Hi Janice, I too have dogs that are loved (well one of them anyway :), no rugs and constantly vacuuming fur. I have lived in a house with Western Red Cedar porches and yes the claws left marks on the wood. Any softer wood like cedar or pine will most likely end up with tell tale marks. Personally I wouldn't do pressure treated, which 98% of the time is Southern Yellow Pine, both because it is soft and treated with some pretty nasty chemicals. A sweaty dog on a hot day lying on pressure treated material will absorb the chemicals into their feet and skin. Human feet as well.... I don't have any science to back this up, and I'm sure I just made myself a target for the PT industry, but in my book common sense dictates.... If you go on our site www.soluslumber.com you can see several hardwood decking options. Give us a call and we can talk about your specific situation and see if we can come up with a cost effective solution. Hardwoods won't guarantee no marks (I've seen dogs leave marks on bluestone), but it will go a long way to helping keep your deck looking beautiful.

One thing I missed this morning on the other forum was the warranty.What exactly is warranted? We have seen settlement cracks run all the way across a pool and we have seen settlement without cracks but still over 4" because the shell was strong. The latter may not be covered. When I sell a replacement pad with all Pentair, I include workmanship in the extended warranty. I just saw the EZ Touch. If you add a Spa Command at the spa, you can control the temp, pump speed for stronger or slower jets, turn other things on like the waterfall, lighting... Brush once a day for at least an additional 2 weeks. The devil is in the details. Read the contract very carefully. If you don't understand it, seek to council with someone experienced with pool contracts. Everyone will want to play the CYA card. Is there a completion date promised? Allowances for weather? Scott

Hi Lax There are definitely gaps to the enclosure. The whole thing sits on a rail system (ours has 3 parallel) and each module has to be able to telescope over each other therefore there has to be wiggle room. The company tries to compensate by using rubber flaps along the perimeter of each section but they certainly don't keep the cold out. Also, the building has an R-value of only 5... Our unit was manufactured 4 or so years ago and since then, they have greatly improved the technology of the overall unit so we've been told. But since we saved a HUGE chunk of change we don't mind dealing w/ a 9 month season instead of possibly 12! There is a guy here in CT who tried keeping his pool open 12 months the first year he installed the enclosure. His pool is only 12X24 yet it cost him TONS to keep the heat in. His enclosure sits b/ a large shed for one end wall and his house for the other. He installed a huge gas heater in the shed to blow hot air into the enclosure but found it to be too costly. Now he shuts down the day after Thanksgiving and re-opens April 1. He has a lot of sun year round which is a big help. You may not be able to actually heat year round w/ gas/heat pump w/o spending a fortune but if you have a lot of sun exposure you'll be amazed at how hot it gets inside due to the greenhouse effect. A woman in TX uses hers year round; she installed a large electric heater like those found at the entryway of Lowe's/Home Depot. Even in the winter when she gets some snow, she told me it was so warm due to the sun she had to turn off the heater and open the windows! Her enclosure is HUGE: the pool alone is 60' long! Wish we didn't have a tall tree line behind our house; lose our sun by the end of Oct. The trees belong to the backyard neighbor so I can't touch them... Keep us posted! Joanne

The pool has many radius turns which is why concrete is the prefered choice. If a stone or paver is used it will need to be cut. You can also use a paver that is 6" x 12" to accommodate all the turns.