Pool Disaster

There is a long story about why we aren't exactly crying over this. The pool was not at all what attracted us to the house, since neither of us are swimmers (and I won't even put my face in the water when swimming), but even so, we opened it the summer we moved in. We discovered two fun things: between our inspection and closing, it had become a swamp due to a storm blowing a branch into the pool and puncturing the cover (the branch also put a hole in the liner) and the liner was already about 5 years over its limit and was cracking in some places. Every summer Len has patched the liner and we have debated spending $5,000 to get it replaced.

Usually we pay the $100 or so to have it professionally closed, mainly because the water lines need to be blown out and Len never felt comfortable doing that, but this year we needed to buy a new cover, which would have added a couple hundred bucks. Len decided that, rather than spending $300-$400 on something we aren't even sure we want to keep, he would try closing the pool himself this year. He did fine, but obviously neglected a crucial step. A couple of weeks ago the liner finally failed completely. Which finally forced a decision.

He made an appointment with the pool people (who we really highly recommend by the way, if you live around Jackson, MI) for an estimate on replacing the liner and talked to our neighbor who is a contractor. It turns out the neighbor can use most of the concrete (I don't know what for), which saves us having to cart it to where ever one takes concrete. Len has canceled the estimate for the liner and he and Dick (the neighbor) will be doing in the pool.

The only disadvantage is that Len was looking forward to perfecting his pool heater.

Oh, and the frogs will have to find a new home.