new here with old pool

[chrisa]

Hi,
I have been reading all the posts trying to get educated on our new (old) pool. Our new to us home has a inground pool (gunite/plaster I believe) that is 20 x 40 and is about 30 years old. We were only able to enjoy the pool about 30 days or so before we had it closed for the winter now we have snow everywhere
I have a couple questions...
the pool is pretty dated but, we are hoping we can spruce her up
1. the main drain has been capped off, is this a problem? we only have 1 skimmer...our pool guy has been keeping a eye on the pool (this spring/summer we want to start taking care of it ourselves)...he is using liquid chlorine, I have been learning all about the BBB process

2. when the pool was closed for the winter we have lost some water (we thought we had a leak) we thought it might be the skimmer (its the old rectangle shaped skimmer) but, the water has stopped at the light (deep end about 3-4' down)....all is well and the water has not drained beyond the light. what is the best approach to get the light fixed???

3. I have no idea if the pool has ever been replastered in the past 30 years....but, I'm thinking they may have painted it recently (finish looks decent) but, I have attached a photo to show that the pool has a plaster crack all the way around the pool (its above the water line) our pool guy said its just cosmetic but, what is the best way to get this fixed up?? a whole new plaster job???

any info you guys could provide would be wonderful...I'm counting the days until spring

Chris

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Having a main drain is nice, but it isn't a big deal to be without one. Without a main drain you should be a little more careful to make sure the return is aimed down and towards the deep end so you get some water circulation and mixing with the deeper water. You also need to be a little more careful to clean out the skimmer regularly so that it never gets clogged.

Fixing the light really depends on how much work you want to do yourself and how much you want to hire out. Often a complete fix is a major project but most of the time there are less permanent things that can be done to fix it for now. It all depends on exactly where the leak is. Narrowing it down to the light area is a great start. The next step is to pinpoint the exact problem; or just hire someone to take care of it for you.

That "crack" is the joint between the pool and the coping, not a big deal. It should be cleaned up and then re-caulked.

If the surface is reasonably smooth and all the same color then I doubt you need to re-plaster. If it is painted, the paint might be hiding some minor problems, but anything serious would tend to show up as significant unevenness in the surface.

 

[Butterfly]

Welcome to TFP! :-D

You've come to the right place to learn about your pool. If you don't have one, I strongly suggest you buy a GOOD water test kit. Duraleigh sells one here. It is the best investment we made in our new 'old' pool! And, always trust YOUR numbers as opposed to the pool store. You will read many stories about that.

Last summer we almost finished cleaning and re-caulking the same area of our pool that you will soon be doing. Not a bad job. We found that unless you can work kinda' upside down (we can't) that somebody needs to help the person doing the caulking! Two hands on a caulk gun and trying to stay stationary in the pool..... well, it was a lot of fun, actually!

It will help if you list all the info on your pool in your signature so folks will be able to give you better, quicker answers.

Congrats on your new home and pool! Looking forward to more pix!


Joyce

 

[duraleigh]

Hi, Chris,

Welcome. Fixing that leak at the light could be a handful. It might be a good idea to contact a local pool company and get on their list. They'll get really busy in the Spring and, if you can't get it fixed yourself, you'll be ahead of everybody else. With the age of the pool, I'm not sure which light niche would be installed but close inspection should reveal the source.

Just to confirm that's the source of the leak, I would consider marking the current water level, putting a little more water in the pool and see if it drains back to the current level.

It's nice to see our young athletes practicing for the Beijing Olympics. :lol: :lol:

 

[chrisa]

thank you, for the great info and warm welcome!!!

yup, that is my mermaid girl in training for the olympics...but, she may have a hard time...she hates to get her face wet


chris