Bought house w/pool and clueless... advice appreciated. (pics)

[Mikey311]

So, a day before I went out of town for work for 2 weeks, we viewed and put an offer on a house which has a gunnite pool with a spa and some sort of spray in "pebble tech" like finish. The pool was built in 2007, seems to be in solid shape but, at this point, I'm fairly clueless.

I joined this forum a few years back planning to build a pool but we ended up deciding we want more land... and now I have it, along with a a pool, which I take ownership of on 5/11 and am fairly clueless. Please help.

I am in the process of trying to get more details on the pool build, service history, etc. but I'm guessing very little was done since the original build. From the tax record, the pool is 480 sq ft IIRC. (so 16 x 20 I guess). Not sure about the spa size yet but appears to be 8 x 8.

They recently drained it and just re-filled and I THINK they are getting it the water "ready" prior to closing but I know I need to be ready to hitting the ground running with it when we move in.

I love that the equipment has a pool house, but from the pics (I've had very minimal time viewing the equipment 1st hand) it appears to be a mess. The owner seems to have done a poor DIY of insulation the pipes (why? - no clue) but beyond that I'm not really sure what I'm looking at yet outside of the heater, sand filter, etc.

I'm gonna include a few pics of the pool, equipment etc.... and would appreciate any advice on getting started. Thanks.

 

[ajw22]

Congratulations on finally getting your pool and joining us in the joys of pool ownership.

Order TF-100 Pro SAlt Test Kits as your house warming gift.

The bottles of Pool First Aid are concerning. The owner is relying on a clarifier to solve his water chemistry problems.

@JoyfulNoise what does 1,3,5-Triazine-1,3,5-triethanol do to the water and the sand filter?

https://naturalchemistry.com/application/files/4815/6261/6581/pool_first_aid_-_english_sds2017.pdf

When you get your hands on the pool run a full set of tests and we will figure out what you got.

 

[wireform]

Get this one as it has the salinity test kit and the speed stirr which is a must have .

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hello Mikey What a nice looking pool and yard!! Welcome to Trouble Free Pools

First off, a test kit will serve you well and save a mess of money. Stay OUT of the pool store. Every chemical your pool needs are available at Lowes, HD,. Walmart or your grocery store, and at much lower price. There is nothing special about good pool chemicals....its the scary potions and lotions that pool stores con folks in to buying at 3x the cost that you don't need!


I see a salt water cell in your plumbing, so that's GREAT! That is going to make your life so much easier than other methods of sanitation.

Get your pool test, and try to score a bit of water on the sly if you're over there again and test for:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Salt level

Let us know your results and we'll set you up!!

Congrats on the new home

Maddie

 

[JoyfulNoise]

@JoyfulNoise what does 1,3,5-Triazine-1,3,5-triethanol do to the water and the sand filter?

Not much. It’s a biocide anti-fouling agebt (anti microbial/anti-fungal). You can think of it like using an algaecide. Chlorine will eventually degrade it. But it could be problematic with the melamine CYA test and cause a false-high reading as triazines can react with melamine to form the cloudy precipitate.

Best to not use the magic potions and stick with the basic SLAM process.

 

[Mikey311]

So I have a little more info from the homeowners:

----------
The sand in the filter was replaced this year, and is advised to be replaced about every five years or so depending on usage. The salt cell was replaced 4 years ago, and main pump motor replaced three years ago. It is the second replacement since the pool was installed in 2007. The spa motor is the original, and is still in good shape.

The goldline remote control and software came with the pool in 2007 and is very old, so you may want to replace it. I never liked it from the beginning, but it works, so I just dealt with the bad design.
----------

So I need to order a test kit and begin research on keeping the pool balanced.

Are there any basic supplies I should go ahead and have on hand to be able to hit the ground running when we move in? I'm not really sure what the previous owner is leaving but since they didnt use it much since their kids moved out and they chose to drain/re-fill it, my expectations are low.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Ha! Sand does *not* require replacement on any weird pool store schedule. It rarely *ever* needs changing. A good cleaning of the sand is always appropriate though.

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...

www.troublefreepool.com

Odd to me that they have gone thru 2 pumps in 13 years? Crummy brand maybe??

Liquid chlorine and a GOOD test kit. That's what you need right off the bat. Anything else will be based on testing that water first time.
tftestkits.net <--- source for TF-100/TF-100 Pro kits. My favorite.

Maddie

 

[wireform]

The sand in the filter was replaced this year, and is advised to be replaced about every five years or so depending on usage.

No worries there and NO, sand nor sand filters need to be replaced every 5 years. Need to be, deep clean a sand filter and you should be good to go.

So I need to order a test kit and begin research on keeping the pool balanced.

Get the TF-100 pro which includes a Taylor K-1766 salinity test kit and a speed stirr which once you get used to it you'll never be caught without it.

 

[Mikey311]

Was going to buy the TF-Pro... Should I go ahead and get any of the test strips? Or other options?

TF-Pro Salt

tftestkits.net

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Nope..... the TF pro has it all

 

[Bperry]

You might ask them not to add any of the funny algaecide to the pool if they haven’t already.