shocking!

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nlindelldc

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LifeTime Supporter
Mar 21, 2015
440
Corpus Christi, Texas
Okay, so we are looking to get our first pool and luckily I have found this site before the digging has even begun!

My eyeballs are going a bit cross-eyed from all the reading that I've been doing but I find it so incredibly fascinating that the seemingly most helpful pool supply places and pool builders even are at complete odds with what I've been reading here.

Anyhoo, a couple of questions for you:

1. From what I read, if I follow everything correctly from the get-go, I will NEVER have to SHOCK or SLAM my pool?

2. If #1 is correct, (and I think it is), when why does my pool builder keep telling me that I will still have to "SHOCK" every 10 days or so with MPS?

My eyes (reading) and my ears (listening to pool builder) are in stark contrast :D
 
jblizzle said:
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

1. Yes.

2. Because pool builders seem to generally have no idea how to maintain a pool.
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I agree with both answers!!

Plus, you have us here to help you. Only you can decide what is best for your pool and your family. To quote Dave, Site Owner of TFP:
Throughout TFP, you will read that we suggest certain levels that good science and practical experience has taught us fall within safe ranges.

Further reading of posts here will draw you to the inescapable conclusion that these guidelines work.......in thousands and thousands of pools worldwide.

You may or may not choose to use these methods and guidelines or you may use some and not others. Our goal is to teach you what has been proven time and time again and then let you use that information to your benefit.
Click to expand...
 
Every other pool builder has too! You can always try it HIS way first. Tens of thousands of other folks here did too!

And on your #1...........I'd never say NEVER. Always the possibility a mutant Zombie might fall in there......................

Welcome to........."the way WE do it". Enjoy.
 
We built our pool in October 2013. As soon as the pool was filled, I used chlorine pucks to maintain my chlorine and raise the CYA to about 40. Then I stopped using the pucks and switched to bleach. I started using the TF test kit from the beginning to keep track of chemicals. I use bleach to keep the TC in the 4-5 range, and occasionally have to add some baking soda to raise TA to 70ish. I keep the CYA at about 40-50 and have never had to "shock" my pool. Once you get to know your pool needs - it is very easy to maintain the proper chemical balance. When we decided to get the pool, people told me that maintaining a pool would be hard work. But, I honestly spend less time on my pool than I do cutting the grass. Congratulations on your new pool. I recommend giving the TFP method a try.
 
jblizzle said:
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

1. Yes.

2. Because pool builders seem to generally have no idea how to maintain a pool.
Click to expand...

Yeah what he said! LOL

Never say never BUT this is my second pool. I ruined my first pool by following the pool stores way. My CYA was SO high that it ruined my liner. All they ever said when they tested my water was "drain about an inch or two of water off the pool and refill and make sure to put in a bag of shock".

NOW I know that the puck and shock they told me to use caused the high CYA! Of course I battled algae all of the time due to the high CYA.

We took the the pool down and l LOVED the big empty hole LOL. My husband missed the pool. I told him we could get a new one IF he found a way I could care for the pool that was easy and cheap! (I spent on average of $100 a month on the old pool)

He did some internet searches and found TFP. I ordered a test kit BEFORE I ordered the pool to make sure I could do the testing. It was as easy as can be so..............we ordered the pool and have not looked back.

I even like the pool now that I use the TFP way! I do not have to do hardly any work on it.

SO........your PB just does not know the best way. He knows the his way.

Kim
 
My pool builder told me he could get powdered TA reducer for me and would drop it off. That was 2007. Still waiting. Most pool builders and most pool store employees have never taken care of a pool themselves. The method they endorse is very little thinking and a lot of chemicals. We prefer plenty of thinking and exactly the amount of chemicals needed for perfect water. Our way is cheaper and produces better results. A rare win-win.
 
IF you maintain your FC/ CYA Level, then you will not have to SLAM your pool. However things can happen that prevent you from maintaining FC/CYA. Just of few of those reasons are;


You go on vacation and your pool care giver doesnt do the right thing
Your automation system (if you get one) quits working and you dont know it and your pool doesnt get chlorinated.
You are too lazy to spend 5 or 10 minutes a day to care for your pool

There is a lot of methodolgy difference in how to maintain an pool between TFP and the Pool People. TFP is about teaching you how to maintain your pool efficiently and effectively for the least amount of money.

The Pool People are in business to make money. They have to do that to survive. The commercial pool industry is geared around profitiability and part of that is selling you whatever you will buy. Whether what they tell you, or if what they sell you is needed or not is irrelevent.
SO, beware of the slick talking salesmen, they are just trying to make a living.

2. He wants you to shock it every 10 days so he can sell you some shock! Mama needs a new pair of shoesi! BTW, that shock is pricey!
And also, he recommends that because he doesnt understand the FC/FCA relationship.


nlindelldc said:
Okay, so we are looking to get our first pool and luckily I have found this site before the digging has even begun!

My eyeballs are going a bit cross-eyed from all the reading that I've been doing but I find it so incredibly fascinating that the seemingly most helpful pool supply places and pool builders even are at complete odds with what I've been reading here.

Anyhoo, a couple of questions for you:

1. From what I read, if I follow everything correctly from the get-go, I will NEVER have to SHOCK or SLAM my pool?

2. If #1 is correct, (and I think it is), when why does my pool builder keep telling me that I will still have to "SHOCK" every 10 days or so with MPS?

My eyes (reading) and my ears (listening to pool builder) are in stark contrast :D
Click to expand...
 

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Just personal experience...I did use the pool store way for 3 years. $1000 a year on chemicals and pool was just "ok". Went with TFP and the help of some many experienced with the process and have never looked back. Only maybe $200 a year on chemicals if that. Pool looks and feels the best ever. Just how it has worked for me.... and I don't spend all the time at the pool "wondering/wandering". Just my $.02................
 
I'll expand on Divin Dave's post with a several questions regarding your 'builder'.

Are you dealing with an actual installation/construction contractor who will personally supervise and sub out the various aspects of construction and systems installation to tradesmen in the community, or are you dealing with a pool sales person who will turn your contract over to a foreman in the company?

What is your pool builder's business relationship with the supplier of the actual equipment specified in the contract? Is your view that the work being is simply being done with a local/national pool store?

The closer you are to a pool store's sales people versus actual construction trades the more likely you will be steered towards a type of maintenance program, based on my limited reading here.
 
So i was in your EXACT same shoes last year. We decided to get a pool and while researching which one i wanted and things like that i found this site.

My In-Laws have a pool and they go the pool store once or twice a month and do it that way. And by August, their pool is ALWAYS green. And it seemed to keep getting earlier and earlier when it would turn green. But, my wife insisted that we listen to the pool store and do it that way. Well, when i found this site, I told her I was going to manage the pool with bleach. She literally freaked out. Saying that her kids were NOT swimming in bleach water. After a few weeks of showing her pics from this site of how CLEAR other peoples pools were, she agreed to let me try it this way.

I told her and myself that I would give it a few weeks and if i smelled bleach or had algae or if anything seemed not right, i would switch to the pool store way with pucks and shock. Well, after 3 weeks, my pool was crystal clear and everything was fine. But in my head, i kept hearing the pool store say "You need THIS, and you will need THAT" So i had myself convinced that it was just a new pool and for some reason the water hadnt had a long enough chance to get green. So i decided to stick with this method till the end of the end of the season. Just as a test.

After we closed the pool down, my wife said...."Honey, you did a super job with the pool this year. I can't believe it didn't turn green like mom and dads pool." And I showed her under the cover yesterday and you could see the tiny grains of sand resting on the bottom of the liner still. Its still crystal clear after all winter.

If you take nothing from my story, listen to this next part. These guys here know their stuff. They have nothing to gain from selling you bleach...lol And the test kit they provide is a little more expensive at first but actually turns out cheaper than the taylor kit in the long run. I haven't read ONE horror story from anybody on this site that follows these methods. No bleach smell, no green hair, no burning eyes, nothing. And I would think somewhere, somebody would have at least one bad thing to say about these methods.

That has to say something right?
 
One thing I have learned is to never say never, things happen. And when stuff happens, the people at TFP will give help if needed.

The pool industry is set in their ways and there is too much money involved for them to change over to a simplified and economical way to care for a pool. There is free information here and all you need to do is research, understand, and follow it and you will save yourself thousands of dollars for the lifetime of your pool. That's why I became a supporter and offer my suggestions to help others.
 
jtaves85mcss said:
I'll expand on Divin Dave's post with a several questions regarding your 'builder'.

Are you dealing with an actual installation/construction contractor who will personally supervise and sub out the various aspects of construction and systems installation to tradesmen in the community, or are you dealing with a pool sales person who will turn your contract over to a foreman in the company?

What is your pool builder's business relationship with the supplier of the actual equipment specified in the contract? Is your view that the work being is simply being done with a local/national pool store?

The closer you are to a pool store's sales people versus actual construction trades the more likely you will be steered towards a type of maintenance program, based on my limited reading here.
Click to expand...

To answer this question, the pool builder has assured me that he will be on site supervising all of the work being done. I will also be supervising :)

I just wanted to say thank you for all of the reassurances/responses that I have received and for all of the information that I have learned already. My pool builder was recommending the Nature 2 system. I am considering using it only for chlorine tablets when on vacation and removing the metal adding cartridge (if possible). I plan to buy the T100 test kit and use the TFP method 90% of the time. I am also considering a SWG but need to do more research on that here. Any advice on that is appreciated.

Since I discovered this site so early in the process, I feel it will save me so much money and trouble in the long run, that I plan on becoming a paid supporter of the site. In fact, I'm going to do it right now. So worth it! Thanks again.
 
Why not just save money by cancelling the Nature 2? If you want a tablet feeder for vacation, then have a plain one installed that should be cheaper.

If you decide to go with SWG, then do not get any soft natural stone around the pool.
 
nlindelldc said:
My pool builder was recommending the Nature 2 system. I am considering using it only for chlorine tablets when on vacation and removing the metal adding cartridge (if possible). I plan to buy the T100 test kit and use the TFP method 90% of the time. I am also considering a SWG but need to do more research on that here. Any advice on that is appreciated.
Click to expand...
What you are describing is not 90% TFP, but actually 100%. TFP is not the the absence of using items like pucks or using all liquid products. TFP is based on knowing what you are adding to your pool, knowing what it will do and knowing that your pool needs it.

Many of us use tabs for certain circumstances, vacation being the main reason. Others use it to "top off" the CYA they need. TFP just says you need to understand what you are adding and control it.

I would just tell the builder thanks, but no thanks on the Nature2, but have him install a generic tablet feeder. You will save your money that way.


*************On Edit

I see Jason beat me to the tablet feeder suggestion again.......
 
Thanks for the info on that. From what I am reading, if I do go with a SWG, I really don't need a tablet feeder. Is that correct?

And why does a SWG conflict with using stone? We were planning to add a rock waterfall made out of cast concrete. Will that be a problem?

One more question. Do you think I need an automatic pool cleaner? My builder has not recommended it.

Thanks again everyone, this site is so awesome!
 
There is no need for a tablet feeder with or without a SWG. You could always just get a cheap floater if you needed to ... no need with a SWG.

The soft flagstone that 99% of Texans seem to use around their pools can fall apart due to the added salt. Concrete is fine as are hard stones.

You will want some way to clean the pool. See this for the various types: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/162-automatic-pool-cleaners
 

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