New Home Owner - new owner of a old pool

[Marauder]

Hello Everyone!

Found this forum as I have been trying to educate myself on pools. Just purchased and moved into a house with a pool in Southern California (South OC). Home was built in 1969, unknown age of pool. By the size of the spa, the pool is really old, back when they didn't put in much of a spa.

The plaster is in bad shape, the pool equipment is minimal. The heater was removed at some point and they installed some 1.7HP pump and a filter that looks too small for the pool size. I will try and get more details on the equipment later.

I know the skimmer is cracked and looks like its pulling away from the pool. I bought some epoxy putty and sealed up the cracks as best as I could to just buy me time to figure out what i want to do with the pool. Haven't measured the size of the pool, but its probably like 12' x 30', from about 3' shallow depth to 8-9' deep end.

Asked a pool guy to give a quote on resurfacing, and he said that besides plaster/tile, that I should redo the plumbing to increase it from 1.5" to 2", and install a new pump/filter/heater. Gave me a $30k rough ball park. There is no way I can swing that now, with just buying a house, and having a baby on the way in July. So just trying to consider whether to get it in minimal operating condition just for the summer and maybe then drain it and save some money up to do a complete remodel. And yes, I know that if I do drain it, I need to bore some holed in the bottom of the pool to prevent it from popping out of the ground.

I don't have any pictures to upload on this computer, but I will add more later

 

[Guest]

Welcome! This is a great place to learn, with tons of helpful, friendly folks!

Your pool guy is WAY off on his rough ballpark price I am just south of you, and I am very familiar with the work you are asking about. Based on the sizes you are assuming for your pool, you should be looking at around 5K for plaster, 2K for tile (unless you go crazy with some expensive stuff!), and about 5K for equipment, using all top of the line stuff. Replace a light (or two!) and brush vac and chemical start up and I would say you should be looking closer to $13,000.00 to $15,000.00 to get this work done.

Congrats on the purchase

 

[Marauder]

Hi Bruce!

Thanks for the info.

The quote I got just to do the plaster was inline with your #'s. About $5200 for plaster, $1800 for tile, and $1500 for a new skimmer.

I think his ballpark # must have been for top of the line equipment including running new 2" plumbing and new electrical.

I found some pics too.

 

[JasonLion]

Replacing the underground plumbing can really add up, especially as they would need to get to the pipes under the deck. The high bid probably included a new deck.

Unless you have metal pipes underground (it looks like PVC in the photo), I would think about doing the plaster and equipment and leaving the underground plumbing as is. That will cut your costs in half.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Looks like copper pipes coming out of the ground to me. I bet replacing those is where the cost jumped up.

 

[denisbaldwin]

I think the pump and filter are actually plenty big for your setup.

 

[Marauder]

Yeah, the pump is plenty big enough, but have had a lot of people comment on the size of the filter. Also, looking into the cost of running the pump, I am considering looking at a higher efficiency pump and do a D.E. filter. I've seen a Hayward D.E. filter with a 1HP pump for like $1200. Just wondering if 1HP is enough?

Yes, the plumbing is copper, and there is an air leak at the pump connection. If I do a new pump/filer I will redo the plumbing in that area to clean it up a tad. Not sure if I am ready to add a heater back yet, as those seem to be more costly.

Also, I read that using a solar cover will reduce the amount of pumping you need to do and also reduce water loss. Do the claims really add up to a big difference?

I wasn't sure if i'd keep the pool running and just let it sit. The water level dropped about 8 inches in two weeks. I didn't do a bucket test, but would that be about normal? this past weekend I filled up the pool and added chemicals, since it was starting to turn light green. Its all clear now and full of water, just need to adjust the pH and alkaline. The cholorine level is find now.

 

[baudilus]

A solar cover will not reduce the amount of pumping you need but it will reduce water loss, if that loss is due to evaporation. If you have a leak, it won't help, obviously.

Given that you have copper piping, I'd save up for a complete overhaul. The last thing you want to do is spend money trying to avoid having to replace that stuff, and then have that money wasted when you have to do it anyway due to metal in the water / green hair, etc.

 

[LongbowFoSho]

I'm no pool expert, but I'd guess that eight inches in two weeks is a bit excessive to be considered "normal" water loss. Me thinks you've got a leak somewhere. The most likely culprit is that faulty skimmer you mentioned earlier.

 

[Marauder]

I'm no pool expert, but I'd guess that eight inches in two weeks is a bit excessive to be considered "normal" water loss. Me thinks you've got a leak somewhere. The most likely culprit is that faulty skimmer you mentioned earlier.

Well, the 8" loss was taken below the skimmer, so none of the water loss in that 8" was from the skimmer.

Will using that Fix-A-Leak stuff actually work, if I do have a leak in the system?

 

[baudilus]

It may work temporarily but you have to consider that whatever doesn't go into the hole goes into your pool.

If you plan to overhaul the piping etc. sometime in the future, this may be an adequate stopgap measure.

 

[JasonLion]

Fix-A-Leak is tricky stuff. It can work, it can also cause more problems than it solves. I would avoid it, too much risk.

 

[Marauder]

Hmmm....thanks for the advice.
I am still wondering on weather to keep it up for now, or drain and save to remodel it.
Starting to lean toward draining and save $.