suits you, great, if not, you're only out, what, a bill or so. I just know I'm like carnivalday in that I wouldn't make it past the first attempt! ;)

Lily pads? I would think they'd be easier to handle, but still have a lot of the same disadvantages. I'm remembering visiting a friend's pool (before I had a pool) and they would peel back a small area of their bubble-wrap and swim in that little space. That seemed dangerous to me, but it also struck me that the thing was inhibiting their use of the pool. Too much trouble to take off completely, they instead compromised their pool experience by, in essence, shrinking their beautiful pool to the size of a hot tub. Just all seemed counter intuitive to me. If you were religious about taking out all the lily pads, that's one thing. But if you start getting lazy, and haul out a few and try to swim around them, that seems dangerous to me... like if you inadvertently came up under one and got tangled up. I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but, well, that's what I do...
 
Beating this up a bit more... I swim in my pool in two ways. When the kids come, we're at it for hours. But the rest of the time, the majority of the time, I work up a sweat in any number of ways, and strip down and dive in. Luxury!! A few quick laps, then I'm out (10 minutes, tops, usually less). I might do that once a day, or two or three times. That's my primary pool use. I wouldn't do that if my pool was covered, I just know myself, I wouldn't. The rest of the time, I like staring at the pool. From the deck, or from inside the house. I would not want to be looking at a cover. Water, for me anyway, has very therapeutic calming properties, whether I'm in it, or just sitting by it, or just looking at it. Bubble wrap... not so much!
 
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Dirk said:
What was that movie where the bad guy falls into the pool cover and gets trapped and drowns? Hollywood, maybe, but that certainly seems possible...
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I had the thick cover, maybe that made it worse but from what I saw with the dog I would not have been able to get myself out if I fell onto the cover. Somebody else may not have been able to get me out either being 3 X the size of my dog.

**but this is a freakishly rare problem**. Easily workable. Instantly we had a no dogs or kids in the fenced area when the pool was covered rule.

we did not like our cover either. We wanted to race down to the pool and jump in. Instead we ran down to the pool and spent a few minutes lining the cover up so it would roll right. It killed the mood every time. and there were plenty of times we just skipped it altogether like @Dirk is thinking he would.

that being said there are millions of people who don’t mind and love having them. You don’t have to hate it and you won’t know until you try. I am thrilled to know that I don’t like it or it would bug me until the end of time that I didn’t have one.

the circle solar float things leave too much water exposed so a lot of water still evaporates and takes precious warmth with it.
 
Dirk, Im like you. There were about 6 thousand times last year during our long summer that Id get off the mower, soaking wet and just miserable, walk up to the house and think "oh man, if I only had a pool, Id jump in right now." And thats why I decided to go ahead and put one in, so I could work outside, get all hot and sweaty, and jump in!
 
carnivalday said:
get off the mower, soaking wet and just miserable, walk up to the house and think "oh man, if I only had a pool, Id jump in right now."
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THIS is just what I do!! Then jump back on the mower with the nice wet, cool clothes on and do a few more laps on the mower! You are going to LOVE it!!!!

No cover here due to worry of the cats doing just what NewDude's dog did! Not worth and I LOVE to look at my pool as well!

Frogs in the pool=frog log. Look them up on amazon. With your size pool you might need more than one.
 
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another pro on the solar cover - and the whole reason they keep the water warmer - less evaporation, which may be a real concern for a big pool in a drought-prone area. I generally deal with the hassle of removal and replacement more at the ends of the swim season and just leave it off when it is really hot as the water gets too warm for me. I agree it kind of kills the mood, and the water is prettier without, but a compromise could be to just have it on at night and take it off in the morning. they really do make a difference in temperature retention in a dry climate, though.
 
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