Pool needs help badly

[dbizzle22]

Need alot of advice with a pool that has slowly been deteriorating. Pool guy who took care of this pool hasn't been doing his job and is no longer going to be doing our pool. I took up trying to service the pool but a true rookie at all this. Basically just figuring things out as I go.

First off, I swapped out an energy hog pool pump with an Intelliflo. That works with a Clean&Clear 320 cartridge filter. I recently bought an Aquabot Breeze 4wd to replace a broken pressure side Pentair 280.

The pool is surrounded by trees and plants that litter it with many different types of debris. Here you can see what my pool typically looks like:

The floors looks better than that after my Breeze 4wd did some work on it for the first time today. I obviously need to scrub algae with a brush still. I also purchased a skimmer rake/net and pole to manually grab what the skimmer isn't doing.

I don't know why the leaves aren't really making their way into my skimmer so I'm starting to look into things like the poolskim device. Just need to see if my pool has the necessary hookup for it to work.

Anyways, that's all fine and dandy plus shouldn't be overly expensive to get resolved. Which leads me to this ...

Looks scary and costly to repair. Thoughts or ideas on what this is? If its going to take thousand of dollars to repair we may just cut our losses and ax the pool entirely. It isn't used often or at all. Not much sun and no heater = a money pit that isn't putting out any benefit these days.

 

[PJ]

Looks like organic staining to me. Maybe from some tree branches left in the bottom of the pool? Or something dead? Put a chlorine tab on it and see if it lightens up.

 

[Patrick_B]

May I ask what you mean by deteriorating? From what can be seen it looks good at a glance. The stains don't look good, but that is minor and might be correctable.

I cannot encourage you strongly enough, that you will be happier and have a nice pool if you learn to care for it yourself. Education and a good test kit are essential to that, and all the info and help you need is right here. Get a Taylor K2006 kit or the TF100 with the same Taylor reagents. You get more for the dollar with the latter, but you need one of them. It really isn't hard or all that time consuming once you are in control, and it isn't all that expensive either.

 

[BoDarville]

Agree with what others have said...looks like organic staining to me which is easily correctable with proper FC levels. Although I do not have any trees in the back yard, the North Texas wind occasionally blows something into my pool that leaves a stain similar (but on a much smaller scale) to what I'm seeing in your pics. With proper FC levels, those stains are gone from my pool in less than 24 hours.

...we may just cut our losses and ax the pool entirely.

I would advise against doing this as it would be costly among other things. Unless your pool has structural issues which are not evident from the photos, the issues your pool appears to have are cosmetic and easily correctable. True, with all the plantings, your biggest maintenance effort will be scooping stuff out of the pool. You can opt for a cover to cut back on that or you can remove or relocate some of the plantings. This is one reason we went with potted plants near the pool. I chose varieties that would not drop much, if anything, into the pool. Plus, I can easily relocate the pots if we need more room on the patio for pool parties and such.

 

[dbizzle22]

Thanks guys. I think I'm just paranoid and feeling like I'm throwing way too much money into the pool. I do like to be a DIY'er though so I do want to give it a shot.

The reason the discoloration scares me is that the guy at Leslie's and the pool guy told me that they're cracks in the pool. Something about "rebar"? And that unless I get it resurfaced ( very expensive ), it'll end up leaking through and cause damage to other parts of the house. You guys don't think its structural issues from the pictures? I need to get down there and feel if its an actual ridge rising up. Something is pushing up and causing the discoloration right?

Here are some closer pics that hopefully can lead you guys to more thoughts and conclusions?

[attachment=2:3975badv]photo_1.jpg[/attachment:3975badv]

[attachment=1:3975badv]photo_2.jpg[/attachment:3975badv]

[attachment=0:3975badv]photo.jpg[/attachment:3975badv]

 

[Patrick_B]

If they are cracks it is serious, but I don't want to speculate from pictures over the net. Looks possible, but I would get an expert opinion on it to be sure. Go down to look yourself and if it appears to be cracked, and call out an expert. If it were mine, that's what I would do anyway.

 

[dbizzle22]

Yeah, I plan on hopping in and feeling the surface there. Or just having a pro come by and look at it for free. I rather have someone knowledgeable than just me guessing really.

Does it look like anything else from the pictures? I'm looking for anything to make me feel better here guys! :lol:

 

[dbizzle22]

Is there a way to "patch" up the areas to cover up the discoloration? If I let it fester, will it eventually turn into a big leak that in turn starts effecting things like the house foundation?

 

[duraleigh]

For now, don't worry about the leaks. The pool will not suddenly get much worse.

I would suggest it is time to call a plaster man in to look at it and see what he can do. That pool has been neglected for a good while so it will not likely get fixed overnight but getting a good plaster man in to look at those discolorations would be my first step.

Patching that floor is not a DIY job, in my opinion.

 

[dbizzle22]

For now, don't worry about the leaks. The pool will not suddenly get much worse.

I would suggest it is time to call a plaster man in to look at it and see what he can do. That pool has been neglected for a good while so it will not likely get fixed overnight but getting a good plaster man in to look at those discolorations would be my first step.

Patching that floor is not a DIY job, in my opinion.

I know .. I'm just frustrated but remaining patient is what's needed right now. It's just tough as I'm the type that wants instant or quick answers.

Yes, I'm scouring Yelp, Angie's list and forums for a good plaster company. Going to get them in house asap.

Just makes me think that I should hold back on spending all this money trying to DIY pool cleaning/maintenance. $600 on the robot so far. A few hundred on brushes, pole, test kit. All while knowing there's a very good chance that we're just going to get rid of the pool should it really require a large repair bill from the replaster and rebar repair.

 

[BoDarville]

These new pics give us a much closer look. Unfortunately, they do look like cracks. The good news is they will not get significantly worse overnight. All pool surfaces do need to be refinished occasionally. Do you know when (or if) this was last done? Worth having a plaster pro (or two or three) take a look and see what they say.

 

[dbizzle22]

These new pics give us a much closer look. Unfortunately, they do look like cracks. The good news is they will not get significantly worse overnight. All pool surfaces do need to be refinished occasionally. Do you know when (or if) this was last done? Worth having a plaster pro (or two or three) take a look and see what they say.

The pool was redone about 6 years ago when the house was completely torn down and built. Pool was pre-existing and I know for sure we had it resurfaced and tile. Not sure about the underlying structure which apparently is whats causing all this drama. I'll have to do some digging for plan info from the construction stage.

Its high season right now so its tough getting a pro to come take a look right now unfortunately