Comments on: When DIY doesn’t save much

By: » Festival of Frugality Starts a New Decade on the Festival of Frugality

» Festival of Frugality Starts a New Decade on the Festival of Frugality — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:28:10 +0000

[...] About Money: When DIY Doesn’t Save Much. It would save nothing for me in a lot of cases! Recently I thought I’d have to tear out my [...]

By: funny

funny — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:33:31 +0000

@LeanLifeCoach: The water’s been in there almost six years. Phoenix is served by the Central Arizona Project, which pipes Colorado River water into the low desert. Because of irrigation upstream, the river water is highly saline, and it carries a lot of mineral salts. Pool water evaporates at a fast clip, especially in the summer — mine loses as much as three inches a day. Over time, evaporation causes the minerals to concentrate, throwing the water out of balance and also causing calcium deposits on the walls and tiles. This damages the plaster, eats the brightwork, and leaves a white crust all over the tile. To alleviate that problem, you can either hire someone to bring a gigantic filter in a semi-truck trailer and run the water through it for about 24 hours, or you can drain and refill the pool with fresh water…well, as fresh as our water gets around here.

Leslie’s has been nagging me to drain the pool for over a year, but I’ve put it off. But when I lifted Harvey the Hayward Pool Cleaner out of the water, set him down on the pavement, left him there, and came back to find him sitting inside a ring of dried calcium salts, I realized it really is time. {sigh}

By: LeanLifeCoach

LeanLifeCoach — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:20:30 +0000

I’ve got to imagine there is a way to self-medicate and prevent this trasnfusion?

It has been too many years, but when I was a kid we had a pull. We emptied it once and never again. A little chlorine here and dash of shock there and we were good.

By: My Post at the Festival of Frugality Today | Out of Debt Again

My Post at the Festival of Frugality Today | Out of Debt Again — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:25:55 +0000

[...] Funny About Money’s When DIY doesn’t save much Funny’s latest swimming pool escapade. [...]

By: Festival of Frugality – How To Eliminate The Muda And Live More Frugally Edition! « Eliminate The Muda!

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:35:45 +0000

[...] About Money make the case that sometimes it pays to hire the professional in When DIY Doesn’t Save Much. If he gets it wrong, he’ll have to do it over and that is just [...]

By: Orinda

Orinda — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:26:08 +0000

when i refilled my pool the city gave me a sort of rate rebate for that one incident. turns out you also can get them to “forgive” the rate if you have a leak and can prove you had it fixed.

By: funny

funny — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:24:56 +0000

If I move fast, the base rate won’t change. Base rate is based on February, March, and April, I believe. They try to zing you just as you’re starting to pour water on your nascent summer lawn and your spring flowers and veggies.

Good thought on specials for refilling. It’s the water service, though, that wants you to hire someone to come ’round and filter the pool water.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:20:32 +0000

Don’t forget to include the cost of the water. Will it change your base rate? We move up to a higher monthly cost when our usage exceeds the annual minimums. Check with your water district to see if they have any specials for refilling the pool.