Blank slate/Pool build in Maryland

[Captchaos]

For some reason my pictures don't seem to show up, here are direct links:










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Well that sure worked out for the best! Talk about cutting it close!

So it is time for YOUR set of links:

Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

TFP also has a Pool Math App! Here is the link: Pool Math It is so neat and easy to use!

Make sure to ask any and all questions you might have no matter how small! We have all been where you are at one point.

Ask you PB what test kit he will be providing and share it is. That way we can fill in any holes it might have.

Kim

Thanks! I will ask about the test kit.

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Yes, but look at the bright side...that's way cheaper than the 2k I had to pay to have it hauled away!

Wow you're right! I would think hauling dirt away should be included in the cost.

Of course I guess you could say the same thing about bringing dirt in...

 

[Captchaos]

It’s getting pretty tedious to water the pool twice a day before and after a workday and commute. You’d think if this was a requirement the pool builders would do it for you. Mine never mentioned watering it but I’ve been doing it anyway.

Also, I noticed that there seem to be four drains in the deep end, three pressurized 2” pipes running down the middle of the pool, and three uncapped 1.5” pipes also running down the middle of the pool. One of the reasons we chose this builder was because of his attention to detail and seemingly being very committed to doing everything properly. But this seems like a ton of water flow? I know the waterfall is on it’s own system with pump and switch for convenience purposes but I’m a bit unclear as what is what. When he first laid the pool out in spray paint he described less pipes in the floor. I am not complaining by any means because “overkill” is my middle name but I am very curious.

As it sits I am counting two jets in the tanning ledge, four jets in the cuddy cove, one jet in the shallow end, one jet in the deep end, three returns in the floor, four drains in the floor, one pipe for the waterfall, and three smaller (1.5” pipes) that look like they are returns in the floor.

 

[jimim]

Having floor returns are great. We have them. I run them all the time. Ur pool looks great!

are some just hydrostatic pipes that will have caps on them Incase of ground water pressure. Water table. We have 2 of those also.

 

[kimkats]

You can put a sprinkler on a timer to do the watering for you!

Kim

 

[Esloser]

You can put a sprinkler on a timer to do the watering for you!

Kim

That’s what I did - sprinkler on each end that would cover the entire pool and turned them on for an hour at a time.

 

[Captchaos]

Having floor returns are great. We have them. I run them all the time. Ur pool looks great!

are some just hydrostatic pipes that will have caps on them Incase of ground water pressure. Water table. We have 2 of those also.

Thanks, that makes sense. I am not sure if I’ll be able to run the floor returns separately or intentionally. I have a lot to learn about the plumbing system.

You can put a sprinkler on a timer to do the watering for you!

Kim

That’s what I did - sprinkler on each end that would cover the entire pool and turned them on for an hour at a time.

Yeah I have read that here about sprinklers and my wife said the same thing. The problem is I don’t think it will do as good of a job with even coverage as I will. I would definitely need two as well. Also since some of my pool is above grade right now I can spray the outside too.

I’ll probably cave and change my mind in a couple of days. I won’t have any time this weekend to water at all so I’ll probably try it then.

Coping and rocks for the waterfall will be delivered tomorrow. Electrician is scheduled for Friday. We sure are ready to get this wrapped up, the mess is just starting to get aggravating at this point.

 

[LeighHop]

We are in the watering phase now too. I'm doing it by hand, but I'm thinking soaker hoses around the beam might be an awesome time saver.

 

[jimim]

Have them put every single return on its own valve so u can control them all individually. Each 1 home run back to the pad. If they didn’t do the piping back to the pad. I forgot if they just did stub ups for all ur plumbing or if they already tied things together and back.

 

[Captchaos]

Have them put every single return on its own valve so u can control them all individually. Each 1 home run back to the pad. If they didn’t do the piping back to the pad. I forgot if they just did stub ups for all ur plumbing or if they already tied things together and back.

Everything is tied together and plumbing is all completed. It appears that there is a valve for almost every pipe.

 

[jimim]

there ya go! awesome. nice easy complete control over everything then. When u use ur heater u can open the bottom returns up full blast to heat the pool water quicker.

 

[PoolGate]

I forgot if you are getting automation. If so, which of those valves are being automated?

 

[Captchaos]

there ya go! awesome. nice easy complete control over everything then. When u use ur heater u can open the bottom returns up full blast to heat the pool water quicker.

I had that thought about the returns in the bottom, glad to know it works well. There is no heater for now, I will add that later.

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I forgot if you are getting automation. If so, which of those valves are being automated?

No Jandy automation but I am pretty big into home automation so who knows how long that will last. All valves will be manual for now. I am already planning to add some Zwave control but haven’t figured it all out yet.

Our builder actually recommended against buying it now because he said Jandy is releasing a bunch of new Alexa-compatible equipment in the fall. I have yet to find any information online about it though. They seem to be tight-lipped about it if true.

 

[kristmas]

Having floor returns are great. We have them. I run them all the time.

I had that thought about the returns in the bottom, glad to know it works well. There is no heater for now, I will add that later.

I too am glad to hear from someone that these are good...we have 3 as well. And we are also adding an LP heater next year. Will your heater be gas/LP or heat pump? If gas/LP (not sure about HP), I believe code states that is has to be a least 4 feet away from any window. If you put it to the left of the pad it might be visible around that corner or you'll need to create an ell shape to the right. Unfortunately, we also have a window well to deal with. This is what my PB did:

 

[jimim]

I was going to try and automate myself like u r thinking with zwave and other methods but in the end I just went with Pentair and it sits on its own app vs the rest of my home automation. It was just less of a headache. It’s so nice having everything talk to each other. Especially for feedback. Knowing the exact flow speed of the pump or the live water temp and such is nice. Especially for the salt cell.

Pentair is on on the Apple Watch and has Alexa support I use the watch here and there not so no voice stuff in my house.

I had that thought about the returns in the bottom, glad to know it works well. There is no heater for now, I will add that later.

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No Jandy automation but I am pretty big into home automation so who knows how long that will last. All valves will be manual for now. I am already planning to add some Zwave control but haven’t figured it all out yet.

Our builder actually recommended against buying it now because he said Jandy is releasing a bunch of new Alexa-compatible equipment in the fall. I have yet to find any information online about it though. They seem to be tight-lipped about it if true.

 

[Captchaos]

I too am glad to hear from someone that these are good...we have 3 as well. And we are also adding an LP heater next year. Will your heater be gas/LP or heat pump? If gas/LP (not sure about HP), I believe code states that is has to be a least 4 feet away from any window. If you put it to the left of the pad it might be visible around that corner or you'll need to create an ell shape to the right. Unfortunately, we also have a window well to deal with. This is what my PB did:

View attachment 75334

Yeah I discovered that after--I didn't realize the equipment was going to be so close to the window. I had originally planned on adding an LP heater for convenience, regulation of costs ('welp kids, propane is out, you'll have to swim in a cold pool!'), and because I cannot possibly put my hatred of heat pumps into words (I have two for HVAC in my house and it is a terrible form of heat) but you're right, it won't be able to go that close to the window. In addition, one run through on the cost tool Raypak has on their website (Pool Sizer) and that means LP heat is totally out. A heat pump costs less than half of what an LP heater costs to run.

 

[Captchaos]

I was going to try and automate myself like u r thinking with zwave and other methods but in the end I just went with Pentair and it sits on its own app vs the rest of my home automation. It was just less of a headache. It’s so nice having everything talk to each other. Especially for feedback. Knowing the exact flow speed of the pump or the live water temp and such is nice. Especially for the salt cell.

Pentair is on on the Apple Watch and has Alexa support I use the watch here and there not so no voice stuff in my house.

Yeah it seems Pentair is ahead on the automation game. I am not very familiar with either other than what I have read on here, other sites online, and playing with the apps on my phone, but that is my impression.

My main automation focus is just a handful of things since I don't have a spa or SWG:

1. "Alexa, turn on the pool lights to blue!" (trigger a Zwave scene on my Vera to flip the switch how ever many times it takes to turn blue, etc.)
2. "Alexa, turn on the pool waterfall!" (Trigger a Zwave switch to turn on the 1HP waterfall pump, turn off after some period of time (2 hours?) so kids don't leave it on all day)
3. Scheduling pump run times and remotely being able to turn them on when away from home.

Unfortunately this just got more complicated as I was outside making the electrician move his panel from being right smack where I wanted to put my fence. He told me that he is not installing switches for the pumps, and they will be operated by flipping the circuit breakers. "The switches don't do well with pumps and burn out too much" he tells me. That is not particularly convenient or conducive to installing Zwave relays.

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Pentair even has the best apparel.

 

[Melnic]

CaptChaos,
Lots of pipes at the bottom of the pool. I'm still learning about pool construction but can you tell me what are all the pipes for?
Also, are there 4 main drains?

You already had a pool close to those trees, how are you planning to combat the MD fall and all the leaves? you going to cover it early? Got a good cover coming for it?
I did not close and cover my pool until November last year. Water is great with an early opening but I'm thinking I may put the cover on sooner than that next fall.

 

[PoolGate]

Yeah I discovered that after--I didn't realize the equipment was going to be so close to the window. I had originally planned on adding an LP heater for convenience, regulation of costs ('welp kids, propane is out, you'll have to swim in a cold pool!'), and because I cannot possibly put my hatred of heat pumps into words (I have two for HVAC in my house and it is a terrible form of heat) but you're right, it won't be able to go that close to the window. In addition, one run through on the cost tool Raypak has on their website (Pool Sizer) and that means LP heat is totally out. A heat pump costs less than half of what an LP heater costs to run.

Heatpumps suck for household heat because they do not work very well when it is cold, which is when you need them. But for pools, it is the exact opposite. You are using them for heat, in the summer. So they work much better. They will still struggle to do much in the off months, and they will not heat very fast, but they will heat to and maintain 90 with no problems. You will need to start them 3-4 weeks before you want to swim. And again, they will not extend your season by much.

 

[kristmas]

('welp kids, propane is out, you'll have to swim in a cold pool!')

Don't worry, they will. Went to visit my MIL in Florida a couple of winters ago and my son would not get out of the pool...the water was 55-60 degrees the entire week.