Recent content by Backyard_Lap_Pool

Double checked with Pentair tech support and it looks like light engines are swappable between color and white. Thanks!

Quick question: If I want to switch from Color 5g intellibrite lights (12V) to White LED intellibrite (12V), could I simply replace the light engine board with a kit like the Pentair 619917Z and re-use the color LED housing, or are there more components on the fixture other than the light engine...

Hey TFP gang - it’s been a while since I last logged on. We finally put the finishing touches on our pool and spliced the remainder of the build time lapse together. It has some fun “swim practice” shots towards the end too. (Best viewed in 1080P on a big screen if that’s an option) Hope you...

So after a few months of heating this Houston “winter”, I have found that the pool loses around 2 degrees a day. It takes roughly 1 MMBTU of gas per degree to heat it back up, so that works out to about $12.50 a day in heating costs for 2 MMBTU’s, or about $375 a month. Costs are heading down as...

Yes! Ours hovers around 72 with fairly minimal heating after we put the thermal covers on. I’m good swimming laps at 72.

With the covers on, chem dosing is minimal. Maybe a quart or less of 10% bleach per day and half a cup of acid.

I’ll chime in on the return heads. Not saying by any stretch that this is the right answer, but it seems to be working for us. At the bottom of this thread is a rough napkin sketch of my pool. 7ft x 70ft lap pool water circulation design We decided that it would be futile to try to get a...

Oh - one more plus for the paraskims is they have a knockout for an overflow. I think it was some oddball size like 1.25” but we hooked all 4 skimmer overflow pipes up to our deck drain system, looping them up and back down to set the max water height. (The drain openings sit below the water...

Pool is lined with a 100mil root barrier along back wall. We went with little gem magnolias because their leaves are easy to scoop up, and they stay fairly vertical in their growth. Side covers are hooked on lane lines and float separate from the main cover.

Paraskim V’s work well. We have 4 of them in our pool. They do take their own 1.5” return line as well as the 2” drain line, so it is a bit more plumbing but the Venturi really does move a lot of water. When I shut off the drain line and just have the return running, water is still falling at a...

Something to possibly consider: some sort of foam board insulation layer between the gunite shell and the soil. (If you get a thermal cover for the winter and want to heat the pool, an insulator would help isolate the pool from the ground so you don’t spend all your gas money heating up dirt)...

Did the GC spec the lane line anchors? There are some cheap, plastic body ones out there that you will want to steer clear of - I can’t imagine they would handle tensioning very well. We went with the Paragon brand triangle bolt anchors and have been pretty happy with them so far. 70316SE -...

It’s rough enough where if you are wire brushing a stain and your knuckles hit the plaster, it will generally produce blood. If you were aqua jogging where your toes were pushing off the bottom, you would definitely want to wear some aqua socks for toe protection. I’ve mostly gotten used to it...

I would definitely go 4’ instead of 3.5’. Makes flip turns much more comfortable. We did southern lights in our pool. Very happy with the results for color. Just the right amount of blue without the worry of bleaching out any dyes. I can send you pictures if you want. The only downside is it is...

It’s starting to feel good. Still have some deck work to finish up but it’s really close to being done done. There are 5 sections. The main section (19’x82’) spools onto one spindle and the 4 side sections spool onto 2nd spindle. For practical purposes, we would really only be moving the main...