Q: What are we tired of hearing from contractors?

Brooke here.

We’ve gotten one estimate on pool repair and another on the cost to replace the deck.  Neither are what we anticipated, mainly as the contractors keep pointing out a couple of small structural problems.  Like so…

After seeing what was hidden under six tons of bricks, our hardscape guy recommended ripping up the entire concrete slab and starting from scratch.  An estimated $17k or so…  Or (he said, seeing the color drain straight out of my entire body), we could seal the existing concrete and build a deck above it for a fraction of that.

I don’t usually like math.

The estimate from the pool guy was also high.  Too high, in my opinion, and he kept trying to talk me out of reusing the original tiles.  Not because the tiles weren’t in good condition, just because it would be easier for him to use new tiles.  But those original tiles are great.  So over the weekend we’ll drain the swamp pool and next week my friend Ursula has graciously offered to help me Tadpole-Wrangle the last of the buggers, after which I’ll remove the remaining tile myself and scoop the rest of the leaf litter.  The existing tile will be cleaned, and we’ll find some to replace the tiles that have gone missing.   Then we’ll get a second estimate.  Yay more work.