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Posts Tagged ‘Swimming Pools’

Your pool cover has a important job to perform with the condition of your portable spa and it’s water. A high-quality cover offers insulation to the pool. It in addition guards and protects the hot tub from the weather, serving to reduce dirt accumulation on the skin, and obstruct vegetation and rubbish from entering the water.

So, What can be done to take care of my Spa Cover?

Your pool cover is under constant attack by numerous forces, including Ultra violet from the sun, rainwater, filth and grime from the backyard, and ozone. This also includes the chlorine which keeps spas and swim spas clean. By spending a little bit of time a couple of times a month, giving the cover a wipe using light soap and water solution (using no detergents!), you can remove a little of the accumulation that will lessen the cover’s operational working lifespan. While you are washing the cover, please try to take care of all the secreted cracks, crevices, nooks and crannies, along with both upper and bottom surfaces.

Once every quarter, it is good to treat your pool cover with a top quality vinyl protectant treatment, which will help to put a stop to cracking, fading and splitting through subjection to sunshine, in addition to preventing water damage and keeping the vinyl smooth and pliant. Please do make sure the protectant you employ is not one with a silicone oil source, that will magnify sunlight wear.

Ok, How do I identify when the Cover needs to be replaced?

Once you have had your portable spa cover for a considerable time, it will eventually clearly start to demonstrate the signs of extreme damage, that involve:

* Covers which are heavier than usual
* Covers that have a coarse consistency on surface which faces the water
* Covers that amass water on top

As soon as your cover has lost the functionality to insulate completely, your pool running charges might multiply, as the heater is continuously battling to maintain the temperature of the water where it ought to be. If your domestic energy expenses have been increasing, your damaged portable spa cover could possibly be the problem. Even if you have not ended up at this point yet, if your cover is displaying some of the warning symptoms above, a new one is definitely suggested.

Now that spring is finally here it is the perfect time for everyone to start planning what they want to do to improve their garden in time for the summer. The size of your garden does not matter as there are plenty of different things you can do to improve it. There are solutions for almost any garden whether you want to start growing your own vegetables, want to host garden parties in the summer or simply want to encourage your kids to exercise more often by installing a pool..

Using Art And Paving To Create Interesting Looks

Using paving and garden sculpture is not a new idea but you don’t have to follow the standard rules. A well planned paving design that incorporates a garden sculpture can be both eye catching and functional. If you have a problem with flooding in your garden then you might want to look at installing permeable paving, which helps rainwater to drain into the ground naturally. There is a wide choice of colours and materials available with permeable paving making it very flexible enough to combine with a garden sculpture. There is a wide range of different garden sculptures that you can choose from. Garden sculptures don’t have to be just about wildlife and gnomes they can be extravagant art works made from a range of materials.

Cooling Off In The Sun

It is generally considered that buying a swimming pool for your garden is a time consuming and expensive task. An option that is less expensive and quicker to install is above ground pools. Above ground pools make a welcome addition to most gardens as they are available in a variety of shapes and styles. This means you can have a long pool for swimming lengths in or a smaller splash pool for cooling off on those hot summer days.

Get More Vitamins For Less By Growing Your Garden

Many people are choosing to grow their own vegetables these days but many people think that this requires a large amount of space. Growing your own vegetables in a small space is no longer a problem thanks to the variety of space saving solutions available. Perhaps one of the easiest ways of doing this is by using raised garden beds as they can be made to fit. A good raised garden bed is deep and full of high quality top soil that many of us simply don’t have in our garden leading to a better yield of crops. It is fairly simple to build a raised garden bed from a few peices of wood but you will also find that there are various self assembly kits available.

Creating A Stand Alone BBQ

While many people are happy to use disposable BBQ’s or small gas ones some of us hunger for more. A great way of creating a permenant BBQ is to build one out of bricks and a few other materials to create a BBQ you’ll use regularly. This is something that can be done easily over a couple of days and simply requires some basic brick laying skills and materials. The great thing about building your own BBQ is that you can create a BBQ that meets your needs and looks the way that you want it to.

Summer is almost here, which means that your backyard is going to become a potential hang out for insects of various types. Here are some common sense tips you can use to keep some common insects away from your yard. Most of these tips do not require the purchase of chemicals of fancy equipment. These are practical tips that you can try, and are often as effective as chemical solutions. Thus, they can replace or can at least be used in conjunction with commercial bug killing methods.

Let’s start with one of the peskiest pests – mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can turn an otherwise tranquil evening in your yard into an itchy nightmare full of pin prick twinges and aggravated swatting. What can you do to reduce the presence of these swarming dive bombers in your yard and life? You should start by getting rid of the habitats in which mosquitoes thrive and to which they are attracted. One of the major lures for mosquitoes, and insects in general, is plain old water. Mosquito larvae breed in standing water. Thus a major step toward getting rid of your mosquito problem is to get rid of water that’s been sitting around. Dump out bird baths, old tires, coffee cups left on tables in the rain – anything and everything that has standing water in it. You can even shake out cupped leaves on plants and trees.

Damp shady areas such as the space under decks and porches are another mosquito breeder. You can sprinkle sand in these areas to dry them out. Don’t overlook any place damp and hidden from sunlight as a potential mosquito nursery.

This is fine if you can dump the water out, but what if you can’t such as in the case of swimming pools and fish ponds? BT (bacillus thuringiensus) is a naturally occurring bacteria that kills mosquito larvae. It is, however, harmless to humans, which puts you in a good position. It can be sprinkled into pools and ponds to kill any larvae that may be underway.

If you want to get even fancier you can put top feeding minnows called Mosquito Fish into pools – mosquitoes are their favorite dish.

By the way, forget the ultraviolet bug electrocutor. Studies have shown that these devices have virtually no effect on mosquito populations and end up killing all kinds of beneficial insects as well while they pop and zap through the evening. Save your money for something more worthwhile.

Termites are another big problem. Again, water attracts these insects, so get rid of it any way you can. Follow essentially the same steps as in the case of mosquitoes above, with the added emphasis on channeling water from gutters as far away from the house as possible.

The next item to consider concerning termites is wood. Remove old stumps, logs, and other unnecessary wood in your yard and you’ll go a long way toward getting rid of these little buggers.

Most decks and outdoor wooden construction is made of pressure treated or at least painted wood, but if you do choose to build or put furniture on your deck that doesn’t fit this description, there are types of wood that are less attractive to termites. These include juniper, redwood, and cedar. Use these when possible. Failing all this there are effective termite sprays and poisons that you can use and which are available at all kinds of retail stores.

What about bees and wasps? In order to encourage these insects to look elsewhere for a home, yard clean up is a good place to start. Bees and wasps are attracted to garbage and sweet items. So clean up your yard, certainly of trash. In fact, this is a good insect deterrent in general – cleaning up your yard reveals potential breeding spots and gets rid of insect attracting items that may have escaped your notice.

The next step is to get rid of bee and wasp nests. This is one case where you may have to bring in the spray. However if you use a long pole and some protective clothing, you may be able to dislodge nests from a distance and then dispose of it without any chemical assistance. If in doubt though, just spray the nest and then, wearing gloves, pull it down and throw it away.

Here’s an innovative trick: after getting rid of the nests, put fake nests up. Bees and wasps avoid other colonies of the same species and if they see these nests they will look elsewhere for a place to build.

Finally we come to ants. The way to 86 these guys is to find ant colonies (ant hills) and destroy them. There are a number of ways to do this. You can pour boiling water (about 3 gallons) on anthills, put water and citrus peels in a blender and dump the slurry on the mound, or even pour strong mint tea on it – mint is poisonous to ants.

In addition, ants can’t stand either cinnamon or black pepper. So sprinkling this in spots where you don’t want them is a good strategy. You can sprinkle one or both of these items around the picnic table in your back yard, on the lawn generally, or even in the mounds themselves. Ants will go out of their way to avoid the sprinkled areas.

These and whatever other natural and common sense approaches you may come across are definitely a good and inexpensive place to begin dealing with your insect problems. Try these methods first, and if you feel you need to up the assault on the bugs then try chemicals and sprays. With some good old applied knowledge and practicality you can send a good portion of the bugs packing.

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Spring is in the air and soon we will all be looking to head out into the garden so now is the perfect time to start planning your improvements for the summer. No matter how big or small your garden is there are many different things you can do to help improve it. Whether you have a small garden and you want to be able to grow your own vegetables, want the perfect setting for a garden party or simply want somewhere suitable for a good BBQ there are plenty of solutions available.

Upgrading Your Garden Gnome

Putting down some new paving is a fantastic way to create some interesting effects in your garden and by combining it with a good garden sculpture, will create a feature that stands out. If you have a problem with flooding in your garden then you might want to look at installing permeable paving, which helps rainwater to drain into the ground naturally. The different choices of materials and colours that are available with permeable paving make it one of the best types of paving to combine with a garden sculpture. There are garden sculptures available to meet almost anyones tastes. While some people will go for the standard garden gnomes or wildlife statues many others might want to branch out to more artistic creations.

Cooling Off In The Sun

When most people think of installing a swimming pool their mind conjures up images of months of building and installation work. Pools like above ground pools is the perfect solution to save you time and money, as they are easy to install and maintain. Above ground pools come in a variety of styles and materials giving you the option of wooden, metal or soft sided pools. WIth the variety on offer you can choose the perfect pool to fit your garden and to meet your needs.

Growing Your Own Vegetables

You don’t need an allotment or a huge amount of space in your back garden in order to begin growing your own vegetables. Growing your own vegetables in a small space is no longer a problem thanks to the variety of space saving solutions available. One of the best ways to do this is with raised garden beds as they can be made or bought for any size garden. Raised garden beds need to be deep rather than wide and usually provide better growing conditions than a regular garden bed. It is fairly simple to build a raised garden bed from a few peices of wood but you will also find that there are various self assembly kits available.

Build A Bigger BBQ

Most people will happily purchase a new BBQ every few years after their old one has fallen apart. A great way of creating a permenant BBQ is to build one out of bricks and a few other materials to create a BBQ you’ll use regularly. This is something that can be done easily over a couple of days and simply requires some basic brick laying skills and materials. There are plenty of examples online of what can be achieved easily and you don’t need to have an extravagant design to achieve great effects.

With a reasonable warm weather start of this year, I thought I will give you some tips on how to maintain your swimming pools.

I am just kidding about the warm weather by the way, although it is warmer here in the UK than Edmonton, Canada. It never hurts to start early so those expected surprises cannot delay planned pool opening.

So while the swimming pool is closed for winter, here is what you can do, which will help make the spring opening quick and easy and hassle-free.

• Pump excessive water off the winter cover. Why? I am not entirely sure, I am just kidding again, excessive water on the swimming pool covers can cause severe damage to the swimming pool cover and due to this cover can fall into the pool.

• For any leakages check the pump room.

• Do not pump off the water; just leave 2 to 3 inches of water on the cover to protect from wind damage.

• If you see sheets of ice do not move them just leave them as this can do cause pool liner some damage.

• Check swimming pool chemicals.

• Check the pool water so that there is no trace of algae.

• Open sand filters and check quality and level of the sand.

Here is what you can do to your pool in the winter:

Water is always clear during the winter even though very little has been done to it. I hardly ever see a pool turn green in the winter because algae does not appear, even if it does appear its build-up is extremely slow.

So to winterize the swimming pool, here is what you should do:

• Once a week add a dose of chlorine and run the pump.

• Vacuum the pool at least once every 4 to 5 weeks.

So after all that, it can help prevent pool problems, water problems and enable you to enjoy your swimming pool as soon as the warmer weather arrives in spring.