Having a pool built and need advice

[Newdude]

Your wording here seems to have a sense of irony or sarcasm to it

The was also a message of hope in there. While Allen (and myself) would maintain our own, we can fix anything the PB does (or really doesn't do) once he turns the pool over to you at the 30 day mark.

Many people seek us out at that point and we haven't been licked yet.

 

[ajw22]

You are going to be maintaining the pool for the next 30 years. Why can't you touch the pool for the next 25 days?

I think it is nuts to keep the Aqualink in SERVICE mode and to only dose chemicals once a week by the Pool Builder when the pool owner is there to do more.

 

[voidpointer]

Ok. I'll go buy some MA and chlorine today. I don't have a storage box for MA yet but I can leave it outside on the back patio until I get one. I'll keep the chlorine in the house. I'll also check with the PB and see when the maintenance guy is coming back. They haven't really communicated the schedule.

I appreciate all the help. I was tempted at the start to let the PB take care of the pool this month but I sort of feel like I've opened pandoras box. Now that I'm testing it and seeing the lack of attention it's getting, it bothers me Plus it's good practice for me to handle the chemicals.

 

[voidpointer]

You are going to be maintaining the pool for the next 30 years. Why can't you touch the pool for the next 25 days?

I think it is nuts to keep the Aqualink in SERVICE mode and to only dose chemicals once a week by the Pool Builder when the pool owner is there to do more.

I really value your thoughts here. I feel like I'm in agreement with you, however unlike you I don't have the experience & knowledge yet. Just in the past 2 days I've learned a tremendous amount. However, at this point, I have no idea how the equipment works and they won't teach me that until a few more weeks. So I feel like my hands are tied.

I feel like I've nagged the heck out of you guys already about the testing & chemicals, I don't want to put you through the pool equipment too. I think if I knew how everything worked and was confident I wouldn't blow a PVC pipe apart, I'd definitely take it out of service mode.

 

[Newdude]

I was tempted at the start to let the PB take care of the pool this month but I sort of feel like I've opened pandoras box

It's a VERY common thought to wish to put off the learning curve, but you need to tackle that hump either way. So putting it off a couple weeks really doesn't help you any.

We got you. I promise. Like you saw, the second round through the testing was that much easier. By the 3rd or 4th round, it starts to become second nature.

 

[voidpointer]

It's a VERY common thought to wish to put off the learning curve, but you need to tackle that hump either way. So putting it off a couple weeks really doesn't help you any.

We got you. I promise. Like you saw, the second round through the testing was that much easier. By the 3rd or 4th round, it starts to become second nature.

I worded that weird didn't I? What I was trying to say is that now I've started learning a little bit, I feel like I want to do the rest now I definitely don't feel like putting it off. So far everything has been easier than I expected.

 

[ajw22]

I really value your thoughts here. I feel like I'm in agreement with you, however unlike you I don't have the experience & knowledge yet. Just in the past 2 days I've learned a tremendous amount. However, at this point, I have no idea how the equipment works and they won't teach me that until a few more weeks. So I feel like my hands are tied.

I feel like I've nagged the heck out of you guys already about the testing & chemicals, I don't want to put you through the pool equipment too. I think if I knew how everything worked and was confident I wouldn't blow a PVC pipe apart, I'd definitely take it out of service mode.

I am skeptical that you will get a sudden infusion of knowledge from your Builders Pool School.

You will end up here asking about your equipment later or now.

Might as well bite the bullet and get into the weeds.

 

[voidpointer]

I am skeptical that you will get a sudden infusion of knowledge from your Builders Pool School.

You will end up here asking about your equipment later or now.

Might as well bite the bullet and get into the weeds.

You're probably right lol.

The PB at least put lots of helpful labels and arrows for water flow on the equipment and plumbing when they did start up. I found that extremely helpful.

Let me look in the pool school section of the site for equipment guidance. I'll read that before I start hammering you. I'm not sure what the order of things should be, but I definitely want to set up the aqualink on my wifi and get the app set up.

Oh one more thing I should mention. They still aren't done starting up the pool yet. The water features (sheering descents and slide) haven't been turned on yet. For two reasons:

1. The last PB screwed up the slide plumbing, so that's not currently connected. They're coming back soon (maybe this week) to fix that.
2. The PB is going to add an automatic valve for the slide. Right now the pump controls both the slide & the sheering descents. But said it would be nice to control the slide on/off with the aqualink since it won't be running when no one is using it.

I actually forgot about all of this. I think this is one of the big reasons I'm afraid to touch the equipment yet, because not everything is 100% working yet. Sorry for leaving that out...

 

[Newdude]

I worded that weird didn't I? What I was trying to say is that now I've started learning a little bit, I feel like I want to do the rest now

Yes !!!! You *did* have the same thought we all did. Now you're seeing the light. With a couple more tests under your belt (literally 2. Lol), and the TFP army available 24/7, you got this.

 

[voidpointer]

PB maintenance guy just showed up. He must be an esper. To their credit, he has been coming every 2-3 days. Not just once a week like I was expecting.

I assume that most of you adjust your pool chemicals daily as needed. I might still do that just to get some practice at it.

 

[dfwnoob]

I feel like I've nagged the heck out of you guys already about the testing & chemicals, I don't want to put you through the pool equipment too. I think if I knew how everything worked and was confident I wouldn't blow a PVC pipe apart, I'd definitely take it out of service mode.

Not only do most pool builders not even begin to vaguely even understand pool chemistry, many of them don't understand the equipment they install. Ask me about the ridiculous nonsense I've had to change and upgrade here because the last owners of the place relied on the local "5 star rated on Google" pool building company for maintenance. Ripping out Intermatic freeze controllers they installed because they didn't understand how the AquaLink PDA system worked, telling the owners that there's "no way to install an indoor controller" without ripping out the entire Aqualink system and installing a brand new one, forcing me to replumb 50% of the system when I re-installed the heater because they removed it haphazardly and cut the existing plumbing in the worst possible places leaving me nothing to fuse new pipe onto. And companies like Jandy wonder why I don't want "professionals" out here touching my stuff.

It's much better that you just ask us here if you have any questions. I promise you are not annoying anyone. The people on this forum are here because we want to be. Your pool builder is there because you paid them to be.

As far as "adjusting" things, I don't add anything to the pool daily except for chlorine (and certainly not daily in the winter months for that). You have a SWCG and while it'll take a little bit to dial it in, there should be very little to adjust under normal operation outside of some acid dosing once to twice a week. Most municipal water here in north DFW is way on the alkaline side and depending on how dry and miserable it is, it'll take more tap water to top it off, which'll raise the pH faster during the summer months requiring acid more often.

 

[voidpointer]

I talked to the PB about the white stains/streaks on the tanning ledge. He reminded me of the "cause" of that and I want to share it here for fact checking.

The evening after plaster, they started filling the spa first. They said not to let the water run over the edge into the pool but didn't explain why. I gave them various updates on the the filling progress as time went by. When it got close to the waterline tile, I asked them if they wanted me to shut the water off. They said no, they'd be there in time. Well of course they weren't there on time and water poured over. At the time they took the hose and wet the other parts of the pool around the spa (including the tanning ledge) and used a leaf blower to get the excess water off the tanning ledge.

When I approached him about the white streaks today he said that was caused by the water spilling over. He said over time it would eventually go away. He said if it doesn't, to put a PVC pipe in the water and drop some acid in to try to remove the stains.

Honestly I'm upset about the whole thing because I gave them multiple reminders about the spa being full and they didn't get there in time. Now I feel like I'm stuck with ugly stains and footprints on the tanning ledge. Will it eventually blend in or am I doomed to deal with it? Earlier when I brought this up, I was told it's part of the plastering process but with these new details I wanted to see if it changes opinions.

 

[ajw22]

I doubt the stains will disappear on their own.

Rather then acid bath area of your ledge use some elbow grease and sand the areas with 80/100 grit wet/dry sandpaper to do the same thing an acid wash will do which is remove the top layer of plaster and expose fresh plaster underneath. You can drop the water level below the ledge for the sanding.

Give your plaster 3-6 months to cure before you sand or acid bath it.

 

[voidpointer]

I just noticed water isn't coming out of one of the eyeballs in the pool... not sure if it's a plumbing issue, obstruction, or something else. Anything I can do about this or recommend the PB do?

 

[ajw22]

I just noticed water isn't coming out of one of the eyeballs in the pool... not sure if it's a plumbing issue, obstruction, or something else. Anything I can do about this or recommend the PB do?

Let your builder try and earn his money before you dive into it.

 

[kimkats]

We LOVE to help with this kind of thing! Believer we would rather help NOW when it is just getting started instead of "fixing" any problems they cause down the road.

 

[voidpointer]

So the slide got hooked up today and they turned on the water features. Everything seems to be working. Should I refer to the manuals on how to operate the aqualink, turn the pumps on and off, etc? Where do I start? I did go over some pages of the pool equipment page but of course none of that is equipment-specific.

EDIT: One thing I'd like help with is making sure I have an RS8 installed. I don't quite understand what I got. It was an RS6 with an upgrade kit to make it RS8 but doesn't make sense to me. I also have a spare Aqualink RS in my garage (weird) that my PB says is for a chlorine pool, not salt. Weird that I have so many aqualinks.

EDIT 2: Here's some pictures of the equipment I took today.

 

[Newdude]

Where do I start?

@PoolGate is fluent in Jandy.

There are several items in the 'J's' of the Wiki. Hopefully some of its relevant. If not now, maybe one day.

Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[PoolGate]

Sounds like he had an RS6 with a SWG installed and an RS8 without. So he just took the personality board from the RS8 and put it in the RS6 to make it and RS8. No biggie I suspect he'll be collecting that spare cabinet. Can you post pics of the entire setup?

Is your Aqualink set up yet? Is it connected to the Internet? You should have access to it via a computer web browser and also via the phone app. Also once all that is set up you can enable the Alexa skill as well.

Web Link: Zodiac iAquaLink

Phone App (you login to the phone app with the same credentials as the computer browser)

 

[tommelton]

I just noticed water isn't coming out of one of the eyeballs in the pool... not sure if it's a plumbing issue, obstruction, or something else. Anything I can do about this or recommend the PB do?

Do you have an autofill? The outlet into the pool normally/often looks just like a normal return "eyeball", but you will not feel water coming out of it.