"I find you last post the most pleasant and agreeable - what happened ? LOL I see nothing to argue about and I would agree with most..." You agree with what, me buying the beer? Cheapskate. Since there's an open invite to post pics I figure I would do so. I knew there was a rock on the side hill of my driveway that was fairly large and buried just below the surface so I set out to see how big it is. Here's my rig: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/johnstem15/445ldrbb.jpg I'm working uphill to dig it free: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/johnstem15/digrock1.jpg Now in the driveway working it out. I ran out of traction before power: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/johnstem15/digrock2.jpg And here's the beast up close: http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r97/johnstem15/bigrock.jpg I didn't take it all the way out, I reset it so it slants into the hill a little more. Right now it's playing an integral role in keeping my driveway from eroding. Retaining wall may be on tap for the spring so I might just tangle with him again. Apparently I'm too dumb to post pics inline so all you get are urls.

I would have to ask DH about some of the dimensions but here is what I have from the estimates- Perimeter- 83 I.A. 895 Single drain No rust spots showing Depth- around 9 ft. It is a diving pool. One of the PB said that he does not anticipate much rebar work.As for the finish, I read a few things about Pebble-Tec that concerns me, that it has to be acid washed every couple years, it is hard on the pool vacuum , it has the potential for more algae growth and if the chemicals are not kept in a certain range it can cause spotting. That's why we are leaning toward the Quartz. We are not looking for a major remodel at this time, we just need to fix the interior before it gets worse.

Peter- Thanks for the link to the Intelliflo technical discussion. Obviously this was an Intelliflo only discussion and only addressed low speed efficiency. Variable speed pumps with BPM motors will always use less power than a PSC motor at low speed. There is no argument here. However, variable speed at higher speeds suffers from large power consumption due to two primary power robbers 1) high current inversion of AC to DC power in the VFD, which is very inefficient and produces a lot of waste heat as a result 2) Compromised impeller design because the impeller can not operate at peak efficiency for a large gpm range so the engineers have to make a choice where they want to optimize the impeller and at the same time a choice at where the impeller will not be very efficient. In the case of Intelliflo, from their published power, TDH and gpm curves, they have optimized for low speed operation and rightly so, but this choice also causes the higher speed efficiency to be miserable. Also of note, while I agree with your warning of using FLA to estimate power consumption, I would also add that the Intelliflo curve is true power consumption in watts and not FLA. Using FLA to calculate 2 speed pump power is worst case and, to your point, will only be better in the real world which makes the 2 speed even more favorable over variable speed. Just wanted to offer a balanced view here. Variable speed has its own merits, mainly low speed efficiency and ability to tune flow to plumbing resistance for optimum performance. But, to suggest using a variable speed pump for multi-tasking, which requires higher speeds, is not doing the energy conscious homeowner any good. In the case of pools with multiple water features or in-floor cleaners which require higher flows, multiple 1 speed or 2 speed pumps that are tuned for the higher flows will always save energy over a variable speed that is trying to inefficiently cover a large operating range. jj- In your case with a floor cleaning system...the floor cleaner will have to run for about 2 hours a day to get full rotation of the heads and full cleaning. For other hours of the day, the pump can ran at low speed allowing the pump to operate easier against lower resistance providing turnover and filtering for your pool. A variable speed or a 2 speed will both provide energy efficient operation for your cleaning and filtering needs. Only you can make the decision if you want to spend the extra money for the variable speed. To help you justify the extra cost for variable speed over 2 speed, use 200 watts per hour savings over 2 speed at low speed and 1,000 watts per hour cost over 2 speed at high speed. Knowing how long you will run the pump at high and low speed will allow you to calculate how much money is saved per day with variable speed and 2 speed, helping to make your decision. Hope this helps!

Thanks - Headed over to your new thread now. Our update: Saw the polished pebble and ruled it out - didn't feel right for our home. Now leaning toward marble lookalikes, but eliminated Frosty Carrina from the running - veins too subtle. Very impressed with Calacutta Nuvo and also Pental Onixaa. Both look very realistic, but the Pental might be too greyish. Pental had some fabulous honed surfaces in colors similar to Pebble, but like Caesarstone, they warn about stains and fingerprints. Our indecision has led to a delay in our very small project. We are now waiting until Jan because we can't get the hood for our Bluestar hood until mid Dec. In a way I'm relieved because a) it will be less stressful without a kitchen after the holidays and b) new products seem to be coming out every day.