Clearly the "wrong" is that I am fixing a pipe while Dale is doing the laundry! Sometimes he and I don't follow along domestic lines.
Ever since we have been married, our homes have provided us plenty of oppurtunity to learn how to repair things. Especially the first home we bought, it was a complete mess, and we had to repair/renovate just about every square inch of it!
Nowadays, if there is a problem, most of the time I can fix it. (calling in the muscle when I need him). I have a tool box, and purchase new tools if I think I need it. I have been known to don a toolbelt on occassion, helping Dale to dub me "Toolbelt Diva" ...
When we bought this home, we inherited a pool. I think my previous experience as a life guard, and being 'the mom' put the pool maintenance responsibilities in my hands.
In the three summers we have been here, I have talked with other pool owners, utilized the experts at the pool store, read everything about my pool that I possibly could. Despite all that I have done to try and keep it up and running, I have had many different issues to tackle, and have been so proud when I successfully fixed each one. One problem kept eluding me. I could not get my #1 skimmer working properly, ever! It was bad when we moved in. I snaked it endlessly, I pulled pipes apart from the pump end to snake it from there, I used an air compressor, I cycled the pump on and off and had two people look at it for me. And then waited a summer and did all that again! I have never failed so miserably on a problem. Out of frustration, unnsurity of the real problem and nervous of the expense of calling someone to fix it (one guy said he would charge 8ooo to fix it because of the concrete and pool siding work involved) , I opted to leave the problem alone. The pool function was about 60 percent, and with a lot of effort, I was able to make that work.
The #2 skimmer clogged right before we left for vacation, rendering the pool unusable. After a wonderful vacation, I finally decided enough was enough and we had to get the #1 skimmer working. I started digging. The soil is packed clay filled with rocks. I struggled big time with digging, so I asked the muscle to step in . He worked very hard, digging, and digging and digging! He called me in once he got the pipe exposed.
if you can't see it clearly, it is a huge boulder sitting on top of the pipe, completely crushing it!
Our best guess...when the company hired to replace the liner a few years ago put the dirt back in, they inadvertenly put a boulder on top of the pipe. I guess the previous owner just dealt with it until he sold the house....to us.
Dale was too big to continue in the hole, so I took over. Digging a little bit more, cutting the pipe and putting the new pipe in place. We tested the line, and the good news is, it works! the bad news is that the #2 skimmer is still clogged, so after all that work, the pool is still at 60% function. Getting a pipe unclogged is easier than digging the hole to replace it...so we should be at 100% pool function for the first time soon enoough!
To be honest, this repair almost sent me over the edge. After all these years, I am finally sick of all the repairs. I am ready to hang up the toolbelt and pick up my knockoff designer purse and go to the mall, wearing makeup with no mud in my hair or grease under my nails!
(I say that, but two minutes after the tree expert gave me his estimate this afternoon I looked at Dale and said, "can't we just do it ourselves, I mean , how hard is it to cut a few trees down?, I can figure out how to do it." based on his response, Dale apparently doesn't believe that I am handy enough to climb a tree and cut it down without causing harm to myself or more importantly, our house.) Time will tell how much I really hate doing repairs, I have a feeling that my dislike for writting the check to someone to fix something will override my dislike of doing the repair myself!
next project: get rid of bats....
3 comments:
Love it. Ain't that always the question, Am I really willing to spend the (Time or Money) to have someone fix it or do it myself.
I absolutely love that first picture. How many times I have been there? Now you know how I felt trying to help a certain someone fix his lawnmower and getting grief over it. I'm glad you solved the first pipe problem.
That is a big repair! Think of how much cash you have saved yourselves over the years!
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