Today Officially started our 2023 Pool Season ... Sort Of!

[VinnyinNJ]

So today was a bust as far as working on the pool, we went out about 8 AM and it was low 30's with a slight wind. We figured we'd wait a while and start ... it never happened since we knew we had to stop around 11 to take care of something that came up (something ALWAYS comes up!) so it became a restful day.

But this is what 2 days worth of grunting, bending, lifting and spreading yielded:





I just remembered, we did remove the 12 bags of pebbles out of my wife's car and brought them into the back by the pool ... so it was a 99.5% unproductive day!

 

[Newdude]

Is the pool all resin ? (I seem to recall it is). Anywho, nothing is allowed to touch anything metal like the bottom rail or wall (if applicable). Rocks, grass, mulch, etc will collect moisture and the morning dew and accelerate the rust that will be the ultimate downfall of said metal parts. It doesn't need a big gap, but 1 inch or so needs to be free and clear from touching.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Is the pool all resin ? (I seem to recall it is). Anywho, nothing is allowed to touch anything metal like the bottom rail or wall (if applicable). Rocks, grass, mulch, etc will collect moisture and the morning dew and accelerate the rust that will be the ultimate downfall of said metal parts. It doesn't need a big gap, but 1 inch or so needs to be free and clear from touching.

Thanks for that! The walls are steel but everything else is resin.

I always thought that rocks were OK against the pool since they don't absorb moisture and they dry quickly. When we bought our last pool we were told don't let dirt touch the pool but rocks would be OK, I could swear the pool store said it was because of the acid in the soil. It had a 15 year warranty and it lasted 20 years and was thinking "well it lasted a long time". So with that knowledge our new pool has a 30 year warranty and I was thinking "it should last maybe 40 years but we won't be around". Funny, our friends have a pool that is at least 22+ years old and it's still going strong. My wife asked how can it be our pool only lasted 20 years and they still have theirs being OK ... maybe it was those rocks we were told it was ok to put around the pool!

I will push the rocks back to give the pool some space.

 

[Newdude]

I always thought that rocks were OK against the pool since they don't absorb moisture and they dry quickly

They still collect plenty of drops of water and then restrict airflow as those drops evaporate. The ground below them stays damp longer also. Nothing touches the pool. No exceptions.

 

[phonedave]

*forgot to mention about the lights.

We moved mid pandemic and needed a ton of things while the stores had empty shelves. I found that Amazon's lights were 50% the cost of the home centers and when they came, they appeared to be the HD/Lowes brand in plain cardboard boxes. Then I started checking everything else and found many things far cheaper online, from door handles to gutter downspouts. Many things like the electrical outlets/switches and door handles were the actual name brand items but sold in a 10+ pack.

I was doing an extensive remodel of two bathrooms many years ago. This was when HD was just starting to become really big around here, and I was still used to buying things at supply houses.

There was a local plumbing supply I used to use (they have since closed) Palermo supply. They were the biggest in the area with multiple locations. I went to them and got a quote on all of the stuff (fixtures, toilets, shower surrounds, soaking tub, etc) I needed. I then went to HD and asked for a quote on the same stuff. The ran it through and it was overall a lot cheaper. The woman putting the quote together then said "Some of this stuff is special order, so we will place an order with Palermo, and when it comes in we will call you". I was confused and asked how they could sell it cheaper than Palermo could when they were buying it from Palermo. She explained that they go into an area, make a deal with the biggest supplier in the area, that the supplier will keep it's prices above HD, and in exchange they get all the HD business. I said, not all of there prices, there are a few individual things on the quote that were cheaper. She than matches those prices and said they would be calling Palermo to get Palermo to raise their prices. It is amazing the business deals and price collusion that goes on at times.

 

[phonedave]

I do put a canvas tarp in the bed but its mostly to ease the transition from bed to tailgate once you open it & keep the rocks from getting stuck in there. Makes it easier to get all of em out too. We don't have real fancy trucks anyway but they do have bedliners. I am lucky to have friends with large equipment. We happen to have a backhoe at our house right now that my husband was working on & we can use it.

I keep looking at mini track loaders, but they are so expensive (even if you order cheap ones right from China)

It has become a running joke in my house that my wife maintains the "B list" of things I can't have - for some reason they all start with B

- Boat
- Backhoe
- Bobcat
- Blackstone (to be fair I have a charcoal grill, a gas grill, a pellet smoker, and a pellet pizza oven - I am running out of space and I have a plancha to put on the gas grill so I really don't need a Blackstone)
- Bees (really do not have room for a beehive, but I still try )

 

[Newdude]

It is amazing the business deals and price collusion that goes on at times.

Yeah. And now Amazon squeezes the market even further below HD/Walmart.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Well we're almost done with the rocks, I have to tell you my wife is a trooper ... she's been lifting the bags of rocks and laying them down! One bad thing is we bought out all the bags of rocks at our local HD last week, we went back this week and bought more and the rocks (actually pebbles) are a slightly different (darker) color. So far here's the fruits of our labor ... you can see the color difference in the photo ... it is what it is.



On the photo above you can see the posts we installed to put up vinyl lattice to make the area dog proof. But we want to kind of protect the back of the filter as well from the dogs and have access to the filter during the season. I found HD has 16 inch high cheap metal looping fencing. We are thinking to put the edging at the back of the filter and using that fence. So a question to all of you, any other suggestions on what to do at the back of the filter? We don't want to dig more holes for posts. Photos below are what we are working with.

Side where we want to keep dogs out of wiring.



Back of filter area. Plan on getting rid of grass all around the filter. We don't think the dogs will try to get by on the right by the sand filter.

 

[kimkats]

my wife is a trooper ... she's been lifting the bags of rocks and laying them down!

I feel her pain! I was the one that did the white rock in our pool yard..........not fun but got it done!

you can see the color difference in the photo ... it is what it is.

I really don't see it and I assure no one else will while they are running to swim/float/play in that wonderful pool!

don't think the dogs will try to get by on the right by the sand filter.

HA! You and I both know they will try LOL I say get some of black deer fencing. It is very very flexible but holds up to dogs trying to push it out of the way. You can use a wooden dowel and lace it through the end of the fencing and use eye hooks or such to hold it in place until you want to move it so you can get to the equipment.

 

[Newdude]

you can see the color difference in the photo ... it is what it is.

Spread them around with a sand rake. It won't take much to mix them. You can even jump start the process by taking a couple half buckets and put some piles of light ones where it's dark and vice versa. Then rake around for 2 mins and it'll be perfectly random.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

I feel her pain! I was the one that did the white rock in our pool yard..........not fun but got it done!

I really don't see it and I assure no one else will while they are running to swim/float/play in that wonderful pool!

HA! You and I both know they will try LOL I say get some of black deer fencing. It is very very flexible but holds up to dogs trying to push it out of the way. You can use a wooden dowel and lace it through the end of the fencing and use eye hooks or such to hold it in place until you want to move it so you can get to the equipment.

I have to give credit to all the women who do these things, my wife is constantly telling me how none of the women she knows would do the things she does!

We (me!) tend to study things when we do things, you're 100% correct about the color of the pebbles!

It's funny about the dogs, our dog is 11 YO and she might get herself in trouble because I have seen her go through the bushes and contorting herself. My son's dog is a big chicken! His ball went next to my dog's food dish and he was to afraid to grab it ... meanwhile he'll go to that same dish and lick it to make sure all the crumbs are gone from it.

Thanks for the suggestion of the deer fencing, I'll discuss it with my wife.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Spread them around with a sand rake. It won't take much to mix them. You can even jump start the process by taking a couple half buckets and put some piles of light ones where it's dark and vice versa. Then rake around for 2 mins and it'll be perfectly random.

I was thinking about mixing them, I'll have to see what happens when the pebble project is done. We are going to have to buy more of them ... who knows what color the new ones are. My wife didn't notice it so depending on what it looks like when we're done spreading them it may be left alone.

 

[Newdude]

. My wife didn't notice it

Are you newly married ? I don't even know her and I know she noticed it.

She just didn't *tell* you about it.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Are you newly married ? I don't even know her and I know she noticed it.

She just didn't *tell* you about it.

We'll be married for 43 years come May, my wife tells me about EVERYTHING! Even when I don't want to know about it!!

 

[Newdude]

my wife tells me about EVERYTHING! Even when I don't want to know about it!!

Then she noticed that they didn't match but didn't say anything because she was sad about it after all her hard work. Fix them when she isn't looking.

 

[Mdragger88]

Fix them when she isn't looking.

This I know I would appreciate the effort. I say this after recently shoveling many many rocks.
After 43 years its the little things

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Once the pebbles are down and I know what I'm working with I probably will fix them! I may need to blend 3 shades of pebbles which is why I think I should wait. I have the whole back side of the pool nobody will see except when mowing the lawn, there are also areas that needed a lot of pebbles to fill up the height so there's a plan formulating somewhat in my head ...

 

[Mdragger88]

Don’t forget the temptation every time you go to lowes/hd to get some new & different pretty rocks lol. Once my flower beds are complete I think I may start adding different types here & there for variety. When I go places I often bring back random oddly shaped interesting rocks that all have homes in my flower beds.

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Don’t forget the temptation every time you go to lowes/hd to get some new & different pretty rocks lol. Once my flower beds are complete I think I may start adding different types here & there for variety. When I go places I often bring back random oddly shaped interesting rocks that all have homes in my flower beds.

In all honesty, These pebbles will probably be the last "rocks" we put down, my wife is so done with it! The one possible exception is probably if these pebbles decide to migrate too easily then I think those bigger river rocks may come into play!

My wife has said to me quite a few times we should have paid to have this stuff done, we keep forgetting that we're not in or 20's, 30's, 40's or 50's ... but at least it's done with love!!!