In HTX. New pool owner.

TL;DR: Looking for recommendations for spillway grout repair in Austin TX.

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I took ownership of a ~20 year old pool in July and thanks to TFP I have crystal-clear water, however, my spa spillway needs attention.

The grout is worn/missing (see 1st photo), and I know I have a significant leak here, because:
1. Pool inspector (leak specialist) identified this in the pre-purchase pool inspection.
2. The front of the spillway remains wet long after the spillover itself stops (blue area in 2nd photo).
3. I've got all sorts of calcium (I think) leaching out of the walls of the spa (red arrows in 2nd photo), which I assume means there's water being absorbed into the spa wall/structure.

Good news is when I switch to pool mode, the spa water level stabilizes at the bottom of the spillway (visible in 1st photo). So I don't appear to have any leaks beneath the spillway level, just the spillway itself. Now, I have successfully applied underwater epoxy / pool putty to my skimmers where they join the plaster, but the spillway is too big / too visible an area for epoxy. I'd like to have this repaired properly, and expect I might need to do this every few years based on posts I've read on TFP.

My question is: what kind of company do I call to make this kind of repair (re-grout spillway)?

I'm decently handy, but I've never done this kind of work and I'd like to pay a pro to have it done properly the first time at least. Maybe I can handle this in future.
Most of the pool service companies around me seem to be focused on weekly service and equipment (e.g. pump/filter/etc) repairs. Is it normal for your run-of-the-mill pool service companies like this to also do pool surface repairs? Or is there a different class of service companies who specialize in this? If so, what do I need to look for?

I have found some folks (like these folks) who mention "grout removal and replacement", but advertise themselves as leak detection specialists, it's just that they handle all the subsequent repairs. So I expect they can do it, I just don't know if I'd be paying a premium for leak detection I don't need.

I'm in the Austin area, if anyone has any first hand recommendations, that would be great, also.

EDIT TO ADD: If there's a better spillway design I should consider, let me know. If there's an option that would reduce the need for ongoing maintenance down the road I'd consider that, even if there was some upfront cost. But from what I'm reading it seems like annual checks and repair is the norm for this kind of spillover.

Hi all,

for my final inspection, I would need to install alarms on all doors and windows with access to the pool area. The alarms must have a bypass options, but I dont seem to be able to find any where it is specified that they have that. Any of you have those you can recommend? I have two sliding doors, and three windows.

Thanks

Hi- I searched for this but didn’t see an answer. After 4 months ago taking over care of my SWG pool from my pool service, I’m trying to learn all I can.

Pool/attached spa/hot tub is ~7-8yo. Installed by prior owner and was a chlorine (I’m assuming- it definitely wasn’t a SWG) pool. When I purchased 3ya, I had all new equipment installed- including changing over to SWG. Didn’t then, or since, drain + refill the pool.

I read that if there was bromine added to the pool prior to, or if my former pool guys added some algaecides (zero idea if they did or not), that the existing bromine will convert the SWG generated chlorine also to bromine. Is that the case, or did I misinterpret what I read?

I have the Taylor K-2006C FAS-DPD kit w an additional NaCl test kit and then also purchased the smaller bottle kit that is only Chlorine/Bromine (DPD) +pH/TA (accidentally purchased thinking it was a borates test kit- why I have it along w the Big Mac-Daddy kit)

I use the FAS-DPD testing almost daily for my FC/CC/TC testing to keep that level where it should be. So the chlorine levels are good.

My thought is, however, if there is bromine in my pool water, constantly converting the generated chlorine to bromine- assuming that is making my SWG cell work way harder than it should have to.

Question is:
Is there a way to use the “little” test kit in conjunction to tell if there has been added bromine in my pool?

If so, and there is, does that really matter? Would it eventually just go away on its own or would that be something I’d need to do something about?

And I totally could be way off base on this whole line of thinking- know you all will know the answers! I’ve learned so much here in the last few months- Thank you!!!

Rachel

PS- I think I linked my premium pool math account/testing to here… but in case it isn’t- and makes a difference- all testing results just now:

(And, on a side note- the markings on all my test kits are off a bit from what they actually are- I’m a nurse and brought home clean 10cc and a 60cc luer lock syringes- easy to pull apart and rinse then stick my arm in to fill- carry to the shade to test… all markings are actually slightly less than that actual volume- 10ccs measured reaches the 11.5cc line, etc- but I digress- just what I have found on all the included containers and vials… )

pH- 7.8 (going to add the recommended MAcid to take down to 7.6- have waterfall and spa spillover while pump runs that also pushes pH up so have been taking it down to 7.6 and adding MA when it gets to 7.8)
FAS-DPD (25mL sample) FC 6.6
CC 0 (TC 6.6)
CYA 70
CH 450
TA 75

NaCl 3600

With “little” 6-way Residential Test Kit-

Max reading of Cl/Br side is 5/10 so w my known FC 5 I mixed half pool and half tap water = reading in the 3/6 panel (*2)=
DPD Cl 6 & Bromine 12
(Know CC is zero but did the 5gtts of R-0003 TC test- just to see & color unchanged as expected)

pH color right in the middle of the 7.5 and 7.8 indicators- 7.65 but I’ll trust my 44mL “big kit” testing (7.8) over this one w a <6mL sample

TA 80

If you’ve made it this far? You rock! I really appreciate you!!! Xoxo

Seems like Black and Decker released a pool heat pump.
Anybody can say anything about it?

My Dolphin Premier gets stuck on the drain covers. I took the vacuum to the pool store and they refurbished it, and now it's working better and moving faster and not sticking on the covers as much, but I'm afraid when it gets stuck on the drain covers that causes wear/tear/damage to the vacuum and I'd like to find a solution before the vacuum is damaged again. I'm attaching a photo of my drain covers. They aren't flat and they're about 2 years old. Does anyone know of a part or fix I can use on these drain covers to prevent the Dolphin Premier from sticking there?

The check valve in my Hayward EC65 is broken. From the diagram in the manual, it looks like all I need to do is remove this elbow and the valve is in there - easier said than done! This thing won't budge. I can pull back the tab no problem, but no matter how hard I pull up: nothing. I've tried wiggling side to side, up and down, I don't think this thing will ever move. Is there a trick to this? Or is it just full of years of DE and other debris?

After reading a bunch of posts; a lot of threads started with emptying the pool... not a great idea here in Houston with our typically high water table. So, please weigh in on metallic vs non-metallic black algaecide, preferred brands, etc. I hear that the metallic version works better but I do realize there is a staining risk, although I have never heard that our water is high in metals (occasional water testing at Leslies over the years).

My plan is hard scrub to remove the protective layer, heavy shock, circulate for 48, vacuum-out dead algae, clean-out DE filter, do the "puck" scrub on the spots, then algaecide, which I'm told needs the CL to be low-ish, circulate for another 48, cross my fingers and resume normal cal-hypo with tri-chlor stabilizer.

I've recently replumbed my Pentair Mastertemp 400 heater with a Jandy valve (with actuator). I wired the valve to the Pentair heater's control board. Everything appeared to be going great upon first use. Before the heater begins heating, the valve opens and water no longer bypasses the heater. However, after the setpoint temperature (102 F) is reached for the initial run, the Pentair's default behavior is to close the valve (entering bypass mode). At this point, with the bypass valve closed, there is no water circulating through the heater - it can't properly measure the temperature. In fact, it was 116 F after the heater cooldown of approximately 1 minute. Therefore, it seems unlikely the heater will turn back on in a timely fashion to maintain the setpoint temperature. Is there a way to rewire the Pentair heater so that it reads from a different temperature sensor located elsewhere in the pool intake plumbing where there is constant water flowing? I know there are probably other options such as using the fireman's switch and using an out-of-band thermostat, however, I'd really like to let the Pentair heater's built-in thermostat do its job. I'm actually surprised Pentair doesn't have this natively solved with their product. My guess is that Pentair's recommendation in their manual is to use an Intellivalve programmed to never be fully closed so that some water continues to circulate. Intellivalves are now a discontinued product! Even so, the Intellivalve is not a true bypass at that point anyway and would allow potentially aggressive water flow through the heater to prematurely ruin the heater core. Any recommendations please?

I am sure most of you that are interested already got the email from Sequent Microsystems. But they have set up a forum to gather data on building a Pool Controller Hat.

Hi, I’m wondering if I can drain my water down below the skimmer before I slam my pool for closing. I have a pipe below that sucks into the skimmer. If I drain it partially before slamming it I won’t have to use as much liquid shock.

I have painted our inground plaster pool twice now, using InslX waterborne acrylic pool paint, it goes on well, does bubble or flake etc, but it does fade after 2-3 years, and, is from what I've read is to be expected.

This year, I had to drain and do a quick plaster repair, I didn't want to purchase a entire can of pool paint just for a couple of small patches, so for one patch I used acrylic based exterior house paint, and for the other a enamel spray can. It's now the end of the season and both paints have held up extremely well.

So, if acrylic pool paint only holds up for 2 years, and exterior acrylic house paint seems to doing just as well at the moment, why not just buy the much cheaper exterior house paint?

Hi all, we are 2.5-year old pool owners who upgraded/remodeled our pool about 1.5 years ago. It is an in-ground, approx. 14k gallon SWG pool with pebble sheen plaster and an attached spa. There are a variety of pictures in the Media tab on my profile. The coping for the pool is some kind of flagstone, as is the “weeping wall” water feature on the back side of the pool. Areas of the coping are starting to wear away due to contact with the water, so we are having all of the coping and the water feature professionally cleaned, hardened, and sealed in a couple of days. To get the job done, we will need to lower the water level so that the full water feature can be treated. This will likely leave the water level too low to run the pump, and also the sealant needs a few days to fully cure (during which time it cannot get wet). For that reason, we will need to shut down circulation for the pool for 3 days, and I am concerned about water balance during that period.

What should I do to minimize the impact of having no circulation (or chlorine generation) for 3 days? The weather will be hot and in the mid-to-upper 90s during the day, 70s at night. I was thinking of super-chlorinating the night before to get chlorine up around 10ppm and hitting it with acid morning-of to get the pH down to 7.2 or so. Surely 3 days with no circulation will be okay at those levels? Or no? Any tips or advice is extremely welcome, thanks!

My 1 hp Hayward motor died on its 40th birthday! I want to replace the pump and 1hp motor with a new 1 1/2 hp pump and motor but with the new pumps the configuration for the incoming piping would require adding a 90degree elbow. on incoming to the pump and a 45 degree elbow on the out going side. And I'm concerned about the effects the added elbows will have on performance.

Hey friends, first time using bleach to chlorinate my hot tub. Will Moxie Household Bleach work or do I need to try something else?

I’ve got a new vinyl pool nearing the finish line.
Under the liner (the floor), we did a Portland wet mix (mortar more or less). It is smooth here and there but in some areas pretty rough.
We have a delay while waiting for the vinyl install and I was thinking about maybe doing drylok over the whole floor (walls are steel).
My thinking is that it might even out some of the rough patches and protect the liner. Maybe not a real concern, but I happen to have 10 gallons left over and thought I see if the brain trust has any thoughts.
Thanks in advance!

New owner of a sw pool. We pay a company to come weekly and clean, add chemicals, and maintain the equipment. (They've neglected the equipment and I've had to replace the flow switch and pressure gauge that was reading 50psi)

I want to learn how to maintain the pool myself so I bought a TF-Pro Salt test kit and just tested my water for the first time today.

The visual chlorine test was off the charts. The water was orange. I confirmed with the more accurate tests. Here are my results:
FC- 18
pH- 7.5
TA- 30
CH- 250
CYA- 40
Salt- 2600
CSI- -0.99

Being my first test I decided to take it to Leslie's (first time for this too) to check my math:
FC- 15
pH- 7.6
TA- 0
CH- 202
CYA- 50
Salt- 2900

Right now they have my pump running 24/7 and the chlorine generator panel set to 70%

Our maintenance person doesn't come until Thursday and I don't want to add chemicals until I talk and probably fire them.

How do I proceed until then? Thanks for the help

Rookie pool owner here! I have been steadily losing water in my pool. At first, I thought it was just the NC heat, but have realized it is not. I performed the bucket test with the pump off and I lost about an inch of water in 1.5 days. I bought some dye and went looking in all the common places I had read about. After about 1 hour I went and checked the strainers. I removed the basket and put some dye around the hole, finally noticing some movement.

I don't know if it is the only leak, but it's the only one I found so far. I am not sure what my next steps should be. Can any of you pros point me in the right direction?

18,000-gallon pool
Hayward Omnipro with a variable-speed pump.

Im Replacing an S8M150 with a Quad 60 , can anyone tell me if it will be suffcent , pool is approximately 25k gallons. Thanks

Hi. I have a small pool that's 10' x 16' and 4' deep. ALmost everyweek after my tech comes and services it and puts it back into auto mode, the heater and pump will shut off after a few hours. I then have to go and do the whole thing with taking out the filter and washing it to get the system running again. I'm trying to figure out what could be wrong. There isn't that much coming out of the filter when I clean it. It shouldn't have to be cleaned every week or two. Could it be an electrical issue? I'm at my wits end of what it could be.

Hi all, I recently used about a quart of Jack’s Magic Power Blue Scale Off to remove scale from my pool tiles (it worked well.)

Since then, I’ve noticed either a massive increase in FC demand or it’s affecting the tests. I’ve seen that other Jack’s Magic products can cause issues with FC testing, but wasn’t aware if this specific product would affect FC results.

Does anyone have any experience?

My current levels:
FC-8
CC-0
PH-7.6
TA-80
CH-400
CYA-70
Salt—3400

Thanks!

I have had CYA above 100 for a couple
Months. Switched to calcium hypochlorite powder when my CYA went high. I do not think I ever had chlorine lock because my chlorine numbers fluctuated regularly. Kept using the cal hypo. Drained about a foot or so and my CYA is now 87. Alk. is 122, chlorine is 3.69 and Ph is 8. Noticed green algae on the walls today- brushed and double dosed with the calhypo. Added a 4 second long pour of muriatic acid and will check Ph again Tom. No idea if I am doing things right or wrong- pool places here all give different info.

Alright, ya’ll know I am on Team run Hot.
This morning I was greeted by a mass hatching of teeny tiny swimmers! I mean tiny. The lowest my fc has been this year was 6ppm & that was 4 months ago.
This morning I was at 10ppm - I normally am 8-10ppm - my last cya check 2 weeks ago was 70.
Since my discovery I have -
Yanked the steps (time to remove the handrail anyway)
Scrubbed them with clorox cleanup-
There was a tiny green dot on one of the nubs to the rubber feet. The ballast weights seemed to be sealed well still & no water intrusion (all was scrubbed)
There was gross dirt in the crannies & under the steps that i scrubbed & vac’d
My bleach bottle weights have started cracking so they have been tossed & replaced with 2 plastic 20# weights (like for weightlifting) i don’t know why i didn’t think of that before.
I raised fc to 15ppm with the lc I had on hand. I am letting the swg/pump run all night.
I brushed the whole pool & all its wrinkles
Especially the water line.
Robert is now on his third round of the day - i also scrubbed him & his pleated filter with clorox cleanup (probably not recommended lol) the basket was filled with the boogers after each run!
They were alive so I sprayed em!
I am posting because I am on the fence of if a slam is necessary just because of the swimmers and/or the tiny speck of green (maybe the size of a bb) which has now been bleached to death & scrubbed away outside of the pool.
The pool is crystal clear as always- no poofing when brushing.
I am on the fence as to let swg run all night and do an oclt tomorrow night or do an oclt tonight.
Btw- the bleach store is closed tomorrow so slam can’t happen until monday morning.
We do also have a big pond within view of our pool & my neighbor’s pool is likely unkempt- how far do these things travel?
The thought of the jugs being compromised has me definitely leaning towards slam but even if i pass oclt & the criteria do the bugs presence mean i should automatically slam/keep slamming?

I have seen a few threads regarding prevailing winds and skimmer placement where the pool owner was able to use a compass chart that showed the direction of prevailing winds over a period of time. If I recall, It may have been tied to weather data from a local airport, but I am having difficulty in finding this information. Can anyone direct me to where this type information is available?

Hi all!
First post and first above ground pool installation. We have not filled it yet and are in the final phases of setup. I have some questions that I have not been able to find good answers on yet.

1. We have the tarp that came with the pol laid on top of 2 felt pool pads underneath the liner. They both extend about 1-2 feet out from the pool liner. The sprinklers went off last night and some water pooled on the tarp that extends out. I can imagine the rain would be even worse. Should we just fold it under to the pool liner? Should we just cut it?

2. If the pool ground is level, but a little lower than the grass next to it does that cause water pooling around the pool? We are in north texas with dirt/clay. Any recommendations for rain or water that we can do ahead of time?

I'm an older guy, 89 with an inground pool that turned 40 in July! The original pump and motor went south this August, .so that why I'm here.

Hello all I’ve followed the pool closing and chemistry guides but I’m having an issue, last year when I closed my pool I blew air through the lines and the main drain bubbled and I air locked it. This year when I used my compressor( large dewalt) no bubbles came and air came back through the pump through the little nozzle I had attached. Also when trying to close the valve it close 90 percent of the way but is left open slightly as shown in the photo

I also waited a few minutes before air locking so the knob was not immediately closed. I have attached a picture. The second last knob from right is for the main drain. Should I leave it as is or just leave that one open as ive also read conflicting views on whether one should even airlock a main drain.

I am in the Midwest and depending on the year we definitely get well below freezing and it can be blisteringly cold and I have a concrete deck so I’m really no trying to spend thousands to get pipes fixed. Any advice is welcome.

My Intex Model ECO20110-2 pump runs for 10 seconds then shuts off for 1 second then runs for 10 seconds, then shuts off for 1 second, etc. I read where the temperature sensor may be bad. I took the housing cover off for one minute and the pump ran fine. I put the housing cover back on and the pump is still running. I can't find a replacement temperature sensor online. What can I do?

I'm halfway through my pool/spa plumbing equipment update and relocation, having purchased an existing house with poorly located and very aged and failing equipment.

I have successfully completed the pool - pump, sand filter and SWG - which has independent filtration and heating lines, so that was relatively easy to get my head around, but I'm struggling with the spa. Heat pump being wired in this weekend by electrician.

Spa/Pool water is completely independent systems - there is no common plumbing between the two.

My concern is only having 1 x 50mm (2inch) suction pipe from the SPA, and setting up eithrr a GAS or HEAT PUMP heater - how do I maintain the right flow rate through the heater, whilst maintaining high flow rate for the jets? The existing setup had the 2hp pump plumbed directly into the gas heater with no bypass - I have a suspicion this is what killed the existing gas heater as everything else worked?

I understand the logic behind a bypass valve setup on a heater, but given the heat pump will likely have to run for a few hours each day to keep the SPA hot, is this likely to be sufficient?

Ideally, I'd like to have a filtration/heater pump and then a separate booster for the jets - noise is a factor and don't want a 2hp pump running unnecessarily because of this reason. Cost is not overly an issue if I can achieve a good outcome.

Is this possible with just one water line, and maintaining the heater on whilst in the SPA?

I can't figure this one out. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi everyone, I need a handrails my wife has some mobility issues and will definitely need one to get in and put of the pool. I have a 16×32 pool with stadium steps. It's being installed in a few weeks. I told the PB I wanted a handrail. I was wondering how far the handrails go into the pool, when I was looking at the diagram it looks like the steps are 14.5 lmdeep and there 3 so 43.5 inches total. How far would a rail extend into the pool. Keep in mind I'm also getting an auto cover so that might limit my options...
If anyone has any suggestions and or pictures to share it would be appreciated.