New Build - Corsicana TX

[Trick414]

Heya all!

I've been reading up and trying to learn as much as I can.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit late to the game.

The pool is already in the ground at the gunite stage.

We're building a new house. Although I have a GC for the house, pretty much every decision has been up to us. So, I've had to learn about every tiny little thing in the house. I've done construction professionally, so some of it was pretty easy, but I guess I never knew how many decisions we had to make. I had to become an expert on dishwashers, hot water heaters, foam insulation, etc. We made structural changes at the last minute so I learned some engineering, etc. I did a lot of the bidding for materials. Building your own house from plans is a lot different than "building" with a tract homebuilder. The GC could have handed me a turn-key house, but he is so accommodating, it was hard not to take advantage of being able to dial things in exactly how we wanted it.

Anyway, we decided to do the pool in conjunction with the house. There were some obvious advantages to having easy access for the machinery, coordinating with the landscaping, etc. I think we found about as good of a pool builder as was available. After reading some stuff here, I asked him some questions and he hit the right notes, so I felt pretty good. Especially since the contract was already in play.

Obviously, I would have liked to spend a lot more time researching BEFORE jumping right in, but with all the work on the house, I just had to do as good as I could with what little I knew. I figured a big part was finding a builder with a good rep and having a good feel for the guy. Yeah, when it comes to money, that can come back and bite you, but again, I just didn't have the time to do it perfect.

So, here I am trying to play catch up. I had him send me a list of equipment he suggested. He is also very accommodating and said if I want to substitute anything, it will just be cost difference, since he has to put it in anyway.

I've got some pictures I'll post up tomorrow when I get to my home computer.

Here's the list of equipment. We've got money available if there are some items we just NEED to upgrade or change.

Zodiac---
JS-100SM Sand Filter
BWVL multiport valve
1.5HP 2 Speed Pump
2.5HP Single Speed Pump
PB-460 cleaner booster pump
Polaris 280 Cleaner
Intermatic 2 Speed PE 25300F Timer

CD40 Ozone System
Rainbow 320 Chlorine Feeder
Nature Express Mineral Sanitizer

OR

TrueClean 11k

Raypak 013315 Heat/Chiller



The pool is 15x30 with a negative edge.






Thanks for any insights!

--Trick414

 

[Nursenini]

Welcome!
What a great view! A negative edge is going to be fabulous in your setting!

Around here, not much is thought of the ozone thing or pressure side cleaners that require an extra pump. You'd be better off going with a robot and SWG.
I'm sure the experts will be along shortly but these are the things I see right off the bat.

Congrats on the house and the pool! Post up lots of pictures! We love pictures!

 

[bmoreswim]

Welcome! Awesome view with the angry water in that pic. I think there are several items to suggest or think about on the equipment.

- Consider removing the booster pump and pressure cleaner and going with a robot. Almost a no-brainer these days. I should have.

- A sand filter is fine. Easy to backwash but uses water to do so. DE filters beat but backwashing or cleaning requires care in some locations due to DE disposal requirements. Cartridges filter in the middle and will need to be rinsed but use less water to do so and there are no disposal issues. All three filter satisfactorily. The only time you may notice a difference is at night with lights on. A few more floaties with sand perhaps. But go big regardless.

- You will want to ditch the mineral system (adds metals to water which stain) and ozone (completely not needed - look up at el sol). You can keep the inline chlorinator but will only use it on occasion, not routinely. Your chlorination should come from bleach or a salt water chlorine generator. Both about the same cost in the long run.

- Automation is a great place to spend some upgrade dollars if you wish. Though for a pool with no spa, it's not as critical. I however love our automation and have no spa or water features.

- Huge consideration is plaster surface material. Good luck with that one! Reading a few builds will give you the sense that it's one of the hardest decisions to make

I enjoyed reading your rationale for not being able to get into more pool details from the beginning and could completely understand. Sounds like you made the best of it and now can address the rest.

Best of luck.

 

[Trick414]

Thanks for the replies so far.

He stated he was going to do the TruClear11k SWG, not sure why he had the options for the ozone and mineral stuff. Maybe just in case I wanted to go that route???

We talked about the robot. Should I ditch the pump altogether, or leave it as a secondary system?

He has assigned the plaster project to us. I'll let my wife handle that. The grand extent of my input will be "blue". And all blues look the same to me.

Thanks!

--Trick414

 

[Marlahoutex]

Yes, definitely ditch the ozone and mineral sanitizer. You only need liquid chlorine (bleach) or a salt water chlorine generator to sanitize your pool. You could probably get rid of the inline feeder (they use tabs which causes the CYA to rise- not good!).

Make sure your equipment is all one brand. That way you may get better warranty coverage and not all brands play well with other brands.

Oh, and welcome to TFP!!!

 

[Trick414]

Oh, a couple of other things.

We talked about a variable speed pump. He said it was a good idea if I wanted to get down in the nitty-gritty and dial it in. He said the 2 speed was a bit easier.

After what I've been learning here, I'm pretty sure I'm going to break out my HS and college chemistry and go full OCD on it. So, maybe the VS pump is a good idea? I think it will just cost me a few hundred dollars.

Also, in case it might matter, we also got a motorized cover for it. I don't know how much that will change any equations We will probably keep it covered most of the time since we don't have to have a fence.

 

[pooldv]

I would spend a little extra on the VS pump. Everyone here who has one loves them, including me! Managing your water seems like a big thing at first and all that reading seems like a lot of stuff. I definitely had to read it all 20 or 30 times. But, it is really pretty simple and definitely easy. Start here, Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Covering the pool will make things a little simpler. Less evaporation and less chlorine usage.

 

[kimkats]

Everyone ^^^^^^^^ has you on the right track. my input will be tell your wife she is welcome to use your account and ask us about the finishes she is thinking about. Has she picked out the waterline tile yet?

For you I suggest you go ahead and order your test kit. That way you can test your fill water and know what you need to have on hand to balance your water. Look in my siggy for the test we use and love.

With you being right there on the water I THINK you would not want a DE filter as some places frown on it being dumped near bodies of water.

Kim

 

[Trick414]

Again, thanks for all the replies!

I have been going through the Pool School and trying to soak up as much as I can. I'm a member of several other similar forums for other interests in my life. It's amazing what you can learn just "hanging out" with like-minded folks. Absolutely amazing.

Anyway, here's a few more pictures:

 

[Trick414]

Heya all!

Just a quick update. The pool is pretty much done other than the plaster. We are just waiting on all the landscaping to finish up to do the plaster.

We changed out the pump to variable speed. I'll add in the robot cleaner later after we get going and I get up to speed.

 

[Marlahoutex]

Wow! That's a great looking pool!

 

[Trick414]

So, we still have some landscaping to do. But, they fired up the pool. It will be another few weeks until we move in, so I still don't know much about it. But, I'm getting really excited.

 

[kimkats]

Pretty! Can't wait to see you in it and the house!

Kim:cat:

 

[IrwinK]

Wow that's a nice pool. Would love to see a pic of the negative edge with front view so that it blends straight across with the waterway. Good luck with the pool and the landscaping. My pool is not filled yet but I started the perimeter landscaping.

I thought of a negative edge for my pool as I have a lake in back but wouldn't have worked as well as yours because I have a screen and the lake is set back far with a wilderness shoreline. So I went with sheer waterfalls instead.

 

[Trick414]

I'll have some more pics up tomorrow.

They are dressing out the sides with stone and more marble and installing the cover.

Thanks!

Greg

 

[Trick414]

Ok, I'm finally back with a few more pics (although nothing really new) and some water numbers.

Unfortunately, we are still waiting on landscaping. What a nightmare. I love living in the country now, but the laid-back country way of life can be a bit excessive at times.

Anyway, here's a few pics:

 

[Trick414]

The current water has only been in about 3 weeks. We had to drain and fix the LED lights.

The SWG is running with the filter pump, about 8 hours per day at 1750 RPM. It's a VS pump, and the SWG is set at 90% chlorination right now.

The booster pump is gone, and I'm waiting on my 9550 robot cleaner. I've been using a pole mounted garden hose vacuum thing to suck up the debris for now.

I got my test kit from TF Test a few days ago and finally got around to testing. I had picked up a test kit from Home Depot last week as well.

Anyway, here is what I had this morning:

Salt - 1600 ppm
pH - 8.0
FC - 1
CC - 0
CH - 150 ppm
TA - 80
CYA - less than 20, beyond the range for measuring

I put in 120 pounds of salt this morning and got my salt up to about 3200 ppm.

I think the SWG might be set too high at 90% for 8 hours?

I'll add my equipment to my signature when I find the setting, but here it is:

Jandy VSFloPro pump (2HP at 1.35 S.F. for 2.7HP) - filter pump
Jandy Stealth pump (2.5HP at 1.93 S.F. for 2.6HP) - overflow pit pump - this thing will move some water when I turn it on!
Pro Series 11P SWG controller and TruClear 11K SWG
Some type of Zodiac pump controller, I'll have to dig out the specs
Sand filter of some sort, maybe the one listed above in the first post, I'll confirm later



I think some tweaking to the pump and SWG settings are in order, and some minor chemicals to get the pH, CYA, and TA where we need them?


Thanks for any help!!

 

[kimkats]

I have a set of links I share with new pool owners. It is a lot of info. but it will all make sense as you use it. I hope these helps.

Here are some links you will need when you are starting up a pool.

Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Make sure to ask any and all questions you might have no matter how small! We have all been where you are at one point.

 

[Trick414]

Heya all,

I have a Polaris 9550 pool cleaner.

It's pretty much a nightmare for several reasons.

One reason is the horrible cord. At least for me, it's way too long.

I decided to shorten it to see if it would help with the fact that it twists upon itself. I do have the swivel adapter on the cord.

Anyway, I started out by laying out the cord and robot to an appropriate length to decide how much I really needed:












Then, I cut it down about 22 feet. I think it's about 50 feet normally, so roughly in half. Here are some of the tools I used as well.






I cut the new end to be similar to the old end and slipped some heat shrink on it.





I used my heat gun and shrunk the shrink...







I stripped the wires about a half inch






I also soldered the wire ends, but the factory DID NOT solder them, so it's probably not necessary.





I put the components back together:






The leads were a bit long, so I did exactly what the factory did in the original (although I don't have a picture of it)... just twist up the leads so it all fits in nice:






Here's the final wiring in case anyone needs it. The black wire is on the top post. The bottom post is empty.

 

[Trick414]

If anyone thinks I need to do a more detailed and separate post, I can do so, although I don't have any more photos.

I could maybe expand on some of the procedures, tools, etc.

Anyway, I just thought it might help some folks.

It should probably be its own post I suppose, but I didn't search and see if anyone already did one. So, I thought I'd throw it up here real quick and wait for the feedback.

As far as if it did any good:

YES! This worked wonderfully!! The cord is MUCH less likely to twist up on itself.

Yes, I know all the tips and tricks about the cord. I am super careful about laying it out before and after using it, I don't leave it in the pool, I disconnect it every time I put it up, etc.

This cord is a freaking nightmare!!! It is way too much work.

It does still twist up on itself a bit, but the the shorter length improves things considerably. Half the length equals ten times the ease of management, at least!!