Where to start?

[Khellendros05]

First I would like to apolagize if there is already a thread asking about this.

I am a 27yr old female, bought a house last august that has a pool. I know absoluting nothing about them. I am nervous about calling a professional to help as i feel they would take advantage over my lack of Knowledge.

The house i bought was a rental and they did nothing to the pool other than let it sit there. I know there is a hole in the liner that they patched, however my brother told me it leaks. thats the first problem, I think. I first need to find out if it can repaired, or if i need a new liner. The pool i have is old, i dont think they make it anymor ein the size i have i know its 21ft (not sure hight, im 6'4 and im taller than the pool.

Other than the hole the water is filthy. when i moved in last august mosquitos were using it as a breeding ground, there was a cover on it but had holes in it so didnt do any good. I did nothing with the pool last year other than buy a better cover and cover it for the winter. there is now alot of water on the pool since it snowed a crazy amount this winter.

I have no equipment for it. there is a cracked sand filter in the shed. So now i need to get aquipment clean it and either repair the hole or get a new liner.

I am getting layed off in june and I do not want to spend a crazy amount of money on this. What is my first step? cleaning it? getting a filter and pump? what kind do i even use? do i drain all the water and put new water in?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

So far this story does not sound very good. It is going to take money to get this fixed up. If you are expecting to lose your job, does it make sense to spend the money on this luxury?

If you drain the pool, that will likely ruin the liner and you will have to buy a new one.
You can certainly get the water cleared up by following the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process with one of the Recommended Test Kits. But, to do so will require you to have a functioning pump and filter as well.

I would hate for you to spend the time and effort clearing up the water only to discover that the liner is shot and you should replce it anyway. How much is it leaking?

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP! It sounds like you really need to spend some time finding a pool company that you can trust. Ask all your friends and neighbors. Seems like there should be at least one good pool service company in the area!

Then you can get a professional opinion on whether the liner needs to be replaced or can be patched. They can get you a quote to replace the liner if needed and a quote to install a pump and filter. Then once you get that all figured out when can help you clean up the pool and maintain it.

 

[Khellendros05]

Thanks for the responses. As long as it's under 1k I will put the effort into fixing.

Based on the responses I should determine if the hole can be repairs first? I personally do not know how bad it leaks. It's a tiny hole maybe the size of a nickel. My brother that would cut grass there said that if the water was above the hole it would slowly leak out so I never filled it so doesn't go over the hole. The hole itself is maybe half a foot from the top.

So in everyone's opinion I should take the cover off and have someone determine if the hole can be patched? I'm trying to find out how much liners cost so I can estimate how much it would be to repair if I needed to. I did some research on type of filters and I think cartidhe would be best. I guys the pump and the filter is combined and it's less maintenance then sand but more costly so if I can find a used one on Craigslist I should be ok and based on research I've done I only need 1 hp? Since my pool is so small.


I'm just concerned I have someone come look at my pool and say whatever they want that would get the most money out of me. Tomorrow I will take a pic and post it

 

[jblizzle]

Sand filters are the least maintenance, but slowest to filter. Cartridges are a lot of work if you have to clean up algae.
1HP would be more than big enough. Realize that there are many different sized pumps that are all 1HP.

If it is a little hole, then you should be able to get a vinyl patch kit and patch it yourself and see if it holds.