Brand new pool owner to be on a short sale home with pool

[j2davis]

Dear TFP,

My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a short sale in Tempe, AZ.
We loved the idea of having a pool and this house has a diving pool.

However, we are completely new to owning a pool and have lots of questions. Since we are still in contract and I don't have access to the water at the moment, I won't be able to provide the pH info.

But I took some photos during the second showing that I hope to get some info from everyone to just get started on learning about the pool. Any help is greatly appreciated.

First photo is the surface of the pool.
It looks like there are some flaking/chipping on the surface of the steps. I a not sure if this is common, but I searched and searched the forum for similar photo and could not find any. Can someone advice on what could cause this and if this requires re-plastering/surfacing to fix?

Second photo is the plumbing system.
From what I can tell in my photo, the system is a sand filter - Hayward Pro Series. And I am guessing the pump is Sta-Rite Max-E Pro. Total guess on the pump. Can someone tell me what the blue flimsy plastic type tubing that leads out on the left under the fence, then across the side of the yard, and then back into the plumbing area and just left laying there (in the lighter shade of blue) is?

Third photo is the overall view of the pool.
It doesn't look too bad to me overall, except for the "dirty looking spots/areas" in the pool. But I am not sure if the tubing from the "cleaning machine" in the middle of the pool is suppose to be connected to something or is it normal to just be floating around.

Sorry for the limited info and photos I have, just wanted to start doing my homework on whether we will have to put lots of money in repairing this pool before we close on the house and get it ready for the summer.

Thanks you all in advance for your help.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Re: Brand new pool owner to be on a short sale home with poo

Hi, and welcome to TFP! I think you'll like it during the Tempe summers...

First, the simple stuff: the flimsy blue tube is a backwash hose, which is used when you run water backwards through the filter to dispose of all the stuff it has filtered out.

As for the plaster, it looks like a combination of chipped plaster as well as other things, NONE of which will require any action if you don't care a whole lot about how it looks. The darker blue areas are probably copper stains, which are caused by using copper-containing chemicals to try and control algae. Being in Tempe, there is likely some calcium scale as well, which would be especially obvious on the tiles around the waterline.

So the short answer is: no, it doesn't look like there's much, if anything, that you'll have to do to get it ready for swimming. The best thing you can do to simplify running it is to read through Pool School (button in the upper right of the page), so you can learn all about water chemistry and your equipment. Feel free to ask any more specific questions as well!

 

[j2davis]

Re: Brand new pool owner to be on a short sale home with poo

Hi, and welcome to TFP! I think you'll like it during the Tempe summers...

First, the simple stuff: the flimsy blue tube is a backwash hose, which is used when you run water backwards through the filter to dispose of all the stuff it has filtered out.

As for the plaster, it looks like a combination of chipped plaster as well as other things, NONE of which will require any action if you don't care a whole lot about how it looks. The darker blue areas are probably copper stains, which are caused by using copper-containing chemicals to try and control algae. Being in Tempe, there is likely some calcium scale as well, which would be especially obvious on the tiles around the waterline.

So the short answer is: no, it doesn't look like there's much, if anything, that you'll have to do to get it ready for swimming. The best thing you can do to simplify running it is to read through Pool School (button in the upper right of the page), so you can learn all about water chemistry and your equipment. Feel free to ask any more specific questions as well!

Thank you so much for the prompt reply!

That is a huge relief for us. Saw on the forum re-surfacing could cost anywhere from 5K-10K depending on the finish. We are interested in the PebbleTech but thought it might have to wait a year or so if the pool can hold up for a while without major work.

 

[George N]

Re: Brand new pool owner to be on a short sale home with poo

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[j2davis]

Re: Brand new pool owner to be on a short sale home with poo

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Thank you George.

 

[supertune]

Re: Brand new pool owner to be on a short sale home with poo

Hi j2davis and welcome to TFP!

Very nice to see you have a in ground pool.
My next house WILL have a pool or at least a good deal with room to build one.

To really help us help you, you will need to purchase your own test kit.
This is covered in the Pool School chapters here:
pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison
By having your own test kit you will have better and more consistent test readings with the convenience of doing it on the spot.
P.S. One big advantage is saving $$ from NOT putting in unnecessary chemicals.
I.E. pool stores offer free testing... so they can recommend you BUY chemicals to put in and usually more than what is really needed.
With your own testing, you only put in the pool what it needs.
Then you will have a perfectly kept and simple maintenance pool as well.
If you do enough reading here, you'll see that most of us use the TF-100 test kit and purchase them online here:
http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html

Because of this wonderful forum I truly have a Trouble Free Pool and have saved a lot of $$ in the process.

Chuck

 

[j2davis]

Re: Brand new pool owner to be on a short sale home with poo

Hi j2davis and welcome to TFP!

Very nice to see you have a in ground pool.
My next house WILL have a pool or at least a good deal with room to build one.

To really help us help you, you will need to purchase your own test kit.
This is covered in the Pool School chapters here:
pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison
By having your own test kit you will have better and more consistent test readings with the convenience of doing it on the spot.
P.S. One big advantage is saving $$ from NOT putting in unnecessary chemicals.
I.E. pool stores offer free testing... so they can recommend you BUY chemicals to put in and usually more than what is really needed.
With your own testing, you only put in the pool what it needs.
Then you will have a perfectly kept and simple maintenance pool as well.
If you do enough reading here, you'll see that most of us use the TF-100 test kit and purchase them online here:
http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html

Because of this wonderful forum I truly have a Trouble Free Pool and have saved a lot of $$ in the process.

Chuck

Thank you Chuck. I do plan to get a test kit and learn to do the chemical balancing myself. One of the things we want to do when we move in the house is to convert this to a salt water system, too.