Sold house with a pool, bought another house...with a pool

[borjis]

My mission is clear!

Will post progress photos. Scheduling liner replacement asap.
Hoping to have it up just in time for the last weeks of the season.

I'm certain most of the folks looking at this home were interested til
they saw this. I knew I wanted it right away LOL!

 

[Texas Splash]

Congrats on the purchase. Good luck on the renovation. Looking forward to pics later.

 

[kimkats]

Fun times!

What is the little white door thingy to the right of the real door?

Keep us up on your progress please!

Kim

 

[StephL]

I can picture it with sparkling blue water....good luck!!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

There's a house down the road from us where you can see the remnants of an inground pool that looks just like that picture. The home is in an HOA and I am amazed they let the homeowner leave it that way (torn liner falling into pool, stagnant water, etc). I walk by it a lot and always think to myself that it would be fun to renovate. I know others look at it and only see it as a mess.

I'm glad you saw your little gem there as a "glass half full" moment. Good luck with the renovation!!


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[YippeeSkippy]

You could see the potential where others couldn't! Very smart

 

[borjis]

Haha all true! thanks!

I love maintaining a pool and the tfp way of doing things is great and fun.
and on a hot day....there's no where else I'd rather be.

I was so darn lucky to find another house with an inground pool. This one is just a little
smaller (7ft deep vs 9ft / 14k vs 23k gallon) and vinyl instead of plaster, which is what I would have built anyway if my
next house had not had one. I will miss the cost free solar heating I had, but will probably have that done in good time here.

Kim, that had me puzzled too at first...it's the exhaust vent assembly for the tankless on-demand hot water heater for the house.

The pool equipment room is just beyond that after the gutter drain.

One thing I noticed is that there is no bonding wire connected to the pump motor or gas heater (that I could see)
and there is some sort of cut cabling on the concrete pad with about 2 inches if it sticking out but it's not a solid
copper wire. hhmmm.

 

[kimkats]

I see a visit from a electrician on your list of things to do. We don't want to lose you now!

Kim

 

[borjis]

I don't know what the previous owners were thinking on that.

They had the place 25 years and I'm pretty sure the pool was there when they moved in.

Both the pump motor and gas heater are near new condition...but neither seem bonded.
I know for sure the pump motor isn't. the lug is not connected to anything.

 

[pabeader]

I never heard of 'bonding' until I started with this forum. Still not sure what it is...

 

[borjis]

Often mistaken for or compared with grounding but it's a different animal altogether.

In a nutshell it ties together all the metal items that comes in contact with the water,
to make the "electrical potential" even.

Ladders, rails, pool pumps, pool lights, gas heaters, & rebar if you have a concrete pool.

This prevents any stray voltage from going through a person if they contact the rail/ladder or coping/patio
when getting in and out of the water.

In most cases it's 1-3 volts and harmless, but could potentially be lethal.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I never heard of 'bonding' until I started with this forum. Still not sure what it is...

Bonding just means that all electrically powered devices and metal structures (hand rails, rebar, light niches, etc) are all electrically connected together with a conductor (solid Cu wire) so that no differences in potential (voltage differences) can develop. The point is to avoid voltage drops from developing across different parts of the pool.

Grounding is solely based on electrical equipment having a fast path for current to flow to ground in case of a short to ground developing.


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[pabeader]

So in my case there would only be the heater and the pump? Nothing else is metal. Okay thanks!

 

[borjis]

If I am unable to locate the bonding wire, I wonder if it would work to connect a copper lug to the ladder mount, then run a proper sized
copper wire all the way down to the pump and gas heater. Unfortunately there is no dirt back there. It's concrete decking from the fence
to the house and would be an enormous cost to bust that up and replace it.

 

[Agent99]

What is the width of the pool to house path? That pool is darn close to the house it appears!

You could run that wire but it wouldn't look very good. Do some good cleaning around the equipment and see if you can locate any other wire(s) poking out of the concrete and/or dirt.

Where is the electrical sub-panel for the pool equipment? You can tie into the ground bar on that panel. That is a form of bonding, too.

 

[borjis]

Thanks chris, not exactly sure on the path width (moving in this weekend) appears to be whatever the minimum is allowed.

I will be getting on my hands & knees with a flashlight in the pump room asap to try to find hopefully a bonding wire.

The sub panel for the pool equipment is in the pump room, which is behind the wall right after the gutter drain in the photo.

If I do have to run a bond wire from the ladder, I'd probably get one of those little rubber speed bump things thats
hollow in the middle for running a cable or 2 through a walkway, then glue it to the concrete so it wouldn't move.
and get one with a low enough profile that nobody would trip over it.

Pool co scheduled to drain & measure for new liner on the 20th. They say I might have the new liner in by september 7.
swimming season here typically ends in late september. yay.

 

[Agent99]

Geeez, a whole week to measure and then 3 more weeks for the liner? I'd be tempted to call around and find a shorter time...might get the current guy moving if you threaten to go elsewhere.

 

[borjis]

I gotta go with them. I've dealt with all the locals and they're the least flaky of the bunch.

they said something about taking detailed measurements, blue-printing for a new custom fit liner (5-days) then
having the liner made.

 

[kimkats]

"least flaky of the bunch" how sad is that??? LOL

I am so happy for you!

Kim

 

[borjis]

well flaky might be harsh to describe them...they're actually really good.

Excellent service dept & great prices. It's just that they are always so busy it usually takes 1-2 weeks to get
them out for service. But when they do the work it's good to go from day one unlike others I've dealt with.

The service people also don't tell you, that you need components you actually don't need so they can get more money...that surprised me.
2 other places had tried that.

The other places say they will call when they are ready...then never call back too.

One of them when I called wouldn't even take me as a client even though the pump motor
came from them the previous year.

Strange ways to run a business but I've heard other TFP'rs mention the same experiences in their areas.