we bought our first house recently and have been in the process of getting it ready to move into over the last few weeks. we put some of the final touches on yesterday and the day before, the final coat of seal on the hardwood floors (real hardwood upstairs!) and yesterday we took the kids and everyone helped paint. the kids picked out their own colors for the bedrooms and ds 9 who will be getting his own room for the first time insisted on painting his all by himself.. and he did! just a little help from mom on the corners and trim. bright green walls, and blue trim lol! anyway we are very excited, i just wanted to share the goodnews with everyone. by this afternoon the upstairs floors will be dry enough to start walking on agian and we can start moving stuff in this weekend. i cant wait till i have a picture to put up here of this house, its not much to look at on the outside.. it needs some new paint on the wood parts and yucky paint removed from the stone parts (who paints stone yellow?!?!?!) it worked out for us tho, i think it scared other people away from paying more than we could for this place. its on a beautiful lot, very wooded and secluded. i walked around with my oldest 2 for over an hour the other day just exploring and never once saw any evidence of neghibors! there is a trail that runs from the back yard down thru the woods, down the bluff to a very cool creek, it looks like it will have quite a bit of water in it in the sping time!! there is also a large area of land that has been cultivated in the past and will be a garden agian just as soon as i get my paws on it lol the only thing we are not sure what to do about is the swimming pool. there is a full size (14'x35') in ground swimming pool that looks like it was added in the 70s. it is in need of some repair work before we could fill it up and use it, but im a little nervous about having a pool. my kids all know to stay out of the water but just because kids know doesnt mean they wont forget or have an accident.. and its right outside the door, about 50' from the house. we had a guy come give us an estimate on repairs or ripping it up and it will cost about the same, more the rip it up actually...but then if we keep it we need a fence and up keep etc. do any of you guys have pools? do you keep them filled up, ever had any problems etc??? thanks connie
That is really exciting news! The house and yard sound awesome. We have an above pool and have never had any trouble. But with an inground pool, I'd want to fence it in, just in case. You might have friends over with toddlers and you'd want to feel free to let them wander in the yard, not have to sit there and never let your eyes leave them.
We once lived in a house that had an inground pool...but they (the previous owners) had filled it in with sand! So, we had a giant sandbox - loads of fun!!! (and safer for young ones, too)
We just bought a new home as well. It is so great to be a home owner, isn't it? Ours has a pool as well. We will have to do some repair work on it in the spring, but it is still usable now. So far, we have LOVED it. Within a week, all the kids could swim even our 4 yo. Now, I would still not turn my back on any of them. But already, the children as well as us adults just love the pool. I am planning on using it for a few chemistry lessons as well
thats so cool...id love to have the pool, the educational benifits as well as the fun physical fitness would be priceless, but ive never had a pool before so ive got to do some research into how much everything costs to maintain etc. i saw a picture of a swimming pool that has this hard surface that you roll out over the water while it wont hold alot of weight its supposed to keep trash, leaves and small children out of the water without closing around a pet or a child if they step on it like a tarp would. if its not to outragously priced that might be the soultion because mom deffinatly wants her own pool lol!!! my kids allready know i have a big butt, no need to show it at the neghibor hood pool!
I'd figure, depending on size and whether it's heated, you'd pay maybe 20 dollars a month to upkeep it yourself. Those child safety covers are neat. I've seen them, quite expensive, but they've got to be cheaper than a fence. You'd just have to keep it closed whenever you are not swimming.
My sister has a pool and no children so she doesn't have all the worries I would have, right? Wrong! One day this summer her husband was on the sun porch and looked down right as one of their little dogs fell in the deep end. My brother in law got there and caught Scotty right as he was going down for about the last time. You would think they could just swim out but sometimes their hair weighs them down. An alarm that goes off with a loud noise if anything falls into the pool isn't too expensive. Keep a rescue ring on a rope and a pole and rescue hook at the pool and make sure the older kids and adults practice using it. It isn't as easy as you would think. We love my sister's pool and it is across the street from us. If it were in my yard I would not let my kids out there without me. I have had two close calls with Bill when he was younger and we had an above the ground pool so I am very cautious around a pool even though mine all swim. Also if this is an older pool make sure the drain is safe. Some of the older ones can trap a child if they get too close. The kids clothes or hair can get sucked into the drain and they can't pull loose. Another safety concern is dive sticks. Make sure you only allow the new flexible kind. Kids have been hurt seriously with the hard plastic ones in the shallow end or in wading pools. When you throw them in they stand straight up and kids jump in on top of them and get impaled. If you use chlorine make sure the kids know to stand back when you open the canister. The fumes can really burn! My sister's pool doesn't have any chemicals in it so it doesn't burn your eyes or anything but some kids are really sensitive to the chemicals. All in all a pool is the greatest! Just like with anything use common sense and have fun. Sorry if this seems dumb but I am so careful around the pool that I tend to get on my soapbox. Congratulations on the new home! Beth
I do not know about other states but here in California it is against the law to have pool without a fence. A friend is having a pool put in and the contractor is not allowed, by law, to put in some of the necessities until a fence is put up and inspected by the city for clearance. They also have to have an alarm put on the door that leads to the pool including the master bedroom slider because it leads to the pool as well. Handsome had a pool when we were dating and he had thought of having it filled with dirt because he was finding a lot of dead squirrels and rabbits in it. Patty
We have a pool. My boys were probably 2 1/2 when we got it. They swam the first year in life jackets but learned to swim the next year. No problem for us at all. We do have a gate to shut it off. It is just like anything else you just have to use common sense. The elephant covers are wonderful if you can afford them. Anything including an elephant can walk on them and they don't break. We do have an alarm in our pool but the wind can make it go off so I don't think it works wonderfully. Sounds like fun. Lorna
thanks for all the info! i diddnt even think about the pool drain!!! it will probably need to be replaced as part of resurfacing the pool so it wont be an issue once there is water in it next spring...but still somthing id overlooked! Sloan, you mentioned your sisters pool diddnt use chemicles. how does she keep it clean with out the clorine, or does she just replace the water offten?? id be intristed to find out how she does this as ds 4 is very sensitive to chemicles thanks connie
How exciting!!! Great news! You'll love owning your own home. I sure do. Not sure what to do about the pool. My parents have had a pool for 20 years but it's above ground.
Sorry about the confusion. My sister doesn't use any chemicals to clean the pool because she has a thing that keeps the water clean using a copper ionizing system. She has used chlorine before and bacquacil and she loves the ionizer so much better. The water is crystal clear, no chemical smell, and no messing with powders or tablets. I think she does adjust the ph on occasion but not often. She has only had this new system for one season and she said she would never go back. The cost was pretty high but compared to buying all the chemicals she said it would pay for itself in no time. Her pool is pretty big. Something like 20 feet by 40 feet so she spent a lot every year on chemicals. This year she had to buy a new liner too. She is wanting one of the hard covers for her pool. Hers is a mesh kind. It will hold up a large dog but she is so protective of her little dogs that she is wanting to make sure they can't fall in. Her whole pool area is fenced in and she lets the dogs go out in the pool area where there are plants, cement area, and some decks and stuff. Beth
Your house sounds almost like my dream home, I can't wait to see the picture! As for the pool, get one of the really good covers, and keep it fenced in with a lock like hotels do. I think the hardest part about a pool is heating and cleaning, but I would keep it myself, I love the water! Wish I had one!
My kids would vote to keep the pool. I grew up with an inground pool and loved every minute of it. I would love to have one now.
I grew up with an above ground pool. The only time I ever had a problem was when my dad let me take off my floaty ring. He says that he knew I was ok, but let me assure you, I wasn't so assured. I bit him on the arm, and he actually lifted his arm up with me attached to it! As far as going in, we just knew that if we ever went in the pool without asking, we were, well, toast.
i think we would really really regret it later if we got rid of the pool, espically being so far from a community pool...were gonna keep it. weve purchaced a cover..for an arm and a leg, and were going to have a fence and alarm put in. ill find somthing else to worry about if its not this, so might as well keep it, right! pool party at our house, everyones invited!
Connie, A late happy birthday to you! Hope it was a good one. I don't think you will regret keeping the pool. I know we have had so much fun with my sister's pool. Once Walmart had beach balls on sale for nearly nothing so we bought a bunch and put them all in the pool and had a youth party for the kids at church. They loved it. There were balls everywhere by the time the party was over but we had fun. My sister has them play pool games and they really enjoy that. She comes up with the best ideas for youth. AND she doesn't have kids of her own. Beth
happy birthday connie send a map! I will bring my family , do we need to bring anything else? hehehe potato salad?
