Back in the 80′s, one would apply for a loan. The bank would check three things: How long on the job?, What was the debt to income ratio? How well were you paying off your current and past credit obligations.

We all know that the housing market has caused everyone’s house to fall in value. So what is now occurring is that good honest hardworking couples can’t enjoy a pool in their backyard because the Loan to Value Ratio (What the house is worth versus what you can borrow against it) is so low the Banks won’t loan til you have at least an 80% LTV on your house. Well it would seem that if you put 20% down as Banks are requiring, you would have that 80% LTV already wouldn’t you? But Noooo. The banks got around that by taking your current appraisal value and lopping off an additional 10% of the appraised value to minimize their exposure to any future loans against the home. You could always write Congress but you’d be disappointed because the banks own the House’s members! Remember that when your kids want to swim and can’t and you are headed for the polls to vote!

Lastly, A BIG THANK YOU goes out to The Mix 95.1 for the tremendous job they did in promoting this event.

We at PoolBuilders, Inc. wanted to bring public awareness, as did the sponsors, that we hope that for those wanting to build a new pool, please choose a LOCAL contractor, hopefully us, but if not, keep it local. The out of town contractors from Sacramento are uip in this area. We here locally have employees and their families. These employees at all the pool construction companies locally, depend on the summer work to get them through the year financially; and as pool construction owners, we have a responsibility to these great employees during this terrible recession to do whatever it takes to help and protect them. It might be noteworthy to also point out that two of the biggest Sacramento pool contractors went belly up last year and the year before, and left over a combined total of 160 customers stranded with half built pools in 13 counties.

So, again, thank you all and we hope to see or talk to you all soon!

Over the course of a recent week, the sales manager at Gulfstream Pools & Spas in Tampa Bay, Fla., inked contracts with at least half-a-dozen homeowners who had initially approached him for a new pool anywhere from 18 months to three years ago.

“A lot of people are just tired of waiting,” Greene said. “Plus, they know they aren’t moving into another home anytime soon. [Getting those jobs] makes you feel especially good, too, because [it means] you didn’t waste your time with them before.”

Builders across the country are reporting similar experiences — namely, a steady increase in the number of signed contracts from customers who had originally planned for a pool years earlier.

Some homeowners are requesting the same projects that were agreed upon previously, while others have downsized their plans in response to difficulties obtaining financing.

At Shasta Pools & Spas, Steve Ast has seen a noticeable uptick in returning customers. The vice president of sales and marketing at the Phoenix-based Pool & Spa News Top Builder said he signed contracts with two such homeowners in a single day in early June.

“I think it’s a function of consumer confidence improving,” Ast explained, “as well as customers coming back and revisiting those purchases they really wanted. People have worked hard to get their personal balance sheets in order, and a lot of them are doing everything they can to get themselves into pools.”

Over a 10-day period in late May, Mark Reed secured signed contracts on three projects that were at least two years in the making. Reed, president of Memphis Pool Supply in Memphis, a Pool & Spa News Top Builder, is currently working on two other proposals for returning prospects.

If those come through, the five total returnees will represent approximately 10 percent of his new construction for a typical year, he said.

“I’m very encouraged right now,” Reed added. “What happens is, savings fatigue sets in — homeowners are sitting on [this money] for two years and, eventually, they want to spend it on something they can feel good about.”

Even a bump in the prices of previously quoted projects — thanks to rising fuel and materials costs — hasn’t deterred buyers.

“Yes, there is often a little sticker shock,” Reed said, “but it’s usually not insurmountable. The bottom line is, we’re getting a lot more calls from people coming back this year. You typically have a little of that anyway, but now they’re saying, ‘We’re ready.’”

“The recalled drain covers were incorrectly rated to handle the flow of water … which could pose a possible entrapment hazard,” said a press release from the agency.

The move primarily affects kiddie pools, wading pools and inground spas, as well as single-drain pools that do not have an unblockable drain, gravity feed system or drain covers installed before Dec. 19, 2008.

In cases where retrofits or replacements are necessary, manufacturers will pay for parts and labor, said Scott Wolfson, CPSC public affairs director. Affected manufacturers are establishing which service companies are approved to carry out the work, he added.

CPSC has advised that public pools and spas needing a replacement or retrofit be closed down. “We know this is a very difficult message to share with the public as we roll into Memorial Day weekend,” Wolfson said, acknowledging the opening of peak season for many public pools. “But better to address this now than in the middle of the swim season when a child was hurt on one of these recalled drains.”

The agency also hopes to maintain the nation’s recent track record when it comes to child entrapments. “There is a zero death rate for children in recent years related to drain entrapments,” Wolfson said. “We want to keep it that way.”

The CPSC launched an investigation earlier this year to determine whether the testing methods used to approve drain covers were sufficient to determine the safety of the product. All covers are required to comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which went into effect in December 2008.

The investigation began after officials with one testing laboratory, NSF International, launched a complaint against fellow lab IAPMO regarding testing methodology. NSF claimed it had retested covers approved by IAPMO and found that the products did not perform as rated. CPSC was directed to look into the allegations.

Drain-cover models from the following manufacturers are part of what CPSC has said is a voluntary recall: A&A Manufacturing, AquaStar Pool Products, Color Match Pool Fittings, Custom Molded Products, Hayward Pool Products, Pentair Water Pool and Spa, Rising Dragon Plastics and Waterway Plastics. Click here for a partial list of recalled models.

Wolfson said some manufacturers already have the parts necessary to make retrofits or replacements. Others are still ramping up production. He admitted getting those parts and the labor necessary to install them will be major hurdles, especially since most facilities have been working full time just to get ready for the new season.

Interested parties also can check with manufacturers’ Websites to find the affected drain-cover models. Those with a recalled cover are told to contact the manufacturer to receive a replacement or retrofit.

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