Big Texas How-DEE

[gkoenig]

How-DEE from beautiful Ft. Worth(not Dallas)ya'll.

This site is wonderful, God bless the D.I.Y crowd. I hope to contribute as much as I can. My test kit is in the mail.

We moved into this house last year and the pool was the least of our worries. I dumped tablets and bagged shocker in it for the past year with the only goal of keeping it clear. Now that I have the more pressing home improvement stuff semi-handled I figured it best to at least baseline the pool to see what I had. The plaster did look like it was due for a re-do when I bought the house but I figured I could manage for a couple more years.

The CYA and CH are maxed out, looks like it is time to replace some of the water.

I had a local pool store run a test on the water and my PH was 7.3. I will report the others once I get started with my new TFP test kit. I used the math tool and dumped 3 gals of 12% LQ in it as well as 10 lbs of baking soda. The pool looks fantastic now but my levels are waaayy off. The pool lady told me to drain it in August when it is too hot to enjoy. I have a firefighter friend and a hydrant right outside my back yard so filling it back up should be fun ;-)

Anyway, I would like to thank you all for the good advice, I found a local source for the 12% bleach and have started to use the TFP methods. I promise to contribute as much as I can.

Thanks, GK

 

[northrn]

Well hello and welcome!

 

[Divin Dave]

Howdy GK!
Man there are lots of Texans here!

Sounds like you have been doing some reading. Man, thats great.

When you get your test kit, post up some numbers lets have a go at getting you fixed up! Sounds like you have a decent grasp on it already though!

 

[jtburf]

Howdy,

Texan here myself, welcome aboard.

John

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to the club. Finally got some rain this morning here near San Antonio. Skimmer's full thanks to Mother Nature. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay in touch. Many people here happy to chime-in and help.

 

[gkoenig]

Thanks for the hospitality. I am an avid DIY'er because I fear the day that I slow down. I am sure my 46 year old body with have something to say when I do.

Update:

It was sucking up bottles of LiqC as if they were dime store lollipops, so I rented a Home Depot pump and had it drained to the bottom step within 3 hours. I pressure washed the whole pool, which didn't do much, and I cleaned up a bit with MurA on a spray bottle and scrub brush. The local pool shop told me to also pour LiqC directly down the pool walls to help clean up copper deposits etc? It ran 3 garden hoses to it and had it filled back up within 4 hours. I also cleaned my cartridge filter from a year ago(eeewwwww)(sp?). I poured 3 gals of LC into it while refilling.

Test last night:
TC was over 10, pH at 7.6
TA at 160
CYA at ~60
CH 450

I ran the filter pump all night and the pool looks glorious this morn. The pool walls and spot cleaned areas also look much better. I hope the CH and CYA drop a bit more, Ill assume that the CH will stay high and creep higher since this pool was neglected and has calcium scaling. The CYA at 60 should be good with the amount of sunlight it gets.

I would also like to keep a couple of high end tabs floating for maintenance if it makes sense. I will monitor CYA diligently for the next several months as it was the reason I had to drain.

TC is still over 10, pH 7.6
I have to run to my local pool shop (A-Quality pools, NRH, good folks) to pick up my pool cleaner and they have an electronic testing machine so I will take a sample. will also use the TFP kit when I get home to see how close the results are.

so-far-so-good

 

[Patrick_B]

Another Texan!????

Howdy from another, good to have you aboard. Let us know the results of the new kit. We really care about free chlorine and combined chlorine as separate readings. We can't make assumptions based on total, but that's ok, just let us know. Enjoy the forum.

 

[woodyp]

Oh my God--------another one of THEM!

 

[cowboycasey]

LOL, welcome from an okie Looks like you jumped right in and will fit in just fine here