mknauss said:

Need to find out what it is. Acid wash is never a good plan. Takes years of life off the plaster and rarely does a uniform job.

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Back then I had zero experience with pools. After the replacer, I was advised to add calcium to the pool. So I dissolved a bunch in a bucket with water and then tossed it in the pool. My pb set my pump on a timer which turns off at night. So the calcium sat there. That’s what the old pictures were of. So I’m not sure if I’m having the same issue and it spread? I noticed where the returns are, it seems to have an affect on the discoloration.

I did tell you not to risk angering the pool gods by being a wuss. Just sayin.

Need to find out what it is. Acid wash is never a good plan. Takes years of life off the plaster and rarely does a uniform job.

What brand tabs do you use ? Many are laced with copper.

Just waiting for the sod. Grr, another 10 days.

This was the first year.

mknauss said:

Tell us about any ionizers, how you chlorinate, etc.

They appear to be metal stains. Could be copper, silver, or a combination.

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i have a chlorinator. No ionizers, honestly I’m not sure what that is. lol. Actually, i noticed my wife posted pics on my account a few years back. Someone mentioned calcium nodules. Do I need to acid wash?

I'm thrilled the quote is missing a 5th digit, so you have that going for you, which is nice.

Its wild how he trashed his own install, but there is tons of stuff the subs could have gotten away with for years until the relationship soured.

Tell us about any ionizers, how you chlorinate, etc.

They appear to be metal stains. Could be copper, silver, or a combination.

Rather timely now, I just received the "addendum" to the original quote.

This is literally all it says:

No explanation as to why. No explanation as to what purpose it's serving.

PGQ24 said:

The saltwater rust everything it comes into contact with.

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Its pool water, not salt water. There's a huge difference.

Contractor called me back and advised they're still waiting on the overpriced quote to be drafted.

I had him explain it to me again, slowly, as to what we're doing when we rip off the brick. He said the mason told him that he "wants to see what's underneath the brick" to "make sure it was done right". He explained that sometimes when people build those walls up they fill it full of junk and old concrete and whatnot. I told him "well, that's interesting and frustrating to hear considering your company built the pool." He was silent for a while and then said "well look, we can just come back and try to waterproof everything and put the pavers back in place blah blah blah". I told him I want to see the detailed quote explaining what they're doing and we'll make a decision from there.

He couldn't give me a timeframe on exactly when they'd be back out. I reiterated again that I don't want my plaster sitting out in the sun. He said he can come back and put the hose in it. I told him I can do that myself. So more money thrown away for water that's just going to be drained out whenever they return. What a joke.

I truly am confused on what they're trying to pull here. Even if the install was "wrong", it originally lasted ~19 years, so if it lasts another 19 I really do not care.

ksquared said:

OK, thanks for that Owner's Manual! It looks like it has some good information in it.

For the pool light though, is the opinion to try to get a new 602152 light? It seems the reputation for these old lights are very poor.

Am I correct too, if you're replacing the entire assembly the water level should be below the light? Otherwise I'd be thinking the conduit is ending up filled with water.

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Conduit is always filled with water. Water also surrounds the fixture to keep it cool. As long as a light can be reached from the deck, it is replaced with the pool full. That's why most techs won't replace a light in Winter, the water is too cold. A spa almost always needs to be drained down so tat it can be worked in as the light is too low in the spa otherwise.

bmpardo said:

Thanks, Jim and everyone else.

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To be fair, that makes two of us. The contractor himself didn't seem entirely clear and I had a language barrier with the mason on understanding exactly what he was trying to articulate. I figured I would have heard something back by now (my spa is sitting out dry baking in the sun, so I figured there would be something resembling urgency).

I want them to draft up a new detailed quote explaining what exactly they plan on doing.

My neighbor had this happen to their pool, issue was from leaks. His was fixed by installing repair wall panels in the sunken area to make it level with the rest of the pool. New liner track and liner was installed, concrete was repoured behind the sunken area. Then decking and coping was redone in the sunken section. Don't let leaks linger.

Really not that bad of a job of fix. Also fixed the typical light niche leaks at the same time. If you have pavers or brick around your pool pretty easy to make it look like nothing was done.

bmpardo said:

Awesome.

I think you're right--doing it myself would be easier.

I'll move those wires over and report back.

Thank you.

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Done! Thanks, Jim and everyone else. Super easy fix once you understand where the wires are supposed to go.

I would not glue threaded connections, you are more likely to not get the fitting fully installed before the joint sets up. And if there is ever a need to service it down the road it will be a challenge or a new skimmer or return fitting. I have used teflon tape and pipe dope without any issue. Be sure to use products rated for PVC. Also don't over tighten fittings and split the threaded socket.

Also look over your fitting and make sure the threads look good. If there is a mismatch becuase they were not molded correctly, don't try to force them to works and get new ones (this is only on the male threads).

If you find that your DIY equipment is reaching the $1000+ mark, I would take a look at the VacDaddy (for small to medium pools) or the PondoVac (get the one with the dual motor so that suction and discharge is truly continuous). The VacDaddy is pricey at about $1300.

Awesome, thanks for all the info!

I went ahead with this;

Circupool products
RJ-45 SWG
3hp VSP
Triple 400 Filter (The Waterway one was OOS/or had an insane freight charge)

Just pay a pro to fix the pool. Are you a plasterer by trade?

Pumping the pool out only costs the price of renting a pump from Home Depot. Measuring for the new liner should be included in the cost of the liner, not an extra line item.

Commercial pools don't use SWGs because they don't make them large enough to avoid multiple cells needing to be used on one pool at the same time. That plus there are ridiculous regulations that commercial pools have to follow regarding their chemicals. The corrosion you're seeing is not what most of us experience. But then my pool equipment is out behind my pool, sitting on a concrete slab surrounded by gravel. No metal to corrode over there and no windows nearby. Your corrosion is more likely from the salt air you have being on the coast. The ocean has 10 times the amount of salt as your pool would have and that in the air corrodes all metal everywhere near the coast. Metal will also be corroded from Chlorine fumes depending on where you store your tablets.

Share some before, during and after photos

Early 2021 mine was $6500 for a 20 x 40 and exterior stairs. I did not have a pressure test, but everything thing else in your quote. I also had the old alumimum coping/liner track replaces with liner track since I was redoing the decking around the pool. My pool was half empty and I did pump out most of the rest of the water (I would not guess emptying the pool would cost more than $500 or so). The also needed to measure for the new liner which was ~$250 of the total.

To me that seems high, but maybe your area and the tanning ledge is a factor.

Get some quotes and recommendation from others in your area.