pool update

Well, for the two or three of you who are kind enough to visit fairly regularly a) I thank you, and b) I have a pool update.

I feel almost a little guilt complaining about not wanting a pool that I have. My analogy is that I have an oven because it came with the house too. I investigated the cost to just fill it in (the pool, not the oven) … but it’s not that simple.

The guilt comes in because I feel like what the really beautiful, really rich and/or really thin people must experience when they discuss beauty, money or weight. How many well-off folks have you heard say that money is really not important? It is only not important when you don’t have it.

By the time I met all of the admittedly important environmental codes, it would have cost probably $20K to remove the pool, plus I’d have lost (as was pointed out to me by the concrete guy) about that much or more in total property value. So a net loss of $40K. Groovy.

So … here we are. $4,600 of concrete restoring and stabilizing later … my whole pool deck is stable. Also sort of ugly because they had to drill a bazillion holes to install rebar and some other stuff. I really wish I could speak more intelligently about an investment of almost $5K but I admit it was all a little confusing to me. The bottom line is that if it were not done, the pool itself would continue to crack and leak, making any investment in fixing the pool a moot point. And the leakage has become severe enough (basically the whole pool beneath the first row of tile) that I’m spending stupid dollars on refilling it. It will also get worse as it gets hotter in Florida this summer and the water condenses.

I’m not complaining. I promise. I’m sort of venting online, and I appreciate your indugence.

So, next steps, good grief. To redo just the first row of tile and reseal would be only $1,400. I say only because they really want me to pull the fiberglas out and resurface the pool. I could do it now or I could do it later. But if I do it later, it will likely damage the $1,400 investment which would have to be redone.

So, for the moment, it looks like about another $5,000 investment to redo the whole interior of the pool. They also quoted pavers to put over all the concrete restoration work to make it prettier. At a bid of $3,600, I do not see that happening any time soon.

If I do the math, I see their point, sort of. I spend almost $10K (not including pavers) to maintain a $20 to $30K value. I guess that makes sense. That also doesn’t factor in the water costs to keep refilling the pool, plus chemicals, maintenance and electricity to run the pump, which is a few thousand a year altogether. Because it’s so close to the lake it has to remain full to keep it from bursting from the ground (who knew?), and I can’t keep it clean when the water goes lower than the first line of tile because the pump can’t run and the chemicals don’t stay stable.

I never wanted a pool. Who knew it would start driving my renovation project, simply because it has sucked money from anything else?

Thank you, if you got to the end of this. I am venting. I have to do what I have to do. I just wish I could make excuses for complaining that I’m too beautiful, wealthy or thin … instead of because I have this goofy pool. I am going to have to learn to love it.

It also puts off the renovation of the interior of the house. Joy joy joy.

I need to meditate and become one with my inner universe (as my friends would say). It’s just money but of course I’m not Donald Trump and I work for a nonprofit. So … I’m doing the best I can. Details to follow!