Decoy’s Above Ground Pool Saga

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PoolStored said:
Come in 1/2" and 3/4" Check what size you need.

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This worked perfectly!

I measured the piece on there from the top and it was 3/4” so I bought the 3/4” piece at HD. Came home and it was too big? I measured the actual piece I bought and it’s 1”? Not sure who does measurements on electrical stuff but that don’t add up ha!

Went back and exchanged them for the 1/2” piece which is actually 3/4”. I guess the threads are where they measure even though that doesn’t seem to measure the same either.
In any case itworked. One more small thing done.

Vacuumed today. Water crystal clear

FC 5 (added 27oz to get back to 7) basically been adding 2-2.5 ppm each day depending on weather.
CC 0
PH 7.5
TA 70
CH 60
CYA 40
 
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Decoy205 said:
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I have a question about the jugs you are using to hold down the ladder ... did you zip tie them to the ladder? I'm asking because our dealer said that water alone will hold the steps down and I'm not 100% convinced.

We are getting stairs and if they float I plan on doing something temporarily, I'm saving 1 gallon water bottles for now.
 
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Water alone will NOT hold them down. There are many different things people have done to hold them down. Some fill jugs with water or CLEAN gravel making sure the lids will NOT come off. Some people make PVC pipes. They get at least 3" PVC, cut it the width of the steps, put a cap on one end and fill it with cement and put the other end on. Then you zip tie it to the legs. It might take more than one weight so you will need to play around to see what holds yours down best.
 
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kimkats said:
Water alone will NOT hold them down. There are many different things people have done to hold them down. Some fill jugs with water or CLEAN gravel making sure the lids will NOT come off. Some people make PVC pipes. They get at least 3" PVC, cut it the width of the steps, put a cap on one end and fill it with cement and put the other end on. Then you zip tie it to the legs. It might take more than one weight so you will need to play around to see what holds yours down best.
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Thanks for the info!

We are getting the Confer entry system steps (2 - 1X steps, center connecting bridge and self closing gate) with the new pool. Our last pool we had a Vinyl Works of Canada step system that it would fill with water and it stayed but it was HEAVY! Toward the end my wife and I struggled to remove it from the pool although when we got it 20 years before it wasn't a picnic either!!!

I have viewed a few threads about weights, asked specifically about the sand to the dealer and he said they changed the design and water works fine. I doubt it so we'll see.

I saw somewhere on the internet and I didn't bookmark it a person used PVC pipes (not sure 3 or 4 inches) and used plastic pipe strapping behind the stairs and loosely laid them in the strapping. The straps were screwed into the back of the steps with large circles ... I liked that idea as it hides the weights and they can be removed to make the steps lighter for taking out of the pool. I would just need to get into the pool at the end of the season to remove them ... just a lot of cold water to deal with!! But that would be a winter project for next year.
 
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VinnyinNJ said:
I have a question about the jugs you are using to hold down the ladder ... did you zip tie them to the ladder? I'm asking because our dealer said that water alone will hold the steps down and I'm not 100% convinced.

We are getting stairs and if they float I plan on doing something temporarily, I'm saving 1 gallon water bottles for now.
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Hey Vinny,
Yeah I tried using just water and the ladder wanted to float up.


I filled chlorine jugs with pea gravel and chlorine water sealed them shut and zipped tied two jugs together by the handles . That allowed me to just wrap the jugs around the each ladder leg without actually zip tying them to the ladder itself.

If I want to take them out I just pull up the jugs using the zip ties as a handle.

If you have concrete on hand you can fill them with concrete and seal them shut.

Most people who have the step type ladders fill pvc tubes with concrete and use those as weights. I’ll probably do that next year and use the zip ties again as a way to hook ‘em on.
 
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The reason for PVC it will last a long time, a plastic jug will eventually degrade and spill loose material or concrete chunks vinyl don`t like these materials.
 
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Decoy205 said:
Hey Vinny,
Yeah I tried using just water and the ladder wanted to float up.


I filled chlorine jugs with pea gravel and chlorine water sealed them shut and zipped tied two jugs together by the handles . That allowed me to just wrap the jugs around the each ladder leg without actually zip tying them to the ladder itself.

If I want to take them out I just pull up the jugs using the zip ties as a handle.

If you have concrete on hand you can fill them with concrete and seal them shut.

Most people who have the step type ladders fill pvc tubes with concrete and use those as weights. I’ll probably do that next year and use the zip ties again as a way to hook ‘em on.
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Thanks!
 
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Stump said:
The reason for PVC it will last a long time, a plastic jug will eventually degrade and spill loose material or concrete chunks vinyl don`t like these materials.
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If I used the plastic jugs it would only be for a few weeks ... my pool is getting installed next Saturday and I'm hoping to get a couple of weeks in before closing it. Iif they float and I'm sure they will I'm going the PVC route that I described to kimkats. I liked the look (invisible) and if it works the way I think the PVC can be removed for a lighter stair when it comes time to winterize.
 
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Hey all, We passed first round of electrical yesterday finally. 😄 The pool was installed July 11th and electrical first done July 22nd. Kids are starting school this week and I’m not done yet. 😆Still need final electrical and building.

The original inspector was in the hospital for hernia surgery so another guy showed up. I’m like oh no here we go. But it was fine.

He was a nice guy. He took a quick look around and didn’t measure. Said it was all good. Took some pics and gave me my pass!

So I backfilled the bonding trench and started grading the dirt back but my friend will
Come back and help finish the grading, landscape fabric, rocks and funal
Plumbing.

When was filling in the bonding tench I accidentally pulled the wire up a few inches. I don’t think anything broke or disconnected it wasn’t that high up.

Question: Is there an easy way to check if my continuity is all good or do i need a meter and some more wire? I’m all paranoid that I may have messed something up. I don’t think I did but my mind races on this stuff. When the first inspector came he touched the lugs with some sort of small meter.

Also after I did the backfill I went for a swim and found a rock under the lining. It doesn’t seem sharp but I’m guessing there will be a weak spot there. Bummer as there’s no way to move it.
 
You will need a multi meter to check continuity between the two sides u think may be disconnected.
If put on this setting it will beep if there’s continuity, if there’s an open loop (break in the wire) it will not beep.
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Or u can uncover it & check to be certain.
 
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My bonding wire in the ground is a large unbroken circle attached to various electrical components. If mine was broken there may not be a way to test if it's broken because of the interconnected equipment but I didn't study the wiring and the electrician made it all nice and buried the area by the equipment. If you know the beginning and end of the bonding circle you can either use a meter or a continuity checker. But be forewarned if yours is like mine it will be almost impossible to figure if it is all intact because once the wire crosses paths with any electrical (you will have to unplug these to really check) or other bonded equipment you may not be able to tell.

One last thought, it's great to be safety conscious and I think we all should be. But my last pool was bonded to the pump at 1 location, the steel upright. No ground bonding, no water bonding and no pool wall bonding and that was considered safe 20 years ago. I realize the codes changed for a reason and yes the pool is much safer than it was 20 years ago. The bonding wire in the ground if it is attached to anything electrical is grounded possibly on both sides of the loop (I don't know if this is true or not as it depends on how it was run). The only issue is if the electrical equipment is not at the same bonding/grounding potential. Be safe but be reasonable ... my neighbor is running an Intex pool with a sand filter running off an extension cord and lots of people are doing it apparently. I doubt these people have gone through the rigors of electrical codes that we have gone through. I sometimes wonder if we (my wife and I) were idiots for getting a "true" AG pool vs getting something I could have gotten at Amazon or Walmart and for probably less than $1,000 without worrying about any codes and been just as wet as my new AG pool which cost way more and worry about the codes. Just a thought! ;)
 
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Haha I hear you Vinny! I’m fairly certain last year with the old pool nothing was bonded or grounded it was so old.

I’m pretty sure nothing went wrong with the wiring by my mind loves to go to those “what if” places. 🙃 I have a multi meter and some copper wire. And I’ll give it a check for peace of mind. The inspectors probably will check it again anyway when the come back.

I also hear you about the “real pool” vs the intex. I had a 12’ intex in 2016 and it was a lot of fun and I never thought about any of this. 😂
 
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So what are you folks using to hold the weed fabric down by the pool? The normal staples are metal and I was concerned about extra metal around where the bonding is.

Do you use plastic spikes, or just let the rock hold it down?
 
Rocks, they're heavy enough to work assuming you have a nice amount on top. I used black plastic for the last pool and it stayed down everywhere. I think I lost the bottom track because of the plastic so this time will be fabric.
 
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Decoy205 said:
So what are you folks using to hold the weed fabric down by the pool? The normal staples are metal and I was concerned about extra metal around where the bonding is.

Do you use plastic spikes, or just let the rock hold it down?
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I don’t have fabric or plastic- just rocks 🪨
 
So backfill is basically done. Going to try and see if we can pass final inspection with the town now.

I had the the plumbing redone. Got the filter and pump moved closer to the receptacle and now have valves on the skimmer and return. Also put pavers under the skimmer to grade any spillage away from the pool as suggested by kimkats.


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Some of the new rocks look yellow as they weren’t washed off but they will be the same color. The pump is running so quiet now with no more cheap hoses! No air getting trapped.
 
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