Some last minute questions and clarification

[lbridenstine]

I just bought this house with pool a couple months ago and have never owned a pool before. I met the sellers briefly at the house closing and they gave me all sorts of information about the pool in a very short period of time. The main thing was “go to troublefreepool.com”


Everything has been going pretty well and now I’m planning to close the pool this weekend.


Here is some info about my pool:


22’ x 45’, the sellers said it was about 40,000 gallons. Plaster, in ground. 1 skimmer, 1 return. The pump/filter are in the garage. They did a lot of repair and replacement after the previous owners neglected the pool. I think they said the water lines were damaged from freezing and the neighbor came over and helped them dig up the pipes and put new ones in (the neighbor used to live in this house in the late ’60’s and actually built the pool at that time). They hooked up a new pump and filter and they used the methods from tfp. The pump and filter are both Hayward brand and the filter uses DE and has a multi valve.



I have a few last minute questions about closing. Most specifically, I'm going shopping tomorrow for some closing related items and want to make sure I know what to get and how many of each item I need.


1. The sellers left everything pool related here and I thought I remembered them saying the blue cover that was up in the garage was the winter cover, but we took it [them] down the other day and it looked like bubble wrap attached to a tarp. I was browsing amazon and noticed that they look like solar covers, not a winter cover. It’s also several strips, not one big piece. Can I use this??? The other cover we found is black mesh, I assume a leaf cover.

2. I don’t seem to have water bags either, but I have a ton of empty cholorine/bleach bottles and some wood boards. Can I fill the bottles like 2/3 and use those to weigh the cover down with boards in between?


3. I bought a compressor, is it better to blow into the drain on the pump, into the pipes that hook to the pump, or into the skimmer and return? Is there any way to avoid a huge mess in the garage when I remove the drain plugs?


4. I have no idea how long the pipes are, how do I know how much anti-freeze to use?


5. There’s a water line in the basement that goes to the poolside faucet and the sellers told me to blow the water out of that too. Should I put anti-freeze in that line too, and if so, how would I go about it since it’s in the ceiling of the basement? Through the faucet end?


6. Speaking of anti-freeze, I saw a couple people say they add anti-freeze to the pool water. Are you supposed to? Everything else I see only talks about it going in the pipes and the skimmer.


7. Does any anti-freeze go into the pump or filter?


8. Is the pool noodle in the skimmer necessary? Just wondering if I'll be able to find one in mid-late October.


9. With the pump and filter being in the garage, should I still coat the exposed drain holes after pulling the plugs? If so, can I use paste wax for this? I ask because I use paste wax on unfinished metal on tools to prevent rust, so I thought maybe it would work, plus I already have some and don't have joint compound.



Here are a bunch of pictures showing pretty much everything.

The compressor isn't assembled yet, but I got this one: 8 gal. 2 HP 125 PSI Oil Lube Air Compressor


Is it correct to assume that the 2 pipes hooked to the right side (in pictures) of the pump go to the skimmer and main drain, and the 2 pipes hooked to the filter go to the return and backwash hose? I'm trying to figure out the flow of the pipes.



Any help and advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[AimeeH]

Hi and welcome to TFP

I'm not much help on general closing questions as I live in a climate where we don't close our pool but the answer to your last question is yes. The pipe(s) on the right in the picture (which I would call the front of the pump) would be from the skimmer and main drain......anything taking water from the pool to the filter. I can't see a picture of a return pipe from the filter back to pool but I see the pipe from pump to filter.

There is a link at the top of the web page TP "pool school" there are many instructional articles there as well as some information on closing. Try there and somebody more knowledgable than me on closing should chime in here.

 

[lbridenstine]

Hi and welcome to TFP

I'm not much help on general closing questions as I live in a climate where we don't close our pool but the answer to your last question is yes. The pipe(s) on the right in the picture (which I would call the front of the pump) would be from the skimmer and main drain......anything taking water from the pool to the filter. I can't see a picture of a return pipe from the filter back to pool but I see the pipe from pump to filter.

There is a link at the top of the web page TP "pool school" there are many instructional articles there as well as some information on closing. Try there and somebody more knowledgable than me on closing should chime in here.

Thanks! I have been searching around the pool school and this subforum and have found a lot of great info. I just haven't found my answers to the above questions yet, but I'll keep looking and hopefully some people can chime in on this thread too. I am mostly concerned about the anti-freeze and pool cover, because I'm in Michigan and we have pretty harsh winters. I don't want to screw anything up.

 

[samt]

I just bought this house with pool a couple months ago and have never owned a pool before. I met the sellers briefly at the house closing and they gave me all sorts of information about the pool in a very short period of time. The main thing was “go to troublefreepool.com”


Everything has been going pretty well and now I’m planning to close the pool this weekend.


Here is some info about my pool:


22’ x 45’, the sellers said it was about 40,000 gallons. Plaster, in ground. 1 skimmer, 1 return. The pump/filter are in the garage. They did a lot of repair and replacement after the previous owners neglected the pool. I think they said the water lines were damaged from freezing and the neighbor came over and helped them dig up the pipes and put new ones in (the neighbor used to live in this house in the late ’60’s and actually built the pool at that time). They hooked up a new pump and filter and they used the methods from tfp. The pump and filter are both Hayward brand and the filter uses DE and has a multi valve.



I have a few last minute questions about closing. Most specifically, I'm going shopping tomorrow for some closing related items and want to make sure I know what to get and how many of each item I need.


1. The sellers left everything pool related here and I thought I remembered them saying the blue cover that was up in the garage was the winter cover, but we took it [them] down the other day and it looked like bubble wrap attached to a tarp. I was browsing amazon and noticed that they look like solar covers, not a winter cover. It’s also several strips, not one big piece. Can I use this??? The other cover we found is black mesh, I assume a leaf cover.
It sounds like the mesh cover is what you want to use. Search the word loop loc and see if it's similar to that.
There should be straps on the cover to attach to anchors that are around the perimeter of the pool.

2. I don’t seem to have water bags either, but I have a ton of empty cholorine/bleach bottles and some wood boards. Can I fill the bottles like 2/3 and use those to weigh the cover down with boards in between? With the mesh cover, this does not apply


3. I bought a compressor, is it better to blow into the drain on the pump, into the pipes that hook to the pump, or into the skimmer and return? Is there any way to avoid a huge mess in the garage when I remove the drain plugs?

Attach the compressor to a standard air fitting where the drain screw is under the pump basket.

4. I have no idea how long the pipes are, how do I know how much anti-freeze to use?
If you get out all the water you don't even need AF. If you can't get all the water out and there is a small amount above frost line, pour a little in that line.


5. There’s a water line in the basement that goes to the poolside faucet and the sellers told me to blow the water out of that too. Should I put anti-freeze in that line too, and if so, how would I go about it since it’s in the ceiling of the basement? Through the faucet end? No, you need just to get the water out. You don't want to contaminate your water supply that is hooked up to the same lines that feed you home.


6. Speaking of anti-freeze, I saw a couple people say they add anti-freeze to the pool water. Are you supposed to? Everything else I see only talks about it going in the pipes and the skimmer.

AF only goes in the pipes and skimmers.


7. Does any anti-freeze go into the pump or filter?
No. leave the drain screw off the filter so water doesn't freeze inside.

8. Is the pool noodle in the skimmer necessary? Just wondering if I'll be able to find one in mid-late October.
No, you can even use a gallon jug with 1/4 AF. The purpose is to prevent ice expansion in the skimmer box and cracking the box.


9. With the pump and filter being in the garage, should I still coat the exposed drain holes after pulling the plugs? If so, can I use paste wax for this? I ask because I use paste wax on unfinished metal on tools to prevent rust, so I thought maybe it would work, plus I already have some and don't have joint compound.
Don't know what you mean here! Are worried about things rusting.



Here are a bunch of pictures showing pretty much everything.

The compressor isn't assembled yet, but I got this one: 8 gal. 2 HP 125 PSI Oil Lube Air Compressor


Is it correct to assume that the 2 pipes hooked to the right side (in pictures) of the pump go to the skimmer and main drain, and the 2 pipes hooked to the filter go to the return and backwash hose? I'm trying to figure out the flow of the pipes.



Any help and advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

After looking at your pool deck, it doesn't look like you have any anchors for a pool cover. So I think the black mesh is just a leaf cover that may need to be weighed down on the edges. The other owners may of never had a safety cover.

 

[lbridenstine]

Thanks for the reply. So, I don't need a solid cover for winter?

 

[samt]

Thanks for the reply. So, I don't need a solid cover for winter?

No you don't have to have a cover. There nice to have cause they keep the water cleaner and there is a safety issue if there are kids around. But nothing will damage the pool if you don't have a cover.

My cover is not a solid cover it is mesh. Loop loc

 

[lbridenstine]

We did most of the pool closing over the weekend, but we couldn't get any air bubbles out of the main drain. I had the air compressor up to about 25 or 30 psi and plugged it into the main drain plug and the pressure on the air compressor kept dropping while it was plugged in and no bubbles came from the main drain. I ended up pouring down 2 gallons of anti-freeze and closing it up, but I'm wondering if I should try again with the air. I'm not sure exactly how the plumbing is placed, but I know that the pipe goes out of the side of the garage and slopes into the ground at the back of the garage. Not sure how much is above the frost line.

What would be the best position for the multiport valve to be on while blowing the main drain? I had the valve on the skimmer closed, but there isn't a valve on the return to close, so maybe the air was taking two paths instead of one.

We already covered the pool, so if I try blowing the main drain again, should I completely uncover the deep end? I decided to get a solid cover and use the mesh cover floating above it to catch leaves to make it easy to pull the leaves when they're done falling.

Thanks for any advice on this. I had to order another expandable plug for the skimmer and I still need to clean the filter, so I'll be working on all of this sometime this week.

 

[lbridenstine]

Edit* ... had it plugged into the pump drain plug, not the "main drain plug".

 

[jkayca]

The compressor may not produce enough airflow to clear the main drain. I closed my pool this weekend with the help of a neighbour. We used a Cyclone air blower to clear the lines. Even using this we had to cover both returns before it would blow the water out of the main drain.

Put the multi-port on recirculate

 

[lbridenstine]

Okay, thanks. I'm going to try again this weekend and see if I can get everything else wrapped up as well.

 

[samt]

That compressor has plenty of power to blow your main drain. When you have the compressor hooked up and running to blow the main drain, try putting your hand over the end of the backwash hose. If you feel air, that's where your losing it from. Most likely it will be a leaky multiport gasket. Put the multiport on recirculate when you do this.

 

[lbridenstine]

That compressor has plenty of power to blow your main drain. When you have the compressor hooked up and running to blow the main drain, try putting your hand over the end of the backwash hose. If you feel air, that's where your losing it from. Most likely it will be a leaky multiport gasket. Put the multiport on recirculate when you do this.

I think I had the multiport set the wrong way when I did it, thinking that I'd somehow be blocking off the air from going to the return. I'll make sure to set it to recirculate this time. Thanks.