We back up to one of the neighborhood ponds. Brazos river is on the other side of 359, like 2miles south of me.
New Build...1st Timer...Houston, TX - Deck and Pool School Complete
- Thread starter swansonite
- Start date
It's truly amazing how quickly your pool is going in! I admit, I'm jealous, lol. Our city permits took almost 3 months to get back.
Been a busy the last few weeks and have forgotten to update. We got the deck poured and pool plastered. Filling took right at 20 hours with two hoses. After subtracting out for home water usage, I estimate the pool to be right at 17,600gal. The cadet blue really turned out great and will have to get better pictures this weekend after a week of filtering and brushing.
Startup guys have been by a few times so far. Caught him before he left last night and he only added acid yesterday. Tried to take my own readings last night before bed but it was still reading acidic. Going to try again tonight to see if I can get a good reading assuming they don't come by again or add chemical.
Startup guys have been by a few times so far. Caught him before he left last night and he only added acid yesterday. Tried to take my own readings last night before bed but it was still reading acidic. Going to try again tonight to see if I can get a good reading assuming they don't come by again or add chemical.
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I'm honestly amazed how quick it has been too. PB told us they could be done in 6 weeks if weather cooperated, which it has, but seeing and hearing how long it's taken others I wasn't actually expecting them to do it. Another house in the neighborhood started dig in October and we beat them to fill.
As long as you wait 30 mins or so after they add chemicals then that should mix real well assuming they have the pump running.
You can then post a full set of readings. You may want to add the type of test kit you have in your signature.
pH
FC
CC
CH
TA
CYA
Salt Level (even if salt has not been added - good to know the current level)
Good to know, I took reading about 2 hours after he left last night. I thought I had read at one point it was best to wait 24hours when adding large doses of chemical. I'm using TF Pro Salt with Smart Stir (updated sig)
Readings tonight are very similar to last night. Wife said they came by today but she didn't see if they added any chemical or not.
Fill Water
FC:0
PH: 7.5
TA: 230
CH:200
Test Today
FC:0
PH: Yellow <6.8. It was yellow similar to a FC reading of 3. Same issue as last night.
CC: Didn't test since I read 0 FC.
CH: 350
TA: Test never turned green. Sample stayed red with the 5 drops. Same issue as last night.
CYA: 30 was hazy but dot still visible.
Salt: Didn't test since it not added and didn't see you note until now. Will test it next time.
Water Temp: 65F
Thanks for update. It appears the PB is taking care of the chemicals so you can question them if they plan to add chlorine to increase that.
I am surprised your pH is low - it normally increases with new plaster. Maybe they added a lot of muriatic acid (MA) to lower pH and that could be the same issue with TA (see below).
Your CH is fine.
Regarding your TA test - it is a 25ml sample where both FC and CH use 10ml samples as the norm. I am a little confused when you say it stayed RED. It is clear pool sample, first you add 2 drops of R-0007 which does NOT change colors - it should be clear. Then adding 5 drops of R-0008 turns the sample Green then you add R-0009 until it turns cherry red. It will turn purple first then go to Red on next drop or 2. Your fill water was TA of 230 so you should have at least that. Each drop is 10ppm so you would have 23 drops of R-0009 to have a TA of 230. Just review your test process to ensure you are doing the 3 steps with a 25ml sample. If it turned RED when you added the green drops (R-0008) then that could imply no TA. But your fill water has 230 TA. Did they add so much MA that they tanked your TA?
Seems you got your CYA test fine as it should be just hazy.
Thanks!
When I saw the start up guy Tuesday night it looked like they added 4 or 5 gallons of MA. I didn't question them too much since they are handling the chemicals the first 30 days.
For TA test, it was clear after 2 drops of R-0007 but immediately turned cherry red when adding R-0008 (unless I was adding R-0009 on accident). The kids love watching the water testing, which they call "the science experiments", so it is possible I grabbed R-0009 instead of R-0008 and didn't notice. My thought was like yours that I should have TA since the fill water did but also thought maybe the MA was causing the bad reading, it's why I figured I'd wait 24 hours and try again.
Ok, it all makes sense now, you did it right with the R-0007 and then R-0008 which would turn green with TA but if no TA it would go straight to the cherry red. They added a lot of MA because they know pH rises with new plaster. So it also tanked your fill water TA. Per the NPC (see attached) you should target a TA of 80 - so you may want to discuss that with your PB however you are somewhat between a rock and a hard place because he is providing the warranty. Also, your specific plaster type may have its own start up guide provided by the mfg. Good Luck.
Thanks for the information/help. I read the wet edge startup guide as well and they reference everything to the Orenda LSI calculator. Like you said they are the ones to warranty it so I've put some faith into them since they've been around 25 years. I'll take some more readings today and see if things are starting to get more inline. If it continues to be out of whack through the weekend I'll make sure to address it with them.
The pics look great so how are you liking the NPT Essence Imperial tile? We just switched our tile to the same but 1x2 and I'm having trouble finding many pictures of it installed. From what I have found my only worry is that there's a lot of white in it, more than the sample would suggest.
It seems like it will go great with our house color which is why it won out but now I'm second guessing that decision...
It seems like it will go great with our house color which is why it won out but now I'm second guessing that decision...
Been a few weeks since last update but had our pool school this past Saturday so now am I'm completely in charge. Finished decking and yard cleanup. Only remaining item is salt cell. It's plumbed in but just needs to get hooked up and salt added to pool. I got the outdoor speakers hung this weekend and turned everything on for a test run this Saturday night. We're really happy with the way everything turned out. Can't wait to get in it and truly break it in.
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We love the way the imperial color came out. Not sure if you found this gallery on NPTs website but what was all we could really find of this color scheme. We thought about the 1x2 but were thinking the same thing about there being too much white from looking at that gallery.
With the 1x1 it really came out good and is a good blend between white and color. In fact the white really isn't that noticeable, hard to pick up picture but it pulls a lot of the aqua from the other tiles and the pool color. From your picture I think it'll go well with your house color.
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Not sure if it is allowed or not. Just found this site. Can I ask what company installed your pool? Looking for a better company than the previous one we spoke to.
Winter247
Bronze Supporter
- Sep 12, 2021
- 79
- Pool Size
- 15600
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Love your pool! Very clean look! We're thinking of doing a grey cool deck with travertine (or some kind of stone) coping as well. I was just curious what name that color grey was? or how you picked the shade? I want to do a grey that's maybe a shade or so lighter than yours but I'm not sure if that's an option. Just curious what the process was for you?
It was called Ft Worth Grey. They had like 10-12 shades to choose from on their sample board but after they finished the touch up paint they gave us came from Sherwin Williams. I'm not sure if that was the paint color from SW but I imagine had I know that, we could have gotten any color in the product line instead of just the options on the sample board.
Found some pictures, this is the paint they used. It was called Ft Worth Grey from Sherwin Williams. Hope this helps.
