Hi Everyone,
I'm a true pool newbie here. In every sense of the word.
We're buying a house with a pool. I've never had a pool before, and wasn't really looking for a pool, but the rest of the property is perfect and the price is right, so--if all goes through as expected--I'm going to become a pool owner very soon.
This pool comes with problems, though (part of why the price of the house was reduced, I figure). The house has been sitting empty for around a year now, so no one has maintained the pool for at least that long. It's a real mess. We're going to be strapped for cash after all the costs of buying this house, so we can't afford to pay someone to come in and clean this mess up for us. (I wish we could!) But this pool MUST be dealt with ASAP, so we have no choice but to learn what we need to do and do it ourselves as inexpensively as possible.
All I know right now is that it's an in-ground gunite pool that's approximately 14' x 28', is about 3' deep at one end and maybe 7' deep at the other end. I figure that makes it about a 15,000 gallon pool? There's a pump and filter (I think it's a sand filter), and the plumbing is all intact as far as I've been able to tell. I'm not sure of the brand name of the pump or the HP.
The water in the pool is the problem. It's terrible. It's green and murky, has a layer of rotting leaves at the bottom AND has been stocked (by the county, according to the neighbor) with mosquito fish. It's closer to a scummy POND than a swimming pool right now. I peeked in at it through the fence this afternoon and, on top of everything else, I'm afraid the fish may be dying since we've had several days over 100 degrees (northern California) and there is no water circulation in there. The water is heating up and I think they are literally cooking in the hot sun. The water looked REALLY scummy, and maybe even had bubbles on the surface, but I couldn't tell for sure.
OK, so... what do I DO with this mess??? I figure the first step is to get the fish out, then the dead leaves. Scoop the fish and leaves out with nets? Or what? Then what next? Vacuum it? Drain it partially and refill? (It's my understanding that I can't drain a gunite pool completely, right? And to be honest, I don't even know how to go about draining it.)
After we get all the debris out, would the next step be to somehow clean the walls and bottom of the pool itself? If so, recommendations on how to clean it without draining it would be appreciated.
Then, finally, I'm thinking we would need to get the water conditioned and balanced. All I know about any of this is what I've researched online since we decided to buy the house. I'm such a newbie! But on the bright side, I'm a fast learner and we're hard workers who are determined to get this done. I'm glad I've found a forum where, hopefully, I can get some help. Thanks for being here!
ANY advice you folks could give me about how to turn this giant scummy pond back into a swimming pool will be GREATLY appreciated! Is it even possible???
I'm a true pool newbie here. In every sense of the word.
We're buying a house with a pool. I've never had a pool before, and wasn't really looking for a pool, but the rest of the property is perfect and the price is right, so--if all goes through as expected--I'm going to become a pool owner very soon.
This pool comes with problems, though (part of why the price of the house was reduced, I figure). The house has been sitting empty for around a year now, so no one has maintained the pool for at least that long. It's a real mess. We're going to be strapped for cash after all the costs of buying this house, so we can't afford to pay someone to come in and clean this mess up for us. (I wish we could!) But this pool MUST be dealt with ASAP, so we have no choice but to learn what we need to do and do it ourselves as inexpensively as possible.
All I know right now is that it's an in-ground gunite pool that's approximately 14' x 28', is about 3' deep at one end and maybe 7' deep at the other end. I figure that makes it about a 15,000 gallon pool? There's a pump and filter (I think it's a sand filter), and the plumbing is all intact as far as I've been able to tell. I'm not sure of the brand name of the pump or the HP.
The water in the pool is the problem. It's terrible. It's green and murky, has a layer of rotting leaves at the bottom AND has been stocked (by the county, according to the neighbor) with mosquito fish. It's closer to a scummy POND than a swimming pool right now. I peeked in at it through the fence this afternoon and, on top of everything else, I'm afraid the fish may be dying since we've had several days over 100 degrees (northern California) and there is no water circulation in there. The water is heating up and I think they are literally cooking in the hot sun. The water looked REALLY scummy, and maybe even had bubbles on the surface, but I couldn't tell for sure.
OK, so... what do I DO with this mess??? I figure the first step is to get the fish out, then the dead leaves. Scoop the fish and leaves out with nets? Or what? Then what next? Vacuum it? Drain it partially and refill? (It's my understanding that I can't drain a gunite pool completely, right? And to be honest, I don't even know how to go about draining it.)
After we get all the debris out, would the next step be to somehow clean the walls and bottom of the pool itself? If so, recommendations on how to clean it without draining it would be appreciated.
Then, finally, I'm thinking we would need to get the water conditioned and balanced. All I know about any of this is what I've researched online since we decided to buy the house. I'm such a newbie! But on the bright side, I'm a fast learner and we're hard workers who are determined to get this done. I'm glad I've found a forum where, hopefully, I can get some help.
Thanks for being here!ANY advice you folks could give me about how to turn this giant scummy pond back into a swimming pool will be GREATLY appreciated! Is it even possible???
