The House....the pool edition....part 1 (3?)

Fourteen years ago when we were looking to buy a house...we walked through dump after dump.  The internet wasn't what it was today.  There was no "Zillow" to go look at 30 pictures of a house.  We got sent an MLS listing with a picture of the front of the house, and then went looking.  We were almost ready to try for a higher mortgage, since all the houses in our range were BAD.  Like, sheetrock falling off the walls.....hardwood floors with so many pet stains (and the smell!!! UGH!!!) we weren't even sure that sanding them would help.  There was one with wall to wall BLACK carpet with giant red roses.  It was bad.

Then....we found our house.  We loved the house.  We didn't love the pool.  We never wanted a pool.  We never planned to have a pool. Had our realtor been better (we do not have good decision making skills in this area....), we should have negotiated something about removing the pool. But we talked ourselves into the idea that we loved the house so much, we would love the pool.

HAHAHAHA.  We have never loved the pool.  Sure, once the kids were old enough to be independent in the pool, it was better.  The years leading up....not so much.  And the time, energy, and money.....not worth it to us.

The pool has been the center of so many discussions in the past year. Starting back last summer, when this job opportunity came up....I was concerned about the pool and would it be a deterrent to people.  People are more saavy about houses now (thank you HG TV).  We have such a short pool season here (we are still dropping into the 40s at night....no chance that water would be even close to warm enough to swim!).  The flip side....pools "may" add value for the right people.  It really depends on how you look at it.

As we went into Spring, and I was facing the season on my own....we started discussing opening the pool.  G-man was against opening the pool because he knew how much work it would be for me, on top of everything else. After discussing things with the realtor, we decided we would have to open the pool.  A closed pool would make people question why it was closed.   I looked at it like I had no choice...the end goal is to sell the house, so if that means having an open, happy pool.....I guess I am about to get a crash course on the pool!!

So this past Sunday, I scooped 90% of the leaves and debris off the cover of the pool, and with the help of my boss, took the cover off the pool.  He was nice enough to come over to set up the pump, help with the cover, and give me a few lessons on what I needed to do.  Needless to say, I was appreciative.  I was so out of my comfort zone.

The water level was low, so I started adding water to the pool while my boss hooked up the pump and filter. Low water is normal at this point.  We have to lower the water level to winterize it, so no big deal.  I added shock to the pool (kills the algae and "stuff" in there).  Amazing how quickly this stuff works.  It is basically bleach.  The water cleared up within a few hours.  It wasn't crystal clear, but I could easily see the bottom.   Not bad for day 1!!

So we are about to start the lessons on working the pump and filter....when the power wouldn't turn on.  Nothing.  Dead.  We checked the breaker box, flipped this and that.  NOTHING.  Yeah...that is a problem.  Ok, I will deal with that problem in a bit...let's just go over what would happen once the power issue is taken care of.  Our attention turned to the skimmer...and the side of the pool.  It looked a little "off", but we were hoping that it was more cosmetic. There is a faux wood pattern on the outside of the metal, and we were hoping that material was the area that was off (Anyone see where this is going????).

We finish up the lesson, and I called someone I know who is a electrician.  He determined that the switch had gone bad (which was best case scenario).  He shut the power off to the switch and we were able to fire everything up using the plug.  He was going to come back out this week to replace the switch.

HOWEVER....

While we were out there....I noticed water pouring out the side of the pool, near the skimmer.  FUUUUUUUDDDDDGGGGGGEEEEEE.

Remember how I said the water was low?  Well, as I added water to the pool, and the level rose, it came above the bottom of the skimmer, and remember that little cosmetic thing?  Yeah, it wasn't cosmetic.

Best we can tell (and we aren't even to the good part yet), the weight of the ice and snow over the winter put too much pressure on the side of the pool, and it crumpled a little.  We had an air pillow to help absorb the weight on the cover and the sides, but over the winter, it burst.  This has knocked the skimmer out of wack.  So the seal is broken, and any water that is above that line will just pour out.  Plus....the corner of the skimmer caused a small hole in the liner.  The hole is easy to patch, and in theory, the skimmer can be fixed as well.  But all the water I added....just flooded that part of the yard.  Terrific.

But now we get to the good part......The crumpled area.

We sent the pictures to the pool people, who can see where the wall of the pool is torn.  What this means is....the wall of the pool is not structurally sound.  We can fix the leak, but the pool won't pass an inspection when we sell the house.

So now I have a dead pool.  More to come.