First Time Pool Owner - almost there

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Wormydog1724

Member
Sep 21, 2022
8
North Texas Panhandle
Pool Size
38000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hello everyone. I've been a lurker on this site since May 2022 and finally created an account now that I almost have a pool. We live in northern Texas panhandle and this will be the first pool we've owned. I grew up with an inground vinyl pool but did nothing to maintain it myself. Earlier this year my Wife and I (mostly my wife) decided to put in a pool this summer. we shopped around got several different bids and admittedly went with the 2nd most expensive but they seemed to have the best features having known three other families that they built pools for, we were confident in going with them. They broke ground on June 30th and as of September 21st we are just days away from Pebble Sheen.

It's a free form gunite pool, 37'6" x 23', 3'x8'6". 108 perimeter and 685 sq ft area. Also there's a 7'x8' spa above the shallow end, a sun ledge thing, and a grotto water fall thing in the deep end. All of that I am guessing at 38,000 gallon, more or less, and that's purely a guess.

The pool builder (PB I see they're called here), has been great. Answering all questions and helping move the process along.

The equipment is
2x Jandy VS FloPro 2.7hp pumps
Jandy CV580 cartridge filter
Jandy PSB220 air blower
Paramount UltraUV 2 lamp UV sanitzier
Paramount Ozone Clear O3 ozone thing
Jandy JXI400NK 400k heater, natural gas
it has two skimmers I think and several lights in the pool and spa.

All electrical, water and gas plumbing is hooked up, just waiting on the Pebble Sheen to be installed. It's starting to get cooler here and not being able to run the heater for a couple weeks is going to be tough. But I understand why.= and will not risk messing anything up due to being impatient.

This little project has turned into a huge money pit, not with the PB but with tearing out existing trees, moving existing gas lines, replacing a couple of doors on the exterior of the house, adding a natural gas fire pit, having to get annexed by our city to use their utilities as the pool was built on our extra lot beside the house, being required to extend city utilities to the end of the (new) lot and pay for it ourselves, upgrading electrical and having new water and gas meters installed, etc etc etc. I'm a planner and a budgeter and I factored in some overage but holy moly it's been a, erhrm, journey. I had plans (and still do) of building a shop/mancave/familycave off of the pool on the extra lot but that seems to be delayed. It will happen but maybe not until spring.

Anways the end is near and I'm excited to be a (almost) pool owner and will be coming back to this site for more advice on keeping a Pool Trouble Free.

I'll try to upload some pics of the progress so far and hopefully next week full of water!
 
Welcome to TFP.
Great news on the progress. Appears all have is going smoothly, except for your budget!!!!

A key component of TFP is to test your own water. Have you considered the purchase of a proper test kit? See Test Kits Compared

Also, since plaster is soon - please see these points. The purpose of the monitoring of the water meters is to hone in on your true pool volume.

Day of Plaster
  • Clean up around the pool area the day before - brush any dirt/mud or debris that could be tracked into the pool during or after plaster
  • Verify that the bags of plaster are the proper type and color you selected on morning of plaster.
  • Take a sample of the mixture when they are applying it to the pool by pouring some in a small clear plastic cup (good for reference later)
  • Do they have all the proper return nozzles and drain covers (type and color) to place after plaster installed
  • Have you tested your fill water? Are you filling with softened water or regular tap water or well water?
  • Have your hose ready (and clean) as it will be laying in the pool.
  • Tie a sock or cloth around the nozzle so it does not sit on the plaster.
  • Put the end of the hose at the lowest part of the pool to avoid channeling in the new plaster. Also, consider tying a plastic jug to the nozzle such that it will float up as the water rises.
  • Ensure you take note (or a picture) of your water meter reading before you start to fill
  • Be prepared to take note of your water meter as the pool reaches certain levels, i.e bottom of bottom step, top of bottom step, etc. (it helps in the future to know volume of your pool at certain levels - should you ever have to drain portion of it)
  • Plan to set an alarm every 4 hours (or so) to ensure hose is still in pool, no debris blew into pool, etc.
  • Do NOT stop the flow of water once the pool starts filling as doing so could cause a ring on the new plaster.
  • Take a picture of any chemicals they bring on site that they plan to dump in when they start to add water to pool
  • Continue to fill pool to center of water tile or center of skimmer. Take picture of water meter at end of fill
  • Get clear instructions from PB as what to do the day the pool is full - how often to brush, will the pump be turned on, etc.
  • Define with PB when he will be back out to set up water chemistry.
 
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Also, make sure the plaster company CLEAN UP properly before they leave the site. My plaster company left plaster everywhere, I mean, everywhere. On the new tiles in the pool, on the beach, on the patio, on the grass, in a tree (yes), on the driveway etc. Make sure you talk with them ahead of time about proper cleanup and what you expect. You shouldn't have to clean up their Crud like I did.
 
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great advice! Thank you all for the time to comment already.

The PB has discovered my eye for detail and the few things I have caught along the way have been immediately fixed. There were some technical things I didn’t catch and he explained why and had them fixed quickly also.

The Pebble Sheen was applied yesterday. I think it well. Everything appeared to be prepped well and I didn’t have to clean-up anything myself. The Pebble Sheen color looks good to my wife who picked it out. Today they are supposed to acid wash and start filling the pool starting with the spa. We facetimed the PB last night and he gave clear instructions and tips. I will have three water hoses of city water going into the pool. Great tip on reading the meter beforehand and at certain milestones along the way of the fill. Thank you for that. The PB will be back here Thursday for pool school.

I purchased the TF-Pro kit with the stirrer last Wednesday and it was delivered Friday. I tested my house Ph and Calcium Water Hardness (sorry laying in bed and don’t have the correct term or results in front of me). I’ve always thought we have hard water but iirc the results were in the normal range. 250ppm I believe. I did a couple other tests just for the practice. I’ve read a lot of threads and the pool care basics. Just ready to get this thing done and try to enjoy it before it gets any cooler outside.
 
Wormydog1724 said:
I’ve always thought we have hard water but iirc the results were in the normal range. 250ppm I believe.
Click to expand...
Remember that is just your fill water CH. When several thousand gallons is added to the pool, that number will go up.

Pay close attention and speak to your builder about how/when to adjust your chemicals. Typically you won't add any chemicals until day 3. One day 3 you start to add stabilizer (CYA), chlorine, and adjust the pH with muriatic acid to ensure it doesn't get too high over 7.8. The builder may do the initial dosing, so take notes of what they add. Make sure you and the builder see eye-to-eye (for now) on how/when to adjust those 3 items. Good luck!
 
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