Soon to be pool owner (Custom Swamp Pool)

Ok Guys all of this waiting has got me thinking.... I have this uneasy feeling about the transaction only because the owners did not take the time to fill out the owners disclosures for the house. They just crossed through the sheets and wrote as is. Now they may have just done this since they have not lived in the house for 12+mo and did not want to be held liable for any damages that they were unaware of that could have happened in that amount of time. The husband and wife divorced and the home sits in the ballance. But having all this time to think about it makes me think of worse case scenarios. Sooo how do I know that the pool is in operational condition. I will be able to have the power on and can cycle the pumps and lights etc. What about the actual plaster pool? The pool is only 5 years old so the odds are pretty slim that there would be anything majorly wrong with it but what if once I get the water clean I notice that there is a huge crack in the bottom of the pool or something? Of course right now i can not even see 2' down into the water. Im assuming this would be the worse case scenario but i have to ask.
 
Ask if there is a transferable warranty on the pool from the builder. The pool is screened in, so there will be some water loss from evaporation, however from the pictures you posted it looks like the shell is intact and not leaking. If they did not plug the main drain and returns then you know those lines are intact as well. If you can grab a water sample, have it tested and post the results here, we will be able to tell you if any of the numbers are out of whack enough to cause problems.

Problems such as calcium scale and metal staining are unsightly but can be corrected with patience and a little elbow grease. I think you are more likely to run into cosmetic issues than structural ones at this point. If the pool has been unattended for a year it looks to be in pretty good shape.

Since it is a short sale the bank is not likely to pay for an inspection prior to sale. They may allow you to do an inspection at your expense, maybe. If the prior owners knew they were going into foreclosure then they knew they would not be making any repairs to improve saleability once the bank took possession. Banks always sell property "as is".
 
Well time for a little update..... I am still pursuing this home. The owners are still in negotiations on the short sale. so there is really still no telling when we may have answer. As far as the pool goes i am pretty sure the maintenance company for the bank drained the pool down about 2 feet. The water level is now below the stools to the swim up bar which does allow me to see the bottom better. I have not gained access to the property since they did this so all i can see is whats visible from outside the screened enclosure. I think this may end up persuading me to drain the pool entirely and pressure wash/clean it before filling it back up. I just don't see a reason not to now that its only half full and i know 100% that it is well above the water table. any opinions? Also on a little side note I did get word back from the sellers that the remote to the aqualink will be included. They just have it in their possession.
 
Let the fun Begin. We are closing on the house today and then I will be able to start the drain and fill process.

A little update: Before the seller got the short sale approval the bank was starting the foreclosure process on them and they actually hired a company to come and drain the pool partially. I assume this was a safety thing but it was fine with me id rather that than the plywood cages that i have seen other with. So the pool has sat half empty for a month or two. We hired and did home inspections on the house and everything checked out ok. As far as the pool in concerned the Pump ran quiet and pumped, the heater looks like new but we did not have gas to run it, the controller worked perfectly and the remote will be handed over at closing. The Light in the pool even worked and changed colors (its one of the halogen color wheel ones im pretty sure.)

I talked to the guy that built the pool and he recommended a drain and pressure wash to get it up and going along with bleaching the edges of the pool.

Im so excited. Also my test kit was ordered last night from TF so Ishould have it next week.
 
Well Sunday we drained the pool and pressure washed it and discovered that the pool sides are covered in a calcium / salt scale that runs on the sides mainly from top to bottom. I called around and have a guy coming tomorrow to acid wash and try to remove the scale. Right now the sides are yellow and the bottom it the nice cool blue finish. The pool company is going to charge me 300 to get the pool cleaned, filled, balanced, and to make sure the coating it back to its original color. It seems to me this will be money well spent. I acid washed a small portion of the pool and could not get but half of the calcium off so they have their work cut out for them. They will also be helping out with making sure the pump and accessories are working as they should. All in all they seemed to be pretty nice and honest but i will keep a eye on them. I decided to go with them after the pool builder that did the pool wanted 750 for the exact same service. I will try to get pictures up tonight of the progress. Also i took apart the DE filter today and it is in great shape. No rips or broken grids so that is good news. So far (knock on wood) there have not been any parts that need replacing. I hope it stays that way.
 
Well the work continues. I have got the salt added to the pool and am running the pump for 8 hrs a day for now until I run the calcs. The resilience generator seems to be working just fine (phew!!). I have a issue i need to work out asap. The solar panels are leaking. They have several small cracks on the top near the headers. The solar panels are the solid plastic type with Channels inside. The cracks are about a half inch long in each place and the water sprays out of them. I am going to attempt to plastic weld them today probably. My second issue with the solar system is that is doe not seem to be shutting off or isolating correctly. There is a 3 way bypass valve on the supply to the panels and a check valve on the return. I am guessing its the check valve that is leaking allowing water to run up and into the solar panels when they are supposed to be bypassed. Is this because of the leaks and there is no pressure up there in the solar panels? seems like if there were no leaks in the panels then there would be no need for the check valve because the 3way valve would prevent the water from going up into the panels because it has no where to go. So I guess the main priority is to get the solar panels either patched or removed.
 
Well I just did a Total test with my tf100 kist and here are the results.

FC - 3.0
CC or TC - 0
pH - 8.2+?
TA - 60
CH - 350
CYA - 0?

I added 20oz muriatic acid to the pool tonight to hopefully lower the PH but I will need to buy some stabilizer it looks like.

please feel free to give me any advice.

Thanks
 

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Yep lower the pH - don't be surprised if you need more acid than that as you may very well be above 8.2. And get some CYA in there too.

With the solar you need a check valve on the pipe bring water from the panels back to the equipment. Check out hot2sun.com for some great diagrams on setup, etc.
 
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