Operating costs? If you can open and close the pool yourself, and you should learn to do that, the labor is free. I'm in CT. It takes me about a half-day to close my pool in the fall. I drain the water down overnight to drop the water level about 20" below normal. The next day I blow out the plumbing and cap all the water lines in the pool and spa shell. I drain the skimmer and put a couple of those collapsable/crushable thing-a-ma-jigs for freeze protection. I install the loop-loc pool cover. I drain the equipment (pump, heater, filer), clean the filter cartridges, etc. Close the propane valves on the tank and heater. To open the pool? Remove the cover. Winter snow and rain have my pool water level back up to full. Remove the plugs on the pool and spa return lines and from the skimmer basket. Prep the filter/heater/pump, which simply means closing any drain plugs, setting the cartridges in the filter, etc. Opening the gas valves for the heater. Takes a few hours to open the pool. Once open, I vacuum the pool and hit it with chlorine. I use liquid (12%) Chlorine. In a couple of days when the chlorine returns to normal levels, I do a full water test and balance as needed. My pool (20' x 40', about 20000 gallons) is open from April to mid-November. It has a side-spa. I don't heat the pool, but I do heat the spa. I have a variable speed pump, a Pentair 011018. Highly recommended. I draw about 2kW per day total running the pump on low-flow for about 10 hours a day, for about 2 hours a day it's bumped up to high-flow for spa use or when the sidewall cleaner is in the pool. It's quiet, and all the fluff about energy savings? For me it's true. Electricity is expensive in CT and this pump is saving me about $100 a month over what my old Pentair single-speed 1-1/2 hp Whisper pump cost to run. The level of savings surprised me. But it is real. Test kit? I recommend a good Taylor-type of test kit. The initial kit ran me about $100, but over time I'm probably spending $30-$40 a year to test. You need a good test kit. It'll save you big time in head scratching and in wasting chemicals as you chase balanced water chemistry. I sanitize with 12% liquid chlorine, about $3.50 a gallon. I use a little over a gallon per week, or roughly $20 per month. When I open the pool there's usually $50 each year to balance the water. Sometimes baking soda, sometimes acid, or whatever. Some years I open the pool and the water is perfect. All I have to add is chlorine. The Taylor-type of kit won't lead you astray. I spend roughly $200 on chemicals from opening day to closing day. Daily maintenance? I get cup of coffee most mornings and go out by the pool. It takes a few minutes to skim off any leaves or debris. Most days there isn't any. In spring (pollen) and fall (leaves) I may have to do it twice a day. Takes a few minutes. Once or twice a week I'll toss in the sidewall cleaner and let it run for a few hours. For me, daily maintenance is pretty minimal. The pool has been in now for about a dozen years. I swim most every day that I'm home. I have turn tiles on each end of the pool, so I swim laps. My kids are now out of the house. I wanted a pool, because I knew I'd use it myself. If I didn't want it and I put it in for my kids, or for my wife, or to impress the neighbors, then the pool might be a bit of a chore, even if the daily/weekly maintenance is minimal. Equipment? For a spa, I recommend you get a 400k heater. It essentially takes the same volume of propane or natural gas to heat your spa from 80-degrees to 98-degrees. A 400k heater simply does it faster than a 200k heater. I don't know much about heat pumps, but my understanding is they have a v-e-r-y slow response time. I have a Raypak 400k heater. No regrets. Easy to maintain. Pump. Already mentioned the Pentair. Quiet and efficient. I'd get another if this one failed. Filter. I over-sized my filter. I have a Pentair Quad DE 100 filter. I like cartridge filters, it may simply be because that's what I've always used. I only have to clean the filter carts once, that's at the end of the season when I winterize. With my old "properly sized" filter I had to clean the carts 2, sometimes 3 times a year. So...a lengthy reply. Hopefully somewhat useful. But it is simply my opinion on how my pool works for me. And how sometimes I work for it. lol Overall, no regrets.

Please just don't make the mistake I made; as I mentioned in another thread somewhere, I have black marble floor in the kitchen in our present home, So hard to keep it looking new and worst flooring for our kitchen. Our new house will have traventine floors throughout with radiant heating (except formal living & dining rooms). I'd love to install granite floors but doubt if it comes in very light colors and quantiy we need. I have strandwoven hardwood floors in our current basement, I installed/glued directly on concrete floor, feels so warm and I love it, however baby it too much and wife will have nothing to do with such flooring in the kitchen.

If I want the earnest money I have to sign it. I spoke to an attorney, she said take the earnest money and move on. Realtor says take the money and move on. Work at the house did need doing. It however did not need doing urgently and could have waited to be put on the contractors regular schedule and not pushed through as a priority. I had offered the full cost of the work and additional money if the buyer did it after closing. I've basically had my life turned upside down to get the work completed in 9 business days and had to pay a premium price to get it done. These buyers have been a pain the ass since day one. You would not believe the stuff they have pulled. I'm relieved to be rid of them but not about having to start over again for a third time. Maybe the next buyer will be sane.

No - it is not true. Variegated plants do not need to be dry before watering. They ALL do better on constant moisture - like wicking - if your soil is loose enough, wick is taking just enough water - it takes some adjustment. What Stamik is dealing with - you bottom water - you can easily make the soil soggy - may be temporarily - but with cool conditions - it can be detrimental. So in this case - too much is worse than not enough. Oldtimers didn't use wicks - but they used their index finger - if the first 1/2 inch of soil is dry - it is time to water. And with bottom watering - there is always a good practice -water - and in 15-20 minutes - pour the leftover water out of the saucers. Even if the top still fees dry - the moisture will gradually redistribute itself. It is not that we are running around dispensing a precise amount of water into each separate pot...