Would anyone be willing to share a PDF of the plans for the Calabash Cottage? I've designed a house based off of the Calabash Cottage but it really has little to no similarities on the interior. A set of plans to go over with my architect would be hugely beneficial to make sure I get the exterior proportions right. Thanks to anyone in advance! This thread has been extremely helpful! Feel free to email me at bhmcalex@gmail.com

It very much depends. Automated readings are, I think, far more common in electric utilities than in gas - some gas metres have no data transmission capability at all. So actual physical readings by an employee are not unheard of, and some utilities do annual averaging because customers don't like their bills fluctuating. At any rate, your monthly bill should at minimum indicate the meter reading and cubic feet/meters/therms used. It may also have a statement somewhere noting the basis for the bill - most recent reading, estimated usage, historical usage or some other term, although the specific meaning may not be obvious unless you look at the small print or footnotes. At any rate you do not need to monitor daily (can't hurt of course) - you should be able to compare your recent gas bills to the current reading. I've had this happen (I thought the info was being reported to the utility by a family member and instead they were just using estimated usage). It should be immediately obvious - i.e. the utility bill might show 50,000 units on meter on estimated basis and your actual current reading is substantially below that. (Obviously allow for your usage in the current month). On the positive side if this is the case you can ring up the utility and ask them to adjust based on numbers you report or ask to have the meter read by an employee, if you've overpaid in previous months you'll have a negative balance and get a month or two with no bills. Unfortunately this may make estimating how much the new efficient unit is saving you a bit more difficult.

Jennifer and Tresw, Thanks a lot for your advice. In fact, we swam today in the pool, yeaaaahhhH! Well, not really swimming, because the water was cold, about 60F and because I let the garden hose running in fresh water for an hour to lift up the level, but as a side effect it got even colder... But the clarity is now great. It is amazing comparing to a week ago, when was a swamp... What a miracle. I got the 4 way test kit, as suggested by TRESW and the readings were not that bad. Chlorine was really really low 0.4-0.6, but Ph was just right 7.6 and TA was 80 ppm (could have been 70 ppm, but with the background coloring I could not really say). The leaks are really big issue though. I broke the cement around the skimmer and now I can see the top plastic of the feeding tunnel (about 3-4 inches deep down), and it has about 0.5 inches water. What is even more worrisome is that the water is about 2" above the pool level, which means that the walls are all filled up with water all the way to the concrete deck and it is overflowing from any crack the water can get through. Also, the lines around the concrete deck are wet, as I dug about an inch deep around and now water started amassing around. And this is on the other side of the pool... I am having a serious leakage, that is for sure. I will rent these days a power hammer from Home depot and I intend to break to pieces the deck. The problem is I have not decided what to do with the debris yet. Any suggestions? As for the dead animal, I am no longer worried. I cleaned, and shocked, and cleaned, and shocked and now I believe there is nothing left from it... I hope. I certainly will avoid any contact of the water with my mouth for the next month or so, but overall I think I am over this now :) Thanks for all support and advice. If something else comes out, please shoot. I am ready to make some pics and post them online for discussion. Best, Lubo

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thank you again Joseph for all that information. Before I throw threats at the salesman could I get one more opinion.. So looks like they did use "Silicone Caulk like required from "Endura manufacturer's installation instructions". Spoke to salesman and he told us silicone takes longer to settle.. only when it gets lots of sun, he claimed the silicone caulk was not settled the 1st day it rained Well it rained again today and this time didn't see any water get inside. Does that mean everything is fixed? Still worried about the little light peaking out at center/bottom (by weatherstrip) of door and sides. etc He said wait 1 more week to see if we get any more leaks and if we do he would send someone from door manufacturer to take a look at it. What do you recommend we should do here? 1) Wait 1 week to see if we do get any more leaks, if not that means our doors are fixed? 2) Still tell the salesman to bring someone asap to fix all those open light spots or we will inform division of inspection of his delinquent license, etc