New Pebble Sheen Pool Start Up - Ventura County California

[ybz]

Hi there,

So after some months of learning to construct a pool, i mean building a pool as owner builder, it's finally pebble sheen time!!!!

The pool will be Pebble Sheen and teh Spa BeadCrete. I looked over the start-up instruction and i'm thinking maybe i should hire someone to do the start up so that i don't mess anything up.... can anyone recommend someone in ventura county (newbury park) with experience for pebble sheen start up...

Is this a difficult procedure? Should i do this myself? The instructions are below; do the instructions make sense and does it seem like a fairly straight forward procedure? Is it difficult to adjust alkalinity and Ph? What is Jack's Magic BlueStuff? is Purifiber something that can/should be added to DE filter? How often should the pool be brushed/vacuumed and for how long? Any advice would be appreciated...

thanks for your time.

1. Begin filling pool with water. Filtering of fill water is recommended in some areas. The pool MUST be filled without
interruption!
2. Get the pool circulating as soon as possible, with the main drain open and the skimmer closed; the pool can be circulated
safely when the water reaches the return lines.
3. Once the pool is circulating adjust alkalinity to 80 ppm, pH to 7.0 - 7.2; and Jack’s Magic® the Blue Stuff® to 20 ppm
(1 quart per 10,000 gallons of water). Leave pool circulating continuously for at least 72 hours. DO NOT add chlorine during
first 48 hours. Note: For superior filtration, Purifiber® can be added to the filter (according to directions on the package) to
achieve the most efficient filtering of any contaminants.
4. Brush pool thoroughly using a nylon or nylon/wire-combination brush. Vacuuming the pool with a vinyl vac is also
recommended (any vac without wheels is fine). A vinyl vac head will allow more efficient cleaning and can be used
immediately upon start-up.
5. The pH and total alkalinity must be monitored daily to prevent scaling.
6. DO NOT CHLORINATE until pool has filtered and pH and total alkalinity are acceptable. Chlorine is highly reactive and
can cause metals or minerals to precipitate (cloud water, scale and/or stain). At least 48 hours is recommended. DO NOT
SHOCK pool (super chlorinate) above 5 ppm for at least 10 days, to give the pool time to filter and stabilize.
7. Cyanuric acid (stabilizer) can be added at any time; increase to 30 ppm. We recommend adding stabilizer around the
same time as when first adding chlorine.
8. In areas of soft water (low calcium hardness) raise calcium to 200 ppm. Normal calcium levels are 200-400 ppm. As the
surface cures, the hardness levels may increase. DO NOT raise calcium level until pH and total alkalinity are stable (7.2-7.4
and 80-100 ppm).
9. To prevent staining or scaling, Jack’s Magic® the Blue Stuff® levels must be maintained above 12 ppm. This level can be
monitored with a Jack’s Magic Sequest Test™. Average start-up dosage is 1 quart per 10,000 gallons of pool water. To
ensure the pool does not stain or scale, the homeowner should maintain sequest levels on a weekly basis (some pools will
require more Jack’s Magic® “Stuff” depending on heaters, well-water, type of chlorination, etc.).

 

[jblizzle]

From my experience, the company I HAD to hire to do the startup for maintain warranty of the Pebbleshean (in hindsight this may have been BS), was pretty worthless. Personally I never saw him and at best he may have visited once a day. Likely you can do a better job and will be more focused on doing things correctly because you have skin in the game.

Do you have metal in the water? If not, then the Jack's Magic is not needed. I never put any in my pool.

With a DE filter, you should not need to supplement with any fiber products ... that can help if you had a sand filter.

All you do to adjust pH is measure, use PoolMath to determine how much muriatic acid to add to lower it.
TA can be raised with baking soda, but this is not likely needed.

You should DEFINITELY order one of the Recommended Test Kits if you have not already.

 

[RobbieH]

My startup guy was worthless too, but the PB can't say the pool wasn't started correctly if there are any issues.

 

[ybz]

Thanks all for the reply.

I think i may do it myself as recommended...

I don't think the warranty thing is an issue since: 1- if it was they would explicitly say pool must be started by professional or warranty is voided, 2- it seems to me that the worse thing that could happen is scaling, and that's not covered regardless of who starts the pool...

are there any significant issues that can happen which can irriversibly compromise the pebble sheen or beadcrete (other than scaling which my understading is could be acid/pressure washed and is unlikely to occur with Jacks Magic Blue or Magenta stuff). Is this correct?

thanks again.

 

[RobbieH]

I'm not sure why they are so firm on you adding the blue stuff, and they are going on about metal precipitation. That's for removing metals from water, are you going to fill with well water?

Brush twice a day. I wouldn't worry about adding the fiber to your filter, and I wouldn't worry about vacuuming. If you get leaves, get them out with a net as soon as possible during the curing process.

The rest of the instructions make sense to me. You can add CYA ahead of adding your chlorine though, that way it'll be fully dispersed before adding bleach.

 

[jblizzle]

The Jack's has nothing to do with calcium scaling. It is to prevent metal staining and only needed if you have metals in the water to worry about.

 

[ybz]

I was told that jacks magic is for scaling... Is that not right...
Thanks again

 

[jblizzle]

Go to their website. Blue stuff is for metal leaning more toward copper. Pink stuff leans more toward iron.

 

[ybz]

from their website on the purple stuff: "Fast-acting and long-lasting, this great new product helps removes stains & scale and protects all pool finishes from staining & scaling" the blue stuff is the same, but also for metal...

if it couldn't hurt, then why not...

 

[jblizzle]

I dont think they are using the word scale to refer to calcium scale that we refer to. I am not sure what metal scaling is

One of our tenets is we only recommend adding what is necessary for the pool. Why spend money on something that may not be needed? Would you continue to add it every week as they suggest? If you have the money to burn ....

 

[RobbieH]

if it couldn't hurt, then why not...

At TFP, we believe in not adding anything to your pool that's not specifically required. Chemicals can build up in your pool over time, and spending money on stuff that's not needed is hard on the pocketbook. Jason beat me to it though.

 

[ybz]

thanks guys for the input.

how would you prevent the calcium scaling from happening during the pebble sheen / beadcrete cure?

i called a couple of 'pool guys' and asking them about the start up, one guy basically stated that for $$$ he will stop by add the acid and the chlorine and come back the next week the re-check and talk about a weekly service... it explicitly states NOT to add the chlorine for at least 24hr... when i told him that, he said, that's weird, i guess i could come back after a couple of days...

given that, i may just do it myself (hopefully with some guidance from you guys...)

thanks again.

 

[RobbieH]

Calcium scale is prevented by keeping CH, TA, and pH in the proper ranges.

 

[jblizzle]

The chlorine thing is a little odd. I think there are rare extreme cases where you can get staining (metal) from adding the chlorine right away. This might be worse one a new fill that does not have CYA in the water yet.

Calcium scaling does not happen quickly. It is a slow build up usually when the pH is left too high (and the CH and TA being high makes things worse).