1st time pool owner - pump filter question

[justforfun5087]

bought a foreclosed home last year, pool was a mess. Got a new liner installed and everything worked fine for a month or so then time to close down. The sand filter and motor are old, I was told some of the o-rings needed replaced for them to work properly, given a quote with labor for around 500 bucks. Seems to me like getting a whole new pump and filter would be a better way to go. Any thoughts? I asked my local pool store and was told it would be around $1700 for them to install a new pump and filter. I dont know a whole lot about the current stuff other than it looks old, they do not have tags on them... I do know the filter holds 325 lbs of sand if that helps. Pool is 16x34 inground and 12ft deep end / 4ft shallow.

Any suggestion? Does the quote sound fair or should I search the net for a better deal?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Without knowing exactly what they propose doing it's impossible to say whether it's high or not. Because prices differ in different parts of the world it would help if you told us where you're located. I will say it does sound high for just some o-ring replacements.

Can you take some pictures of your equipment and post them through Photobucket or a similar site?

 

[Noggin]

Oring replacement should be maybe $100 + another $25 or so for the materials. $500 is way high. If you are mechanically inclined at all, you can do it yourself. I replaced a booster pump about a month after moving in and I replaced the sand and o-rings in my filter this past weekend. I've never touched pool equipment until a few months ago. If you must buy a new pump and filter you can probably get them for several hundred less online than you can at a pool store. I'd imagine that you can probably save about $700 buying the pump and filter from somewhere other than a pool store. If you just have more money than you know what to do with, then it might be worth paying the $1700 but only if that includes removal of the old equipment, installation of the new equipment, new sand for the filter, and any required PVC. And make Dang sure they put unions in line with the pump(s) and filter so you can remove them later without cutting anything.

When my booster pump failed, the local pool store said $550 to install a new one. I bought one online for $220 shipped and installed it myself in about 3 hours, and that includes a trip to Home Depot to buy a new fitting that I broke.