Three Questions About Replacing The Plumbing

[NullQwerty]

Hey folks,

I'm replacing my skimmer and pipes in my 30 year old In-Ground vinyl pool (doing it myself). The skimmer is a Hayward SP-1084. Three questions about it:

1) To replace the skimmer, I know I drop the water line, disconnect the pipe, and remove the 12 or so screws from the faceplate. Remove the old unit, pop the new one in and put the screws back in. Is there anything else though? Like maybe adding a caulking/sealant or something around the edges? Anything else?

2) You know how you surround the pipes with sand in the ground so that rocks don't damage them? Well, do I do that with the skimmer as well? I'd say I should just to be on the safe side, but the problem is that sand won't be a good base for the stone pavers I'm installing. What do people do here? Surround the skimmer with sand and or no sand? If sand, how do they handle the fact that there's no base? Maybe just a 2" layer of sand surrounding it or something?

3) Should I replace the pipe connections on the wall of the pool while I'm here too? Do they ever wear out? I'd prefer not to if there's no reason to since the liner is attached to it and I wouldn't want the liner to get out of alignment plus sometimes it's best with the whole "If ain't broke don't fix it". But if the gaskets wear out on them or something I will. As of now I don't have any leakage that I'm aware of with them.

Thanks everyone!

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

Unless its an absolute necessity, wait till you need a liner. Unless the liner is less than 2 years old, you will NOT be able to get it back in the same position. The liner will settle/shrink. It may be possible to soften the liner, assuming it isn't too old, with some very hot water but softer=weaker. When pouring, stay a few inched below the cut edge so it stays a bit stronger.

Use sand to fill. Wet it so it settles, add more, wet it. Every 4" or so. Be sure to fill any and all voids. I don't think the pavers will have a settlement issue if you do this. A bag of 1/8" gravel for the top, lightly tamped should give you a smooth surface.

Do not reuse plumbing fittings. They will leak. They are cheap. Thread a Teflon taped male adapter into the new skimmer before attaching it. Any new pipe, measure twice, cut once. The straighter the cut, the better.

I use a thin bead of clear GE silicone to hold gaskets in place. This keeps the holes lined up.

HTH,

Scott

 

[NullQwerty]

Thanks for the reply. To clarify, when you say:

"Unless its an absolute necessity, wait till you need a liner. Unless the liner is less than 2 years old, you will NOT be able to get it back in the same position."

Are you referring to the skimmer here or to the wall fittings? As in I shouldn't replace the skimmer or I shouldn't replace the wall fittings (or I shouldn't replace either one)?

Thanks!

(FYI...My liner is about 5 years old and looks to be in good shape)

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

The skimmer and possibly the wall fittings, depending on how you answer this: IF by wall fittings, you meant the threaded eyeball fittings, that's an anytime you want to. If you mean what the threaded eyeball return fittings thread into on the wall, then that is an At Liner Change situation also.

How old is this pool or what happened that these serious repairs need be made?

Scott

 

[NullQwerty]

Ok. Thanks. The pool is 30 years old. I've owned it for 4. One of the return pipes sprung a bad leak last year and the concrete patio was very cracked, so I took up the concrete and am replacing all the pipes and putting down a new patio. I figured as long as the patio was up, I might as well put in a new skimmer as it might be the last chance to ever do it (without pulling up the patio again), but if that's a risky thing to do I won't do it.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[NullQwerty]

Alright, so here's the problem. The old piping on the skimmer was 1 1/2". They just used an adapter to go from 2 to 1 1/2". I got the old pipe off, but the adapter isn't budging. So, if I were to keep it, I'd have to keep the 1 1/2" adapter and then go back up to a 2" adapter. I'm looking at this skimmer too, and while it does seem to work, it is looking beat up. Hair line cracks and stuff.

So, the question is, how likely am I to have problems with replacing the skimmer? Are my odds fairly high? Should I still not do it?

 

[NullQwerty]

Cancel that! Didn't realize there were two lines in the bottom of the skimmer. One was plugged up and never used. That one I was able to remove the plug on, so I'm good to go again.

Skimmer does look old, but as far as I know it ain't broke so I'm back to leaving it alone

Thanks!

 

[waste]

Hey Null

I wasn't gonna say anything last night, but I don't think you'd have 1/2 the trouble Scott imagines replacing the skimmer with a 4 - 5 year old liner. If it's showing hairline cracks and you have easy access to it now... go for it, mad dog

I know you from PF and, thereby know that the liner hasn't been chemically abused (if I get the day off tomorrow, like it looks like I will because of rain, I'll type up a couple tipz & trikz for doing it more easily & will welcome Scott's comments on what I have to say )

 

[NullQwerty]

Thanks Ted! That would be awesome! I'm a little hesitant leaving those cracks, even though they aren't causing any issues yet. Peace of mind would be eased with a new skimmer in place, so if you have any tips/tricks that would be great!

Take care

 

[waste]

Here goes

Overdig the hole! You're gonna be gluing some connections hanging upside down - make sure you've got room to play!

Drop the water 1 -2" below the faceplate

Do this on a warm sunny day, so that the liner has as much play as possible

Use duct tape to help pull up the liner, if needed, it can be cut flush with the faceplate after it's on.

Start across the bottom and work up the sides & don't screw the screws in all the way so you can still see if the holes are lined up.

If any holes aren't going to line up - just make sure they're the ones above the waterline!

I use spray adhesive, applied to the gaskets, to keep them from moving! (lining up the holes can be tricky enough without having to also worry about the gasket moving around)

The final connection to the existing pipe can be a little difficult (because you need the 1 1/4" slip on both pipes) - let me know if the pipe comes at the skimmer along the wall or from behind or from underneath -- a pic would certainly help in this situation!

I try to leave the bead in the liner track whenever possible, but know the tricks to getting the bead back in above a skimmer, if it has to come out.




That's about it for now, I'll edit this if I think of a few more things

HTH

 

[NullQwerty]

Thanks for all the tips there! I really appreciate it.

I hate to say it, but I 1/2 chickened out and 1/2 ran out of time (due to the BobCat schedule). When I originally planned to replace it, I really thought it was nothing more than unscrewing 12 screws and switching them out. But once I started this thread and came to realize there is some risk and trick involved, I said screw it. If I ever need to replace it, I can always dig it up...wasn't too hard. If I had more time I might have gone for it.

On the bright side, I just replumbed the entire pool myself today. Four years ago, having never owned a pool, I didn't even know how to maintain one. Now, thanks to TFP and PF I've made some serious knowledge gains.

Thanks again everyone!