Posted:
I'm in the process of doing a little study prior to purchasing more pool furniture at our complex. I find it interesting that before I signed up to this site that I found this discussion, and it had a ton of responses to it. Now that I've joined, I only see two, and I don't see any options to get more. I joined up because of the approach I'm taking on it, and I thought that someone else might find it helpful.
I'm nearing retirement, and the company I work for has decided that my function (and the entire department that used to do it, not just me) was no longer needed. What was the department? AFFORDABILITY. It's funny that I run into design engineers I worked on various programs with that have commented that in today's environment of so much competition that you'd think that that function would be more important than some design engineers. I'd never have made that comment, and was surprised to hear it, but there is some sense to it. Anyway, for 30 years, I built custom cost models for programs and conducted trade studies between designs to help make decisions on what direction to go, as well as to identify cost drivers so as to influence the design to evolve the design to a more affordable concept. And whenever possible, I didn't do the trade just on the purchase cost, I did it on life-cycle cost, just like you would when you buy a car. You don't decide on which car to buy just because the purchase cost is the lowest, but you also want to consider the reliability, safety, repairs, and overall, how much it will cost you to operate the vehicle for a certain number of years that you decide is your requirement for the study. I did this for dozens of programs, maybe you heard of one called our National Missile Defense - you know, the one "hitting a bullet with a bullet"? I was in charge of the missile - the interceptor - part of that whole system. And BTW, I'm not trying to come across as a know-it-all, or holier-than-thou. I tend to be kind of lengthy when I type because I like giving the background, and as much information as I can in one shot, one place, so you don't have to comb through multiple iterations of emails trying to find that piece of information you couldn't remember, and to answer as many questions as I can anticipate. Most of my career I've been praised by my bosses for my communication skills, but I know that some, my current assignment boss in particular, that doesn't appreciate it and tells me I'm too lengthy and he just wants short, succinct answers. Never mind that those responses lead to 3 -5 follow on emails of clarification questions, but I get it. Probably most people don't like overly long mails.
I figure that getting the kind of data I'd LIKE to have for making the pool furniture decision doesn't exist, I thought I'd still share what I will do because not only do I like to have some sort of documentation or rationale as to why I made the decision I did, but our current board has 3 accountants and a couple software designers on it, and they're also about having documentation and process. This is a far cry from the stereotypical old incumbent board (and some of the posts I've read here) arrogant that don't really pay the residents much homage and say "we'll look into it".
I'm also what I'll call the "pool liason". I help our pool guy out by monitoring the water levels, particularly of the spa because through use and evaporation, the water level will get too low for the pumps to get water in-between the pool guy's visits. Otherwise, ask him to come out an extra day, and his rates will go up. So just a few years ago we needed to replace some furniture, but I had also noticed that some of the furniture was disappearing from thefts. Looking into the cost of commercial furniture shocked me, so I decided to give the lounges and chairs that were on sale at Target at the time a try. After probably 5 or 6 years of using that, I have a lot of furniture in the corner graveyard and need to get some new furniture. The cheaper stuff doesn't last as long, but how to make the decision?
Ideally, we'd have the expected lifespan of the furniture, but we don't. But I'd have to say that the cheap stuff from Target has lasted about 2-3 years. And BTW, I'm in southern California, literally 2 miles south of Disneyland, and the furniture is outside 24/7/365. So I've got half the data I need. How about the commercial stuff? One of the replies to this thread I found before I signed up, a guy said that his commercial stuff was still looking good after 15 years. ok, there's
A data point, but still no "lifetime". So work the problem backwards, or 'reverse engineer' it. I'm just now beginning my search, and will check out links I find here and elsewhere (and recommendation from our pool guy - after all, he spends his entire day at pools and can tell me what he sees and what seems to hold up). So the first commercial and quick check of the chaise lounges at Target yielded me a cost ratio of 13:1. So short of the inconvenience of having to haul away furniture that has to be replaced, and finding replacement furniture, purchasing and getting it into the pool yard, AND potential damage (first time I picked it up at Target, I put the first dings in my new $5,000 paint job on my '85 VW Westfalia!), if I take that cost ratio, in order to hit a 'break-even'
point, I should get the same ratio in years of service. So, if the cost ratio between commercial and non-commercial is 13:1, then I should get the same out of the lifetimes. So if I got 2-3 years out of my Target furniture, then in order to break even, I should expect 26-39 years out of the commercial stuff. that's a far cry from the 15 years the one guy mentioned, and I find it hard to believe any patio furniture would last 40 years, though I have a couple glider chairs and a table I had bought during my marriage, probably in the late 80's to mid 90's, and while the table is showing some rust, the glider chairs are in near perfect condition. They're outside, but not beat down by the sun all day long, but they're near 30 years old. And fyi, they're the kind with the thick straps. I MAY have had them restrung once over the years.
Like I said, I'm just beginning my data collection, but thought I'd share my approach of working it backwards and seeing if the results pass the "giggle" test, or "smell" test, as we call it. So if I find some commercial stuff that I can get that's say, 10 times the cost of the non-commercial, I think I'll lobby for that, and provide whatever data points I can find by the time I make that decision to the rest of the board.
