Introducing myself - hello!

[MissKatherineA]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to make an introductory post to get started...I heard really amazing things not only about the BBB method but really about the incredibly supportive community through the TFP forum so hello I'm here and want to give this a shot!

We bought a house this summer that was built in 1997 and has a pool and it's been totally awesome with the kids and I love the way it looks but I'm totally sick over the amount of money we have been spending with a pool guy. My mother in law manages her own pool with chemicals from the pool store, but after what I read about the BBB/TFP method I really would love to be capable of managing it myself with inexpensive grocery store items.

I'll let ya'll know that I totally overwhelmed by the thought of trying to understand pool chemistry and intimated by you guys! But hopeful

So I have the recommended pool testing kit but have yet to read the instruction book and attempt to test....hopefully in the next day or so. I'll post the results!

For now....

Basically the people we bought the house from said the pool was always very easy to care for and she did it herself with pool store chemicals. Right as we moved in there was crazy rainstorms and the pool turned green, the pool guy shocked it and has been out here weekly keeping it up.

We have a lot of tree cover so fighting leaves is our main problem (and navigating the tarantulas, frogs and snakes that get caught in the skimmers!) and we also found the pool was leaking a ton. Apparently about 70 gallons an hour, which has mostly been fixed but apparently the material behind the tiles is just so old that they were not able to fix it completely, it still leaks about 3 gallons an hour which is minimal enough that we just have to add water about once a week.

I am concerned about the water loss affecting the chemistry, we currently have one of those floating chlorine things, the pool guy said the chlorinator is not working the best. We also need to replace the heater. *sigh*

Thanks for reading, will post chemical test results soon and looking forward to your advice and tackling this.

 

[JamesW]

Welcome

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hey there Miss Katherine....trust me, you can do this. It isn't that hard its just new information to absorb. The pool store chemicals are often the very same ones you find at your local H.E.B. or Lowes, just not as expensive as at the pool store. For example, the pool store sells "Alkilinity Increaser" but over at H.E.B. the very same chemical is called "Baking Soda" Plain household bleach is the very same as "liquid chlorine" (albeit variations in strength which just means you use more or less to get the same results).
The best thing to do is to curl up and read Pool School articles. Sit down and follow the directions on that fancy test kit you have (good job buying that!) and come back to us with the following results:
FC
CC
pH
CH
TA
CYA

We'll help you make heads or tails of the test results. Also tell us all about your pool equipment also.
Welcome to TFP!
Yippee

 

[Crackerjack4u]

Hello Katherine, and Welcome to TFP,

I understand it can seem intimidating at times, but before you know it you will be testing like a pro, and balancing your pool water will be 2nd nature. We were all in the same place you are not too long ago ourselves. Someone was there for us when we needed answers, and help, (and they still are), and I promise you, we will all be there for you too.

No better place to start than at the beginning in Pool School.

Also this little PoolMath calculator, along with the recommended test kit, will be 2 of your best friends to help you properly balance your levels, and get your pool clean of the green.

With the green, it sounds like you will need to do a SLAM -Shock, Level, and Maintain http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl to kill out the algae, but we will need your test result 1st to see if we need to adjust anything else before you get started on that.

Not to worry on any of it though because we will be with you to answer any questions you have along the way.

So post up those levels, ask any question you have on that, and we can help you go from there. Have a wonderful night.

 

[kimkats]

There are also videos of the tests!! Do one test at a time. Post here to share what you did and how it turned out.

How to Use a Taylor Complete FAS-DPD Pool Water Test Kit K-2006 - YouTube

I hope this helps!

Kim

 

[Texas Splash]

Quite a warm day we had yesterday huh? Good thing you have a pool. Oh, and you'll soon learn that those "floaty things" and in-line chlorinators are some of the worst things for your water because those tabs/pucks add too much stabilizer (CYA). You'll see that as you go on here. I would remove them and stick solely with regular bleach from Wal-Mart (Great Value) or HEB (Bravo). Once you post some test results, we'll be able to guide you quite well. Welcome.

 

[Ale_Brewer]

Your rate of water loss due to leaking will definitely affect the long term chemistry but we would need you to provide test results for your fill water to determine how much it will affect your water chemistry. At a rate of 3 gallons an hour, that's 504 gallons a week. That's a lot! It's even more than my pool loses to evaporation in the dog days of (Texas) summer. When you get around to posting the test results that YippeeSkippy listed, also please test your fill water and post the results here. Glad to have you aboard!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Schnozz]

MissKatherineA: Do not worry. I'm a newbie who started asking questions and setting up a pool this past July. The help and advice given here has been amazing. Everyone is more than willing to share all their knowledge and experience so we can really enjoy our pools. You will see in the answers to your questions that the experts here really pay close attention to what your asking. They read between the lines, so to speak, because they have a deep desire to help. I'm learning every day. Enjoy the ride..