DIY L Shape - Getting ready for action

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Quick question for everyone...We ran the plumbing to the pad and finished pressure testing. Two threaded pipes failed, one off a return and one for our water bond piece so glad we did the pressure testing! If all goes as planned we have someone coming to do our pool bottom tomorrow. It will be concrete/sand off a truck ready mix and then we'll be putting in the liner and filling on this nice long labor day weekend!!!!! If it rains tomorrow and the floor guy cancels we've decided we'll do it ourselves. I'm not sure which I prefer because it is costing about 4500 for labor/materials.

I have my TFPool test kit and speed stirrer but I've run out of time for researching. Can you give me some quick pointers on what tests to run first and where do I buy CYA? Are there other chemicals besides bleach that I will need on Day 1?

I know absolutely nothing about pool chemistry except what I've been trying to crash course learn between digging, plumbing, more digging and more digging. I never want to pick up a shovel again!!!!

Thanks again everyone for all the help along the way on our crazy idea to put in our own pool. Wow, it is a lot of work and as much as I hated the rain every day it helped soften the clay soil we have here and made the hand digging we had to do easier. When the 5 weeks of rain finally stopped I actually had to hose down the dirt pool floor to finish the last little bit.
 
Ur gonna have a hard time getting a mix truck to wait long enuff for u guys to do the work. I would pay to have floor done it's not easy to diy at all and add the time crunch of truck delivery and u will have issues. With vermiculite u can sand and shape the floor easily w sand mix it hardens and that's it u can't fly fix mistakes it's not forgiving
 
So far the crew is saying we are a go for tomorrow even with showers in the forecast! I watched a floor base install on YouTube today and really think you're right and let the pros do it. I got enough reading in today that I now realize cya is labeled pool stabilizer at stores so I'll look for that when I go to Lowe's on the way home. I just don't want it to go green while we're finishing the electric and plumbing connections.
 
You are on the right track with thinking about getting the water chlorinated. I drug my feet this spring because I didn't totally understand the TFP method and didn't know what test kit I wanted. I literally watched my pool turn green in about 5 days.

I bought my stabilizer from home depot. Just check the label and make sure it is 100% cya. I used pool math to determine the amount and added it in sock fulls in my skimmer. I added about 3/4 of recommended amount and tested. Then use the pool math to calculate how much bleach you need to add and test a half hour to hour later and see if your levels are at your target. You can add bleach and stabilizer at the same time. Don't add Muriatic Acid and Bleach at the same time. When testing your FC use the 10ml mark and you will save on reagent.

With that being said how much longer until you get your pump going? Maybe while the crew is installing the floor you could work on getting your pump installed?
 
My husband will be working on getting the electric up this weekend. Today if I am not pushing wheel barrels of concrete I'll work on finishing the pad plumbing. If I quit asking him to help me with other jobs like putting the tape on the high spots, maybe he'll get it done this weekend. Our first bonding inspection is also today for the lights, pool panels and waterbond. I'm hoping the inspector isn't looking for a continuous loop of copper on those. From my reading it sounds like some inspectors are OK with the lights, ladders etc being connected by an approved lug to the copper loop around the pool and some want it to be a continuous piece of copper between everything.

So at Lowes I bought 20lbs of 100% cya and 6 gallon bottles of pool chlorine. They were out of regular bleach but hopefully next trip I'll have time to shop around because it was not cheap! I am hoping to have time after kids head to school to get my first water test done. I did talk to someone who is a volunteer fireman and his station may be able to come fill the pool rather than using the hose. I'm going to call later today when we know for sure whether the rain is going to cancel the floor being done.

I'm over my quota for uploading images...I think I need to donate or join the website? When I get time, I'll try and figure that out to!
 
Let us know how the inspection goes.

yeah need to shop around to find your best deal for chlorine/bleach that is easy to get to. Don't forget to check your local pool store. They might sell chlorine in the yellow car jugs you put a deposit down on.

Here is how to get a pretty badge by your name and more pics as well as a discount on the test stuff: CLICK HERE to Become a TroubleFreePool.com Supporter!!

Kim:kim:
 
Just a quick update, the hose is in the pool and our bonding passed! What a relief ...we are finally not under pressure of deadlines except getting electric running so the pool doesn't go green. The guys who did the bottom and the driver said it was one of the best digs they'd seen which it should be since it was a lot of hand digging:p
 
My advice is to not fill pool all the way. Get a foot or so up on shallow side if u have fiberglass stairs and leave it be. I did juat that for 3 weeks w no plumbing. I did my plumbing filled the rest about a third w new water which helped thin the green and took the green water to sparkle in 5 days w a slam. My vs pump on max speed the whole time slammimg. U could use a sump pump and liquid chlorine but u gotta be careful u don't wanna bleach the liner w dead areas of sinking bleach. U have at least a week of no issues w water if it sits. Took 2 weeks for mine to start turning color
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply