I've been lurking for the past couple of weeks in anticipation of my pool adventure. I'll give you a brief rundown of the situation. My wife's grandfather built this pool about 15 years ago. The family used it for a while and then people quit coming so it was neglected. A lot. My wife's grandfather passed about 5 years ago and a lot of people in their family talk about how much he loved the pool. Her grandmother mentioned wishing it was open so more people would come by the house. Now that there are lot more younger children in the family I thought it would be a good opportunity to get it up and going.
So, I volunteered my son and I to tackle it. We started pumping it last week(it's well above the water table here in upstate SC). Saturday we cleaned out the muck and leaves. One of the worst smells ever. Almost as bad as an Army porta john in the summer. At this moment we are just cleaning and pressure washing. We will have all that done in the next couple of days and then we will paint it. My father-in-law has been doing commercial construction for years and he was actually the one that built the pool so that's helpful.
Some things we are concerned about: 1) Father-in-law installed the large pipes at the deep end to act as a skimmer in the last year it was open. He said that one of the pipes under the concrete was leaking and that's why he put those in as a temporary fix. So we will have to figure that out. He also said that the ground settled and broke one pipe they had to tear out the concrete and repair that section. I'd imagine we will have to do that again once we find the broken pipe. Not a big deal though. We have access to concrete saws and what not. Not really sure of the condition of the pump/equipment yet. I figure worst case we will have to buy a new one.
Any tips would be appreciated!
So, I volunteered my son and I to tackle it. We started pumping it last week(it's well above the water table here in upstate SC). Saturday we cleaned out the muck and leaves. One of the worst smells ever. Almost as bad as an Army porta john in the summer. At this moment we are just cleaning and pressure washing. We will have all that done in the next couple of days and then we will paint it. My father-in-law has been doing commercial construction for years and he was actually the one that built the pool so that's helpful.
Some things we are concerned about: 1) Father-in-law installed the large pipes at the deep end to act as a skimmer in the last year it was open. He said that one of the pipes under the concrete was leaking and that's why he put those in as a temporary fix. So we will have to figure that out. He also said that the ground settled and broke one pipe they had to tear out the concrete and repair that section. I'd imagine we will have to do that again once we find the broken pipe. Not a big deal though. We have access to concrete saws and what not. Not really sure of the condition of the pump/equipment yet. I figure worst case we will have to buy a new one.
Any tips would be appreciated!
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<boy, I can smell that schmutz from here! j/k >
A swamp to oasis thread around here! When u get a little farther with the cleaning definitely be sure to hit up any niches, skimmer plates or ladder mounts with some diluted bleach & a brush. Especially removing that light & such. Its a hiding place for algae lots to folks forget. Wishing u good luck with your plumbing?You really took on a project!
