The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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Mosgi said:
Anyone have any experience with with a pool fence vs pool cover. Trying to find the cheapest potential option to make it child safe.

It’s 10x6m which makes it tricky to get a PVC cover, since removing and replacing is likely a team job. R26k

Had wanted a removable pool fence which works out to R10k less

Finally a traditional old school fence which I’m trying to work out the costs of that.

Any experiences
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I had a 11m X 6m PVC pool cover for an odd shaped pool. Fsck that was a pain and a half to manage even for 3 people. Because of the width of the poles sagged into pool which caused even more issues with leaves and other things collecting on it.

I even got them to split the cover Into two until, one day I had it and took it off and never went back on. Cost 16k about 5 years ago.

Replaced it with a leaf catcher net in Nov 2020, now do it myself.

Also my babies, also grew up and are toddlers l,so I felt it was safe enough as they can swim and climb out themselves if it did happen. My kids are also good in that they never go near pool when net is on.

A question:- is it a legal requirement to have a pool net or fence for residential homes or is that only relevant when renting your house.
 
TedLasso said:
I had a 11m X 6m PVC pool cover for an odd shaped pool. Fsck that was a pain and a half to manage even for 3 people. Because of the width of the poles sagged into pool which caused even more issues with leaves and other things collecting on it.

I even got them to split the cover Into two until, one day I had it and took it off and never went back on. Cost 16k about 5 years ago.

Replaced it with a leaf catcher net in Nov 2020, now do it myself.

Also my babies, also grew up and are toddlers l,so I felt it was safe enough as they can swim and climb out themselves if it did happen. My kids are also good in that they never go near pool when net is on.

A question:- is it a legal requirement to have a pool net or fence for residential homes or is that only relevant when renting your house.
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Bylaw for CoCT, that you have fence and or pool cover for safety..
 
TedLasso said:
I had a 11m X 6m PVC pool cover for an odd shaped pool. Fsck that was a pain and a half to manage even for 3 people. Because of the width of the poles sagged into pool which caused even more issues with leaves and other things collecting on it.

I even got them to split the cover Into two until, one day I had it and took it off and never went back on. Cost 16k about 5 years ago.

Replaced it with a leaf catcher net in Nov 2020, now do it myself.

Also my babies, also grew up and are toddlers l,so I felt it was safe enough as they can swim and climb out themselves if it did happen. My kids are also good in that they never go near pool when net is on.

A question:- is it a legal requirement to have a pool net or fence for residential homes or is that only relevant when renting your house.
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Don't know about legal requirement, it's more a question of the risk you want to take with your kids.

Freak accidents do happen even if you know how to swim, moreso with kids. Panic is a very unpredictable thing.

The PVC covers are a bit of a pain to manage, but they work. Mine is probably only going to come off permanently when the kid is school-going age.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Don't know about legal requirement, it's more a question of the risk you want to take with your kids.

Freak accidents do happen even if you know how to swim, moreso with kids. Panic is a very unpredictable thing.

The PVC covers are a bit of a pain to manage, but they work. Mine is probably only going to come off permanently when the kid is school-going age.
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Indeed . In my case, it was understanding that my kids were responsible enough at their young age. When other children are there, it's a different thing. Then I am paying attention always.

Thankfully even with the leaf net it can hold a small person but since they can't get to the water , children don't try.

Also the worst thing about PVC cover:- they look amazing when installed,.a month later :- dust and dirt makes it look like crap. With the leaf catch , looks nice all the time
 
TedLasso said:
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The sagging is a pretty difficult problem to solve in a cost effective and user friendly manner.. the aluminium tubes they used were not capable of holding the weight of the cover without sagging over the width of your pool..

So does the manufacturer use thicker poles, adding weight, making it less user friendly and more costly..?

Or look for a more light weight material, likely less strong at a lower cost and endangering lives potentially.. or look for a more advanced, lighter material just as strong but at a higher cost..
 
ShloshMalosh said:
Built 2 raised beds over the holidays using 38x228 rafters and perlins
They are 2 rafters high. Box 1 is 2x1m and the other is 3x1m
nailed Chicken wire at the bottom to keep the contents steady

Got them for cheap cos i have a family member that works for a hardware and organised a discount.

I plan to line the boxes with plastic cos rafters are treated wood and can leach into the soil.
I also plan to make these "hugelkultur" beds, so need to find some old logs to fill half of them before filling the rest with potting soil and then woodchips for mulch

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Thats a granadilla in the corner that i will try to trelis to make a nice living back wall
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Location?
 
WAslayer said:
The sagging is a pretty difficult problem to solve in a cost effective and user friendly manner.. the aluminium tubes they used were not capable of holding the weight of the cover without sagging over the width of your pool..

So does the manufacturer use thicker poles, adding weight, making it less user friendly and more costly..?

Or look for a more light weight material, likely less strong at a lower cost and endangering lives potentially.. or look for a more advanced, lighter material just as strong but at a higher cost..
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It will always come down to cost IMO.

I would say that it should actually wrap around some kind of buoyant, lightweight plastic so that it's solid underneath, rather than the trampoline effect it currently has. It would still fold out when opening up the pool. But again this would add weight and cost...
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
It will always come down to cost IMO.

I would say that it should actually wrap around some kind of buoyant, lightweight plastic so that it's solid underneath, rather than the trampoline effect it currently has. It would still fold out when opening up the pool. But again this would add weight and cost...
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This is a good gap in the market for a clever inventor.. finding the most cost effective materials, that would make a pool cover cheap, light and easy for a single person to roll up and put back down..

I would agree that, use of the water on the pool is a good idea.. find a way to add something that can float on the water to prevent sagging etc..
 
WAslayer said:
This is a good gap in the market for a clever inventor.. finding the most cost effective materials, that would make a pool cover cheap, light and easy for a single person to roll up and put back down..

I would agree that, use of the water on the pool is a good idea.. find a way to add something that can float on the water to prevent sagging etc..
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It's already invented I think. With my leaf catcher net, I was told to buy two small physio balls, to put under net, to keep it taut. I tried that but it didn't work so well. It was like physically impossible to keep that thing under water while the net is going on

So now, I have four pool noodles in a 2x2 configuration. I used rope to tie them together and threw about 4 sets of them around the pool (used pool brush to put them into position) . This works really well and also lets me know when there is too much water in pool because they stick out loads. Importantly , the kreepy still works moving around the pool
 
TedLasso said:
It's already invented I think. With my leaf catcher net, I was told to buy two small physio balls, to put under net, to keep it taut. I tried that but it didn't work so well. It was like physically impossible to keep that thing under water while the net is going on

So now, I have four pool noodles in a 2x2 configuration. I used rope to tie them together and threw about 4 sets of them around the pool (used pool brush to put them into position) . This works really well and also lets me know when there is too much water in pool because they stick out loads. Importantly , the kreepy still works moving around the pool
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This sounds like something Bear Grylls would do somehow…

Forgot to mention the price for the clear Perspex automated pool cover…

Basically budget R300k and you’ll be in the ballpark.

I’ve been pool training the toddler and the non crawling kiddo will be in training soon. The pool noodle solution could actually work well. The old one got basically destroyed by the weight of water when it hadn’t been maintained . It’s weird to say but a few well placed noodles and a few bullets would have saved me a fortune.

Waiting on costs for a decent solution…
 
I'm thinking about putting a wellpoint and pump in to fill my jojo tanks in summer months when we don't get any rain. Only thing is I know the water in my area stinks and causes walls to go brown, which I assume that amongst other things is due to iron.

Anyone have any sort of filtration system, or knowledge about it? I don't need the water to be drinking quality - just good enough to water my garden, fill my pool and use in my toilets without causing stains and damage.
 
WAslayer said:
This is a good gap in the market for a clever inventor.. finding the most cost effective materials, that would make a pool cover cheap, light and easy for a single person to roll up and put back down..

I would agree that, use of the water on the pool is a good idea.. find a way to add something that can float on the water to prevent sagging etc..
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How about a couple of these floating things the pool net people use? Or......
an-net1.jpg
 
So I bought the house with this POS composite deck. It's 5 years old and FUBAR. The substructure started collapsing and the composite planks started to perish and break in places.

During the 5 years, I have replaced some of the wooden substructures here and there and finally, I had enough and replaced it with concrete and on top of the concrete, they put a Cemcrete screed. Here are some before and after.

I am very happy with the end result.

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W@P said:
So I bought the house with this POS composite deck. It's 5 years old and FUBAR. The substructure started collapsing and the composite planks started to perish and break in places.

During the 5 years, I have replaced some of the wooden substructures here and there and finally, I had enough and replaced it with concrete and on top of the concrete, they put a Cemcrete screed. Here are some before and after.

I am very happy with the end result.

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Must have cost a pretty penny but damn that looks much better! Fits the look of the house very well.
 
ShloshMalosh said:
who are you? Khabib Nurmagomedov ?

CPT... that back wall is north-ish facing... the corner has shade during the afternoon... I wanna try and get some dwarf fruit trees and do a mini food forest type vibe.

Edit: if anyone has a beat on where i can obtain some logs in CPT i will appreciate
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FB market place is your best bet.. see plenty ads in that regard..
 
W@P said:
So I bought the house with this POS composite deck. It's 5 years old and FUBAR. The substructure started collapsing and the composite planks started to perish and break in places.

During the 5 years, I have replaced some of the wooden substructures here and there and finally, I had enough and replaced it with concrete and on top of the concrete, they put a Cemcrete screed. Here are some before and after.

I am very happy with the end result.

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Very nice...Just one question...why is there a flower box where your braai should be?
 
Quey_Quick said:
Very nice...Just one question...why is there a flower box where your braai should be?
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I have one of those concrete boma fire pit braais standing to the far left on the pics and also have an indoor braai.
 
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