Our friends at swimuniversity.com posted this great article about how a swimming pool affects the value of a home.
When researching the answer for this article, I spoke to a few real estate agents and residential property appraisers in South Jersey. And from my many conversations, the unanimous answer I received was, "depends."
by James Robyn, Aquamagazine.com blog
This is what clients have been told to do for years by consumer advocacy groups as the best way to get what they want for the lowest price.
I recently read an article by a custom homebuilder who posited the old Three-Bid Rule should no longer apply in the home building industry. His article was so well written that it struck a chord with me; it's been one of my pet peeves for many years. In the pool business we are frequently requested to "turn in a bid" on a project, and it is always an exercise in futility. The clients who are simply looking for three bids are working on the least amount of information and the most amount of misinformation — to their peril — and the stories of problems, surprises, dissatisfaction and disappointment are ubiquitous.
The point is probably illustrated more easily in the custom home building industry because most people are more familiar with the details and possible cost differences in home construction. For example, in requesting a quote on a new custom home, no thinking person would ask a custom builder, "Give me a bid on a 3-bedroom home with 2-1/2 baths and a 2-car garage with an automatic door opener."
Yet I cannot tell you how many times I've had people ask me to give them a bid on "a 20-by-40-foot pool with a heater, a Polaris and an automatic pool cover."
At least in the custom home building industry an architect will produce a set of plans that will define the project in a meaningful way. Dimensions, materials and many other requirements are called for, but it is what is not illustrated or specified on the plans that can constitute significant cost drivers.
The idea behind the Three-Bid Rule is that it assumes everything other than the cost of the competing builders is equal. However, not every builder assesses and calculates the scope of work, drawings, specifications and callouts in the same exact way.
Australian researchers found that exercising in a pool boosted physical endurance and energy levels in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and physical comorbidities such as obesity or back pain.
What the study found
"Participants in the water-based exercise training group reported an improvement in many functional aspects of their daily life such as improved stamina and ability to complete tasks such as walking long distances when shopping," said Renae McNamara, a physical therapist at The Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick.
In this video, a Organic Chemist exposes the saltwater pools myth. The sales pitch for a chemical-free solution offered by the company for whom he works notwithstanding, his presentation represents good science. click here for original post...
By RaeChelle Davis, Reporter, from baynews9.com
click here for original report
Alligators usually don't make the guest list, but they're VIPs at these parties.
"You've had the Chuck E Cheese party, the clown party, the jump-a-roo bounce house," said Bob Barrett, owner of Alligator Attractions in Johns Pass Village.
"You say, 'Well, we're gonna have a party,'" he said. "They go, 'That's nice.' But you say, 'We're going to have a pool party with a gator.' They go, 'What?' Everybody comes."
Customer Debbie Rubenstein said she has used the service multiple times.
"Nobody believed that we'd have actual gators in the pool," she said.
How to Close Your Pool for the Winter By Kimberlee Courtney, PoolSpaOutdoor.com If you live in an area with a seasonal climate, the early fall typically marks the end of your swimming season, and you will soon need to close...
How Germs Get In The Swimming Pool, Scientific American via Huffington Post
By Larry Greenemeier
(Click here for the original article)
As the summer winds down and Labor Day weekend approaches in the U.S., beaches and public pools will be filling up with swimmers looking to take one last dip outdoors before the season ends. Most people will hit the water without worrying about the microscopic organisms they'll be swimming with. Maybe that's for the best, considering what those organisms are and how they're introduced to swimming holes.
The protozoan organism Cryptosporidium, one of the most frequent causes of waterborne disease, has become a major problem in swimming pools, says Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona who's spent decades studying how pathogens are transmitted. Crypto is a microscopic parasite with a tough outer shell that allows it to survive for days even in properly chlorinated pools.
Pool Plans - 10 Tips Like any new endeavor, planning and building a pool can be exciting—but for many, it is full of unknowns. If you are ready to build your backyard retreat and are wondering where to begin,...