Pool hasn’t been opened in a few years. Help!

[Redbama81]

Hi everyone!
We are making progress. We did a 3/4 drain on the pool. Got all the overgrown stuff cleared out. Have scooped and scooped to where we really aren’t pulling anything else up. I ordered a vacuum canister which arrived today so we could start vacuuming. We primed the pump this morning and turned it on and it made a humming noise for a few seconds and then nothing. I’m guessing that the motor is shot. I’m trying to find a replacement and have watched a few videos on doing a swap with a new one. Doesn’t look too difficult. Is this something that is a diy or not? Any suggestions on where to get a replacement?

Here’s some updated pics. Still have some trees to cut out and landscaping. Going to pressure wash the equipment pad and do some rock on both sides of that as well as pressure washing the pool deck. After we get the pump motor replaced going to vacuum with the pool canister to get anymore off the bottom we missed. Then adjust our chemicals for the slam process.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Is there a pad under the equipment? It looks like bare ground. Here’s what I would suggest -

• Get the equipment up on some concrete slabs, either precast or pour your own slab.
• Scrap any surround ground down to the dirt and apply a heavy dose of herbicide with pre-emergent.
• Cover the bare ground with Geotextile and layout a border with either decorative brick or plastic retaining terrace board.
• Fill the area around the slab and within the retaining board with 1/2” crushed landscape stone or smooth river stone.

Being able to keep the equipment up off the wet ground and away from over growth is a huge benefit to being able to work on the equipment easily. Doing it now is much easier than doing it later.

 

[Redbama81]

Is there a pad under the equipment? It looks like bare ground. Here’s what I would suggest -

• Get the equipment up on some concrete slabs, either precast or pour your own slab.
• Scrap any surround ground down to the dirt and apply a heavy dose of herbicide with pre-emergent.
• Cover the bare ground with Geotextile and layout a border with either decorative brick or plastic retaining terrace board.
• Fill the area around the slab and within the retaining board with 1/2” crushed landscape stone or smooth river stone.

Being able to keep the equipment up off the wet ground and away from over growth is a huge benefit to being able to work on the equipment easily. Doing it now is much easier than doing it later.

There’s a concrete slab under the equipment. I just need to blow all that off. And pressure wash it. You are seeing the dirt from clearing out all the growth that was around it. It was a mess. Everything you suggested is the plan. I have a few more things on the ground to rake out. Then going to do exactly what you suggested.

 

[reggiehammond]

Right now is absolutely the right time to invest in a VSP (variable speed pump) and a SWCG (salt water chlorine generator.)
A 2.7hp VSP is absolutely the best bang for the buck in upfront cost but long term electrical savings. Add in the convenience of a SWCG and you’ve got what most of us here use. It allows you to run the pump and filter 24/7 at 150-200 watts. By running 24/7, you can skim constantly, make FC constantly, and always be filtering.

Calimar pumps are well regarded here and should be $500-600. Many SWCGs to chose from, but a good place for research is discountsaltpool.com. Make sure you are looking at cells rated for pool sizes of 2-3x actual.

 

[Newdude]

If water is cheap, heck, with chlorine prices what they are....... water doesn't even need to be cheap........ but I would highly suggest draining. You need to leave 12 inches in the shallow end to hold the liner but it would be about 50% of the pool because the deep end is only on the one side. If you did it twice you'd have about 25% of the original water left and a far easier battle.

You'd also likely be able to see the bottom much sooner for removing the crud. The crud is job 1-A right behind FC levels, because it will chew through any FC you add, and then it won't be available to clear the water.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

A good rental trash pump with the proper suction end could drain that pool down in less than an hour. It would also suck up debris and grind it up so no need to worry about clogs. The professionals use them all the time to clear swamp pools with gelatinous raccoons and deer drowned at the bottom.

 

[kul]

Following. I am here for the magic!

 

[Redbama81]

Finally able to swim!! Did the Slam method for about 3 1/2 weeks and last few days started using some DE in the sand filter which helped clear it up from the cloudiness. Ended up replacing the pump and all gaskets on the filter. Didn’t have a way to deep clean sand or change it without cutting pipes, so we added unions to make that much easier. We drained as low as we could go 3-4 times before starting the slam method. Still need to do a nice scrub down on steps and the edging at the top. We are happy with it overall. Still plenty of work to do around with landscaping and decorating. Thanks for all the help and guidance from the group. You all are amazing. Color doesn’t look the best in the pictures but it’s perfect and crystal clear. Have few rechargeable pool lights to install hopefully this week. And no deer were found Lol. Just a few frogs and some tadpoles.