My dad just died, feeling overwhelmed with the pool, the house, and everything else

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PerpetuallyClueless

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May 29, 2018
29
Tucson, AZ
Hi everyone,

I am going through a divorce and I moved back in with my dad a few months ago. He just died a couple weeks ago and now I'm just overwhelmed with what needs to be done to the house and the pool. I'm going to continue living in the house and the pool is in pretty dire need of some fix ups.

I got a guy out for a quote today to do the following:
  • Replaster the pool (including chip off and redo pipe ports)
  • Retile the pool
  • Fix the fill line that has a leak in it (requires jack hammering the cool deck for about 6 feet)
  • Replace the diving board
  • Fix the electrical line to the pump so people don't have to step over the conduit when working on the pump
  • Pressure test all pipes

The total comes to around $17,000 and will take about 8 weeks.

I can post pictures tonight if anyone is interested.

Right now our pool is green and the pump can't run because the valve is stuck on backwash, and I'm not inclined to waste gallons of water every time the pump runs right now. I have a guy that will come out and replace the valve. He suggested I get a "push/pull" valve because replacing o-rings is cheap, instead of using the rotary valve we have now (it's a Hayworth DE filter).

I did some YouTube binge watching and figured out how to get rid of the green, but I can't do that until I can run the pump.

I do not understand our valve/pipe system at all so I am hoping to get some help with how that works.

I have about a bajillion questions but for now I'll just leave this as my introduction and read up on the forums to see if any of my questions are already answered, and start my own thread later with specific questions.

Thanks for reading and I hope I can count on you guys for some solid advice. Thank you.

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The full album can be viewed here: Pool - Album on Imgur
 
Hi, welcome to TFP! I am sorry about your loss and all you are going through right now. I think the advatagesof a multivalve port far outweight the simplicity of a push/pull valve, but that is just my personal preference. Please post a picture of the equipment pad with plumbing and valves and we can try and tell you what is what.
 
Sorry to hear of your misfortunes.

Read up in Pool School. Especially the SLAMM process.

You can do some things before you get the valve fixed.

  • Get a test kit like the TF100
  • Test your water to find out its CYA
  • based on the CYA level use PoolMath to determine how much liquid chlorine you need to add to raise FC over 10
  • Dump in liquid CL

Get liquid CL in now to start killing the algae. Then get the pump and filter running when you can. You can prioritize the other repairs once you have your water chemistry going in the right direction.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Sorry to hear the circumstances that have brought you here, but we are sure glad you found us at the beginning of your pool adventure.

I think just about everything in that renovation is not a required ... must do now ... type of work. Sounds mostly cosmetic.

I guess I would ask you a question to decide the best path forward:
1. Do you want to do that renovation now or wait until things are less hectic?

If you want to do the renovation in the next few weeks, then I think I would just ignore the water as it will be drained anyway
If you want to clear up the pool and use it this summer and put off the renovation, then we can certainly help you figure out what must be done now.

I agree that I would stick with a muti-port valve and not the push-pull.

And I agree that you just need to follow the SLAM Process process to clear up the pool water (I would warn against whatever was in the Youtube videos you found ... some are OK, like at INYOpools ... but even it misses a few key points). To do this, you need the good test kit.

Let us know what you want to do :goodjob:
 
I am leaning toward putting the renovations off until after summer because my kids really want to get in the pool now and I'd hate to deny them that if it's possible.

My dad has a guy from Arizona Pima Chemical come once a week to check the water. I never see him and wish I could talk to him about what exactly he does. I called their main line and they said we can get unlimited chemicals so hopefully they'll help fix the algae problem (though I'm surprised they aren't more actively working on fixing this problem, calling me, trying to get a hold of me, etc.).

The guy that quoted me today said we could do an acid bath that could last the summer, but even that would require draining the pool and cost $1500 or so, which seems like a huge waste to me.
 
My in-laws have a local company that "maintains" his 2 pools ... one apparently is green and the other we got to "enjoy" for Memorial Day where you could not see the bottom.
No one will take better care of your pool than you ... it is a lot cheaper and easier than you would think also.

You can call and complain and tell them to get it fixed ASAP ... they might kill the algae and eventually get the pool cleared up.

The problem is, the way they maintain the pool is at odds with what we teach.
And at this point, even if the pool were not green, I am going to guess you need to replace a significant amount of water to follow our methods as they tend to jack the stabilizer (CYA) level way higher than we recommend.

So, I guess that brings me to my next question:
Do you want to keep the pool company and hope they keep the water clear and safe or do you want to fire them and take control for yourself?

Forget the acid wash. It is all cosmetic.
 
I added some images to my original post. I have more but it looks like I've exceeded the forum quota for attachments. EDIT: I added a link to an album with all the pictures in the original post.

Honestly, I'm not sure which way to go on the pool maintenance. If I can save money, and it seems like maybe I can based on this forum, then I'll probably take over maintenance myself.
 
PC,
Sorry for your loss.
If I can help push you in one direction then consider its thousands and thousands of dollars the pool company way or maybe a couple of hundred the TFP way. (Only higher if some of the repairs have to be done now for your pool to function) And don’t forget the biggest reason, here they are not selling you anything. Just trying to help. If you want a clear safe pool and great advice listen to the great method taught on this forum. These folks are here for people just like you.
 
Part of the issue we have in Tucson, if you can call it an issue, is that there is competition in the pool maintenance business. And the chemical maintenance plans are actually pretty cheap. Almost to the point where it's difficult to maintain it yourself cheaper. But as I mentioned above they often do not maintain the pool water anywhere close to the quality of what you can do by yourself. So you end up paying a company to maintain your pool water and when it goes green or cloudy they just come out extra times and you typically lose use of your pool for a week and get no refund of your money.

Although I will admit I have no idea if the prices have gone up in the five plus years since I fired them :)
 
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