There are many "ifs" in this situation. How large was the above ground pool and was it in the place for a long time and was it lifted in the fall, put back in the summer. What was the ground like before the pool was constructed...grass, bare ground, was it used heavily for foot traffic. The ground, if it was used as a lawn, chances are it had a reasonable amount of goodness to the soil...and grass can grow again without too much trouble. If it was bare ground, chances are it was neglected, the rain ran away from it, absorption did not happen very much and otherwise the area was more waste than grass. In this case, you will have to dig it up, add some organic matter, improve it to want to grow grass. If it was in an area where foot traffic was heavy, chances are the area of ground is heavily compacted. Again, it needs to be either aerated (by a machine) or dug up, improved and grass tried to grow. There are two methods of growing a lawn....put down sod, or seed. With seed, you should find out what type grass you have now in the outlining areas. How is that area growing. An overseeding might be thought of. Sod, while more expensive, is the fast way and it can be done NOW...you'll have a lawn that you can walk on in about two weeks. With seed, its too late....the soil temperature says seed wont germinate and you'll have to wait until spring. It can come down to how large is the area to be sodded. Sod pieces generally can be had for about $3.00 or less for ?? It depends on how large sod pieces come in your particular area....call up a sod provider and ask how much he charges and then plan on using the family car to go get it. A car's trunk can reasonably carry about 15 - 22, 25 sod pieces. Let's assume a sod piece is 2 ft by 6 feet...12 square feet. Just measure the area that needs repairing and figure how many sod pieces would be necessary....add a couple for insurance. The area should be given some new soil in any case...if you add some organic matter, dig up at least 6" - 8" down...and churn it in with a rented rototiller...use one that you can handle...don't need a big machine...as long as it can dig the tines in to start, the rest will follow. If you use peat moss to amend your soil, be sure to wet it first with hot water...peat moss will absorb warm water but will reject cold water; so the mixing in with the soil will be much easier if you sprinkle with hot water the peat before adding. If you use hay or straw as an amendment, be sure its OLD --new straw (hay) has seeds in it and it will give you a barnyard instead of a lawn if you use it fresh. To measure how much soil you might need to improve the ground there....measure the area...if it was a round pool, simple measure across the diameter, divide by 2...gives you the radius and then use the old standby...pi R squared. pi meaning 3.1428...X R..radius X itself. example: if the pool was 24' across...half is 12'...X 12 X pi....3.14 X 12 X 12...= approx 450 sq feet. If you were to put down 4" of topsoil or compost you would then multiply the square footage X 4 (inches) = 1800...which you multiply by 3...= 5400 and dvide by 1000...move the decimal 3 places to the left..giving you exactly 5.4 cubic yards of soil to purchase. If the pool area was less or you wish to use less soil just replace the figures but do the math the same way. If the pool was in rectangular form, just use the same method...length X width in feet, giving you square footage...times the depth of soil (in inches)...multiply by 3 and divide by 1000.... If the area is in pretty good shape, then maybe it doesn't need cultivating but can be reliably raked hard to raise furrows before putting down sod. In any case, look to the drainage so that when you grow grass it will not become a sotted mess....make sure the water rans away from the house and can easily be absorbed into the ground. The sod provider can give you instructions on what you must do to bring the sod along and don't get antsy and want to mow it too soon...its late now. sod can still be put down but let any mowing wait until spring....you mower should be just about ready to be put to bed for the winter anyway. But again SOD can still be put down even at this date.

What great ideas! I particularly love the 'handmade paper with water' idea. Talk about nothing to lose -- And we do have two good craft stores nearby, so I think I may just mosey on down there to see what they have in the way of handmade paper, ModPodg, etc. I'm leery of the spray-on stuff because I have such large expanses of glass that any unevenness at all would really show. That Tatouge system is neat too. Wish I'd known about that when I was doing nurseries! The undersea scene shown on the website would have been perfect for my younger son's room. Those Gallery Glass windows are gorgeous Oceana! Are they hard to do? I'm talking about three panes that are each 23" x 66", so that's a lot of space. And given the contents of these closets, I'd need to obscure the entire glass area. Valinsv - That's a great offer and I'd love to take you up on it - Thanks! But I'm unable to get your e-mail to work from your 'MyPage'. My email is linked here, and maybe that will work?

Generally, pumps are designed to push, not pull. You should locate your pump near the head tank. Something to consider is a pump, pressure tank and pressure switch just like on a regular well setup.

Taking care of the flooring issues will be a significant cost of a remodel. Old wood should be replaced with something of a similar age and grain pattern and likely will have come from a demo project in the vicinity. Be prepared for a very high price per square foot but it should still be cheaper than total replacement. The pieces missing quite large chunks can be cut out to a rectangular shape and have a replacement piece filled in. Your average floor guy isn't the answer here, you need someone who really loves restoring old floors. Talk to locals who are in old house preservation groups and ask for suggestions. Keep researching and the same one or two names will surface, likely from different sources. Whoever is in the business of old house restoration will have sources for the materials. I have my own stash of reclaimed oak and maple flooring and trim boards for future jobs.