Live Learn Invest

Carpet cleaning, stretching and pool maintenance

July 25th, 2007 by Kenric

I just thought I’d make a general knowledge post related to home ownership.  I’ve had to clean and restretch a carpet for the rental home in Avondale before the tenants moved in.  I’ve also been dealing with green water in the pool for the past month.  The monsoons and sandstorms in Phoenix haven’t helped my cause.  Just look at the picture below.  Imagine what that does to a pool.

Side note: Yes we have crazy ass sandstorms.  It looks like its raining outside, but its all sand.

For those who have never hired a profession carpet cleaner, you’ll be amazed at how clean they can get your old carpet looking!  I paid about $150 for 3 rooms.

However, be careful with too much cleaning because it can make your carpet stretch and develop small humps or waves.  This is where carpet stretching comes in.  You can hire a carpet installer to come in and restretch your carpet.  I found the guy I used on craigslist.  They generally charge $75-$100 for 1-2 rooms working on the side.

For those with pools…  Pool stores are evil.  They keep you uneducated about pool chemistry in order to keep selling you chemicals.  They test your pool water for free and then recommend a bottle of something.  The main thing I learned about pool chemistry is that there is a thing called “Stabilizer” or “Cyanuric Acid” which is good for your pool in between 30-60ppm.  Once it gets too high (over 100ppm), it inhibits your chlorine from working.  Then you get green water.

The pool store will recommend “shock” or “pool tablets” for chlorine…. but guess what… they both contain “stabilizer” so the more chlorine you add, the more stabilizer you indirectly add and the less your chlorine works and the more chlorine you buy from the store.  It’s a neverending circle.  Internet forums are a great source to learn.  Here is the pool forum that I now visit.

Another thing about pools…  Pool maintenance services generally charge $20 per week (includes chemicals) to come take care of your pool.  I used to think that this cost was not worth it.  I’ve come to learn now that it really depends on your pool and its water age.

My pool in SFH#1 was newly built in 2005.  New pools are generally smaller in area than old pools.  Most people put in play pools, meaning they are only 5 feet deep.  New pools also have better plumbing designs.  The combination of these gives us a small pool (13,000 gallons) with better filtration ability.  In addition, new pool water has stabilizer levels on the low end which make its chlorine more efficient.  All this means easy maintenance.  I think I spent $150 total for 2 years of pool ownership at SFH#1.

Now at my new house I have the following: Large pool (24,000 gallons), 10 feet deep, old water, old filtration design.  All this means that I need to use alot more chlorine.  Also, the older water has a high concentration of stabilizer and the older filtration design is not as efficient.  In the past 3 months, I must have spent over $200 alone on chemicals and chlorine.  In addition, I’m calculating that it will cost me $18/week to maintain my chemical levels.

So I guess pool service is worth it… depending on your pool parameters.

Posted in Real Estate | 3 Comments »
Stumble it!