New house purchase of an old house

[rlefig]

Hi, I am finishing up the purchase of a short sale house in Massachusetts that has a Gunite pool. The pool has not been opened for a couple of years but it does and is holding water right up to the coping. Of course the water is black. I will want to get this open and I am looking for advice.

1. What is the best way to get the water clean, drain out the old and refill? I was thinking of this as then we could "see" what was at the bottom. My parents pool went through years of being closed and that is what we did to get it back and functional.

2. It will need a new filter and pump. My parents had a DE filter for their Gunite pool that worked well back in the 1980's is this still the best combo of cost and clarity? I am looking on Craigslist for used ones.

3. One of the coping bricks has a 3 inch chip in it. Can that be patched?

Thanks in advance

rob

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

1. There are a few options. One is to drain the pool and the other is to just clear the water using chlorine. There are many threads on the forum that show that this can successfully done. What you want to do depends on a few things. Cost of your water and the depth of your ground water. If the ground water is high in your area, you can risk having the pool literally float out of the ground if you drain it and then you will be looking a $$$ to build a new pool.

2. The 3 filter types all have pros/cons. To clear a swamp, sand is the easiest. Here is some reading: pool-school/cleaning%20pool%20filters

3. Probably

Before you start on this work. Read through Pool School (button at the upper right) to get an understanding of the pool chemistry. You will also need to order one of the recommended test kits ... best investment you will make and it will save you a lot of money that you will not be spending at the pool store magic cures.

If you provide more info about the pool, we can help suggest what equipment to look for:
Please add your pool details and location as described HERE as it will help us help you.

 

[Vette]

Welcome!

If you want the easiest maintenance, Sand filters are the way to go. DE clean the best, but they also require you to backwash, bump them on some models, and add new powder after backwashing. Also, you need to hose off the "fingers" on the inside every once in a while. I have a cartridge - cartridge is a love or hate type thing. Mine is a good size for my pool so I don't have to take it out and clean it often, but for clearing a swamp it would be a pain in the butt. I'd recommend sand, most people can't tell the difference between it and its better filtering brothers, and it is the most cost effective and frustration free of the 3.

 

[rlefig]

Thanks, its amazing reading through this forum at the number of posts that are similar. So once we close I will order the recommended test kit, post the results, get a filter and pump and get that working and then see what to do from there. In the meantime I will read Pool School to be ready. I do know that the pool is smaller maybe 15x30 or something like that, it is kidney shaped and did have a diving board but no longer.

Thanks

 

[Vette]

http://www.poolcalculator.com/ This will be one of the cores of maintaining your pool. I'd recommend bookmarking it and playing around with its functions. Once you read Pool School it will make more sense. Feel free to ask us any questions! You may want to look for documents that show how many gallons your pool holds. Kidney pools are sometimes tough to calculate.

And we are all pretty much kindred spirits here, so we all give similar advice :-D

 

[jblizzle]

You really should get a better idea of the pool's size before you buy any equipment.

Is there a spa or any water features? If not, then a small 3/4 HP - 1 HP 2-speed pump would be a good option. Although you need to know if the old one was wired for 115 V or 230 V.

If you were close to the correct size, that would put it around 15k gallons (assuming average depth of 5 feet). That would make filter recommendations:
220+ sqft cartridge
42+ sqft DE
2.8+ sqft (23+" diameter) sand

If you season is short, you can likely get by with something a little smaller. But, again, this is based on 15k gallons.

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, rlefig

Let us know if you have questions...and we love pictures!

 

[rlefig]

Thanks for all the info. I grew up with a pool and I can finally get one for my kids (single dad). I will get more info once i get back in there. The house is interesting too as it was built in the 1800's. 10' ceilings and all. Should be a fun and busy summer

rob

 

[Vette]

A house over 110 years old? That's amazing! I'm not trying to be creepy, but can you post a pic? :-D

 

[JohnN]

I too would love to see pics of the house. I like all things that are older, cars, houses, etc. They have such character. They don't build things like they used to.