Swimming Pool Questions

[Rick H]

Pools: Fun but.

My suggestion on pools are never popular. But I've been there done that.

I never had a problem with the water. I used a low chlorine system. Cleaned it once a week and check level daily. Keep a watch on PH too.

Once the novelty wears off the it won't get used as much as before. When the kids get older they may use it once a month. Then not much at all. I got tied of taking care of it and not getting used. We had a pool big enough to swim in. 35,000 gallons. Had a pool growing up.

So here is my suggestion. If this is your first pool. Buy a nice above ground for many reasons. In most cases they don't increase your property taxes. Most look pretty nice today easy to take care of. If you decide to sell your house its really easy to remove. It's not a selling feature.

Now its years down the road and the pool is for you getting used and worn out then by all means pull the trigger on an in ground. But I'll bet you don't.

We had ours through the kids growing up and moving out. Would I have liked an in ground sure but glad I didn't waste the resources on it. I don't really miss it now that the kids are grown.

[delee36]

Don't do it.

my thoughts exactly

[joebw]

I would definitely go salt. Much easier to balance and maintain.

I basically only add muruatic acid weekly to control ph.

Don’t get cheap pumps...variable speed is nice to have.

Polaris 360 is a very good auto vacuum.

I know nothing about pools with liners, except they can tear and have to be replaced.

Mine is gunite with plaster finish.

Auto water fill is also a nice feature...

[n2ratfishin]

I've had one in the past and realized how much work they can be. My wife wasn't giving up on having a pool, so the new to us house had to have one. We have had this house a year this month. I've replaced a thermocouple in the pool heater, a salt cell and the control panel for the salt cell still is reading about 800 points high even after calibration. The parts were less than 600.00. Installing is not hard. We've had LOTS of rain this year which has jacked up everyones pools. I check PH and alkalinity once a week. I gave up keeping track how much I've spent trying to keep everything just right. When you have a blonde wife and the water turns their hair green...you WILL get the water right OR she will pay someone else to be the pool boy. So, I only let that happen once!

We had a decent sized thunderstorm last night. After the storm I scooped the strainers out at least three times. The neighbors huge pine trees drop plenty of needles in storms. Our nice pretty big Crape Myrtles drop more flowers than I can keep up with in the wind. I'm talking the skimmers will be full to the top! I just came in from dumping them for the fourth time after the storm. I was out there last night with a long pole night skimming the pool as well. I threw the Shark Vac in and let her do the rest. When she is done I'll have to wash out the filters...plan on doing that at least once a week if you have trees etc...in your yard or a neighbor has them.

Ours has a 1.5 HP pump, non variable. I run it 24/7. I'd say it bumps our electric bill 50.00 a month. Don't forget chemicals, even with salt you'll need chemicals. Liner pools are predominate around here because of the ground having so much sandstone. It's not like the other pool types don't require maintenance as well. A good test kit will run you about 80.00, learn how to use one. Builders normally put in cheap plastic valves. We had those changed out for good brass valves. Builders normally put in aluminum ladder cups. They corrode, especially with salt systems. Your ladder will be darn near impossible to get out for winter when they do. I ruined the ladders getting the old ladders out. I had brass ladder cups installed. Those two things will not cost you much up front, they cost in the long run because you have to get the old taken out.

The pool heater...everyone around here seems to want one. When this one goes out it's gone. Even with natural gas heating up pool water gets expensive. Yes, it's nice a couple times a year. I would have spent that money on a retractable cover if I would have had this pool built. The people we use to service the pool estimate 75K to build it today. Your builder will price minimum concrete area around the pool. You wants LOTS of concrete around the pool for tables, chairs, etc....

Don't forget about the pool light. Talk about something that will draw power. The light that was in the holder when we bought the house was burned out. It was a VERY expensive LED deal. I replaced it with a 35.00 500W standard pool light. The light the builder used has a terrible seal system. Getting a new bulb housing installed....

Spend the money on quality components the first time would be my advice.



Water like this looks priceless when you’re done mowing etc...

[BasserJim]

Be prepared for elec bill to double!

I spend $.80 a day to run my VSP at 1800 RPMs 24 hours a day.

[BasserJim]

In the heat of Houston pump ran pretty much 24/7... elec was higher in the late 90's early 2000's. It is cheaper these days. So maybe it won't double, but it will add cost.

There is no reason regardless of climate to run a full speed pump 24/7, unless you get enough debris to need that much skim time, or you have a grossly undersized salt chlorine generator.

just dig a hole in the yard and throw lots of money in it!!! same effect

I'm in the NE with a relatively short pool season, 5-6 months at best...... but my total investment in my pool over the course of that pool season is less than $250. That includes opening, chemicals all season, closing, and the electric bill.

I would definitely go salt. Much easier to balance and maintain.

I basically only add muruatic acid weekly to control ph.

Don’t get cheap pumps...variable speed is nice to have.

Polaris 360 is a very good auto vacuum.

I know nothing about pools with liners, except they can tear and have to be replaced.

Mine is gunite with plaster finish.

Auto water fill is also a nice feature...

Just something to think about here, the Polaris is a very good cleaner but it requires a lot of pressure/flow as well. A lot of folks are finding it more economical to go to a standalone robotic cleaner instead of a pressure side cleaner like the polaris.

I'll third (I think that's what we are up to) the suggestion of troublefreepool.com. Follow their recommendations and your pool will be CLEAR. Like can't tell that there is even water in there clear. I can toss a penny into 4 feet of water in my pool and tell if it landed heads or tails and read the date on it. I go by the name JimMarshall over there and am one of their "TFP Guides".... Please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with! My pool is one of my passions.

[timfish]

SALT, SALT
Make sure you ground the thing--very succepstable (sp?) to lightning-

[timfish]

just dig a hole in the yard and throw lots of money in it!!! same effect

[Bsktball55]

just dig a hole in the yard and throw lots of money in it!!! same effect

Oh, you mean kind of like our boats are holes in the water...

[4Kboater]

Salt vs Chlorine is like a Ford vs Chevy discussion. Salt makes chlorine. Just know that regardless of which system you pick, maintaining the correct levels of free chlorine and monitoring the other water balance points often is the most important aspect and required with both systems. Salt is usually a higher expense up front for the extra equipemnt and then you have the cell repplacement cost every 3-5 years. The pay back is in using less salt over time. If you are looking at any type of rock feature like a waterfall ask you builder about any possible erosion of the stones from salt.

As mentioned eariler there's lot of good information over on Troublefreepools.com.

[BasserJim]

Salt vs Chlorine is like a Ford vs Chevy discussion. Salt makes chlorine. Just know that regardless of which system you pick, maintaining the correct levels of free chlorine and monitoring the other water balance points often is the most important aspect and required with both systems. Salt is usually a higher expense up front for the extra equipemnt and then you have the cell repplacement cost every 3-5 years. The pay back is in using less salt over time. If you are looking at any type of rock feature like a waterfall ask you builder about any possible erosion of the stones from salt.

As mentioned eariler there's lot of good information over on Troublefreepools.com.

There has never been a documented case of salt causing corrosion on stone pool surfaces

[bzbrent]

Be prepared for elec bill to double!

Nope - not even close!

Pool runs 18 hrs per day, 365 days per year. No noticeable increase to the electric bill. Gas bill increase? Let's not talk about that.

Ours is (+/-) 25,000 gal with gunite over steel frame. Salt-cell chlorinator on a well. The ONLY challenge I've had is keeping ph/alkalinity balanced...but I've ALMOST got it figured out.

-b-

[BasserJim]

Nope - not even close!

Pool runs 18 hrs per day, 365 days per year. No noticeable increase to the electric bill. Gas bill increase? Let's not talk about that.

Ours is (+/-) 25,000 gal with gunite over steel frame. Salt-cell chlorinator on a well. The ONLY challenge I've had is keeping ph/alkalinity balanced...but I've ALMOST got it figured out.

-b-

SWG is going to cause pH to drift up, its just a given due to the aeration it causes. Alkalinity is one of the ones that isn't really relevant. It acts as a buffer on pH but don't drive yourself crazy trying to get to some magical number that someone tells you is "balanced"

[squib]

I have an in-ground vinyl liner pool. Liners last about 10 years. Cheap enough to replace. Vinyl feels so much better on your feet. I have used chlorine pucks and a chlorine injection system I built. The pucks are just easier but will eventually get your water out of balance. I still like the pucks though. I go through about $150 worth of pucks a year. I run the pump about 10 hours per day. My electric bill seems reasonable. I don't know what it would be without the pool as I have always had the pool.

Salt v. chlorine is an interesting discussion. For starters, salt still works off of chlorine. Salt is NaCl. The salt water cell breaks the Na from the Cl and that is how you get chlorine. It does using less chlorine PPM so there is that. The biggest issue with salt water pools around here are that they scale up. Scale can become a real problem and eye sore. You don't get that much if at all with straight chlorine. Also the cells do go out--my brother-in-law is going through a cell about once every 5 years. They are not cheap to replace. Finally salt water is very corrosive on your decking around the pool. I have heard that in some parts of Texas pool builders will not install salt systems anymore because so many people are unhappy with them after the first few years--when they start to scale up, corrode the decking and then the cell goes out. I have no personal confirmation of that.

I bought the house with the pool installed. I would not pay to install one. You won't recoup your money. But my family does enjoy it and other than the fall when the trees lose their leaves, I don't mind it.

[vatreefarmer]

First year it will be used daily and you will cheerfully clean it every morning, smiling at your new morning ritual.
Second year the family will enjoy it 3-4 times a week, cleaning it is still viewed as a little quiet time
Third year will see it used once or twice a week. Cleaning and maintaining it seems to be a costly PIA, but at least it gets used.
Fourth year will be used twice all year, yet the cleaning and maintaining chore continues at a maddening pace.
Fifth year you begin pricing the cost of fill dirt.

When my kids were young, we bought a huge oval above ground approx 20'x40' We then built a huge deck of synthetic lumber and wrap around staircase. (Total cost around $10k) You can even install a deep end on the pool if you wish. 15 years later I gave the pool away to an employee, including the decking that we took down in sections to be reassembled. Smartest move I ever made. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to have a $70,000 pool expense that I couldn't even give away down the road.

[200xp]

Why on Earth would you clean a pool every morning? I have had my above ground pool(20K gallon) for six years. First year was a learning process, then I found TFP. After that, my life got easy. I spend 30 minutes on Saturday morning with a vacuum, sometimes it does not even need it, but I am anal about how good it looks. I have 4 children and 9 grandchildren(2 years to 12 years) and in the summer they are in it every day. A lot of memories have been made on that deck and in the pool...many more to come. You open and close a pool correctly and it is pretty easy to take care of. I also invested in a safety mesh cover that anchors to my deck. It lets water through but no debris, no sagging and you can walk across it, so no worries in the off season about any of the grandkids fallinig in. Easy on and easy off.

[bzbrent]

SWG is going to cause pH to drift up, its just a given due to the aeration it causes. Alkalinity is one of the ones that isn't really relevant. It acts as a buffer on pH but don't drive yourself crazy trying to get to some magical number that someone tells you is "balanced"

That's just the thing - if pH and Alk get out of whack I start noticing calcium flaking. Dump a couple gallons of acid to clear the flaking and now my pH and Alk are out of whack and the water becomes cloudy. That's usually a 3- or 4-week cycle. As someone said above, all the rain we've had this year has create A LOT of work. Since the rains have slowed way down, I'm backfilling via the irrigation system for 3 min per day to combat evaporation. Our water is VERY high in alk, so there's that. I could pay a pool company to do this...but it's like paying someone to mow my yard - my pride won't allow it.

-b-

[BasserJim]

That's just the thing - if pH and Alk get out of whack I start noticing calcium flaking. Dump a couple gallons of acid to clear the flaking and now my pH and Alk are out of whack and the water becomes cloudy. That's usually a 3- or 4-week cycle. As someone said above, all the rain we've had this year has create A LOT of work. Since the rains have slowed way down, I'm backfilling via the irrigation system for 3 min per day to combat evaporation. Our water is VERY high in alk, so there's that. I could pay a pool company to do this...but it's like paying someone to mow my yard - my pride won't allow it.

-b-

How do you test? What are your test numbers like? What's your CH?

[Triton TR 20]

Until your salt cell goes out, then your control panel.

But it is nice when it is working.

This

[BasserJim]

Why on Earth would you clean a pool every morning? I have had my above ground pool(20K gallon) for six years. First year was a learning process, then I found TFP. After that, my life got easy. I spend 30 minutes on Saturday morning with a vacuum, sometimes it does not even need it, but I am anal about how good it looks. I have 4 children and 9 grandchildren(2 years to 12 years) and in the summer they are in it every day. A lot of memories have been made on that deck and in the pool...many more to come. You open and close a pool correctly and it is pretty easy to take care of. I also invested in a safety mesh cover that anchors to my deck. It lets water through but no debris, no sagging and you can walk across it, so no worries in the off season about any of the grandkids fallinig in. Easy on and easy off.

Following the TFP method, I spend about 2 minutes every couple nights testing and dosing my pool and emptying the skimmers. Once a week on saturday mornings I've got about 5 minutes invested in hooking up my robot, throwing it in the pool, and pushing the button. I easily spend less than 10 minutes a week on pool maintenance