Reviving out of service pool: FG & deck Refresh

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dianedebuda said:
Think I'll start acquiring some salt when I pick up LC at HD today. Diamond Crystal Solar Natural Water Softener Salt Crystals. If all &*(^ breaks loose with the crack situation, it can be returned. Easier for me to handle in small bunches rather than getting all that I'll need for the SWG at one time.
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Both Lowes and Home Depot will delivery almost anything in the store for a flat fee of about $70, and if you have a Lowes business credit card they’ll reduce that to $20. Depending on how much salt you need it might be worth having them deliver it to save your back. The truck will come with a little forklift and they will get it as close to your pool as they can get with their little forklift.

That will save you the effort of getting the salt into your cart, then from your cart to your car, and then from your car to the pool.
 
Chrissykr said:
For heavy stuff like salt, mulch, sand etc. I use curbside pickup. Much easier. you are doing amazing👏👏👏 and your backyard is gorgeous. What a beautiful space.
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Thanks. There's a lot in the yard yet to bring back to what it was, but it's a-comin'. (y) I have no problem getting HD/Lowes staff to grab stuff from the aisle & load into the car. I want to go inside anyhow to check chlorine date. Have a compact tractor with a front loader to move it from the car, but still have to hand transfer from trunk to tractor and tractor to mover for storage area inside.

Brett S said:
Both Lowes and Home Depot will delivery almost anything in the store for a flat fee of about $70
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I won't say I'm cheap, but do have short arms and low pockets. :LOL: If I'd just get around to getting a new battery for our brush truck (a beat up 1989? Dodge pickup), it'd be even simpler. :LOL: Having to make some trips there anyhow for materials to build a stand for hubby's new TV. These days more than ever, need to hand select lumber.

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As expected, CYA present but <20. Broadcast 2-1/2 lb Chlorbrite over the pool which should raise CYA by 6.2 according to PoolMath. How long do I need to wait before retesting CYA? Seems to me it takes a few hours or overnight for the dry stuff to work. Figure I'll need another dose, probably tomorrow?
 
SLAM day 12, Thu 9/17
AM
slam 20200917_080841.jpg
slam 20200917_080915.jpg
filter on
08:00 FC 6. ; add 2.5 lb ChlorBrite=2 gal LC [tot LC=53 gal]
12:30 FC 10.5 ; add 5 gal LC [tot LC=53.5 gal]
scoop & brush
16:30 FC 8.5; add 1 gal LC [tot LC=54.5 gal]
19:30 FC 12; add .5 gal LC [tot LC=55 gal]
recirc for overnight

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Filter pressure not going up, but water movement slowed. Turned off filter for the night & will open it up to look tomorrow.

Received an email from the fiberglass repair guy: his advice is to fill it in just from looking at my pics. He doesn't do structural fixes, so ... Trying to find someone who does. Haven't given up hope yet.

If the pool is truly nearing end of life, I'm going to prolong it as much as possible by lowering water level & anything else I can think of.
 
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I've been following this journey - you are amazing! Congratulations on what you have accomplished! I hope you can find someone/some way to repair the cracks. A quick google on repairing cracks in fiberglass pool walls brings you to a number of videos by API Pools like the one below; maybe they are worth calling to see if they could recommend anyone in your area??? Good luck!
 
Pool is nice & clear again this morning. CYA=40 which was a surprise since yesterday's test was <20 and I added 2.5 lb ChlorBrite 24 hr ago which should have only raised it by 6.2 ppm according to PoolMath. And last night's FC was 12, the SLAM target for CYA=30 (my starting point); added 1/2 gal of LC anyway 'cause I've aways lost FC overnight. This morning, FC=14. Very strange. For grins, I tested CC=1.5. As mentioned previously, water movement wasn't the greatest with filter going so I ran recirc (good movement) overnight. Wonder if that is relevant to the tests.

Since I doubt that I'm going to be able to get a proper crack fix in the near future, thinking about getting a AG skimmer that I can mount below the current skimmer for surface cleaning and DE slurry input at the lower water level.
 
If you feel you have nothing to lose you may want to try packing the cracks with this putty...

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I think any repair is going to cut out the area around the cracks so whatever you put in the crack in the interim will not matter.
 
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ajw22 said:
I think any repair is going to cut out the area around the cracks go whatever you put in the crack in the interim will not matter.
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I really want to get the job done correctly. Would trying the putty make it more difficult for a pro to evaluate the problem? I may try it down the road though.

Any advice on finding someone to do the work? Not a lot of fiberglass pools to begin with (compared to gunite) and I imagine that this type of repair would be attempted by only a few.

Expect that if the pool can't be repaired, it'll just keep getting worse and worse. Didn't expect the funeral notice from the local guy. :LOL:
 

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So now that the pool is clear-ish (and Great job by the way!) can you post some pics of the crack? Are you able to definitively say the crack is the leak or is it in the skimmer? Its seems that most of the leaking FG pools have is in the skimmer interface from what I've seen on the forum. just curious.

Also.. my parents were on a well and I remember the cost of filling the pool was how long they could run the well pump and making sure the holding tank didn't deflate. .. just as a point of "if you did it next time" is the 60 some odd jugs of chlorine worth the cost compared to a drain and refill?

Lastly ... I never saw where you identified the mystery object at the bottom. Was it a planter stand as you suspected? If it was Jimmy I'm sure there would have been some mention of it on CNN.
 
mguzzy said:
So now that the pool is clear-ish (and Great job by the way!) can you post some pics of the crack? Are you able to definitively say the crack is the leak or is it in the skimmer? Its seems that most of the leaking FG pools have is in the skimmer interface from what I've seen on the forum. just curious.
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jimmythegreek said:
Sorry been super busy. Weather is turning on us here too amd were behind like usual.....can you take some zoomed in pics of the cracks so I can see in relation to water level. Looking from afar it seems water is staying at bottom of skimmer. I would think a bad faceplate or possible skimmer leak
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Water seems to stop leaking at about 1" above skimmer basket - too low to run skimmer. That's why I'm suspecting the cracks.

Posted some pics earlier today, so maybe they'll help? crack pics

Many thanks for stopping by.
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Look at the "crack pics" link.
 
mguzzy said:
So now that the pool is clear-ish (and Great job by the way!) can you post some pics of the crack? Are you able to definitively say the crack is the leak or is it in the skimmer? Its seems that most of the leaking FG pools have is in the skimmer interface from what I've seen on the forum. just curious.
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Think Durangler handled this part.

mguzzy said:
Also.. my parents were on a well and I remember the cost of filling the pool was how long they could run the well pump and making sure the holding tank didn't deflate. .. just as a point of "if you did it next time" is the 60 some odd jugs of chlorine worth the cost compared to a drain and refill?
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If you're asking if I would do it this way again if I had to do it over, the answer is yes. Risk to the FG too great to drain completely unless you've got bracing & experience with that. And suspect my cracks might have gotten even worse that way.

mguzzy said:
Lastly ... I never saw where you identified the mystery object at the bottom. Was it a planter stand as you suspected? If it was Jimmy I'm sure there would have been some mention of it on CNN.
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Last pic is Jimmy
 
YES! thanks for the updates! I've been out of town since Sunday and I missed all that .. I started reading from when the Alerts link told me .. but apparently it had a different idea of when last checked the forum.

Its Jimmy.. the umbrella stand! Yes he lost a lot of weight while submerged.

On draining the pool, Yes I agree.. the cracks tell me that unweighting the pool may create a worse situation. I'm not there to see the rest of the layout, but here is one possible scenario. If the end of the pool opposite the diving board is sagging it will cause cracks like that at the felxion point of the bend. the cracks are roughly in the same spot on opposite corners of the pool. like bending a shoe box, the tear starts in the corner. How old did you say the pool was? If that is what is going on it likely has been slowly get worse over many years. I saw this in a homemade inground pool that was made with cinderblocks. It was kind of on the side of a hill/cutout. and over the 50 years the pool was there it had started to sag on the down hill side. You could see it in the crack pattern.. but we were renters, and the landlord was happy to pay for caulk if we provided the labor. I have since moved on , but I bet the big redwood undermined the concrete before the slow slumping of the hillside pulled it apart.
 
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SLAM day 13, Fri 9/18
AM
slam 20200918_080830.jpg
slam 20200918_081035.jpg
filter off
08:00 FC 14. ; ok went up overnight?
12:00 FC 14.5 ; ok up again? Did I tap into a chlorine pipeline?
16:00 FC 11; add 1/4 gal LC [tot LC=55.3 gal]
clean filter & start
19:30 FC 7.5; add 1-3/4 gal LC [tot LC=57 gal]

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Think I'm nudging towards the end phase of SLAM. Clear water, but CC=1.5 this morning. What brings this down?

Opened filter to check 'cause poor water flow but pressure did not indicate it was dirty. Whacha think?
filter 20200918_162315 dirty.jpg
35 minutes later...
filter 20200918_165800 clean.jpg
Was so easy to clean. (y) Really glad I put the hose bib & a short hose next to it. Oh, and I found the missing washer ... right next to the first washer on the bolt. What planet was my mind on that day? :rolleyes:

Now getting the DE loaded was a different story. Let's just say that without a working skimmer, the method tried was way too hard and will not be attempted again. Rather raise the water a couple of inches to get the skimmer working, do the DE loading and then drain off that added water. :(
 
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CC goes to 0 when all algae is eradicated. There can be a long tail before you get the last of it.
 
SLAM Process has three exit criteria....

You are done when:

  • CC is 0.5 or lower;
  • You pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test (ie overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less);
  • And the water is clear.
When all three are true, you are done SLAMing and can allow the FC to drift down to normal levels.
 

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