My one non-negotiable item was the Pebble Sheen finish. I would've given up deck space, pool size, water features, etc. but not my Pebble Sheen. It is glorious to behold and so much cleaner to look at than our previous white marcite pool. Seeing all the little bits of dirt on the bottom of the white drove me crazy. With Pebble, the dirt doesn't show as much. Even the surface seems to require less skimming than my neighbor's marcited pool. So far, the Intellitouch remote control is pretty cool, too. But a total luxury as opposed to the Sheen which, for me, was a necessity.

Love the modness of it all - and thanks for showing the beginning of the progress. I was wondering where you got the darling hearts and checked pattern - then looked up through the posts. From your plates! Never thought about using more recent plate patterns - I'm not much into garage sales because my mother was so obsessed with them. (not meant as a dig to anyone who likes them - just that I was recruited to drive her everywhere.) Oh, and I brought a heater into my chilly spare bedroom where I work - that really helped with the cutting. Susan

Curbless requires more- more time, more money, more waterproofing, more thought. When curbless is done right, it's great. When it's done wrong...well it's a very expensive mistake. Yes, as a long-time reader of this board, I've read more than one account of curbless-gone-wrong. Admittedly, people are sometimes quicker to share bad things than good things, but I'm convinced that the above statement is true. Putting in a curbless shower will definitely cost more, and good plumbers aren't easy to find. You need to be BEYOND SURE of your plumber's abilities before you start down this road. If that’s newly built construction, it’s too late for curbless. I'm no expert, but I think this is true. What we call "minimal threshold" can also be a nice alternative. This is exactly what I've decided to use! A minimal threshold only has to be 2" high. That's not much. A wheelchair or hospital bathing chair can easily fit over this small height. Don't neglect to pair it with grab bars. I don't live that way, in fear like that. The line between fear and wisdom can be awfully fine. I do think some things discussed on this board are a little "over the top", and lots of people worry about the wrong things ... but this discussion isn't one of them. A curbless shower will cost you big bucks, but a minimal threshold won't cost any more /less than the more typical 6"-ish model ... yet it could be helpful later on. When the gift-to-future-me doesn't require any more space or cost, it's an easy choice. Does a curbless shower increase home value more than one with a curb? I doubt it. I think it's one of those things that might make your house stand out from the crowd /might help it sell faster, but I don't think a future buyer would be willing to pay more for curbless. Curbless showers, the latest 'pot filler' being sold to homeowners. How in the world did anyone ever continue to live in a home after the age of 70 with a 4" curb in the shower? They fell and became statistics in study about "bathrooms are the most dangerous room in the house". After a couple falls, they "made do" with sponge baths when they could no longer step into the tub. By your logic, we could all build a pit-latrine out back -- it was good enough for great grandma. Yes so you can shuffle into the space without having to lift your feet and possibly lose your balance. My grandmother could walk all day long (with her walker), but "stepping up" was challenging for her.

We just installed our third Hayward salt cell in June. Each of the previous cells lasted about five years before finally dying. My second cell died this past winter and I spent the spring battling green algae while waiting on a sale or rebate offer. It was a freaking nightmare of constant monitoring and testing. Right after installation I added several bags of salt to reach an appropriate level for cl production and haven't had to do a thing since except vacuum the pool. It is worth every penny to have a salt cell installed. Also, our pool is a 35K gallon vinyl liner and using a salt cell instead of liquid chlorine has kept the color of the vinyl from fading like it used to do using jugged chlorine. If you do go with the Hayward brand make sure to buy it at an authorized dealer as I read a lot of complaints on Amazon about them not honoring the warranty for ones sold through Amazon. My second cell came from Amazon but we luckily never had any problems with it. Hayward has been offering an $80 rebate on cells sold.