Karsoncookie Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Too many posts for me to read through all, So, I'll just say what I think. #1 - Cryogenically suspend your kids; Freeze them at this point in Time. # Thaw them out in ? 10? years when (hopefully) you are in a "better" financial condition. Otherwise.......... The precious Time window you have with them will fly by and be gone WAYY faster than you think. You say the Kids often have friends over. I assume you and the Missus enjoy that, overall. Adding the pool opens up a whole world of weekends w pool, patio, outdoor cooking, the firepit w S'Mores, possible occasional Friday night Pool partys w "Campout" for your kids friends or Youth group. Maybe, a bit more though, a BYOB, B meaning Beanbag chair, Movie in the Theatre as well, for the smaller well behaved group anyway. NO- NOO- soda or snacks in there, only water. Tremendous bonding experiences, in a safe environment, many will be remembered by them after you pass. Part of your Legacy, the important part being the effect you had by actions. -----NO diving board, way more injury possibility.------- From a $ standpoint - Google map Aerial, and see what % of homes in your IMMEDIATE area have in ground pools. The higher the %, the more it may be "expected" when shopping for a home there. In most other places, as said before and as you know, usually a financial White Elephant. CALL a couple experienced Realtors that intimately work your area, and get their takes on how pool affects resale, and recoup %. Continued blessings as you continue your work for the best Boss. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 I always need to consider Bang for the Buck. You can save THOUSANDS if you approach from that angle. I8 years ago I spent $1500 on a used full size schoolbus, and was invested 2,600 man hours and 18K in parts/ matl. When it was all done, I realized It was just as fun and nice to be in as a 1M+ converted Prevost or VanHool. Used it for 15 yrs almost or totally "fulltime", and traveled w my kids to Christian music fests and Fairs as vendors for 8 of the early years. For 15% of the cost, other than my labor of love time. A great example of bang for buck, oh, and digressing the "bonding" as in my above post. At 30 yrs of age, the Kids still cherish those years, often uncomfortable. And like 7heavenlyplaces said just above, ferreting out good deals. Like the pavement - Absolutely plain concrete best BFB. Upgrade to Acid Washed for a dramatic end result. Still WAY cheaper than pavers, stamped concrete or whatever. Like just above, nothing like built in stone benches. Spendy, not movable, spendy. But then, also PROBABLY best for resale time, is to build in the expected norms of your neighborhood. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 15, 2016 Author Moderators Share Posted October 15, 2016 22 minutes ago, Karsoncookie said: You say the Kids often have friends over. I assume you and the Missus enjoy that, overall. Yes, being a youth pastor, that's our life. Lots and lots of our our kid's friends over all the time. With them here, we know where they are and who they are with and how well they are being looked after. 23 minutes ago, Karsoncookie said: From a $ standpoint - Google map Aerial, and see what % of homes in your IMMEDIATE area have in ground pools. Our gated community has 52 homes. Probably 7 have pools. Pool isn't an option now.... looking more at pavers with hot tub and fire pit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 6 minutes ago, Youthman said: Yes, being a youth pastor, that's our life. Lots and lots of our our kid's friends over all the time. With them here, we know where they are and who they are with and how well they are being looked after. BINGO !! Understand every word. 6 minutes ago, Youthman said: Our gated community has 52 homes. Probably 7 have pools. Pool isn't an option now.... looking more at pavers with hot tub and fire pit. Hey, that's Bang for the bonding Buck. Sounds great. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Oh I'm so EXCITE now! The stone firepit can be a Youthgroup experience. Buy the stone, have it delivered to driveway, have the kids loosely lay it up. When looks good to you, take it down in a patterened organized fashion. The group mixes concrete, lays it all up, and participates in ALL cleanup. Dang bonding, practical confidence building, building experience etc. etc. In a few years, the fruits will show in their lives. WIN WIN WIN. Seriously, I am excited for your possibilitys. Ohhh - And I did own and maitain a small inground pool in TX for 3 yrs, till we moved. Marc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 15, 2016 Author Moderators Share Posted October 15, 2016 Today the original paver guy that did our neighbors backyard was supposed to stop by to discuss more ideas / pricing etc. He texts 1hr before our 11am apt and asks if we are still on for 11. I told him I was at a funeral but should be home by 11 or just shortly after. At 10:45am, he texts saying he was at his foreman's house to pick him up but he's sick. I told him I would be home in 15 minutes. I texted him at 11am saying I was home. He said he would stop by later today and bring a paver book over. Honestly, I'm not impressed with this guy at all. 1st day we met, he was 45 min late, thus the reason why we had to only have a brief 15 min conversation discussing what we were looking for. Today, a no show / reschedule. My wife and I went out looking at hot tubs and visited two companies. Both companies recommended pavers that they refer all of their customers to. I've contacted both of them and am waiting on a call back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 If the Hot tub is NOT mechanically connected to anything, like a deck at the top level, the sand base, on virgin earth is MORE than adequate, So what if is moves 1/4" or even 1/2" over the years??? If nothing is directly tied to it, no big deal. Absolutely the way I would go. I have done it before - 8 yrs ago - small, fully inground, fiberglass pool on virgin soil with average 6" sand, water settled,for final exact grading to exact correct elevation, Intimately connected to a concrete surrounding patio, and, secondly, NOW currently building a "Hottub" on a sand pad, NOT mechanically intimate to a wood deck, although by appearance connected/ continuous like but with VERY close proximity, but still Free floating. This holds true no matter how big the tub is. Exception would be, if it was a built in place tub,( NOT premade like ffiberglass, Acrylic, unit body tub), bhut like stone, concrete done in situ, etc. THEN, a monolithic foundation. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Choosing contractors for ANYTHING major, is a TOTALLY separate issue. Remember the ?Romanian? guy on Liam Neeson's movie "Taken" ? "Good Luck" Funny, but true stuff. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 I don't know where I read about the sand vs concrete tub foundation. Maybe something about the revised thread, or my Adult beverages. I hope you read my post about the firept being a Youthgroup project. It should cost like very ballpark $300 TOTAL, and even then, only because delivered rock and Sakrete where you live is top dollar. I don't understand the need for this scientific radiant and other crap. I'ts a darn ring of rock to contain a fire in. Campers often make rudimentary ones. NO cost, other then gathering and placing rock labor time. Sorry, but WTF ??????????????????????????????? Marc (AKA previously Lars), but now "keeping it real", (as per the DonaldMeister). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Youthman - 55years ago.............. Idyllic times ---- Seemingly, ........... Although, a slight bummer, now I think known as "buzz kill", is the fact that Adlai Stevenson just sat down w Gromyko Re: Cuban Missile removal as that burger hit tht plate. Sooo, ......Enjoy that vision as long as you can. Marc (Previously known as the poster Lars). The Bear is hibernating,actually now just drowsy, and NOT dead. Schizo ? Not at all, , just multitask thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 5 hours ago, Karsoncookie said: I always need to consider Bang for the Buck. You can save THOUSANDS if you approach from that angle. I8 years ago I spent $1500 on a used full size schoolbus, and was invested 2,600 man hours and 18K in parts/ matl. When it was all done, I realized It was just as fun and nice to be in as a 1M+ converted Prevost or VanHool. Used it for 15 yrs almost or totally "fulltime", and traveled w my kids to Christian music fests and Fairs as vendors for 8 of the early years. For 15% of the cost, other than my labor of love time. A great example of bang for buck, oh, and digressing the "bonding" as in my above post. At 30 yrs of age, the Kids still cherish those years, often uncomfortable. And like 7heavenlyplaces said just above, ferreting out good deals. Like the pavement - Absolutely plain concrete best BFB. Upgrade to Acid Washed for a dramatic end result. Still WAY cheaper than pavers, stamped concrete or whatever. Like just above, nothing like built in stone benches. Spendy, not movable, spendy. But then, also PROBABLY best for resale time, is to build in the expected norms of your neighborhood. Marc Did that used school bus have any critters living in it? JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 16, 2016 Author Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2016 Wife and I talked more about it today....we've decided to move the hot tub into the lanai. This should help keep it out of the weather, provide plenty of shade since it gets pretty hot here most of the year and we can add ceiling fan directly above the hot tub. So one side of the 11' x 30' lanai will have the hot tub, the other side will have a nicer patio furniture. Not sure the paver section is drawn to scale but it helps me visualize how it might look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Here's a shot of the tub on sand I talked about above - And the patio area overall - Unfortunately lost the house in the crash 8 yr ago. Ha !! And heres the old bus - More photos -- http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3171-Fm-1781-Rockport-TX-78382/87139424_zpid/ Marc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rxonmymind Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Itlike to have this.... https://youtu.be/up79t-KcT1M Or this...... https://youtu.be/5L8aMI2dwf4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 21, 2016 Author Moderators Share Posted October 21, 2016 Mason #2 stopped by the house a few days ago. This guy seems to know his stuff. We discussed how the screened in portion of the lanai might look strange having pavers on both sides of the bottom frame of the screen. The more I thought about it, the more I'm thinking of removing the screen altogether to allow for a very open ourdoor living area. He gave me a ballpark price based on square footage and a dollar amount per square foot. So far, I'm most impressed with him. After discussing it a bit with him, he said that having two curved areas will greatly limit the actual usable space so after talking with the wife, we decided to change the layout. I sent them the below sketch and asked for them to give me two quotes. One with 18' x 20' area in the yard and another with 18' x 30' in the yard. We decided to round one corner of the pavers and possibly adding a small sitting wall depending on how much it will cost. Again...not exactly drawn to scale but it gives a visual anyways. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 On 10/11/2016 at 3:41 PM, The Dude said: I don't know why there is that big blank with the quote, that is the second time I have seen it. I advised Chad about it because it happens multiple times a day but he couldn't reproduce the problem. It seems random. There is also a software bug that when replying, two identical posts are produced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 21, 2016 Author Moderators Share Posted October 21, 2016 Here are some renderings one of the companies sent me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted November 15, 2016 Author Moderators Share Posted November 15, 2016 Well a lot has transpired since I last posted.....I ended up hiring a guy from my church that builds pools for a living. My wife and I went to two companies to look at pavers and discovered that the "Sierra" from Tremron looked blah in person and the Old Chicago II color from Flagstone had much more yellow than what showed in the book. The guy from our church recommended a company called Old Castle and said they had a nice display we could look at to help narrow down what we liked. Jason was correct, they did have the nicest display of pavers and sitting walls. We found a Weston Universal Gascony Tan sitting wall that we liked. We also found a large 39" fire pit with a grill that was made from the same stone as the sitting wall we liked. Then we found some Apian shape in Adobe color that had just the right amount of reds, yellows, orange and grays that we liked. And of course my wife found a brick oven that she really liked but it wasn't in our budget this go around. Maybe next year. So we went to lunch, came back and placed the order. On the phone, I didn't really consider them because they said it would take 4-6 weeks but when we went to place the order, they said they could have the pavers delivered in 2 days, the sitting wall would be a week or two since they had to finish tubling them and have them shipped to the store. So we came home that night and I got to work on removing the back screen. I took several photos, listed the material on Craigslist for $150 and within 20 minutes, I received a text asking if he could come the next morning to pick it up. I was shocked to say the least. The guy had rental property that he wanted to use it for. Screen removed on Tuesday night On Friday, we headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a mini family reunion / getaway. While we were there, Jason sends me one photo. He was originally going to remove the 18' x 31' sod by hand / shovel but I ended up giving him $75 to rent a sod remover. Then silence.......no text, no photos (which I was glad because I like surprises). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted November 15, 2016 Author Moderators Share Posted November 15, 2016 So we left Tennessee this morning at 3:30am and arrived at 2:30pm to this! He poured the footer for the 12' sitting wall with two columns. He added a conduit to make it easy for us to add lighting to the columns. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted November 15, 2016 Author Moderators Share Posted November 15, 2016 After sending him a text, he sent me several photos he took of the build. We originally were going to use thin pavers on the lanai since it had a foundation and thick for the yard but everyone I spoke with suggested using all thin if I wanted the color to be consistent throughout the entire living area (which we did). Before we left for our trip, he asked if he had left over pavers if I wanted him to extend it on the back side of the theater room so we could store fire wood. I told him that was a great idea and love how he added the round curves to it instead of just making it a rectangle (see photo below) This Saturday, he is coming back to seal the pavers and also to clean, sand and seal our front driveway. Once the stones for the sitting wall come in, he will come install it. Photos don't really show the scale of what we see in person....it really looks massive! We couldn't be more pleased with how well this is turning out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.