Currently we are at a stand still with the project, we had so much rain the rock has started to harden in places before being leveled out. And we did end up removing the sand to re use on top of the rock. Not to mention it is very time consuming for one person. We are considering hiring out to finish the project. I have had others advice about the weed barrier as well, sounds like a good idea. My parents patio that was completed before ours... which was my idea first... have an army of ants coming up through their blocks.

Here's an image, sort of. (See link below!) You'll need to go to www.poolcoolers.com to get an idea of how it works, and how to drill the holes. On the website, they don't have any close-up pictures, and I'll bet it's because it'd be too easy to figure out how to do this. They're literally buying PVC parts for less than $5 and selling them for $50 - I don't blame them! And to be honest, if I wasn't so... 'value conscious,' I'd probably spend the money. It's just too easy to make. Anyway. This stuff is cheap. Check out what kind of fittings your pool returns are - you'll most likely have to unscrew them. They're most likely threaded and 1 1/2 inch, like ours. If so, just get the parts in the image. If not, well, improvise. I'd be cautious about gluing inside the pool, though. If I had to glue it into the pool, I'd think about doing something else. Get an idea of what you're looking for, and head over to Home Depot, Lowe's, or your local hardware store. In Home Depot, there's a whole aisle of this stuff. You can play with it in the store, and halfway build it up so you can see what you're doing. Don't be afraid to try it - just don't seat anything in too far - sometimes they can stick pretty good, but can be separated with tools as long as it's not glued. Don't forget the pipe. Home Depot sells 2 foot segments of 1 1/2 inch pipe precut, at least they do in my area. Once you're home, you'll want to do a dry run. Assemble the pipe and the 90 degree fitting *with no glue*, and make sure that you can install the thing. There are returns in my pool that I can't do this with without a lot of extra turns. Once you've determined that you can get it installed - take it out. Glue the pipe into the 90 degree fitting, and glue the cap onto the other end of the pipe. Now, the fun part - power tools! Drill some staggered holes on the pool side of the pipe. I used three columns, I think maybe 8 or 10 holes in each columns. If it helps, walk the undrilled part over to where it'll be installed, and hold it up to visualize where the holes will be. (yea, I did this!). Also, you probably don't want any holes below the waterline. I used a fairly small drill, not sure what size. You can always drill them bigger if you need to. Let the glue dry for a bit (it sets almost instantly, but I was leery of dipping the uncured glue into my pool!), and install. Adjust as necessary. It's kind of fun. Don't be afraid to try different sizes of pipe, you might try running a long horizontal pipe with lots of holes if your pool allows. You could also use this to make a 'shower' water feature for the kids to play in - my 5 year old loved it! And, as I said above, the jury's still out on effectiveness. My second option would be to tap into one of the return lines outside of the pool - I'd use the weeping wall lines on mine - and set up some sprinkler heads to spray into the pool. Not sure about the flow rate yet, and I've yet to head to Home Depot to see what kind of spray heads are available that would work. And I really don't want to cut into the plumbing if I can help it, although PVC work is easy. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful:

I did not see you post the only relevant information needed: what is the salt level of the pool? Saying you have no chlorine is not an indication of needing more salt. It is not uncommon for heavy chlorine demand to outpace how much a chlorine generator can generate in 24 hours (if you want to see how much chlorine each salt system is capable of producing in 24 hours read this: Which salt chlorine system can generate the most chlorine in 24 hours?) In times of heavy chlorine demand simply add some liquid chlorine to your pool to help the salt system keep up. Additionally you need to be testing your water for pH, free chlorine, total chlorine, total alkalinity, cyanuric acid and TDS (total dissolved solids). Without knowing these numbers for your pool, in addition to the ppm of salt that you have, you will only be guessing as to what the problem is and how to fix it.

I also agree with removing the bushes in front of the porch. Add large colorful pots where the bushes are. Add a bench to the front porch. You could also add a window box to the window on the left. The easiest way to add color to a home in the summer is with flowers. Now the winter is a different story. Everything is brown, gray and white in the winter. Drab Pretty much all you can do is add texture in the pots. You can't add fake flowers in the winter because it looks tacky. I have a window box, several wrought iron wall planter, and pots. I add tall bamboo sticks and branches painted white to mine. Sometimes when my holly bush needs trimmed I trim it in Dec and stick them in also. They will stay green till spring. For added interest in the winter I have strings of white LED lights intertwined in the bamboo in the pots flanking the front door and an up light on my tree in the front yard. All on timers. It doesn't add color, but at least it adds some interest to the drab winter landscape.