New Pool and Homeowner!

[Cyndelee]

Hello everyone,

I'm a new pool and homeowner since August 2012. The pool was in great condition(so I thought) when I purchased the home and we actually used it for 2 months before having a pool company close it for the winter. We noticed something funny when vacuuming it back in August but were so new at pool ownership we just figured it was clogged or something minor. Upon opening it 4 weeks ago the skimmer line wouldn't work at all and unfortunately it's an air leak under the concrete (no water loss). After weeks of waiting I finally got someone to come out and use some fancy equipment to find the leak. That alone cost me $250 and now to fix the leak is over $900 because it's under the concrete.
At this point I feel frustrated, upset and worried that I'm going to have to shell out so much money every year for something. The previous owners allowed the home to forclose so I have no clue when the liner was replaced, or how long the pool sat with no maintenance. Someone bought the house at auction, flipped it quick.

The pump is old but my boyfriend replaced all the parts in it and it seems to run great (on the main, until the skimmer is fixed).
So my question is, what I can start doing to make sure I keep it great and maintained to keep down cost?
Also there are no automatic cleaners, so once the skimmer is fixed do you recommend I get a robot? Right now all I have is a manual vacuum.

My pool is 20,000gal in ground with a vinyl liner. 2 jet thingys, a drain at the deep end. 2 ladders. 1 skimmer, pentair 3/4 HP pump and a hayward filter.

Thank you so much for any help or advice.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

It's very unusual to have a leak underground. I know that doesn't do you any good right now but I said that to illustrate that you may never have another one.

You say you're not losing water. Does it leak when you're not vacuuming?
Where exactly did the leak detection people say the leak was?

If the liner looks good and diesn't have a bunch of patches it will last a few to several more years.

 

[Cyndelee]

Thank you so much for responding. The leak is 2ft underground on the pool deck and he said it's probably in a conduit. The pool pump is completely unusable when it's switched to the skimmer. It sucks in so much air into the pump basket and air pours out of the spouts in the pool. (I'm such a newbie I may be saying that wrong). The leak guy said it's not losing any water because of it's suction.
The liner looks really good.
The concrete is cracking everywhere on the deck, I guess that's the next expense. lol!

Thanks again for your help!

Welcome to TFP.

It's very unusual to have a leak underground. I know that doesn't do you any good right now but I said that to illustrate that you may never have another one.

You say you're not losing water. Does it leak when you're not vacuuming?
Where exactly did the leak detection people say the leak was?

If the liner looks good and diesn't have a bunch of patches it will last a few to several more years.

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's odd that they would use the word conduit.
I assume that your skimmer line and your main drain lines are routed separately to the pump?
Can you post a pic of your pool and equipment pad?

 

[Cyndelee]

Maybe it wasn't that word. I might have come up with that. I think he said something like the joints. I'm not sure.
I will be home from work in a couple hours and I will post pictures. Thank you so much!

It's odd that they would use the word conduit.
I assume that your skimmer line and your main drain lines are routed separately to the pump?
Can you post a pic of your pool and equipment pad?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Ok joint makes sense because it would seal good enough to not leak unless you put a suction on it.

 

[Cyndelee]

Here are a few pics. I will post more.

 

[Cyndelee]

Here are a few more. It's green but I'm fighting not having a skimmer. It was a lot worse.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Is the skimmer in the end closest to the equipment?

 

[Cyndelee]

In Photo 7 the Jandy valve is pointing toward the skimmer line to close it.

Is the skimmer in the end closest to the equipment?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Right, I was referring to it's location in the pool?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Ya getting some chlorine in there to kill all that greenie? By the time you can get your skimmer line fixed the algae can be dead and be ready to vacuum out...

 

[Cyndelee]

Yes that's it. Sorry I'm so new at all this!

Yes, I'm shocking it and I've been diligently dipping out anything and everything I can. I also did an algaecide and the green you see is the dead algae on the bottom that I can't vacuum.

Do you guys think I should get a robot? I need to go cheap because of all this line expense.

Right, I was referring to it's location in the pool?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I like suction cleaners - they have less moving (expensive breakable parts) and work well - you just plug them into the skimmer (when its working lol) and it scoots around randomly cleaning the pool. Plus they are less than $200.

 

[Cyndelee]

That sounds awesome, why type is good for an IG with a vinyl liner?

I like suction cleaners - they have less moving (expensive breakable parts) and work well - you just plug them into the skimmer (when its working lol) and it scoots around randomly cleaning the pool. Plus they are less than $200.

 

[Isaac-1]

I had/have a similar underground leak where it started out only causing problems when vacuuming, but did slowly get worse and developed to the point where the pool would looses considerable amounts of water when the filter pump was off. This did take a couple of years to progress slowly though, and part of what I did to delay the repair was switching from a suction side cleaner to a robot. This may not be the cheapest option since a robot cleaner is likely to cost as much as fixing the return line in your case. I would also suggest shopping around to get quotes on fixing the problem. I was quoted $450 to locate and fix a below ground leak under concrete by one local pool store owner that does service work, he even pointed out that the local (90 miles away) leak detection specialist charge $400 just to locate the leak.

As to your bigger concern about long term costs, pools do cost money to maintain, but with care you can minimize these expenses. In the case of a vinyl liner pool the biggest hit will be the liner every 3-15 years, yes that is a lot of variation, some of it has to do with quality of the liner, but around here we see the vast majority of liner failures are caused by owner abuse, not keeping the water balanced, allowing chemicals to sit on the pool bottom and not be stirred, etc. After that your next biggest expense will likely be these types of underground breaks, you have a fairly basic pool, so that really only leaves the pump and filter. In my experience pump motors seem to last about 3-5 years (some people get more), often only the motor needs to be changed , filters at least 10-15 years if not abused.

Ike

 

[Cyndelee]

Thank you for some great information. The problem in Georgia is finding someone to come out. There are only 2 leak detection companies that will come all the way out in the country. Once this is fixed I hope that I can do all the right things to keep the cost down.
Glad I found this great site!
Cynde

I had/have a similar underground leak where it started out only causing problems when vacuuming, but did slowly get worse and developed to the point where the pool would looses considerable amounts of water when the filter pump was off. This did take a couple of years to progress slowly though, and part of what I did to delay the repair was switching from a suction side cleaner to a robot. This may not be the cheapest option since a robot cleaner is likely to cost as much as fixing the return line in your case. I would also suggest shopping around to get quotes on fixing the problem. I was quoted $450 to locate and fix a below ground leak under concrete by one local pool store owner that does service work, he even pointed out that the local (90 miles away) leak detection specialist charge $400 just to locate the leak.

As to your bigger concern about long term costs, pools do cost money to maintain, but with care you can minimize these expenses. In the case of a vinyl liner pool the biggest hit will be the liner every 3-15 years, yes that is a lot of variation, some of it has to do with quality of the liner, but around here we see the vast majority of liner failures are caused by owner abuse, not keeping the water balanced, allowing chemicals to sit on the pool bottom and not be stirred, etc. After that your next biggest expense will likely be these types of underground breaks, you have a fairly basic pool, so that really only leaves the pump and filter. In my experience pump motors seem to last about 3-5 years (some people get more), often only the motor needs to be changed , filters at least 10-15 years if not abused.

Ike

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

That sounds awesome, why type is good for an IG with a vinyl liner?

You can do a google search (bottom left corner) and read threads about them.

Here is an example of some of the options available:
http://www.poolsupplies.com/shop/cleaning/automatic-pool-cleaners/in-ground

 

[Cyndelee]

The leak guy is coming out to fix the pipe tomorrow. He was suppose to come out saturday but it's been flooding here super hard for days. The pool is now pretty green should I put an algaesyde in the pool then a flock in it so I can start vacuuming it out tuesday night when he's finished?

Thank you!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You don't need algaecide or floc. Chlorine kills algae. Algaecide is more of a preventative. Floc is just an unnecessary gimmick designed to make pool stores money.

Have you been following the process for How to Shock your Pool?
http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool