New house with an old dirty pool... what do we do?!

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trishalinn

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Apr 12, 2010
104
Perry, Michigan
Hi,

My husband and I live in Michigan and purchased a house last fall that has an in ground gunite pool. It was covered with a loop loc cover and the pump was running when we purchased the home, but when we looked in the water it was black and there the walls are black too. We had the pool company in town come and close it up for us, so we could watch them and do it ourselves next fall.

Now it is spring, and a nice warm spring for Michigan too! What we need to know is what do we do with the pool now? The pool company said that they could salvage the water and clean it up within a couple of weeks. So, when do we start? Should we take the water into them to have it analyzed and buy chemicals from them? Or is there a better and cheaper way to do things?

ANY input would be very helpful because though my husband and I are excited about having a pool, we're quite worried about cleaning it up and the maintenance. Neither of us has any experience with pools, other than swimming in them

Thanks in advance,
Trisha
 
Welcome to TFP!

This is something you should be able to do yourself, for much less than the pool company would charge. It will be a little work every day for a week or two, but it shouldn't be too bad.

The first step is to get the pool opened and the equipment running. Then clean up any debris that got into the pool. There shouldn't be very much because of the cover, but often a few leaves will get under the cover or find their way in some how. Depending on how opaque the water is, you will probably need to try scooping things out with a leaf net even though you can't see what you are doing.

While that is happening, order a top quality test kit, I recommend the TF100 from TFTestKits.Net. The Taylor K-2006 is also good. You also need to stock up on 6% bleach, and read Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparking Oasis.

We will be happy to walk you through the entire process.
 
My pool was not black but it was green. This website helped walk me through every step and now my pool is crystal clear. This website is great and there are very smart people on here. Good luck and post some pics so we can see what you are working with. I found it fun to track my progress from beginning to end when I was getting my ready to go.
 
Welcome to TFP!

Yes, you can do this yourself and experience the satisfaction of doing so by following the recommendations here on TFP. Have fun and keep us updated. :goodjob:
 
JasonLion said:
While that is happening, order a top quality test kit, I recommend the TF100 from TFTestKits.Net. The Taylor K-2006 is also good. You also need to stock up on 6% bleach, and read Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparking Oasis.
Click to expand...

I went ahead and ordered the TF100 test kit.
Is the 6% bleach just regular household bleach? Don't I need something specifically for pools?
 
If it's fully thawed then this is the time to get started. The longer you wait, the warmer the water will get, the more algae will grow, the more work you'll have to do.

Jason gave you excellent advice. Buy a good test kit, it will be the best investment you can make in your pool. Learn how to use the Pool Calculator, your new friend :)

Oh! Just saw your post. You'll love the TF100. The instructions are very easy to follow and the results are accurate.

Yes, the 6% bleach refers to Clorox Ultra unscented. You'll need a bunch of it. If you have access to a Sam's Club/BJ's/Costco you should get their 3-jug packs, several of them. You can also check with your pool store whether they sell chlorinating liquid in 5 gallon carboys. That's approximately 10% strength. The Pool Calculator lets you tell it what sort of bleach you use and adjusts the amounts accordingly.

Regular household bleach is really all you need for starters. Clorox regular is 5.25%. The off-brand bleach products are not always reliable with regard to concentration so we do recommend Clorox. In a little while we'll help you with using baking soda or 20 Mule Team Borax, with stabilizer (CYA or cyanuric acid), with muriatic acid, but for now, just bleach.
 
Around here Wally World sells 6% for 2.54 for 182oz making it ~1.4 cents per oz. The 12% you quoted is ~2.3 cents per oz but it's twice as strong so you use half as much which makes it 1.15 cents equivalent, so it's slightly a better buy. If 6% bleach is higher in your area then it gets better. However, 12% loses strength faster than 6% so if it's been sitting in the store for a while it might be a worse buy because by the time you use it, it may be only 10%.
 

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trishalinn said:
Sorry, another dorky question. I called our local pool place and they sell liquid chlorine @ 12% in 4 gallon jugs for $12.00. Is this a better deal than purchasing clorox since clorox is just 5.25%?
Click to expand...

Yes, its a better buy, plus less jugs to haul around - assuming this is a fresh batch and not stock left over from last year. So verify from them if it's fresh stock and if so I'd go with that.

I either buy the Wal-mart 6% generic, when I'm out grocery shopping; or I get a case for the price you quoted from the local pool store. I was just in and they had none, so I'm hoping that means whatever they get in shortly will be fresh. I figured anything old they'd have it on display already.
 
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