Recent content by LeeD

I have worked for three. Pools by Nelson in Ripon, CA (imo the best builder in the valley) Merced Pools, in Merced, CA - no longer building. and Trademark Pools, in Salida, CA. (Second, nearly tied with first for best builder in the valley, but shut down for a while due to lack of business)

They are a bit further south than I am familiar with.. :( I am only familiar with the northern san joaqin valley unfortunately..

Hmm.. not the right light unfortunately.. Was hopeful for a min, but not it. wrong mounting mechnism and uses a different clamp.

If this is old equipment it wouldn't hurt to disassemble the valve (most are relatively easy) and replace/relube the o-rings. They can deteriorate, snag on edges, or sometimes even expand and make things far too tight. Lube them with a good silicon based lubricant, like magic lube.

Definitely a possible problem. Replace the sensor and see if the problem continues. It is also possible that something is clogging the heat exchanger and making it overheat. Improper flow could be causing the water to get too hot in the heater, which would trigger the high limit sensor. A...

The first thing I notice that could be a problem is the shaft seal. When replacing a motor, always replace the shaft seal. They don't handle being removed and reinstalled well, and could be causing undue friction. They're not too expensive, so it's not a major ordeal. The impeller should be...

Yesterday I encountered a pool light that I have not seen before. The fixture had developed a leak years ago, and is now unrepairable. I do not know what kind of fixture it is, or what would fit this niche though. The only print on the light says "CHD Model 100 120v 400W" This is an old...

Yes, home equity was the big way to finance a pool around here for a long time. Definitely not happening any more. There are so many foreclosures the last year or so that it is scary too. On the street that I live on, the homes were built in 2005-2006, and sold for 450k-550k. Now about 1 in...

Pool building in our area (North San Joaqin valley, Ca) is hurting very bad. The builder I was working for closed its doors last month. They were a builder with a great rep, a lot of leads coming for sales, but no-one was getting financed. The final straw was having four pools on the board...

Plaster will fade from sunlight, which is normal.. This one looks like chemical problems.. Hard to tell from here, but low or high PH can cause major problems. Low PH will eat away at the plaster, which could have caused the pitting and uneven surface. It also looks like there is some...

You might consider going with a variable speed tri-star pump instead of the intelliflo, it is manufactured by hayward and would go better with your Aqua Logic panel. I really like the goldline controls, it will work well with your solar, aqua-rite chlorinator, and will control your pool and...

It looks to me that this is a colored plaster. Or at least it was.. Perhaps a Tahoe Blue or Caribbean Blue, though it is hard to tell for sure.

An automated control system is always easier and cleaner to install during pool construction, but they can definitely be added later. Pentair controls aren't my favorite, but they do work well, and would be a good choice with your Intelliflo. The only difficult part with adding controls...

The industry has slowed a bit, and operating costs are higher. I would still check around to see if someone else has a better bid just in case. Someone else may be hurting more for business and give you a killer deal.. As for preparing the pool for plaster, we always scar up the old plaster...

Sounds like you're going to need something that still performs well with a lot of head. The 'waterfall' specialty pumps are typically designed for low head applications. It sounds like your plumbing is well done, I would look into a 3HP pump, such as the Hayward Tri-Star (My favorite), or a...