Hi from Central Florida

[CaraR]

Hi all. I've been reading furiously for the last few days and read my Pool School.

Hubby and I are buying a house in Gainesville, FL, that has an in-ground pool/overflow spa. I've never owned a pool and don't know what we have in terms of filter/chlorine/baqua, etc. and won't know until we close on the house Thursday.
The current owners were super OCD about that pool and just had it put in last summer so I doubt there are any serious issues. I was a little concerned when he said that he was treating the pool May 19 and it would be fine until we moved in June 9. I convinced hubby we had at least needed to hire a pool company to oversee it for a few weeks until we move there, since we're an hour+ away. A pool company might not do as good a job as I would, but at least I won't arrive to a festering swamp. It's a screened enclosure attached to the house, so it will stay relatively free of large debris.
Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Cara, by the way. I'll be adding the details of my pool once I get them and am ordering a TF-100 kit, since current owner took his water sample to pool store for evaluation. Can you say pain in the rear?!! :lol:

Thanks for all the fantastic info. here! It's been so helpful!

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

In situations such as yours, it might be beneficial to let a pool service oversee things until you are able to arrive on scene for good. Once you are there, you can let them go and take over on your own.

 

[CaraR]

Welcome to TFP!

In situations such as yours, it might be beneficial to let a pool service oversee things until you are able to arrive on scene for good. Once you are there, you can let them go and take over on your own.

Thanks. And yes, that's what I meant about hiring the pool service - we're moving June 9 so from closing (May 26) until June 9 and then I'd handle things. The stress of a gross pool is NOT what I want to experience for our first homecoming. :lol:

 

[257WbyMag]

A few pool service will often offer to step in during a move in period for a nominal charge until you get settled. Of course, they are going to try to convince you to keep them after you do get settled in.

 

[lbridges]

...
Hubby and I are buying a house in Gainesville, FL,...

Welcome, and while I don't have any pool info to add, I might suggest your favorite colors should be (or change to) Orange and Blue.

 

[CaraR]

...
Hubby and I are buying a house in Gainesville, FL,...

Welcome, and while I don't have any pool info to add, I might suggest your favorite colors should be (or change to) Orange and Blue.

Hubby and I bleed orange and blue already!! Being closer to the Swamp is part of the reason we're headed there.

 

[Brentr]

Welcome to TFP Go Gators

 

[CaraR]

OK, so hubby and I closed on the house today and I got some pictures of the pool and plumbing. After reading some of the problems other home buyers adopted, I think we lucked out. Whew!
I still don't know the size of the pool, but I'm (hopefully) meeting tomorrow with a rep from the company that did all this work so he can give me a quick crash course. I've been to pool school here, but I'm definitely more a hands-on learner.

Here's what we have....cartridge filter, dual pumps and I believe a SWG (white vertical to right in first pic? ). I'll get all the details tomorrow, and the last picture is the fun one. It's mid-90s here today, and I really wanted to jump in that pool rather than do moving stuff. Blech!

 

[CaraR]

Oops. This pic got dropped off last post.

 

[lbridges]

That's a chlorine tab feeder, not a SWG. All seems well labeled and laid out (to my amateur eyes). Pool looks inviting - I too would want to be in there instead of handling boxes. Good luck.

BTW, If you wave around at random to college age boys, there's a 50,000 to 1 chance of you waving Hi! to our youngest (in his last year - or so my wallet hopes).

 

[CaraR]

That's a chlorine tab feeder, not a SWG. All seems well labeled and laid out (to my amateur eyes). Pool looks inviting - I too would want to be in there instead of handling boxes. Good luck.

BTW, If you wave around at random to college age boys, there's a 50,000 to 1 chance of you waving Hi! to our youngest (in his last year - or so my wallet hopes).

Oh, a tab feeder...boo. lol Thanks. I asked the PB who did the work if that was a SWG and he said yes, but we were on the phone and maybe he was mixing up projects in his head. He did say the system is super easy to run, and if it is a tab feeder then I'm going to ditch the tabs and just go to BBB unless we're going away.
Is your son an undergrad at UF or finishing up higher degree? I love it there...such a nice campous.

 

[CaraR]

And I just looked closely at the picture and it appears there is a baggie of chlorine tabs under the tab feeder that I didn't even see. :lol:

 

[Suziqzer]

Let me first congratulate you on the purchase of your new home! I love my home, but it's always fun to move too... and moving to a place w/a beautiful pool like that has got to be the berries

I must say weird timing to come across someone buying a home today when we sold one today. A project, not our home, but we went to a closing today too. Crazy all the paperwork... sign here, sign there, print here, date there.

Looks like a nice setup... everything labeled and ready to go. The chlorine feeder won't hurt anything if left there and just used for things like going on vacation, etc. Something I would consider if there was one on our pool... too bad it wasn't an SWG though

Love, love, love all the little sitting areas! Wish I had an in ground for the shallow end and seating... would be so great! Would have to win the lottery to make that happen ... especially now that we've done so much around our above ground.

 

[lbridges]

...
Is your son an undergrad at UF or finishing up higher degree?...

Undergrad

...The chlorine feeder won't hurt anything if left there and just used for things like going on vacation, etc. Something I would consider if there was one on our pool... too bad it wasn't an SWG though
....

Agreed, I wouldn't pull it out unless it leaks. I had our PB plumb up a tab feeder as backup in case our SWG broke. In my case, I can remove the unions on each end and simply swap. A clever plumber might be able to fit that in using a loop for the SWG if you ever decided to go that way.

 

[CaraR]

Let me first congratulate you on the purchase of your new home! I love my home, but it's always fun to move too... and moving to a place w/a beautiful pool like that has got to be the berries

I must say weird timing to come across someone buying a home today when we sold one today. A project, not our home, but we went to a closing today too. Crazy all the paperwork... sign here, sign there, print here, date there.

Looks like a nice setup... everything labeled and ready to go. The chlorine feeder won't hurt anything if left there and just used for things like going on vacation, etc. Something I would consider if there was one on our pool... too bad it wasn't an SWG though

Love, love, love all the little sitting areas! Wish I had an in ground for the shallow end and seating... would be so great! Would have to win the lottery to make that happen ... especially now that we've done so much around our above ground.

Thank you!! The previous owners really did a lovely job with the pool area. They just built it last year. The basic pool shape was there and then they resurfaced, added the spa and built in screened cage, etc.. I'm sure they hated leaving it. But we win!!

 

[Brentr]

Great set up. I love the equipment and pool. I would venture to guess that the previous owners probably spent about 50k in the pool and equipment and I love the fact that it is fully screened in. We love screen

 

[crookm11]

Welcome to TFP!

Great looking pool.

 

[jdp39]

Welcome to the Sunshine State! Although G'ville is a bit cool for my taste (it has SNOWED there ick). Beautiful pool and nice work on plumbing, carefully planned and laid out.
Don't think I'd switch to BBB from the chlorinator down here tho unless you happen to want to monitor your pool constantly. Sun here eats chlorine and it's very handy to have it introduced during pump operation to keep your FC up to snuff. In regard to SWG pools, you might want to swim in one before you entertain a switch. They truly are salt water and at the levels required here to keep them up some people can taste/feel it.

Enjoy!

 

[CaraR]

Welcome to the Sunshine State! Although G'ville is a bit cool for my taste (it has SNOWED there ick). Beautiful pool and nice work on plumbing, carefully planned and laid out.
Don't think I'd switch to BBB from the chlorinator down here tho unless you happen to want to monitor your pool constantly. Sun here eats chlorine and it's very handy to have it introduced during pump operation to keep your FC up to snuff. In regard to SWG pools, you might want to swim in one before you entertain a switch. They truly are salt water and at the levels required here to keep them up some people can taste/feel it.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the feedback and interesting. I have never owned a pool, let alone in the state of Fla., so I was just basing my 'plan" on what I had read here and how stabilizer levels can get higher than one would like by using tabs continuously. If you have a tab feeder, how do you regulate CYA levels? This isn't a liquid feeder...it's Trichlor tabs...best as I can tell.
I'm meeting with a PB/repair service on Friday to go over everything with me. The guy who built the system and was supposed to meet with me jerked me around and never called back! :grrrr: :grrrr:

 

[Taz]

CaraR - Here's another opinion/comment wrt SWG pools from a NE FL newer pool owner. The salt taste is very minor (although to some it is more noticeable as jcp39 pointed out) and nothing like swimming in the ocean. The water actually feels less "harsh" than non-SWG pools. My builder mentioned using silk-stiks (trichlor + a buffer) to get the same feel instead of a SWG. As your pool's plaster is still rather new, you will have to add muratic acid every couple of days and keep a close eye on the pool's numbers. Trichlor is acidic so if you are using it short-term, that might be a bonus if you aren't around for a few weeks. With a SWG, you would likely still have to add a bit more acid on a regular basis. My system is keeping up fine with the sunny wx (running 5 hrs a day on 30%). However, a SWG adds another box that may break. Our SWG had to have board replaced this spring - no charge.

The challenge with using trichlor as your only chlorine source is that you are constantly adding CYA while you are adding CL. The CL gets used up - the CYA doesn't. When CYA rises to 90 and above, you will have to maintain a high FC level AND probably have to begin semi-weekly additions of an algaecide such as polyquat. As stressed in pool school, the higher the CYA the higher the shock level if something does start growing. With the BBB method (& SWG) you control the CYA level. Once you move to Gator Land, you'll be able to take ownership & enjoy a sparkly clear clean pool.

Have fun.