2 years of planning and it’s finally DONE in Tampa!

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Tommy, you do not need to "shock" the pool with chlorine but you do need to make sure the FC levels are where they need to be and kept there or you WILL end up having the "shock" it. We call it SLAM Trouble Free Pool but you don't want to do that and will not need to if you can get control of the water now.

Here is our chart for a balanced pool: Trouble Free Pool You NEED to use liquid chlorine to get your FC up to the needed level. The pucks might be able to keep up once you get the FC up to the correct level but my guess is they will not be able to.

Those pucks will push your pH down. You need to get it up. That is easy to do. Just turn on every thing that rolls/splashes the water for a few hours.

No one is going to give your the pool the care it needs like you will. They will do the dash and splash once a week or so. That is not good for the life of your new plaster.

Kim:kim:
 
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The spa spills over 24/7 now along with the returns but I can certainly turn the bubblers on. I’ll attach a pic of basically the same numbers that I posted yesterday. Just want to make sure that the ranges for each are appropriate.

So as of now, no need for liquid chlorine, correct?
 

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Share a pic of the water. I want to see this green you talked about. Is it getting less each day?

What is your TA? It works hand in hand with the pH to keep your plaster scale free and how the water feels on your skin and eyes.

If the green is clearing up then you may not need to use liquid chlorine. How the water looks will be very telling for me.

Kim:kim:
 
Pic as of 9:30am. I just expected it to not have such a green hue and hoping that this will not be the color of the water.

I’ll have to look up the TA test and how to perform it.
 

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Tommy that is a VERY pretty pool and I love the water color! I hope it settles out and you come to like it. :hug:

Hint for the TA test-it will "flash" red each time you put a drop in. You do not count it until it STAYS reddish.

Some times the TA regents get "sticky" and do not drop the same size. You might want to wipe the end of the dropper after each drop to keep this from happening. I use a papertowel for this.

Kim:kim:
 
So that picture was in the morning and i spent most of the day digging drainage ditches for corrugated piping to connect to the gutter downspouts, and in one of my many union breaks, i stopped and looked at the pool around 1pm and it was absolutely stunning. Im sure it still has some color change to go, but it was absolutely GORGEOUS in full sun. Coincidentally, the lead crew member of the plaster company, who is also a friend of the family text me for updates. Stand by for the pic.

Kim, do you by any chance have or know where i can get more in depth instructions for the digital PH meter pen that i bought from tftestkits? Not sure if im just too tired when i read the instructions but im overwhelmed with all the steps and numbers and charts.

Electrical conduit was also buried this morning to run power to the front yard for a future fountain in front of our bathroom window. Sprinkler repair man came out. Ran several new zones, re worked one of our valve boxes because, and like everything about our house, "it defied logic". Bill came out to $750. He left around 5pm and spent the better part of 8 hours and tons of piping and sprinkler heads/rotators. New sod goes down Friday, so the mud can finally go away!
 
WOWZER! That IS absolutely GORGEOUS! Happy Day!!

pH meter-I don't have one nor have I used on. I am going to reach out to someone who does have one and see if they will chime in to give you some tips. I did notice while reading about it that it says you have to calibrate it to start with and every 5 months or so. Hold on until someone else gets here to help out. @OTPirate can you share any tips or such?

Kim:kim:
 
Thank yall so much! The chlorine tabs have already dissolved in the skimmer basket. I may go out and drop a few more in. Seems like the water clears up, stays a consistent color for a few days until more tabs are added. I figure the start up guy isnt even checking chemical levels, he just adds chemicals, so whats an extra two tabs going to hurt!?
 

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Technically i paid for 4 weeks, which is 4 visits to add chemicals. Literally $450 (originally $600 and i pitched a fit, so the installer dropped it to $450) to dump acid in a pool and put some chlorine tabs in the skimmer. If i didnt do this though the installer wouldnt honor the warranty, ant that wasnt worth risking for $450 when ive spent like 250x that. I do need to clean the filter though. Im at just over 2.5 weeks since the pumps started and i havent cleaned it yet, but its a large filter and the pressure is still what it was when we fired the pool up. Saturday it will get vacuumed and ill have to make sure one of the white puck looking tablets doesnt accidentally fall into the skimmer basket. I heard they have a tendency to escape the container on their own in search of water.
 
Well as of today, we are all wrapped up. Final inspection passed this morning. Pool guy came and added his gallon of acid and 3 chlorine tabs and was out in about 3 minutes, not before he saw bathing suits hanging on a pool fence and pitched a fit saying that we cannot swim in the pool. Whatever homie. We had an inflatable kiddie pool on the back patio that he clearly didnt see.

Sod was installed yesterday so i finally have a yard again and no more mud!!!!

For anyone interested in the subs we used, PM me and i will give them all to you. I will post up the pic of the list of total costs. This was an OB build, which still cost a fortune. Tens of thousands were spent on things that did not relate to the "pool" itself, like demolition, screen enclosure, propane tank, etc, so use it as judgement if you are going to undertake a project on your own. As expensive as it was, and as much of a pain as it was, I have a hard time believing that we did not save quite a bit of money if a builder built the exact same pool, or i would have spent just as much with less quality finishes. Who knows for sure though.

Pool water is looking absolutely stunning. These pictures were taken 2 days ago i believe.

Untitled by T V, on Flickr

Untitled by T V, on Flickr

Untitled by T V, on Flickr

Untitled by T V, on Flickr
 
“The chemicals”

Uh. I’m pretty sure when I run my pump 24/7 that single gallon of acid has been heavily diluted in my 14,000 gallon pool.

I honestly don’t know if there’s a legitimate reason not to swim in it after a couple of weeks and the water is balanced but I’ll defer this to the knowledgeable professionals at trouble free pool rather than my local drive-by chemical dumper.
 

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