Pool Has Been Green For 9 Years
Does anyone have any experience with pools. And can anyone recommend someone in the central FL area. Buying an upscale house that has had a green pool for nine years. It is holding water, thank goodness. But what else should I know?
Brenda
I am a agent in FL and I was told that buy an appraiser that at some point a pool looses all value if it has been green for two long. I guess you can never get the green out if it has been sitting to long. The home I was dealing with was sitting for 5 months with no pool pump.
I have cleaned a gunite that was green for two years. If it is a gunite pool, this is what you need to do. Get up
early and turn on the pump to let the water run out. Once the pumps start you have to keep the pump going otherwise there will not be enough pressure to start the pump again. You also have to make sure you are there to turn the pump off when there is no more water in the pool otherwise the pump motor will burn out!!! Get a shop vac that is also a pump. Rinse as much algae off of the walls as you can while you
vacuum the algae up. Get an acid brush and use it to clean the wall with chlorinating granules in water. rinse some more. Then use "muriatic acid" in water to clean the walls again. By this time it should look very clean. Fill the pool up and use a lot of chlorinating granules. After about a week I would drain the water again and paint the pool.
I would talk to the bank/seller/agent who ever and adjust your offer if their are termites. Termites are costly.
Remember They make thier money selling you termite treatment and protection.
House built in 1900 would be easy to find something you could say looked like evidence of termites at one time or another. Just get a professional home inspection.
Its like asking how expensive is a report of some roof problem. Could be expensive if need to replace the entire roof. Cheaper 10 minute job if one loose shingle. Or shingles could just be discolored.
60% of time I could also say I did see some evidence of termites at one time no repairs are needed. 20% of the time under 200.00 worth. Only other 20% of time is it extensive and expensive. Most only hear about the expensive ones. I have years experience at first in pest control now as a contractor and in VA. But I have heard also 3 times the problem in FL.
There is a very old saying that you pay for what you get and I do not think warranty was part of it.
(Luckily he/she gave you excellent work)
Yes, I do have a bonafide written contract listing all repairs and details.
The only reason I used him is because my investor friend of 10 years has used him exclusively for all of his properties and comes with a very high recommendation.
Maybe this is more a question for the legal department to see if it is possible to have him sign some other document...now that he is done, I suppose it is going to be tough to have him sign yet another document....
Wow! And to think that Yank gave that advice away for free! Any newbie should be willing to send you a check for $10.00 every time that reply is read. That money will come back to them x1000.
Quote:
On 2005-02-13 21:41, The-Rehabinator wrote:
Wow! And to think that Yank gave that advice away for free! Any newbie should be willing to send you a check for $10.00 every time that reply is read. That money will come back to them x1000.
Make the check payable to : NC_Yank at TCI.................oh excuse me............the wife has corrected me this Valentines Days............................................make the check payable to Mrs. NC_Yank...................she gets it any way.
regards
NC
PS. There is a CLUE in the above for all you men to what DAY this is.........
i agree with mike. i think you would be better off getting the home inspection report first. i just had one done on a rehabb im doing and the home inspector pointed out all the problems and things i need to fix for me. at a cost of 300$
the thing i dont like about having a contractor do it, is that if you are considering hireing them they are probably going to point out more then is really needed. ex. on a earlier property that we fliped, it was in major disrepair and a potential buyer came in with her G.C. the G.C. ended up telling her the house would need to be gutted and walls knocked down at a cost of 50k well needless to say she backed out. after that we had a couple of experienced rehabbers come look at it who estimated less then 30k. one of them grabbed it immedietly. unless you know a really honest G.C. then i would recoment the home inspector. they will even give you a written report and instructions on how to fix the things that are wrong. that way you can tell the contractor what work needs to be done, and not the other way around. it was very helpful to me.[ Edited by ZinOrganization on Date 02/26/2005 ]
In some cases, you can even get an appraisal company that is licenced as inspectors, willing to do the appraisal and inspection for you in one shot - it is always nice to give him an extra tip for his good work. Not sure how it runs in your state - but in NY that is done like that many times. This way you know what you are getting into before you even start
Appraising and inspecting the same house would be frowned upon by the Inspection Board in NC.
Im sure the Appraisal Board would feel the same way.
NC
Once you do hire a contractor, the NO. 1 way to not get taken is to do the money payments the right way:
1. No deposits. If they insist, make is small (like 5%) and tell them you will meet them the first day on the job, after they have started.
2. Pay in progress payments that you come up with ahead of time. Like, $1200 drywall, $800 demolition, $3000 paint, etc. So, when the drywall is halfway done, you only pay $600. This schedule of values should be part of the contract that is signed.
3. Buy the big ticket material purchases yourself: lumber, tile, fixtures, etc. Put what material the contractor furnishes and what you furnish in the contract.
4. Have a signed contract.
Good luck.
o.k pro contractors, this ??? will probably make you kick over the computer. is it too much to have the contractor go to the store(s) with you to get the supplies? P.S. it seems the only way to not get burned is through recomendations through friends, family, abd an airtight contract.
Total agreement on all points!
I canot add any more you guys covered everything
I just finished up an insurance job for the owners of a local golf course. They just wanted my labor while they supplied the materials. It was suppose to be a fairly simple job and since it was a small job (under10k) I allowed them to take care of the lumber. They opened up an account with a local supplier. I provided them a list of what I needed and when to deliver it.
Things that went wrong:
1) material was not delivered on time.
I spoke with the lumber rep who informed me that the owners did not specify a time, just a date. (that will cost them at least $300.00 for having 3 men to wait 4 hours on material.
2) I specifically requested fingerjoint studs, they delivered conventional lumber.
That will cost them $100.00 for having to cull through lumber and block same.
3) Door was not ordered when requested and thereby costing me an additional trip this morning to install a door that should have been installed on the second day.
4) changed their mind on the type of roof - originally metal changed to fiberglass shingles - AFTER prep work began for metal roofing.
5) The job should have taken 2 days..........because of these stupid mistakes it took 4 days not to mention the headache of having to reschedule other jobs and work late in order to keep other clients on schedule.
Their mistake will cost them over $1000.00........ that could have been avoided by letting me turnkey the job.
In regards to upfront money.............I require upfront money on larger jobs unless it is a repeat customer.......smaller job, generally no.
It still comes down to what I have said in the past...........its a trust issue.
In my experience, the better rehabbers do not waste time or energy on trying to run the show or save a dollar by providing material. They find people they can trust and allow them to do their work with as little as interference as possible.
Those that micro-manage often mis-manage.........
NC_Yank
JC,
We may disagree about how contractors and rehabbers should work together, but just to let you know............I did not delete your post. Anytime I edit or delete a post I email the person in advanced.
As far as I know, no other moderator has deleted your post either.
NC_Yank
Quote:
On 2005-03-18 07:07, jchandle wrote:
My post mysteriously disappeared last night, so let me try it again.