Abandoned Pool - Suggestions Please

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Ohhhhhhh! I saw a show on this guy years ago. Yes, I am already graphing out where to put the horses swimming pool - husband says no, but horses are all for it!
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I'm not sorry I have a small pool, generally. But my g-sons birthday pool party, which I'd been looking forward to all year, got pulled at the last minute for the local water park instead! We realized we just couldn't accommodate the numbers. The kids he wanted to attend were not the problem, but they come with parents and brothers and sisters and anybody else with a towel!! An impromptu party of nine kids the week before clued us in. Pandemonium. 20 kids plus parents? No way.

If you've come to terms with the increased costs of restoring and maintaining a large pool, then go for it. You and your family are going to love it. I would. Horses, too! ;)

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Imagine being the parent or grandparent of the kid that could invite his entire class or team over for a swim!!
 
Dirk said:
If you've come to terms with the increased costs of restoring and maintaining a large pool, then go for it. You and your family are going to love it. I would. Horses, too! ;)

Imagine being the parent or grandparent of the kid that could invite his entire class or team over for a swim!!
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We have a larger than average family - a typical impromptu family BBQ is easily 15 people. And that's before any friends stop by.
 
And then there's the floaties and the swimmies and the tubes and the rings and the toys and beach balls... Come to think of it, you're going to need a bigger pool! ;)

bigger boat.jpeg
 
Before you get too far with your liner, consider radius corners. (along the bottom, too.) It is aesthetically pleasing and about 20 times easier to clean!
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Dirk said:
I'm not sorry I have a small pool, generally. But my g-sons birthday pool party, which I'd been looking forward to all year, got pulled at the last minute for the local water park instead! We realized we just couldn't accommodate the numbers. The kids he wanted to attend were not the problem, but they come with parents and brothers and sisters and anybody else with a towel!! An impromptu party of nine kids the week before clued us in. Pandemonium. 20 kids plus parents? No way.

If you've come to terms with the increased costs of restoring and maintaining a large pool, then go for it. You and your family are going to love it. I would. Horses, too! ;)

- - - Updated - - -

Imagine being the parent or grandparent of the kid that could invite his entire class or team over for a swim!!
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There is not enough wine in the world!
 
TWAcres said:
We have a larger than average family - a typical impromptu family BBQ is easily 15 people. And that's before any friends stop by.
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One piece of advice that I can give, with owning a pool the same size as yours, is to hire a lifeguard for large gatherings.

When we hosted our first family reunion, we had family from out of state in and many younger kids. I knew the adults would be watching of course, but also talking. It was peace of mind having a lifeguard there watching the pool the entire time since things can happen in minutes.

We also have hired and will continue to hire one for all of our kids’ graduation parties. We just had our youngest’s 8th grade grad party and had over 100 people. I think there were 35-40 kids in at one time. The lifeguard was just a wonderful thing to have.

This of course is good advice for any pool where you can take your eyes off of a child to chat, but with that much room and that many people in the pool, it can be difficult.

Just a little tidbit that I wanted to share. ?

BTW, we are horse people too! What kind do you have and do you guys ride?
 
MinerJason said:
How are you estimating the volume? I ask because when I run your dimensions I get a rough volume estimate of closer to ~45k gal, which could make a big difference in equipment selection.
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I concur. And they should definitely get this figured out before ordering the SWG if possible.

Even the scribbled paper work that came with my house, indicating 17,000 gallons was totally wrong.
(this was not the blueprints which I never found, just a past pool guy's estimation).

The guy that measured the liner said it seemed closer to 15,000 gallons. And oddly enough
the liner manufacturer, Plastimayd could not tell me the volume even though they made it which seemed strange.

Pool math actually said mine is 13,000 gallons based on my free chlorine going up 3ppm when adding a half gallon of 6% bleach.

I confirmed this earlier when I filled the pool.
I logged the time of the entire fill, then timed how long it took to fill a 5 gallon bucket.

It was around or just over 13,000 gallons calculated.
 

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Speaking from experience in only a small pool: parents tend to watch their phones more than their kids! There is this hive mentality that happens where everyone assumes somebody is watching the kids, when really nobody is watching the kids. I observed this keenly at my nine-kid party. We were definitely going to hire a guard for the birthday party. And the more floaties in a pool, the bigger the hazard. They make quite a barrier between watching eyes and the bottom. Probably why that stuff is generally disallowed in public pools. I was the "lifeguard" that day, and it was no fun. Nerve racking instead, as I would be the defendant should anything have gone wrong. +100 for lifeguard idea!
 
TWAcres said:
Finally, the pool company that bid the liner, also bid approximately $3k for pool equipment and its installation. Given that we are now having a company install the liner, we will have sooo much time on our hands, should we (husband) source and install the equipment ourselves?

~ Tumbleweed Acres
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The sourcing and installation of the equipment is relatively straight forward, and most moderately handy people can easily DIY it. You can also likely find better prices online than what the pool company will charge, even before installation costs. That said, most of the pump and SWCG manufacturers either significantly reduce or even outright eliminate the warranty unless it's purchased from and installed by a "certified professional". Same thing goes for a lot of the utility company rebates for variable speed pool pumps. Just a couple things to keep in mind while making the decision.
 
MinerJason said:
The sourcing and installation of the equipment is relatively straight forward, and most moderately handy people can easily DIY it.
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Ooh, respectfully disagree. Hydraulics, equipment and plumbing science and layout, medium-sized PVC plumbing, 240V wiring, circuit breaker panel, GFCI wiring, bonding, automation wiring, cement work, all from scratch? On a pool that is teetering on commercial size? I would not characterize the necessary skills for any or all of that as "moderately handy." Not at all. Considering anywhere from expensive replacement to death could be the result of getting even one of those things wrong... along with the lack of warranty for any of it... Uh... not for me, anyway (and I'm a retired general contractor with decades of building and home improvement experience).

What does the $3K include, exactly?
 
jlsl95 said:
One piece of advice that I can give, with owning a pool the same size as yours, is to hire a lifeguard for large gatherings.

When we hosted our first family reunion, we had family from out of state in and many younger kids. I knew the adults would be watching of course, but also talking. It was peace of mind having a lifeguard there watching the pool the entire time since things can happen in minutes.

We also have hired and will continue to hire one for all of our kids’ graduation parties. We just had our youngest’s 8th grade grad party and had over 100 people. I think there were 35-40 kids in at one time. The lifeguard was just a wonderful thing to have.

This of course is good advice for any pool where you can take your eyes off of a child to chat, but with that much room and that many people in the pool, it can be difficult.

Just a little tidbit that I wanted to share. 

BTW, we are horse people too! What kind do you have and do you guys ride?
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Yes, for gatherings we intend to hire a local life guard. Just makes sense for the piece of mind.

We have two OTTBs; one we've retired from jumping and just use him for pleasure, one my daughter does Hunter/Jumper. Then we have a paint pony (don't call him that!); he was originally for pleasure but is super smart and can turn on a dime so I'm thinking he would be good for cowboy games (pattern running, shooting, or archery). My daughter just took him to beach camp and he loved swimming; hence the desire for a horse pool. How about you?
 
Dirk said:
Ooh, respectfully disagree. Hydraulics, equipment and plumbing science and layout, medium-sized PVC plumbing, 240V wiring, circuit breaker panel, GFCI wiring, bonding, automation wiring, cement work, all from scratch? On a pool that is teetering on commercial size? I would not characterize the necessary skills for any or all of that as "moderately handy." Not at all. Considering anywhere from expensive replacement to death could be the result of getting even one of those things wrong... along with the lack of warranty for any of it... Uh... not for me, anyway (and I'm a retired general contractor with decades of building and home improvement experience).

What does the $3K include, exactly?
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Electricity has already been run to the pool house (50v sub-panel; does that mean something?). And plumbing, already run to the pool, has yet to be cleaned and tested. But I am concerned about warranty issues. Food for thought.

There is nothing in writing on the $3k equipment. Pool company rep just gave me rough figures over the phone; I have a feeling they spend a lot of time running around and giving quotes for jobs that never come to fruition so she just gave me ball-park. She did mention a variable speed pump and that it included the installation (but not plumbing and/or repairing of any valves).
 
TWAcres said:
Yes, for gatherings we intend to hire a local life guard. Just makes sense for the piece of mind.

We have two OTTBs; one we've retired from jumping and just use him for pleasure, one my daughter does Hunter/Jumper. Then we have a paint pony (don't call him that!); he was originally for pleasure but is super smart and can turn on a dime so I'm thinking he would be good for cowboy games (pattern running, shooting, or archery). My daughter just took him to beach camp and he loved swimming; hence the desire for a horse pool. How about you?
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Girl, we have a lot in common! ? OTTBs are the best! My daughter also rides Hunter/Jumper.

We have 8! One is a mini pony. He’s just a cute, sometimes pain in the butt, lawn ornament. lol We also have a mini donkey and she is an adorable lawn ornament as well. We have a 32 year old Mustang that is retired from being a hunter/jumper lesson horse. We got him about 6 years ago and he has just been a pleasure horse, he does the occasional “give a visiting kid a lead line ride” now a days. We have a Welsh pony, she’s a great little jumper. My daughter outgrew her and we didn’t want to sell her so she is at my daughter’s training barn and being shared by a couple of younger girls. We have 3 OTTBs, two are retired and were rescued. They are just living it up in the pastures. I actually rescued the one from an auction in Lancaster, CA and had him shipped to me in Illinois! Our third one is 6 and came off the track and her feet were a mess. She lived at our house just being a horse with some small rides for a little over a year. She’s now at the barn where my daughter and her trainer have her in training. She’s so athletic, I’m excited to see how she develops and which discipline she loves. We also have an Oldenburg, she’s my daughter’s show horse. She lives at the barn too. She actually was diagnosed with EPM in January and we treated her and she’s doing wonderfully. My daughter started riding her again the end of May. So far so good with her. Sorry, that was long, I get wordy! ;)
 
duraleigh said:
Before you get too far with your liner, consider radius corners. (along the bottom, too.) It is aesthetically pleasing and about 20 times easier to clean!
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Thank you. I didn't even think of cleaning. I suppose I could do this for the bottom/wall also. Will have to look into the how to's.
 
TWAcres said:
Electricity has already been run to the pool house (50v sub-panel; does that mean something?). And plumbing, already run to the pool, has yet to be cleaned and tested. But I am concerned about warranty issues. Food for thought.

There is nothing in writing on the $3k equipment. Pool company rep just gave me rough figures over the phone; I have a feeling they spend a lot of time running around and giving quotes for jobs that never come to fruition so she just gave me ball-park. She did mention a variable speed pump and that it included the installation (but not plumbing and/or repairing of any valves).
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I certainly didn't mean to imply that you couldn't figure out how to do the work, I just wouldn't characterize the extensive work involved as something to be attempted by someone that was "moderately handy" (whatever that means). Anyway, maybe a better approach is to find out what they're willing to do for $3K, and if it's as good a bargain as the liner deal appears to be, then maybe you'd be better off having them do the whole job, complete with comprehensive warranty.

If they can turn that giant hole into a functioning pool for $8K, that'd be the deal of the century. It'd be a deal at twice that.
 

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