Sunday, July 13, 2014

Our Little Pool

 I've gotten several questions about the pool.


The pool was advertised to be 6ft. by 2ft. 
Bill is 5'11 and he says there is no way this thing is 6ft. 
I can't touch the opposite side if I am floating. 
If I sit, the water comes up to the middle of my collar bone. 
Apparently the pool looks smaller in pictures. 
It is round not oblong.





I knew that we needed a pump so that our yard didn't become a mosquito breeding factory. 
The saleslady at Leslie's Pool Supply helped us pick out the appropriate pump. They took the dimensions of the pool and calculated the number of gallons of water. 
The pump was smaller and cheaper than we would have bought if we didn't have help. It was only $69.00.

If you look closely, you can see the hoses looped over the side of the pool.
There is an intake and an outtake nozzle for the hoses. You can follow the instructions that come with your pump to hook them up. They are not interchangeable.  



Normally these hoses would fit in holes in the side of a normal back yard pool.
Since we are not normal, I mean, since I'm not letting Bill drill holes in the side of my new pool, we looped them (which was like trying to put an Octopus in a pot of water) over the side. 
They weren't long enough so I found an extension kit for $11.00 at Walmart.



Since we were not attaching the hoses into the side of a regular pool we had to get adaptors to attach the intake nozzle and the outflow nozzle. 



Now for our Lucy and Desi moment at least that is what Bill calls it.
I was anxious to get the pump hooked up so we didn't get mosquitoes. We had filled up the pool 3 before.
After dinner seemed like a good time to pull out the pump and start connecting hoses. 
We got them all hooked up and started carrying them out to the back yard. This is where things got weird. It was like carrying an octopus. Tubes and hoses were flinging everywhere. But we got the pump set down and the hoses into the pool. 
 Both hoses have to be completely filled with water before you can turn on the pump. 
It was a sight with me and Bill (in his dress pants) trying to get water into the hoses. We would have them both almost filled and one would fall to the ground and water would slosh everywhere. 
We finally figured out a system and the hoses got filled but we got very wet in the process. 
Bill's dress pants had to go to the cleaners.
At first we had the hoses just laying in the water. 
I worried of course but they seemed fine.
Mrs. Compulsive went out to check them and 
Bill said, "Oh good. Another thing for you to worry over."
Hmmm.
Me worry? 
There was nothing to worry about until a hose flopped out of the pool and started spraying water everywhere.
A cinder block (yes, so pretty) in the pool keeps both hoses securely in the water. 
This pool didn't need chlorine. Sadly there is enough of it in our water already. 
It did need muratic acid but only a little bit.
Once a month we're supposed to take our water up to Leslie's to be tested. I'll do that next week. 

The filter already needed to be changed. The pump started making a funny sound and no water was pumping out so I turned it off until I could get a new one filter. 
That means that one filter lasts about two weeks. I picked up three of them which gets us to the end of August. 

I love the view from my pool. 
The yard is easier to maintain since I have a place to cool off in-between clipping or weeding. 





Crepe Myrtles - One of the best things about the south. 
Except for my dear family of course. ;)







The second night I went out for a soak after dark and heard croaking from inside the retaining wall. The cedar fence helps screen the neighbor's wall and block it from view. 





The temperature of the water hovers between 80 and 85 degrees. Bill surprised me with a little duck thermometer. 
Maybe I'll get some bags of ice in August to cool it down. 
I was worried the metal would be hot to the touch but the pool is in the shade most of the day so it's not hot. I would be careful if it were in the sun. I think running water from the hose on the metal edge would cool it down if you need to put your pool in full sun. 
I wish we'd had this when the kids were small. 
I'd recommend adding some plastic mats for the bottom if you are using one of these for your kids or grandkids.
Happy Floating!


15 comments :

  1. Love your little pool, so fun...when you are leslies just buy a little water tester kit, very user friendly and so simple, just put a drop of water in each tube and the color tells you what to do, saves you a lot of trips to Leslies.;..enjoy your fun pool, It looks like it will keep you nice and cool....

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  2. You've created a lovely little oasis there in your backyard. It's gorgeous! I don't know if I'd ever come out of the pool on a hot sunny day!
    Mary Alice

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  3. Love this Katie,what a fun idea and just perfect for cooling off!

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  4. Katie,
    This pool is so sweet and the story of you and bill hooking up the hoses to the filter of the pool. Too funny. Good times!! Enjoy your sweet pool.
    Kris

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  5. oh oh I want one.. LOVE IT-- so happy for you. the yard looks wonderful~!

    Sonny

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  6. coolest pool Ive ever seen!
    What a great outdoor oasis you have created!!

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  7. I've never seen a pool like that - it looks fabulous! What a great place to cool off!

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  8. I had one of these many years ago, just off the little patio we had built outside the kitchen. I used salvaged bricks to create a paving effect--it kept dirt out of pool. I planted flowering vines around the area, and even found a spa bubbler at a yard sale for a dollar. I used it to aerate the water. we had rural water, so we used a small chlorinator set to hot tub size. It was heaven on a hot day, and my son loved it. When we get our new house--this is one of my first projects. Good job, lady!

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  9. What a beautiful little pool. This just proves that no matter how small your outdoor space is, you can still have a pool to enjoy. We recently had a small hot tub fitted by a local company and I love it. Perfect for relaxing in after a hard day's work. I hope you enjoy your pool too.

    Leena Wolf @ H2O Spas

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  10. This looks like the perfect outdoor project to surprise my wife with this weekend. I know she would love having an outdoor oasis. Now, the trick will be to see if I can finish this in time for her birthday. Thanks for including plenty of pictures to help me get started on this. Hoping for some good weather soon!

    Alvin @ Selective Designs

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  11. This is such a gorgeous piece of landscaping- that pool looks really terrific. Doesn't look impossible to imitate either; so often with this kind of stuff you look and think it's great but you could never do anything like that yourself. This looks actually manageable. Think I might have my work cut out for me this next few weekends now!

    Benton @ Pool Solar & Spa

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  12. Hi! I’ve stumbled across your awesome post about your tank! I am attempting the same project however need more understanding on how to
    Do the filter without drilling holes. Do I just drape the hoses into the tank since are no
    Holes? Any help would be great!! Thx

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    1. We did the filter without any holes. We just drape the hoses over the tank and hold them in by threading through cinderblocks.

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