Just stumbled upon this site, this is my first post, and by what I've seen so far I think I'll be on here daily trying to absorb as much as I can.
Here's my situation. I'm in South Florida, just moved down last June, for job reasons, from Maryland. Bought a house with a pool (was a requirement) but it, along with a good portion of the house, seemed to have been somewhat neglected. I have no prior pool experience other than swimming in the neighborhood ones.
I've finished much of the interior renovations my wife and I wanted to do, and we’re now focusing on the outside, starting with the pool. The pool is and was usable, meaning we enjoyed it most of the hot & humid summer. I took pool samples to the local PinchAPenny and they told me what to do chemical-wise. The pool is 15 years old and has an attached spa that waterfalls into it. Not sure exactly how may gallons it is, I'm thinking maybe 7,500 to 10,000?
Here’s a picture of it just after TS Faye (which why the water level is so high)
The coating on the pool has brown stains that don’t come off with scrubbing. I read in some other posts a recommendation to hold a vitamin C tablet against them to see if it clears up in that spot. I am going to try that but I think it is the original coating on the pool. I honestly don’t know hand have absolutely zero history on it. Here’s what the staining looks like:
There are some hairline cracks I’d like to patch. What can I use underwater to repair the cracks?
I had the pump replaced and a new cartridge filter put in. The skimmer looks to have been replaced/serviced at some point as the concrete around it looks like something done at a later time (see the pool picture above – the skimmer is at the top, you can see the dark area around it.)
My biggest issue with the pool seems to be between the spa and the pool. If I change the valves so that the water is returned through the spa and waterfalls into the pool, after the pump shuts off the spa water level will ultimately drop to the level of the lowest return line. I did a test by marking the pool water level and the pool level would drop when the pump was on, then several hours later the spa level is down and the pool level is back close to where it started. I say close because it seems like some water is lost somewhere but I can’t pinpoint it. There’s a tile that needs to be replaced in the spa but I can’t imagine water being lost.
I’m going to try a bucket test to see if there’s a leak but I don’t think so. I think the problem is a bad check valve that is allowing the water to flow back into the pool.
This brings me to what I ultimately want to do and that is to completely redo the plumbing. The suspect check valves are non-serviceable and can’t be cut out due to how they were placed. I’ll have to do a good amount of replacement so I figure why not go all the way and replace all of the other aged components with new.
There’s a rusted out Raypak spa heater that leaks if the water is plumbed to the spa so there’s probably my reason the water level doesn’t come quite back to normal in the pool after the pump shuts off. I’m going to replace it and am curious if I should get the 11KW version instead of the 5.5KW. It is only $15 more in cost and my thought is that it would heat the water twice as fast? According to the Raypak brochure it seems to simply do double what the 5.5KW version does and so I thought I could heat the water faster? Is that a naïve view or would it be a bad idea to use the larger version? I don’t know the model of what is there now.
Here’s the plumbing I want to replace:
The picture above does not reflect my current valve settings. I currently have all suction coming from the skimmer, to which I have a Great White vacuum attached to the port inside the skimmer (you can vaguely see the gray tubing in the picture of the pool by the skimmer.) The water is returned through the pool return (goes to 3 return ports that look worn and may need some TLC). The spa does not have water circulating and is of course not used. I dump chlorine in regularly to keep it clear but there is a lot of debris right now.
Here’s my attempt to diagram and understand the plumbing:
Are there any improvements that can be made before I tackle this project? Does the plumbing look correct? When the pump was replaced it looks like smaller PVC was used. What is the recommended size? 1.5†or the 2� I was planning on using Jandy Check Valves and either Jandy NeverLube or Intermatic maintenance free valves. Any recommendations are appreciated.
Sorry this post os so long. I won’t even mention the bubbling I’m getting from the pool port return closest to pump (upper-right area in pool image).
Thanks!
Doug
Here's my situation. I'm in South Florida, just moved down last June, for job reasons, from Maryland. Bought a house with a pool (was a requirement) but it, along with a good portion of the house, seemed to have been somewhat neglected. I have no prior pool experience other than swimming in the neighborhood ones.
I've finished much of the interior renovations my wife and I wanted to do, and we’re now focusing on the outside, starting with the pool. The pool is and was usable, meaning we enjoyed it most of the hot & humid summer. I took pool samples to the local PinchAPenny and they told me what to do chemical-wise. The pool is 15 years old and has an attached spa that waterfalls into it. Not sure exactly how may gallons it is, I'm thinking maybe 7,500 to 10,000?
Here’s a picture of it just after TS Faye (which why the water level is so high)
The coating on the pool has brown stains that don’t come off with scrubbing. I read in some other posts a recommendation to hold a vitamin C tablet against them to see if it clears up in that spot. I am going to try that but I think it is the original coating on the pool. I honestly don’t know hand have absolutely zero history on it. Here’s what the staining looks like:
There are some hairline cracks I’d like to patch. What can I use underwater to repair the cracks?
I had the pump replaced and a new cartridge filter put in. The skimmer looks to have been replaced/serviced at some point as the concrete around it looks like something done at a later time (see the pool picture above – the skimmer is at the top, you can see the dark area around it.)
My biggest issue with the pool seems to be between the spa and the pool. If I change the valves so that the water is returned through the spa and waterfalls into the pool, after the pump shuts off the spa water level will ultimately drop to the level of the lowest return line. I did a test by marking the pool water level and the pool level would drop when the pump was on, then several hours later the spa level is down and the pool level is back close to where it started. I say close because it seems like some water is lost somewhere but I can’t pinpoint it. There’s a tile that needs to be replaced in the spa but I can’t imagine water being lost.
I’m going to try a bucket test to see if there’s a leak but I don’t think so. I think the problem is a bad check valve that is allowing the water to flow back into the pool.
This brings me to what I ultimately want to do and that is to completely redo the plumbing. The suspect check valves are non-serviceable and can’t be cut out due to how they were placed. I’ll have to do a good amount of replacement so I figure why not go all the way and replace all of the other aged components with new.
There’s a rusted out Raypak spa heater that leaks if the water is plumbed to the spa so there’s probably my reason the water level doesn’t come quite back to normal in the pool after the pump shuts off. I’m going to replace it and am curious if I should get the 11KW version instead of the 5.5KW. It is only $15 more in cost and my thought is that it would heat the water twice as fast? According to the Raypak brochure it seems to simply do double what the 5.5KW version does and so I thought I could heat the water faster? Is that a naïve view or would it be a bad idea to use the larger version? I don’t know the model of what is there now.
Here’s the plumbing I want to replace:
The picture above does not reflect my current valve settings. I currently have all suction coming from the skimmer, to which I have a Great White vacuum attached to the port inside the skimmer (you can vaguely see the gray tubing in the picture of the pool by the skimmer.) The water is returned through the pool return (goes to 3 return ports that look worn and may need some TLC). The spa does not have water circulating and is of course not used. I dump chlorine in regularly to keep it clear but there is a lot of debris right now.
Here’s my attempt to diagram and understand the plumbing:
Are there any improvements that can be made before I tackle this project? Does the plumbing look correct? When the pump was replaced it looks like smaller PVC was used. What is the recommended size? 1.5†or the 2� I was planning on using Jandy Check Valves and either Jandy NeverLube or Intermatic maintenance free valves. Any recommendations are appreciated.
Sorry this post os so long. I won’t even mention the bubbling I’m getting from the pool port return closest to pump (upper-right area in pool image).
Thanks!
Doug
