Yes! I was really freaked out when I first noticed it! My heart just sunk. I had worked for weeks getting the bottom on this pool perfect, just perfect. I wanted those expensive ColorLogicLEDs to look perfect when reflecting across this glassy smooth pool bottom (OK, maybe it wasn't glassy smooth, but those lights were all I could think about when I was troweling it on!) This pool bottom was really really smooth. But unfortunately I couldn't drop the liner in immediately due to the irregular pool shape. The liner had to be custom measured (using point-to-point) and custom made. It was supposed to take 2 weeks to get here, but the manufacturer ended up taking nearly 2 months!! By then the weather had turned cold. We left standing water in the pool bottom and around the pool itself. The water was freezing and thawing (both on top of, and underneath the surface) which cracked the pool bottom. We never even realized it until it was too late. However just before we drop in the liner, we are going to COMPLETELY remove those "cracked" sections with a sledge hammer, and totally replace it with a new bottom in those places. Can anyone think of anything better to do? (short of demolishing the whole thing) What would you do if this was a liner replacement? My biggest concern with the moving sections was not just to repair them, but to determine what caused them in the first place. The "Good News" was that I'm fairly certain that it was the standing water/freeze/thaw conditions that created the problem. By knowing that, I can redirect the water, let the soil dry out, and then feel confident that repairing the section will work. I'm just a simple DIYer, so I may be missing something here. That's one of the reasons that I'm posting it. Can anyone think of a better way to handle it? Would it be helpful to add rebar in those sections? (I wouldn't think so, as the rest of the pool doesn't have it.) This pool bottom seems really fragile. The directions for the installation say to only walk on it with soft bottomed shoes, don't spray water from a hose directly on it, etc. When I work with the portland cement/sand mix, I feel like I'm building a giant sandcastle! It's not at all strong like cement or even mortar. My personal feeling is that the sooner the liner is on it the better. My mistake seems to be letting Old Man Winter get here in between finishing the bottom, and dropping in that liner! Please keep the suggestions comin'!! -Renee

Yo Ken, if your still around your up on this one. Far as Composites go I am with the Larry/whoever We are for the most part. Composites are really no longer using recycled material because there is just not enough of it so most of the raw stuff is virgin,the energy used to make composite is an enviro no no, when its time to remove the project composite is not real big on bio degrade its tricky to burn shreading it would be silly. Bottom line composites are not so enviro freindly. Info like that might suggest its not all that good to clean it either, with anything. I dont agree>> composites will out last Ipe, left to go silver/gray Ipe is as close to no maintance as a person can get. With the softer composites like Choice/MoistureShield even trex= tjunk I have found a coat or two of TWP 116 seals up the decking,locks in the color and keeps mold,mildew,stains from causing major problems. Of course not needing to do this is the reason the Wallet goes for composite in the first place. I my own self dont like composites at all for the reasons stated in several posts here and on other sites. Welcome aboard Larry!!! Sorry I dident understand your intent at the begining . John

It looks great but I caution you against 6 skinny posts. Porch posts should not be closer together than the height of the posts. 5 posts would only work if you got rid of the useless front door. 4 posts would be good too but I would make them at least 6" square (not round). That even aligns better with the front door than what the designer drew which would be obvious if the designer hadn't moved the door over in the computer model. (I wouldn't be moving useless doors if I had a tight budget.) It also allows wider front steps. Front steps should always be wide and welcoming with room for a plant or two. If the center dormer is made wider perhaps the roof of it could continue down to the main roof forming a gable-front dormer. Not much more expensive (maybe less expensive) but possibly a lot more elegant.

I officially hung up my pipe wrenches and retired on New Years day 2006. At the time my game plan was to go aboard my 36' houseboat for a two to three month cruise then return and build a tiny little one bedroom retirement home that looks like an English gate keepers cottage that I had been designing and dreaming about for the last ten or so years. So much for long term plans...LOL. I have had so much fun on the boat I don't anticipate ever building another house. So far i have cruised the Ohio river from Pittsburg to Cairo, Ill, Un the Mississippi to the Illinois then up to the Chicago sanitary ship canal to Chicago, then back downstream to New Orleans, turning west on the Intercoastal waterway all the way to Brownsville, Texas and back to Ohio, and next summer we plan to circumnavigate the entire east coast of the USA. Mississippi River to chicago,,across the great lakes to New York, Erie canal and Hudson River to NYC then the coastal waters to southern NJ where we will take the Intercoastal waterway around florida to New Orleans and up the Mississippe river and Ohio river back to our starting point. When we feel in a festive mood we can go down river about 40 miles from our home marina and tie up to a casino boat for a day or two. When solitude is in order we anchor in a quiet cove in a wilderness section of the river where i can quietly sip my coffee and watch deer, bear and other wildlife come to the river for water. When we are tied up in a marina and must make those obligotory pilgrimages to walmart we have a motor scooter on the stern deck that we can set off. Laugh if you will but it gets 60mpg at 50mph with two ppl so it is fine for us. The boat is totally self contained with a 20KVA generator, a marine geothermal HVAC system plus we can heat the boat with circulating hot water generated by the engines when we are cruising. (the same method as a car heater). Full size LP gas range and oven in the galley, plus microwave and all the other non-sensical trappings of a full kitchen. Two bedrooms with queen size beds plus the galley can be converted to sleeping berths when we have extra ppl on board. (We can actually sleep 10 ppl comfortably.) The Head (bathroom) is a bit small but it has all the required amenities,tub/shower, toilet, vanity etc. About the only thing we don't have that we might have in a new house is a mortage and utility bills..LOL.