Alright, I'm new to the forum, new to pool ownership, and half a week into my backyard pool adventure. So here's what I've accomplished so far,
-Took off winter safety cover (the kind that looks like a trampoline) washed it, let it dry and folded it. Hands down the easiest part so far but I was greeted by a very green pool.
-Took a while to get the pump primed and running, but it seems to be working fine now. I guess I ripped the polystyrene foam tubing used to winterize the skimmer plumbing a big chunk got stuck in there. Eventually, I sucked it out through the line and into the pump. Pressure guage reads too high now (around 23 when the previous owners instructions say it should be at 15) but it also doesn't move when I turn the pump off so I think I might have broken it when we had to suck the polystyrene through. *Oops
-Next I'm trying to go from green to clear. Previous owners instructions said to put a bunch of chlorine pucks in the basket. So I've done that, and I've started shocking the pool with the powdered chlorine shock he left. No visible results yet after 2 days. I've added about 3 cups now and truthfully it hasn't been a very measured approach, though I have been good about diluting it in a bucket before dumping it in. I've also backwashed the filter a couple of times which seemed to go alright. At least there's lots of water on that part of my lawn now...
-Finally, I ordered a Taylor-2006 test kit yesterday realizing I have no idea how much chlorine I should be adding and what I might be doing to CYA levels using the potentially worthless chemicals previous owner left me.
I haven't vacummed the pool yet, it seems like a tough job when I can't see the bottom but maybe not. Should I do that right away? I guess I should probably get the brush out and scrub the walls too right?
Should I throw out all of the chemicals previous homeowner left me? He worked hard on instructions which I tried to attach but they're too big (lots of pictures, I guess the guy was an engineer). PM if anyone wants to see them or let me know how to attach bigger files.
And that's where I'm at. Any advice would be super useful. I'm excited to be (hopefully) moving towards a trouble free pool.
-Took off winter safety cover (the kind that looks like a trampoline) washed it, let it dry and folded it. Hands down the easiest part so far but I was greeted by a very green pool.
-Took a while to get the pump primed and running, but it seems to be working fine now. I guess I ripped the polystyrene foam tubing used to winterize the skimmer plumbing a big chunk got stuck in there. Eventually, I sucked it out through the line and into the pump. Pressure guage reads too high now (around 23 when the previous owners instructions say it should be at 15) but it also doesn't move when I turn the pump off so I think I might have broken it when we had to suck the polystyrene through. *Oops
-Next I'm trying to go from green to clear. Previous owners instructions said to put a bunch of chlorine pucks in the basket. So I've done that, and I've started shocking the pool with the powdered chlorine shock he left. No visible results yet after 2 days. I've added about 3 cups now and truthfully it hasn't been a very measured approach, though I have been good about diluting it in a bucket before dumping it in. I've also backwashed the filter a couple of times which seemed to go alright. At least there's lots of water on that part of my lawn now...
-Finally, I ordered a Taylor-2006 test kit yesterday realizing I have no idea how much chlorine I should be adding and what I might be doing to CYA levels using the potentially worthless chemicals previous owner left me.
I haven't vacummed the pool yet, it seems like a tough job when I can't see the bottom but maybe not. Should I do that right away? I guess I should probably get the brush out and scrub the walls too right?
Should I throw out all of the chemicals previous homeowner left me? He worked hard on instructions which I tried to attach but they're too big (lots of pictures, I guess the guy was an engineer). PM if anyone wants to see them or let me know how to attach bigger files.
And that's where I'm at. Any advice would be super useful. I'm excited to be (hopefully) moving towards a trouble free pool.