I will apologize in advance for the length of this post, but after reading many remarkable testimonies on this forum I have decided to take the leap of faith into the world of chlorine pools, but will need some guidance along the way! I have taken the first step and ordered a Taylor K2006, which will be here in the next couple days.
In June of 2007, I bought my house under the impression that despite living in Minnesota and only having “pool season†a few months a year, having a place to take a dip in the backyard would be a perk. Unfortunately, ever since that summer, my opinion has drastically changed to the point that last year I refused to even open my pool. Feeling re-energized, I turned to the web for advice on caring for and maintaining a pool, seeing how my local pool stores advice obviously wasn’t working! My search led me here, where I am pleasantly surprised to find knowledgeable, non-biased people simply helping one another. Bravo TFP!
When I bought my house, the sellers informed me they had been using Baquacil without any problems (the pool did look spotless when I purchased the house, but never like that again) and directed me to the pool store (LAP) they used for product, as well as any other issues they encountered along the way. I heeded their advice and went LAP, where the family owned customer service was exceptional and as far as I was concerned, they knew what was best for my pool. They recommended sticking with Baquacil and got me all squared away with the chemicals I would need for the summer. Unfortunately, by the time August hit, my pool was filled with Algae. I headed to LAP with my water sample and I was told this happens from time to time. I was told to change the sand in my filter and add (X) amt of oxidizer, algicide, and sanitizer and algistat. This “shock†along with ensuring I am putting the correct amount of maintenance chemical in, backwashing frequently, and using the pool more often to stir things up well should solve the problem.
Long story short, over the next 2 summers I encountered similar or identical problems at least twice each summer and as you can imagine spent a lot of time at LAP, who I must say tried very hard to make things right (just never supported the conversion to chlorine). Needless to say, this became very expensive and equally frustrating. It got to the point that nearly every time I was in the pool, it was in an attempt to get rid of algae. Multiple times I even spent days cleaning the latter, vacuum, and all hosing with bleach to ensure they were not the source of the problem. I had changed my sand 4 times in the first 3 years and not only was my filter on 24/7, but I was backwashing multiple times a day! It got to the point where if I left my vacuum on in the pool unattended, it would clog the filter and my pump would be running without water going through it, which I have been told can damage the pump. Finally last summer I decided I should drain the whole pool and start over from square one. I drained the pool until there was about a foot of water left, but then decided against cleaning and refilling it for the summer.
As a side note, I still believe part of the problem is that when the pool was put in, the ground was not completely leveled (or the ground has settled since installation) and there are small crater like holes on the bottom varying in size and shape with the largest one approximately the size of a softball cut in half. These craters make it very difficult for both my auto and manual vacuum to thoroughly clean the bottom of the pool and have left a stain like film in these holes. I have tried to remove these spots with a broom, my foot, and both vacuums without success, which is primarily the reason I was going to drain the entire pool so I could scrub them with some sort of chemical and ensure everything is clean before giving this pool thing one more try.
Lastly, I am somewhat concerned about my pump because as I mentioned there were a number of times when due to one reason or another the pump was running for a period of time without water circulating through it, which I was told can be very hard on the pump. Is there any way to test the pump to ensure it is still functioning properly? Last year when I used backwash function to empty the pool, it seemed to be functioning fine, but again, ignorance is bliss!
Now that spring has finally arrived (kind of… its 31* as I write this), my pool is approximately 1/3 full of water d/t rain and snow. It is time to make some decisions:
1) Should I drain my pool the rest of the way, scrub the whole thing down focusing on the crater like holes in the bottom?
2) Will having an uneven bottom continue to cause problems with chlorine?
3) Should I start fresh with new sand in my filter?
4) Is there anywhere in particular that you recommend buying chemical from either online or otherwise?
5) Any other thoughts, comments, and advice are more than welcome!
Again, I greatly appreciate the help and look forward to your responses!
In June of 2007, I bought my house under the impression that despite living in Minnesota and only having “pool season†a few months a year, having a place to take a dip in the backyard would be a perk. Unfortunately, ever since that summer, my opinion has drastically changed to the point that last year I refused to even open my pool. Feeling re-energized, I turned to the web for advice on caring for and maintaining a pool, seeing how my local pool stores advice obviously wasn’t working! My search led me here, where I am pleasantly surprised to find knowledgeable, non-biased people simply helping one another. Bravo TFP!
When I bought my house, the sellers informed me they had been using Baquacil without any problems (the pool did look spotless when I purchased the house, but never like that again) and directed me to the pool store (LAP) they used for product, as well as any other issues they encountered along the way. I heeded their advice and went LAP, where the family owned customer service was exceptional and as far as I was concerned, they knew what was best for my pool. They recommended sticking with Baquacil and got me all squared away with the chemicals I would need for the summer. Unfortunately, by the time August hit, my pool was filled with Algae. I headed to LAP with my water sample and I was told this happens from time to time. I was told to change the sand in my filter and add (X) amt of oxidizer, algicide, and sanitizer and algistat. This “shock†along with ensuring I am putting the correct amount of maintenance chemical in, backwashing frequently, and using the pool more often to stir things up well should solve the problem.
Long story short, over the next 2 summers I encountered similar or identical problems at least twice each summer and as you can imagine spent a lot of time at LAP, who I must say tried very hard to make things right (just never supported the conversion to chlorine). Needless to say, this became very expensive and equally frustrating. It got to the point that nearly every time I was in the pool, it was in an attempt to get rid of algae. Multiple times I even spent days cleaning the latter, vacuum, and all hosing with bleach to ensure they were not the source of the problem. I had changed my sand 4 times in the first 3 years and not only was my filter on 24/7, but I was backwashing multiple times a day! It got to the point where if I left my vacuum on in the pool unattended, it would clog the filter and my pump would be running without water going through it, which I have been told can damage the pump. Finally last summer I decided I should drain the whole pool and start over from square one. I drained the pool until there was about a foot of water left, but then decided against cleaning and refilling it for the summer.
As a side note, I still believe part of the problem is that when the pool was put in, the ground was not completely leveled (or the ground has settled since installation) and there are small crater like holes on the bottom varying in size and shape with the largest one approximately the size of a softball cut in half. These craters make it very difficult for both my auto and manual vacuum to thoroughly clean the bottom of the pool and have left a stain like film in these holes. I have tried to remove these spots with a broom, my foot, and both vacuums without success, which is primarily the reason I was going to drain the entire pool so I could scrub them with some sort of chemical and ensure everything is clean before giving this pool thing one more try.
Lastly, I am somewhat concerned about my pump because as I mentioned there were a number of times when due to one reason or another the pump was running for a period of time without water circulating through it, which I was told can be very hard on the pump. Is there any way to test the pump to ensure it is still functioning properly? Last year when I used backwash function to empty the pool, it seemed to be functioning fine, but again, ignorance is bliss!
Now that spring has finally arrived (kind of… its 31* as I write this), my pool is approximately 1/3 full of water d/t rain and snow. It is time to make some decisions:
1) Should I drain my pool the rest of the way, scrub the whole thing down focusing on the crater like holes in the bottom?
2) Will having an uneven bottom continue to cause problems with chlorine?
3) Should I start fresh with new sand in my filter?
4) Is there anywhere in particular that you recommend buying chemical from either online or otherwise?
5) Any other thoughts, comments, and advice are more than welcome!
Again, I greatly appreciate the help and look forward to your responses!
