purchasing a house with a pool

[pebble.pool.fool]

Hello everyone

I am obviously new to the forum, but have been lurking for a couple of weeks now doing a ton of reading and research. Thanks to everyone here for all the great advice! I look forward to maintaining my future pool using the methods described here.

I am purchasing a house with a pool next month and will have an opportunity to ask the current owner of the house questions during the final walkthrough before closing. What I already know about the pool is in my signature, but I know there are other questions that would be good to ask. So far I plan to ask:

• What system pressures are normal for the pool during operation and prior to backflushing?[/*:m:3m07atax]
• What if any maintenance is required for the suction cleaner?[/*:m:3m07atax]
• Ask for any manuals/warranties, etc. that they may have [/*:m:3m07atax]

Is there anything else you would want to know from the previous owner of a pool that you are about to purchase?

Thanks in advance. Since the house wont close until late next month I probably wont have much of the swimming season left, but I will be ready nonetheless thanks to the folks here. My TF100 is on the way and I look forward to posting my first test results!

 

[waste]

Welcome to TFP!!

If you have the previous owner's ear you might want to ask about equipment age and surface age (ie - new liner or when was the plaster last done). Also ask about the swim season, have they winterized it in the past and when do they close and reopen the pool?

Every pool is different, so the more you can find out from the person who has been maintaining the pool you'll inherit, the less of a 'learning curve' you'll have

Congrats on the new house and pool - we'll be here to help you keep it trouble free

 

[sbluhm]

You might ask about any equipment, plugs, chemicals or tools they plan to leave behind.. what are they, where will they be, etc.. I found so many random "things" in our shed when we moved in, it took a long time to figure out exactly what was what.

You might ask about how they maintained the pool, but if you've been reading this site, you already know you need to buy a good test kit and you know about the chlorine/CYA relationship. If I had known that when I moved in to our house, whew!!!.. would have saved me a lot of aggravation (just assumed I could use the inline puck feeder since it was there).

Another thing that sometimes takes a while to figure out is the function of various valves, returns, drains, and if they use the cutoff plate in the skimmer and how that works. These are things you will figure out over time, but it might save you a little trouble if they can tell you up front.

Good luck and enjoy your new pool!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Chances are in Chandler they don't winterize, so I wouldn't be surprised to see very high CYA and CH levels.

Good luck! Bring a video camera if they give you a "walk-thru Pool School" to show you all the equipment info.

 

[pebble.pool.fool]

Chances are in Chandler they don't winterize, so I wouldn't be surprised to see very high CYA and CH levels.

I am expecting my first test to show a high CYA because I think they use the chlorine "pucks" (havent picked up the technical name for it yet, trichlor i think? ) in the floater thing in the pool.

Great suggestions on the questions to ask the owner too, thanks!

 

[anonapersona]

When we bought this house, but the time it came to the "walk-though" prior to closing, the seller was not speaking to us. I suspect that was on orders from the agent since as my agent said, "Every time you speak to the buyer you will lose $500." So, don't be too surprised if there is not a lot of communication by then. It can be very stressful.

Our purchase contract implied that pool equipment was to stay but I was really worried that the Polaris might dissapear when she moved out. It did stay as did a small assortment of pool brushes and chemicals and random parts for the Polaris.

Anyhow, I was at the house when the inspections were done, and I followed each inspector around as best I could given that the 3 arrived at almost the same time. The pool inspector took the time to walk me through what each piece of equipment was, how to clean the skimmer and the pump basket and how often. He showed me how to judge when the filter needed cleaning, both the action at the returns and the velocity of the spa spillover as well as filter pressure gain over clean pressure which we could only guess at. He gave some advice on the control system and how many hours to run the filter summer and winter. When we found the filter was leaking quite a bit after the bother-in-law cleaned it, during the course of some of the repairs that the seller had to pay for, I was able to watch the pool guy snug the clamp down properly to prevent such a leak and he told me how to judge when the o-ring needed replacing. I took very good notes on all that.

He also told me to keep the in-line chlorinator filled and running and to shock and brush the pool weekly -- which of course led to the CYA being well over 140 in just a few months even while I had recurring blushes of algae here and there -- but I learned better eventually.

I wished I'd asked the owner where the pool overflow went, since it turned out that it went nowhere at all and all alone one night in a heavy thunderstorm I had to figure out how to drain water out of the pool since I had no idea which way the water might flow; in back door or over to the side yard. In a later "big storm" we simply watched to see that it did not go to the back door first but headed out the side and down the flagstone walkway, not the way I was expecting but that was OK I guess, better than through the house.

They left us a file of instruction manuals and some reciepts and some old cost estimates for a replaster job. I could see that they did not use any one source for repairs, so I'll guess that no one was really great at repairs or anything in particular. I spent a lot of time locating the local pool stores and asking them leading questions about CYA or something to see who knew what I know and I have found a store that I pretty much trust for things.

I wish I had photos of when the pool was installed and where the piping actually goes, as I suspect that there is a Southern Magnolia right on top of some important pipes.