Saltwater Pool Startup - Concerned about company

NCPoolOwner · Sep 23, 2022

NEW POOL
I'm worried the Pool Maintenance Company the Pool Builder handed me off to is ripping me off. (Note: Both businesses are all one family.) After the initial startup we incurred over $1300 in fees from the Pool Company in the first 6 weeks.
Summary of visits:
June 26-27 - Pebble Tec, start water
July 5 - "Startup" day - 10 lbs shock, 4 gal of acid, 8 lbs stabilizer, 20 lbs of Baking soda, 9 lbs of Calcium, 15 chlorine tabs.
July 22 - 9 lbs shock, 3 chlorine tablets, 9 lbs stabilizer
July 26 - 15-40 lbs salt bags (first salt added), 13 units of sodium carbonate, 7 lbs shock, 9 lbs stabilizer, 2 lbs oxidizer, 3 chlorine tablets
August 2 - 8-40 lbs salt bags, 4 oz clarifier, 4 oz algaecide, 3 chlorine tablets
August 9 - 5-40 lbs salt bags, 9 lbs shock, 2 lbs oxidizer
August 16 - 5-40 lbs salt bags, 4 oz clarifier, 4 oz algaecide
August 23 - 2 lb oxidizer, 5-40 lb salt bags
August 30 - 6-40 lbs salt bags, 4 oz clarifier, 4 oz algaecide

Company is arguing "startup" is single day, but does include salt not added for several weeks. Is it typical that startup in a contract does not include the chemicals through initial day and addition of salt? Also, is this typical salt, shock, and stabilizer amounts? Need clearly levels out, but the weekly salt still added throughout August is concerning.

jdlangley1 · Sep 23, 2022

Seems a little excessive in chemical additions. If I calculated correctly, they added 39 bags of salt to your pool which I believe is roughly 5000ppm for your size. I’ve never added algacide, oxidizers, or clarifier to my pool, so not sure if you really needed that. And following TFP method, we don’t use shock to treat pools, we use liquid chlorine and do a SLAM if we have algae issues.

jdlangley1 · Sep 23, 2022

26 lbs of stabilizer puts you in the 80ppm range which is what my stabilizer is at for my swcg pool.

Jimrahbe · Sep 23, 2022

NC,

They saw you coming from a mile away. Too late now...

Going forward you should start taking care of your own pool.

Almost everything they did is the typical "pool store" way of taking care of a pool. Other than initial chlorine, stabilizer and salt, it is all what I call Pool Store Magic. Just useless chemicals thrown in the pool to make money.

Here at TFP, we do not believe in magic, we believe in science.

I have three TFP saltwater pools that in total are over 25 years old. I have never added any clarifier, algaecide, oxidizer, shock, or sodium carbonate to any of my pools and they all work just fine.

You should take a good read through our Pool School and see what the TFP pool care process is all about. You have already seen the "other" side.

Pool School

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks,

Jim R.

YippeeSkippy · Sep 23, 2022

Get a GOOD test kit, first and foremost. Even when pool owners use outside help on their pools they need to test the water themselves to monitor if they're doing right by them. Many a pool guy has damaged plaster and equipment, along with messing up the water, by adding unnecessary pool chemicals.

I would suggest the TF-Pro for your salt pool. Its what I use and swear by. Saves me a ton and in 9 years I've never had algae and each year I spend only about $150 a YEAR for test reagent refills and a few chemical.
www.tftestkits.net

Maddie

markayash · Sep 23, 2022

I agree sounds like they are milking your wallet.
Like Maddie said get a test kit and send them packing before you have to get a loan to pay them

All the salt could have been added in 2 or 3 days ( safe way to verify readings ) but an experienced company should have done it all in one day. New pool so no existing salt, at least not enough to be concerned about.

Once salt is good adjust your FC, can use shock to get your CYA up I suppose.

Then after that you have a month to tweak your PH and TA.

NCPoolOwner · Sep 24, 2022

All good notes, I'm getting a much needed education! I'm trying to figure what is typical so I can monitor. I plan to buy a test kit just to educate myself, like recommended. I'd love to find someone I trust to do the work, I have no problem paying someone trustworthy to do a good job. Again, I am shocked by the amount of weekly salt. That would be a lot of salt bags on hand I'd have to store to keep that schedule up myself. The rest of the chemicals added after startup seemed like overkill too, which is why I reached out. The only variable I should add is that we had more rain than normal here in NC during this period. Another question: does a pool balance quickly after startup, or does it take time 3-6 weeks to get to "normal" maintenance after A. adding hose water and initial startup, and then again when B. adding the initial Salt 4 weeks later?

Jimrahbe · Sep 24, 2022

NC,

As a general rule most pool builder do not add any salt for about 30 days, do to new plaster concerns.

We always recommend initially adding less salt than you think you need and then adding whatever is needed to bring you up to where you should be.

I add two to four bags of salt a year. Your saltwater pools should not "use up" any salt at all, but you will lose some do to splash out and overflow etc.

As pointed out by jd above, they added about 1560 lbs. of salt, which should have made your salt level to over 5000 ppm. Most cells like to run at about 3500 ppm or so. Tell us what your current salt level is now.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Search

Saltwater Pool Startup - Concerned about company

NCPoolOwner

Member

jdlangley1

0

jdlangley1

0

Jimrahbe

Pool School

YippeeSkippy

markayash

NCPoolOwner

Member

Jimrahbe

Similar threads