Buying house with IG pool that hasnt been opened in 1-2 yrs

[wg108]

Hello everyone! Im in the process of buying a house that has an inground pool that hasn't been opened in 1-2 years.This will be my first pool and although I'm a jack of all trades I dont know much about owning operating a pool.

I was at the house the other day and decided to take the cover off to check things out. The cover is one or those anchored mesh ones, with the spring type connector that goes onto the anchors. The pool is 20'x40' so its probably about 35,000 gallons. The pool has a hayward h series propane heater, hayward pump, and filter. The pool water was very green, you cannot see the bottom in the shallow end but you can see most of the steps. The water level is HIGH. Water is into the skimmers, but the skimmers and returns are capped off so it appears as though it was winterized properly. Basically I want the pool inspected before I buy the house so I KNOW what it needs. I feel my options are to open it up myself, clean off cover, remove cover, skim/rake out anything i can, get the pump running and open up the returns and everything, shock the pool and keep cleaning, and then call a service to inspect it. OR pay someone to open the pool clean it and inspect it, which will probably cost alot. I would like to do it myself but I'm worried I'll miss a step or overlook something. So I'm here looking for some advice or guidance ie step by step how to open it and what to do.

Thanks in advance, Bill

 

[rdhetrick]

Re: Buying house with IG pool that hasnt been opened in 1-2

Hi Bill,

I'm no expert, but if it were me, I'd be most concerned about hidden leaks. Everything else can be repaired / replaced for some money, and the water can be cleared up or replaced also. Leaks in buried piping can be repaired, but could get expensive.

To clear the green, it will take a lot of time and bleach, ideally you would need to check it every hour for the first day or maybe more - something that would be difficult if you haven't closed on the house yet and are still in the inspection phase.

I'd try getting it de-winterized, and getting the pump and filter working with the intention of letting the pump run for a few days to see if you have water loss or are sucking a lot of air. Even doing this process, you will need to monitor it every few hours to make sure the filter isn't getting clogged with debris.

No matter what, there are risks buying a pool, and buying one that hasn't been maintained for a few years is a bit more risky. That being said, there are plenty of people here to help with what ever you run into.

Good luck!

 

[zea3]

Re: Buying house with IG pool that hasnt been opened in 1-2

Until you close on the house you shouldn't do anything to the pool unless you get written permission by the current owner. Once you have legal access to the pool you can begin the clean up process. You will need to unplug the skimmer, returns and main drain (not all inground pools have a main drain). As you said, scoop out any solids and complete the shock process using liquid chlorine. You have to run the pump to complete the shock process so you should know right away if the pump is working or not. The pool is holding water with the plugs in so if you notice a leak after removing the plugs it should be fairly easy to track down. Do you know if the filter uses sand, DE, or cartridges? A DE or cartridge filter may have had the filter media removed as part of the winterizing process so you may need to ask the owner or open up the filter to check.

For more information read shocking your pool and defeating algea.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Re: Buying house with IG pool that hasnt been opened in 1-2

The pool we have was idle for 1-2 yrs before father-in-law bought the house. We insisted that they open the pool and then we paid for an inspection of it. I wanted to take over earlier than we did but we had to wait for ownership transfer. We also asked them to maintain the pool until closing which they did poorly - algae just starting when we took possession.

So far so good!