What to do??

[danl]

We have a 27' x 52" Delair . Late last summer the pump quit. Decided to wait until the spring.

Yesterday I noticed a lot of water in the yard. The liner has sprung a major leak and it only has about six inches of water left. I had intended to replace the liner as it is 10 years old and the bottom of the pool is very bumpy.
I was going to remove the liner, smooth everything out and possibly put styrofoam down.

Here is the dilemna, the state is going to take our house sometime in the near??? future to build a new highway.
We don't know when for sure, possibly within 6 months.
If I order a liner online, I am afraid we will get a strong wind and blow the sides away. and I won't have anything to put the liner in.... We are expecting stormy weather for the next few days.
The state will have to pay us more for the property, if we have a working pool and besides my wife likes it.

Any thoughts or ideas?

[danl]

I called a local pool company and they recommended I patch it.

Can I remove the liner, smooth out the sand and still match up the skimmer etc. ports?

[aylad]

If you can patch it for the time being and just get a few more months out of it, then I definitely would go that route instead of replacing the whole liner and having to leave it.

The problem I see with taking the liner out and then putting the same liner back in is that it has stretched over time with heat from the sun and weight from the water, and I don't think you're gonna be able to get it to stay where you want it in the pool once you get everything lined up. However, I guess it's worth a try and you really won't lose anything except a little money for patches in the process (don't know how expensive it will be to refill the pool in your area).

They do make patches for vinyl pools that are designed to put in underwater. Is the hole small enough that one of those might work, at least temporarily until you sell the house?

Janet

[danl]

I haven't found the hole yet. I will do that tonight after work.
I am going to get a patch kit on the way home.


So I should just not worry about the bumpy bottom? I had no clue what I was doing when I installed the pool 10 years ago and the bumps are mostly my footprints that for whatever reason have gotten worse.

We are not selling the house. it will be emminent domain where they just take it and pay us whatever they want. We should have the option of buying the pool back from the state and moving it to wherever we end up.

thanks

[AnnaK]

That sucks, about having to give up your house for a highway. Eminent domain, everybody's nightmare. Here in my area it's humongous power lines.

I wouldn't worry about the bumpy surface as long as you don't have sharp rocks or roots poking through. Pollen and other debris tends to collect in the dips but you can brush/swish/vacuum that out.

I'd patch the liner and make do for this season.

[waste]

Don't know how viable this is but, as you'll be forced out of your home ~soon, maybe ditching the pool and getting an Intex quickset would be an option ?:)

[CarlD]

That's really horrible. At least the land is going for a highway and not to allow some developer to build a shopping mall on land he got below market value via eminent domain.

You probably won't get your money from the state so I'd invest as little as possible in this pool. If you can't take it with you, don't spend $$$ on it.

Will they at least cover your mortgage???

[danl]

We have no idea how much they are going to give us for the house. The price erosion in the housing market has me worried.
We are planning to rebuild elsewhere on our farm but our hands are tied now.
Fortunately there is no mortgage. worked real hard to get rid of that.

As of right now I'm just going to try to fix the hole and replace the pump. I emailed the highway department today and they said it can be as soon as July 2010 or as late as June 2011. Quite a spread there. aint it.

linerworld.com has a pump with free shipping for less than $200.00. what do you think?


Thanks for the input.

[AnnaK]

Free shipping is always good.

I don't know if this link will work for you: http://tinyurl.com/39gyrh7. It's a Google Squared search for 'above ground swimming pool pump'. Click on the down arrow in the PRICE column and sort from A-Z which will then show prices from lowest to highest. There are a number of pumps at HP from 3/4 to 1.5 at under $200.

I'd put as little money as possible into the pool to make it functional for this year. How long is your swim season where you're at? Of course, the pump is something you can take with when you relocate the pool and it might make sense to get the best you can afford.

[NWMNMom]

Regarless of what state you live in, an Above Ground Pool is not considered a permanent structure and therefore not part of the real estate. Only permanent structures that are actually attached to the surface of the ground or IN the ground such as INground pools, sheds, garages, outbuildings and your home are part of the real estate - even mobile homes (unless they have a basement and brick or concrete foundation - not a slab) are not permanent structures. Unless there is something completely different about the Assessors in your county, they will not assess the property at a higher value for eminant domain if you have an above ground pool. It is treated no differently than having a trampoline or sandbox on the property. You should be able to remove it without having to buy it back from the state.

[danl]

Decided to fix it anyway. I was amazed, those underwater patches actually work.
My son-in-law was helping and he said "this aint gonna work". about 30 seconds later he said "this is gonna work!!!"

I ordered a new 1 hp Hayward pump from Amazon for $144.00, I had a 1 1/2 hp in my cart and remembered some sage wisdom from this site about too big a pump. So I came back here and did a search and found bigger was not better, and I switched it to a 1 hp. It originally had a 1 1/2 hp.


Have pumps gotten cheaper? Last fall I couldn't find anything less than about $300.00.

Thanks for the advice.

[danl]

Regarless of what state you live in, an Above Ground Pool is not considered a permanent structure and therefore not part of the real estate. Only permanent structures that are actually attached to the surface of the ground or IN the ground such as INground pools, sheds, garages, outbuildings and your home are part of the real estate - even mobile homes (unless they have a basement and brick or concrete foundation - not a slab) are not permanent structures. Unless there is something completely different about the Assessors in your county, they will not assess the property at a higher value for eminant domain if you have an above ground pool. It is treated no differently than having a trampoline or sandbox on the property. You should be able to remove it without having to buy it back from the state.

I wonder about the deck I built 1/3 of the way around it. Also it is on a concrete ring I poured prior to setting the pool up. I actually want them to have to buy it from me. Normally they sell it back to you at a greatly reduced price. I am pretty sure they at least have to pay me to move it. But then again it is the government

[CarlD]

Regarless of what state you live in, an Above Ground Pool is not considered a permanent structure and therefore not part of the real estate. Only permanent structures that are actually attached to the surface of the ground or IN the ground such as INground pools, sheds, garages, outbuildings and your home are part of the real estate - even mobile homes (unless they have a basement and brick or concrete foundation - not a slab) are not permanent structures. Unless there is something completely different about the Assessors in your county, they will not assess the property at a higher value for eminant domain if you have an above ground pool. It is treated no differently than having a trampoline or sandbox on the property. You should be able to remove it without having to buy it back from the state.

Unfortunately, this is NOT necessarily true. It depends on the state, the local authorities and regulations and the nature of the pool.

Since many localities, especially East Coast and suburban ones, require a building and electrical permit for ANY pool (If they are really pushy they may even demand one for an Intex-type donut pool), they may then consider it "assessable". That certainly happened to me, as my FantaSea pool is above ground, but built into my deck and, while technically "temporary", without a BobCat or 15 guys to lift 900lb girders, it's permanent!

Our tax assessment DEFINITELY went up due to the pool, although not as much as our neighbors' due to their IGs.

In an eminent domain situation, though, one may assume that the powers that be will be looking to pay the LEAST they can get away with, so they'll have an incentive NOT to include the pool in the property valuation. You'll need to find out if the pool is supposed be included in the expropriation.

[NWMNMom]

Real estate law and local ordinances regarding safety and building permits are horses of two different colors. While local tax assessors may add an on ground pool to the tax base, a steel sided above ground pool may not. Building permits ARE required to put in mobile homes and above ground pools, however this does not necessarily make them a permanent structure under real estate law. You should check rather than just assume that it is part of the property.

Since you have gone ahead with the replacement of your items, I would simply suggest that you look closely at what they are including. You shouldn't have to buy an above ground pool back from the county and should be able to dissemble it and take it with you when you move - check the fine print on their listing of the property closely is all I am saying.

[CarlD]

NWMNMom,

I'm sure what you say is true in Minnesota, but I can assure it is decidely NOT true in North Central New Jersey, and not in the suburban town I live in. I definitely have an AG pool, it's aluminum and plastic walled, and I definitely had my house revalued because of it.

Each state and each municipality has its own rules and laws. I am currently selling my mother's house in Northern Westchester County, in New York, and the real estate rules and methods there would make your head spin! Especially since you seem to be a realtor. NOTHING in Westchester follows any familiar pattern, even in comparison to other counties of New York! For example, ALL offers are verbal and the written contract isn't prepared until very late in the process. Despite the house being "under contract", either party can back out and the seller can STILL accept a higher bid! Any place else that's a breach of contract, but not in Westchester. The written contract comes with an escrowed down payment as well (my mom's lawyer now has that down payment in an escrow account).

[NWMNMom]

Things have really gotten upside down - especially on the East Coast. I remember hearing about the eminant domain fiasco sanctioned by the Supreme Court out there where they were allowed to take the homes of the those people for some huge corporation to put up condos or something similar. Up until then ED was reserved only for those situations where the public good would be served (dikes, public works, etc) It's just plain sad.

BTW - I am not a realtor. I worked with Real Estate Law and Foreclosures since the late 80s in MN, ND and SD.

[CarlD]

Sorry, but I thought you were. Clearly you were in the business though.

The use of ED to benefit large corporations is not simply an East Coast problem. The building of the stadium for the Texas Rangers used ED to take something like 270 acres of which 17 went to the Stadium and the rest for a windfall-profit office park because the land was so cheap. Owners who were expropriated sued because the land value was SO downgraded and, last I heard, they had won the first cases. The new owners made millions on the deal.

But we have it here, too. One of the reasons the Brooklyn Dodgers fled to L.A. was that Robert Moses, the Czar of New York building and development, refused to aid Walter O'Malley in his quest to condemn a whole bunch of Brooklyn neighborhoods so he could build his new stadium. Currently, the owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team is trying to do the same thing so he can move our Nets to Brooklyn.

In fact, sports stadiums across the nation are a frequent use of ED, despite their rather dismal financial history.

[danl]

On a positive side we need the highway improvement. They are rerouting a very dangerous intersection thru our house. Would have liked for them to have gone the other direction.
My wife is a school teacher and at least two of her students have died there. One of them a eight year old girl. The other a barely 16 year old girl.

At least it isn't going for a mall or hotel.

No building permits required here, We live on a farm, raise cattle.can see them out the front window.

[NWMNMom]

I hope you will be getting to move to a nice place where you can have a pool and some privacy. :)

There isn't anything like country living - I couldn't stand a view that doesn't include my horses out the windows on one side of the house and the pool out the other side.

[AnnaK]

I hope you will be getting to move to a nice place where you can have a pool and some privacy. :)



I think danl said in an earlier post that they were planning to build a home farther back on their farm property. That sounds like a good solution to what must be a stressful and traumatic time.

[danl]

The patch is still holding!! The water is nice and green too.
The day I patched the pool we got broken into, they busted out a window and took all my wifes jewelry, most of her shoes and in short around $20,000.00 worth of our stuff.

I have been busy installed an alarm system. Hopefully that will wake the dead.
I have never seen my wife this upset and I am just mad.
I has not been a good spring so far.

Am going to try to get the pump hooked up tonight before the water actually solidifies into a green mass :)
Thanks for all the replies and help
Dan

[aylad]

Oh wow, I'm really sorry to hear about the break-in. That's awful! Do you have insurance to cover what they took? Also, now that the alarm system is in, make sure that you contact your insurance company and let them know--our insurance premiums went down 20%/year when we installed ours.

I would think the pool is the least of your worries at this point--a green pool is nothing a little bleach won't take care of!

Keep us posted on how it's going...

Janet

[AnnaK]

Oh no! That's terrible! I totally understand your wife being upset. I had a break-in once and the sense of having been violated is indescribable. The shoes are replaceable, the jewelry might not be because there's so much emotional attachment to jewelry.

I'm so sorry this happened to you folks.