Replacement Pool Project

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C

ChicagoJeff

0
Feb 27, 2016
41
Roselle, IL
I am currently in the process of replacing our 52" x 24' AG pool and wanted to share our story here on TFP. A little background on the project.... We are in the suburbs of Chicago so our pool seasons are not always the best. We moved into our current home with the existing pool already installed. I do not know when it was installed, but by doing some investigation via google earth I can tell it wasn't there in 1998 and was there in 2002. So I am somewhere between 18-14 years old right now, and for the sake of the story I have just decided to call it 16 years old. We have enjoyed the pool for the past 3 summers (since we moved in April of 2013), but we have found the summers have kinda been crappy. Last year our water was only 78 degrees on 4th of July weekend (all we had was a solar cover for warming), which is a bummer.

The current pool was starting to show it's age, the liner had clearly faded from it's original glory. The plastic top rail is starting to "cup" a little bit in a few spots, and the outside of the pool walls are showing some surface rust. The current 1.5 HP pump is whining pretty heavy and the cartage filter housing is fading bad too.

The existing equipment:


2013-08-01 17.27.32.jpg

We decided that a liner replacement was due and we should probably get ourselves a new filter system too. So this past winter I spent time working on this. I found liners to be $300-$500 depending on what MIL, supplier, and patterns. I also wanted someone to install it for me, so I was looking at $500 +/- to have that done. Now filters and pumps were running $500 -$700 depending on size, type, etc. So I began to do the math. To rehab my 16 year old pool was going to run around $1500.

I was finding my small rehab to cost more than I thought. So I decided to get costs for a whole new pool, just to compare. I would assume if you read the title of my thread, then you know what route we are now going. Needless to say we are in the process of getting a completely new pool.

Started shopping around and feel like I got a great deal from a local bog box pool store (The Great Escape). In late February we bought a whole new pool package which included the following items:

54" Aqualeader Influence AGP (All resin, 7" top rail, 6" uprights - see more detail here)
Stainless Steel Panel
25MIL Unibead Liner
Hayward Wide Mouth Skimmer
Hayward 250 lbs SwimPro Filter with sand
Hayward 2HP - 2-Speed pump
Solar Cover
Kontiki Automatic Cleaner
Zodiac Vision Pro Above Ground System with cartridge
Pool Ladder
Accessory Kit (Skimmer, Vacuum, brush, test strips)
Telescoping Pole
27' Vacuum Hose
4' Filter Hose
Start Up Kit with Chemicals
"Free" Installation (more on that "Free" install later)

Paid $3390 + tax, which seemed like a great value to me. I priced similar all resin pools online and came close to $3000 for all the stuff I was getting, and that didn't include install. I know there is some of the stuff I didn't need since I had it already (solar cover, ladder, chemicals, vacuums, etc.) but I now have a lot a "spare parts" to store in the basement until needed. The same ladder, same skimmer, extra cover will get used some day. I don't need the vision system or cartridge, but I am hoping to sell if off somehow to recoup some money. Anyone know of a place to sell it besides ebay or craigslist? Does TFP have a classified section?

Also, since we are all in for this pool we are also adding a heater. This is something we would have probably done regardless of a new pool or not. I have a Raypak 206 200K BTU Cupronickel digital pool heater here also. I purchased this based off a family friends recommendation (who owns a pool store and does custom IG pool installs, as well as AG pools). I tried to get him to do my install if I went through him, but we unfortunately live too many hours apart for it to work out. I have researched gas line installers and have had estimates from $900-$1500 for my +/-80' run from 3 different people.

Pool install is set for May 5. Gas line and heater hook up on May 9. Time to get moving! I will cover my prep work in my next posting and hopefully get you caught up to current day.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

You can post items for sale in the Coffee Bar area ... but since TFP does not typically recommend the use of the trichlor and certainly not adding metals, this may not be the best market to try to sell in ;)

The Raypak heater was a good choice, although you really did not need the cupronickel version

How have you been maintaining the chlorine in the past? What is your plan for the new pool? Got one of the Recommended Test Kits already?
 
jblizzle said:
How have you been maintaining the chlorine in the past? What is your plan for the new pool? Got one of the Recommended Test Kits already?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reminder...I did grab the TF-100 test kit a couple weeks ago. Added to my signature.

I am thinking about the TFP method but I have been a a triclor guy in the past with no problems....Had a pool growing up as a kid with no problems ever with it and I don't have a lot of time during the week to be messing with bleach everyday. The past 3 seasons with tricolor floater and shocking has been ok. So to answer the question, not sure. I will be filling my pool from the city water, so i am going to run a test on my tap water this weekend to get a baseline of ph, cl, etc... and see what pool math says I need to do when I get it filled.
 
With a short season and regular rain and partial draining for the winter using the tablets might be acceptable for you. You just need to keep an eye on the cya and make sure that you keep adequate chlorine in it.
 
Replacement Pool Project - The tear down

Took down the old pool this past weekend......That was sure no fun!

Most of the work went into removing the stone I have around the outside of the pool to reuse. I also had to removed some backfill on about 1/2 the pool. Since my yard slopes about 14" from one end of my pool to the other, it is partially buried.

It was only about 2 hours to get the old one down and hauled off. My process was draining the pool first, removed all the old fittings in the stainless panel, then jumped in to start hacking up the liner. cut the old 24' line into about 8 pieces, rolled up and taped them up, and out to the trash on Monday. I cut the wall into about 10' sections with a sawsall and bent those into 52" x 18" flat "rolls". I ended up taking the metal to a local scraper....paid a whole $10 for the walls and uprights. In hind sight, maybe next time I would just save the drive across town and put it at the curb for the scrapper guys to P/U on trash day. The rest of the pool is plastic (top rails, top track, bottom track) and I bundled it up into manageable bundles and taped up for the curb.

Liner Removed:
20160423_151730_opt(1).jpg.

I will try to get more photos up soon.
 
Replacement Pool Project - New Equipment Pad

I also reworked my electrical and moved where my equipment will go for the new pool. I used a few inches of paver base and used 5 prefabricated lightweight concrete pads placed next to each other. I have a 36" by 80" pad for the new filter, pump and heater to sit on.

New Pad for Equipment (Old one was the dirt spot behind it):

IvNJ259.jpg
 

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Looking good!

As far as adding liquid chlorine daily, you could probably get away with adding every other day.
 
Replacement Pool Project - Pool Arrives, Install in 6 days

It is starting to get exciting.....The pool arrived yesterday. There are sure a lot of boxes of stuff, but a lot of it is accessories.

oqFVcNF.jpg



Installation is set for May 5. Now I mentioned earlier that part of the pool package included free install. When you start getting into it, there are of course some extras. My out of pocket costs include the blocks for the bottom rail and additional sand. At least the pool installer that the pool store uses is good with you getting your own stuff and doesn't force you to buy through them. I purchased additional block from Menards for $0.99 each (plus an 11% rebate). When I took the pool down, I found a have right around 1.5" of sand in the middle of the pool remaining. The installer told me they want 3-4" and told me I would need to get 2yds of fine mason sand for them. They can bring it with them day of or I can get it myself. I was able to find it for $30 cheaper going through a local nursery, so the sand will be dumped on Monday morning.
 
jblizzle said:
Just pay no attention to their FC recommendations which would only be valid with very low to no CYA in the water, which unsurprisingly is not even mentioned in the chart. :hammer:
Click to expand...

Do you think raising the FC to shock levels will harm the heater? I says to not have over 5 ppm FC. It also says that shocking is ok if water is balanced, but if i need to SLAM the pool then my water is not balanced.

- - - Updated - - -

JVTrain said:
Exciting! Won't be long 'til you're swimming. Got the pool toys ready?
Click to expand...

Yes, have all the fun stuff since we had a pool.
 
This weekend has been nothing but rain, so nothing happening outside this weekend. Decided to break open my TF-100 and get a starting baseline for the water I will be using to fill the pool. My results are as follows:

PH = 7.5
FC = 0.5
CC = 0
CH = 100
TA = 130
CYA = 0

Once the pool is up and a I get it filled, I assume I should run the pump for some amount of time and recheck the water for starting numbers, or will the sand filter not change anything?

What should I start with when trying to balance? Get my CYA up to range and then go from there? or do i try to get FC in the pool for sanitizing?
 

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