Buying a house with an inground pool

[Stephs2125]

Hello, we have put an offer in (which was accepted) on a "new to us" house that has a very large inground pool. The current owner bought the house as a foreclosure a few years ago and therefor has no manuals, records, or anything really regarding the pool beyond her own maintenance when she took possession and she basically just hired a pool company to deal with it for her as she is not the "hands on" type.
I prefer to have a personal understanding of how things work and to maintain them myself (whenever I can) so I am doing a little advanced homework to learn what I can about the pool and the components.
I am not new to pools, I had a small above ground, salt-water pool for nearly 10 years, but this inground pool is a monster, and it is a little intimidating.

Here is what I know:

• Pool was put in sometime between 2000 and 2004 (there are aerial photographs of the subdivision that show no pool in 2000 then no photos until 2004 which then shows a pool)
• Pool is 25 x 45 with a diving board and slide. I don’t know how deep the deep end is, but I am told it is 55,000 gallons total.
• Pool has a liner (6 years old), and the shape is called Gothic (with 4’ radius curves).
• The steps or on the right side and there is an additional ladder on the deep end.
• The filter is a Jacuzzi Tri-Clops model TC-300
• It has a 399,000 BTU heater, brand is Jandy

We have required the pool to be opened (we live in MI) prior to our closing date in May so we can have it inspected prior to finalizing the sale.
Beyond the obvious things (test the mechanics, coping, look for any obvious damage to liner, etc.) to be aware of, do you have suggestions for what else I should be concerned about, looking for, etc.?

Also, if you have any experience with this Jacuzzi filter or Jandy heater, please share your wisdom as I cannot find an owners manual online so I’m guessing they are fairly old.

Last, I will need to invest in a safety cover (dogs/kids) and I'm curious if a standard rectangle cover will work on a Gothic shape (it's basically a rectangle with inward curving corners) or if I will need to custom order one? Thoughts on that?

Kindly,
Stephanie

 

[Adamphotoman]

Add your equipment to the signature. I would test to see if you have leaks in the plumbing. One way is to simulate a power outage. Turn of the pump and see if the pump will maintain prime after being off for a few hours.

 

[bmoreswim]

Have the pool run for 24 hours, noting the water height before and after. Also let the pool set for 24 hours doing the same thing. It's a good check for leaks. Or you can do a bucket test to check for leaks. As seen here...Leak Detection - Trouble Free Pool.

Obviously test the heater. Let it run for 24 hours and note the temp increase and check for leaks.

Open up the filter and check for the state of the internals. Check all valves to make sure they function smoothly.

Are you referring to a winter safety cover or something to use in season?

 

[mguzzy]

Yo Steph
Welcome to the forum and ... Nice pool... you will like it. Its just like your other pool.. only bigger. If you plan on doing the maintenance on this beast your self... you will need a good test kit:
Test Kits Compared
I like the TFTkits personally
And if you plan on using the TFP protocol, you should read up on the procedures we use here... the are not like pool store recommendations
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

You can get a cover that overlaps the edges of the corners, but I have seen that discolor some tinted stamped concrete like you have. Can you find the model numbers of your heater and filter? take a pic and post it, someone around here will have access to the manuals for you.

 

[Stephs2125]

Have the pool run for 24 hours, noting the water height before and after. Also let the pool set for 24 hours doing the same thing. It's a good check for leaks. Or you can do a bucket test to check for leaks. As seen here...Leak Detection - Trouble Free Pool.

Obviously test the heater. Let it run for 24 hours and note the temp increase and check for leaks.

Open up the filter and check for the state of the internals. Check all valves to make sure they function smoothly.

Are you referring to a winter safety cover or something to use in season?

Winter safety cover - so the dogs don't sink when they inevitably step on it.

 

[bmoreswim]

Probably a custom sized cover for this reason. Your cover should have a second layer under the edges to helps absorb/deal with abrasion from the coping/edge of pool as the cover springs are compressed and the cover drops to the water line with a snow load. If you go with a rectangular, the gothic corner areas will fall inside of the extra fabric layer, and lead to abrasion on the cover itself. At least that's the way my Merlin cover is designed. The extra layer of fabric is attached via Velcro and is about 2' in width. Merlin, LoopLoc and GLI are three top brand winter covers. There may be others.

Your next decision will be solid or mesh. I have mesh. It's much lighter, though still heavy. But you don't have as much wiggle room for closing late and opening early to avoid opening to a green pool as you might with a solid cover. Though I've never opened to anything but a clear pool with my mesh cover. But I do open early and close late.

 

[Orion7319]

Just to share my experience with purchasing a house with a pool. We bought our current house almost two years ago. We didn’t know anything about pools at the time. We thought we were doing our due diligence and paid the home inspector extra to inspect the pool who claimed they knew all about pools. The inspector said the pool was fine with no issues. At the time of the inspection the previous owners had let the pool turn green. Once we got the water cleared we noticed the liner was in horrible shape and there were cracks in the fiberglass steps. Also the pump was leaking as well as the valve for the filter. Long story short, turns out the liner was completely bleached out and leaking and the stairs were busted as the soil had eroded underneath them due to the return line in the steps leaking under the concrete. We had to have the stairs busted out and replaced and a new liner installed. Also had to have the valve for the filter replaced and the pump eventually went out within the year. Point is make sure your home inspector really knows how to properly inspect a pool.

 

[Stephs2125]

Just to share my experience with purchasing a house with a pool. We bought our current house almost two years ago. We didn’t know anything about pools at the time. We thought we were doing our due diligence and paid the home inspector extra to inspect the pool who claimed they knew all about pools. The inspector said the pool was fine with no issues. At the time of the inspection the previous owners had let the pool turn green. Once we got the water cleared we noticed the liner was in horrible shape and there were cracks in the fiberglass steps. Also the pump was leaking as well as the valve for the filter. Long story short, turns out the liner was completely bleached out and leaking and the stairs were busted as the soil had eroded underneath them due to the return line in the steps leaking under the concrete. We had to have the stairs busted out and replaced and a new liner installed. Also had to have the valve for the filter replaced and the pump eventually went out within the year. Point is make sure your home inspector really knows how to properly inspect a pool.

Thanks for that. I plan to hire a separate inspection of the pool from a local pool store. I can only hope they will know the in's and out's better than a standard home inspector.

 

[Orion7319]

Thanks for that. I plan to hire a separate inspection of the pool from a local pool store. I can only hope they will know the in's and out's better than a standard home inspector.

Good plan!

 

[Casey]

That's a monster pool. I want it! Lol

Welcome to TFP

 

[Stephs2125]

That's a monster pool. I want it! Lol

Welcome to TFP

It is huge, lol. A little intimidating TBH, and thanks for the welcome

 

[Khuxford]

It is huge, lol. A little intimidating TBH, and thanks for the welcome

Welcome! We purchased our home last summer with the exact same size pool. I know it’s intimidating, but you can rest easy know that everything runs the same, you just need a little more of everything! You’re in good hands here.