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.

I've had the SWG on the smaller pool for over 15 years. The saltwater rust everything it comes into contact with. Pool water splash on windows? Better wash it down with a garden hose. Basically anything metal that pool water comes into contact, I'd better hose it down afterwards, or it will rust. As you can see, I'm not a huge fan of SWG. Low pool maintenance at the cost of equipment, tools, and greater calcium build up / hard water. But the pool is always clear, sanitized, and the key was lower maintenance. I wondered if SWG is so great, why don't they use it on commercial pools?

When I acquired the larger pool, it didn't have an SWG. It didn't have major calcium build up. It was not hard on the equipment when water splashed or leaked from the pumps lids (8). I think more importantly, it's not going to rust out the heater components as fast. The chlorine tablets are definitely more expensive, but it has chlorine and stabilizers in it, too. I use shock when needed.

In Southeastern Texas, water evaporate like crazy in the summer months although fall/winter months are not as bad. My neighbors' and my water bill is always high during the summer months. I definitely hear you. I'll limit the use of copper sulfate. Thank you for the information.

Pull on the cords to see if the other side moves.

At 18 years old, probably time to replace the lights.

rozann,

Has this ever worked??

I ask because there should be a check valve in the spa return line..

The whole purpose of the check valve is to prevent the spa from draining back into the pool when the pump is off..

It would not surprise me if the check valve is underground... sigh!!

It does not appear that you have a make up line, but more pics would not hurt..

Thanks,

Jim R.

TinFoilHat said:

You won't damage it if you do it correctly. Don't be afraid to remove the cell to inspect it. The unions on the ends of it should be hand tight.

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Yes. I learned my lesson years ago when I used a strap wrench to tighten a little bit more and ended up splitting the union. Only hand tighten since then.

A couple more observations.

Out of the smaller conduit, yellow line, the wiring is red, white, and green.
Out of the larger conduit, red line, the wiring is black, white, and green. There is also a very large grounding wire with that conduit.

Once again, but for the black sheathing, I'd feel fairly confident trying to figure it out.

One other detail, am I correct, once water gets into the light housing those LEDs are wrecked?

Thanks again.

I assume the level of the seats corresponds with the pool level. Without a check valve, the spa will always drain to pool level with the pump off and the intake/return valves oriented open to spa at all.

rozannsorensen said:

if we close the skimmer, cleaner, and main drain when the pump turns off, the water holds in the spa.

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This statement causes some confusion as if there is a makeup line , it would traditionally be on the returns not the intake.

If you fully close intake and return to spa does the spa drain down to pool level? Is there any exposed plumbing near the pool/spa, maybe behind it?

Probably would help if you posted a few more pictures of the plumbing as well as the pool layout and im sure one of the smart people will see it and have an idea

Both lights aren't working. The pool light had water inside the housing. I don't know if the spa light can work when the pool light isn't on, but AFAIK the spa light doesn't work either.

I'll have to open the transformer box and see what it looks like.

I appreciate all the help.

I would have asked the mason if he had a drill with a concrete bit and had him drill two or three holes within the orange area and see if it was solid or the bit broke through to an opening.

The exploratory holes can always be tilled with hydraulic cement.

It is not clear to me what they plan to do after they tear the brick off the spa wall.