So I went by Lowes today and saw a couple of Hibiscus I could't live without. They are 2 small plants, but they were $4 each. They are a bright fuscia color. I didn't know Hibiscus was such a pretty flower....so much to learn! So I brought them home. I should of bought some pots too, but afraid hubby will notice a major charge on the debit card. LOL I figure if I keep frequent low charges, they aren't as alarming...LMAO! Yes, I am planning on attending the plant swap. I do need to print up the directions and all. As far as Salvia goes, not sure what kind I have, I'll have to pull up the tag and read it when I get home. I didn't put the seeds far in the dirt. I just sprinkled the seeds on top of the soil and put about 1/8 of an inch of soil spread on top. So they are very lightly in there. Hopefully they'll still be okay. Ooo, yes, I looked up the pics of the Salvia, and I like. And I'll have to look up what the Texas Star Hibiscus looks like, but I know I'll probably like those too if I like the ones I bought already. Thanks so much for your help! I can't tell you how much it's appreciated!

we recently signed a contract w Claffey (haven't started actual build yet). they were about 4-5k higher than the other 2 bids we got, but i've had two friends use them and they had positive experiences. this is our 1st pool build so i felt better about going with someone with their reputation even if it cost a little more. so far i would summarize the pros as: knowledgeable salesperson, willing to stay in a budget range, willing to itemize estimate to help with trade-offs (not just a single 'bottom line price' where you can never figure out what costs what) the only real con is that their price was higher. but with the stories i hear about less reputable PBs adding on unexpected charges during the build or failing to live up to warranty claims etc, I'll have to see what the ultimate "total cost of ownership" is to find out if it is really more expensive or not we'll see how it goes...

Yay, can't wait to see your pool filling with H2O! I will sound like a broken record and say you will love the Aqua Blue PS! Glad you get to see the PS going in...cool process. Ours did have a tiny green tint until the chemicals were added and equip. turned on. After that, the great blue color came through and it was like, WoW !! After your pool is full, call CCP and tell them and they will send out the "start up" guy from NW Pools. He will turn on equipment, get your chemicals in and do some basic stuff with you......he will also bring you a lot of goodies, be ready to brush the PS a lot! Then 3-5 days later you will have Pool School. You have to call and schedule it for a time that is best for you. The start up guy will give you a letter with names and numbers on it so you know who to call. It was a great 2 hours spent with "scott" from NW Pools. He was very imformative about everything. He answered all our questions about everything from balancing chemicals to sealing our travertine! He will bring you a packet of information as a guide to go by. Be ready to take a lot of notes....he will give you some names of chemicals to use and not to use and good places to buy things and when you need to buy name brand and when you can get by with a "generic" type. So for the first month, someone from NW Pools will take care of your pool, come out weekly and balance chemicals and then after 3 weeks, they will come back out to add all the salt. You do not have to buy any of the start up chemicals for the first month or the salt....they provide it. After that, I believe it's all yours!!!! We still have to wait about 1.5 weeks before we get our salt added....we are ready for it....I'm tired of the chlorine smell already! ALSO: Make sure you ask lots of questions to the Pool School guy. We forgot to ask him about 10 things we now are curious about. He said to call him anytime, so we will be doing that next week. I dont know if this is true for all PB's, but since we are using the same PB, I can help you out Wingosh.....not sure about other's. Thanks for the names of your carpenter. I may give them a call later this fall and get a bid. How big of a patio are you doing? We just need the structure, not the concrete. Hope this helps you!!!! Janet

poolguynj and other PB's thanks again for the quick follow ups and feedback on my questions and concerns. currently the PB still has his maintenance guy coming over daily to check the chemicals, brushing etc. and adding chemicals as needed. PB said that he would do that for about a month before turning it over completely to us for maintenance. natural one, thanks for your comments on the pool build. the PB was actually there for all of the stages and on site a quite often so we felt that he was on top of everything from beginning to end. as fari as the drains, personally it doesn't bother me and kinda like the contrast but that just me. what actually bothered me more was the color of the pool cleaner, it's white with a white hose and when i asked about it our PB said that to get the black one, it would be about 300 bucks more. uh, i decided the white one didn't look bad after all! also, we had a landscaper come out last week and give us a bid for some landscaping behind the pool. it was over 6800 for landscaping that i was not even going to be able to see since the back beam is raised.....i nearly swallowed my gum when he told us the price. so we are thinking now that we will reduce the size of the bed directly behind the pool, but add perhaps some windmill palms on each end to give it some character and instead, add some beds on each end of the pool so at least we can visually enjoy some of our expenses! the sun came out today so hopefully i can post some pictures this afternoon. Thanks again everyone!!!!