Draining and Converting

[opnprlinky]

I am new to this forum but I am glad to have stumbled across it. Lots of great info.

I have a 27' round 48" deep above ground pool. Currently using Soft Swim but will be converting to chlorine in the spring. I woke up yesterday to find my crystal clear pool is now cloudy and I can not see the bottom. I suspect something to do with all the rain and wind the last few days.

As I mentioned above i have decided to convert to chlorine since chemicals have cost me quite a bit this year. This is the first year I have owned a pool. Couple of questions for you.

I need to drain my pool and add some sand under the liner. There are severe dips in the the liner where either the ground has settled or the sand has washed out. I did the food color thing in the dips to make sure it was not a hole in the liner.

1) should I drain and fix before I close for the winter or wait to do it in the spring.

2) If I wait till spring should I do the conversion then

3) If I wait till spring would it be ok to close even with the water cloudy or should I sink more money into Softswim to get the chemicals right.

Thank you for any responses.

Opie

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi and Welcome

I'll defer to the experts on pools regarding draining it to repair the area beneath the liner, but in general we don't recommend doing that unless the pool is new - how old is the liner? You could possibly make the situation worse by completely draining it... the liner might shrink and then tear or not line up properly again...the liners lose their elasticity with time and it's not so simple to just do what you describe.

The areas are not something you can live with until the liner needs replacing? Otherwise that might be your only option, a new liner and fix the problem spots.

As for when to convert, I would convert before you close since no one will be swimming anyway. Otherwise you could wait until spring but you would probably have more of a project on your hands if algae takes hold.

 

[opnprlinky]

Thanks for the advice. The liner is about two years old. The pool sat uninstalled in my yard for a year and half. I had it installed this past spring so the liner has only been in the pool 6 months.

 

[Casey]

If you truely want to fix the floor, you can but you'll probably have to replace the liner. It would make your conversion super easy too since it will be all fresh water and replacing the filter media.

It's really up to you though on whether you can deal with the lumps and bumps on the floor and do the whole conversion or if you want to take the time and spend the money on a new liner to get the bottom smoothed out.

Let us know what you decide.