Hello everyone!
For a first time pool owner I've sure made my share of mistakes, and I'm hoping to get everything right this year.
My pool is an Intex 16 ft x 48 in Ultra Frame Pool and here is what I've done to the poor thing.
On a positive note I've some how managed to keep my water clean
Year 1
It originally had the small filter pump, but after two months I upgraded to the 1,500 pump when I added the salt water generator (old style without the copper plates)
During this upgrade I also cut the openings bigger for the larger inlet and outlet.
(I also managed to completely bleach out the pattern on the vinyl at the water line because I was reading the test strips wrong
)
Year 2
I took down my pool the first year because I started to feel a root from the near by tree and I didn't want to leave it in that spot.
(I have since put a tarp under my pool and sand)
Year 3
The next year a good storm during the fall cause a branch to kill my winter cover so I had drain and take down the pool before it got damaged.
when I unrolled the pool in the following spring I found decayed leaves in the bottom that I missed while hastily packing up the pool.
These have left brown & black stains that nothing seems to be able to remove
Year 4
I was forced again to take my pool down mid season last year because my new neighbor decided to build his lawn up ~6" higher then anyone else then proceed to water his new lawn almost a week straight. this flooded me out, washed away my sand and cause the ground to soften enough to sink my pool
(I have now dug drainage just in case, but have yet to re-level the ground)
Ladder Issue
The only other issue that come to mind is my ladder, the only deck mounted ladder I could get was a marine one, but after the first year most of the white paint had chipped off leaving bare metal.
I sanded it to rough everything up and spray painted it with Rust-Oleum, but by the end of the next season the paint had chipped off again only sticking to the old paint.
--Is this because the pool is salt water or is there something wrong with the metal? (I'm assuming it nothing I did because the old paint job came off in the same spots)
Misc Questions
Has anyone used vinyl dye on pools? I want to make the pool look better by covering up the bleached spot and the leaf stains.
I read vinyl siding/fences/doors/windows can be stained with oil-based gel stain but was unsure if it would work on pools
My other thought was mixing a very small amount of acetone into a stain because it is the binder used in vinyl dyes.
Is foam better then sand under the pool? what foam is being used? (my sand got washed away somehow :x )
I'm looking at getting the GAME SandPro 50 Pool Filter, should I do sand or that Zeolite stuff?
Has anyone used the, Hydro Force Clear Water Pool System?
I've been looking at getting this ozonator for a while now and now its currently on sale at a price I'm willing to pay.
Also on my to do list is change to pvc pipe (I can never get all the bubbles out of this Intex ones and they are way too long), add a through the wall skimmer and finish building my solar heater.
For a first time pool owner I've sure made my share of mistakes, and I'm hoping to get everything right this year.
My pool is an Intex 16 ft x 48 in Ultra Frame Pool and here is what I've done to the poor thing.
On a positive note I've some how managed to keep my water clean
Year 1
It originally had the small filter pump, but after two months I upgraded to the 1,500 pump when I added the salt water generator (old style without the copper plates)
During this upgrade I also cut the openings bigger for the larger inlet and outlet.
(I also managed to completely bleach out the pattern on the vinyl at the water line because I was reading the test strips wrong
)Year 2
I took down my pool the first year because I started to feel a root from the near by tree and I didn't want to leave it in that spot.
(I have since put a tarp under my pool and sand)
Year 3
The next year a good storm during the fall cause a branch to kill my winter cover so I had drain and take down the pool before it got damaged.
when I unrolled the pool in the following spring I found decayed leaves in the bottom that I missed while hastily packing up the pool.
These have left brown & black stains that nothing seems to be able to remove
Year 4
I was forced again to take my pool down mid season last year because my new neighbor decided to build his lawn up ~6" higher then anyone else then proceed to water his new lawn almost a week straight. this flooded me out, washed away my sand and cause the ground to soften enough to sink my pool
(I have now dug drainage just in case, but have yet to re-level the ground)
Ladder Issue
The only other issue that come to mind is my ladder, the only deck mounted ladder I could get was a marine one, but after the first year most of the white paint had chipped off leaving bare metal.
I sanded it to rough everything up and spray painted it with Rust-Oleum, but by the end of the next season the paint had chipped off again only sticking to the old paint.
--Is this because the pool is salt water or is there something wrong with the metal? (I'm assuming it nothing I did because the old paint job came off in the same spots)
Misc Questions
Has anyone used vinyl dye on pools? I want to make the pool look better by covering up the bleached spot and the leaf stains.
I read vinyl siding/fences/doors/windows can be stained with oil-based gel stain but was unsure if it would work on pools
My other thought was mixing a very small amount of acetone into a stain because it is the binder used in vinyl dyes.
Is foam better then sand under the pool? what foam is being used? (my sand got washed away somehow :x )
I'm looking at getting the GAME SandPro 50 Pool Filter, should I do sand or that Zeolite stuff?
Has anyone used the, Hydro Force Clear Water Pool System?
I've been looking at getting this ozonator for a while now and now its currently on sale at a price I'm willing to pay.
Also on my to do list is change to pvc pipe (I can never get all the bubbles out of this Intex ones and they are way too long), add a through the wall skimmer and finish building my solar heater.
)
