Unbelievable! We had a customer call us saying their heater didn’t work. We opened it up..and out ran a huge rat! Scared our crew half to death..ever heard a “man scream”??? (kind of sounds like a woman with a lot of testosterone!) Problem is..although it is amusing..the damage it caused is not funny. Rats love to chew on things..even expensive heater wires. In this case, the rat chewed through several wires that connect the display board, some key sensor switches, and the main mother board. Problem is, it actually fried a couple of the boards, so we had to replace $800 worth of parts factor in the $150 in labor and tax..and the customer was left with a $1000 bill. Sometimes heaters get old..and simply need to be replaced at cost of about $2600 plus tax. Other times, they are worth fixing…but who would have thought a stupid rat (or him and his friends) could cause so much damage. If you see rats around your property, get a professional out there ASAP, and if you have a “box” style heater, be sure to have him check inside and eradicate them from the heater before it is too late!
Archive: February, 2013
Loose Wiring and Conduit..what’s the big deal??
Do you have loose wires or conduit around your pool? What’s the big deal you ask? Well, if it gets filled with water, and finds a way to electrify the puddles of water or one of the switches that you touch when your back near your pool equipment you may be in for “a not-so fun ride” or “lesson on the power of electricity” Or as I like to put it, you may find out what it means to “ride the lightning.” No..it probably won’t kill anyone, but I am not a big fan of having a surge of electricity run through my hand up my arm and down to the soles of my shoes before screaming “Ow….what the __?” If you have ever had this happen to you…you know exactly what I am talking about.
Please remember, this is either 120 volts or 240 volts we are talking about. If you can fix it yourself..by all means, please do..but if you are uncomfortable messing around with this, please call us and we will be happy to come over and repair this for you. Cost??? Probably just a $150 service call and $25-$50 in conduit or fittings. We have the required Texas Electrical Appliance Installer’s License that allows us to make these repairs. (a 4 hour 83 question exam on stuff we will probably never use..but we have it just the same!)
Pump Seal Leaks (do you have water coming from under your pump?)
Do you have a puddle of water under your pump all the time? Can’t figure out where it is coming from?
This is one of the most common repairs we deal with (at least 5 a week). A pump seal leak is caused when the rubber o-rings fail that connect the motor shaft to the impeller (or in other words, between the motor and the pump basket housing). What’s the big deal you ask? Well, remember, it was “just an o-ring” on the fuel tank that failed that caused the space shuttle to explode.
So while the stakes aren’t that high with your pool.. in the long term it will cause the motor to fail but in the short term, you are loosing water every minute of every day that pump is running. And if you have checked your water bill lately, you know what I mean when I say that water is not “free.” So it is costing you money each and every day.
How much does it cost to fix? Usually about $150 for the service call and about $50 in parts. A new pool motor is $325 plus $200 to put it in. So that is a $500 repair you could avoid. If we have to replace the entire pump and motor, that will cost $900. So the $200 to replace the seal when it first starts is a much better investment for you than a $500 or $900 repair.
See the magic!
Again…a $40,000 pond….or a $41,000 pool> Which would you rather have? This was a $1000 transformation..but which would you rather have in your backyard?? A $40,000 pond…or a $41,000 pool? panduan android
Accent Tile: A house of cards!!
We have actually repaired this customer’s tile last year, but unfortuntetly for them, the part that we repaired is still doing fine, but a new place has started to crumble after only being 5 years old. Sometimes either due to the tile grout used, or kids jumping off the ledge etc, things just don’t hold up to the pool owner’s expectation. However, in this case, we came in and did the best we could. To be honest, the best option would have been to tear all the tile out and start over with a 1″ mosaic meshed tile. But since that would cost $2500, and our repair only cost $250, the customer opted to go with the price of $250.00.
We fixed the trouble spot, but we worry the rest of the hot-tub will likely develop other trouble spots, but we will just have to cross that bridge when we get there. But what we wanted to point out is that when we started to try and fix the 10 tiles that were missing, about 10 more had to be removed in order to find a place where the rest of the tiles were firm and still in place. Kind of a “house of cards” scenario..
If you have this problem, we can help!
Above Ground:After
As you can see, a few days later this pool looks ready to dive in! (Now we just have to wait for Mother Nature to warm up the water a bit). This pool had to be drained, cleaned, and refilled at a cost of $800, but at least it is usable again. In this particular case a couple owned the home, and left their son in charge of taking care of the pool. We all love our kids but let’s face it…sometimes they don’t follow through with our expectations. Based on how my son keeps his room…I would never trust him with our pool! So in this case, they hired us to take care of it while they are away. Happy ending for all parties involved!!