Hi new friends. I joined up about a week ago and I've gotten TONS of help, so I guess it's about time I introduce myself. 
We are empty-nesters with four kids out on their own. We got bored during the pandemic and decided to look for a different house. We were mainly looking for something that would provide us with an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) for my mom so she can "age in place"...and we found it on two lovely acres with a creek running through it, room for my mom's miniature horses, and....a swimming pool. We thought the pool would need to be resurfaced, but it turns out that somewhere under the calcium layer and about 40 sq ft of thick black algae, there's a PebbleTec(esque?) surface that is probably pretty decent.
We are not new to pool maintenance. Our parents had pools when we were kids, and we both have experience taking care of them. But we had never experienced green algae, and had no idea black algae was even a thing. (Guess our parents knew what they were doing!) When we moved into this house, the previous owner told us to keep pucks in the filter and toss in a bag of dry shock once a week. That's it! And so we did....
Well, after our first winter and a spring season of mallards nesting near our pool, we ended up with an olive green lake. After the ducklings learned to swim and went on their way, we attacked the pool hard with....more pucks and more dry shock. And guess what we ended up with? More algae!
We were stymied. The pool was becoming a money pit and nothing seemed to help. So, I took to the internet and soon found....TFP!!!
Fast forward 10 days and I'm all in. I learned about CYA and FC, switched to liquid chlorine, drained and refilled the pool to get rid of the off-the-charts CYA, cleaned the filters, and started a SLAM. I now own a fancy test kit, a vacuum & hose, a steel brush for the BA, and I just put a SpeedStir in my cart (and I got an invitation to have dinner with Jeff Bezos on his new yacht).
Tonight, I made my second visit to Leslie's Pool Store for more LC. While waiting my turn, I listened to the clerk explaining to an unsuspecting couple about all the stuff they would need to put in their pool to make it better and I was dying to jump in. But how rude would that be? But then again, how rude NOT to say anything??? Ugh. I was wishing I had something like a business card that I could slip them on their way out the door with the TFP web address on it.
Then it was my turn and I ordered up my 5 cases of LC. While the clerk was stacking it on a dolly for me, another customer asked me if I use only LC, or if I use pucks too. So...I got to tell my story! And I told her about TFP!!! I was so happy. I felt like I got to do some good in the world.
I never bad-mouthed the pool store, but I did talk about CYA and how high mine was from using pucks and dry shock, and the other customer was nodding her head...she had the same problem and had already figured out the cause! I told her I just finished draining and filling my pool, and now I'm adding CYA manually to get it just right. I told her to find TFP online and all these wonderful people would help her fix the problem. And I made sure to say that TFP is all volunteers and they aren't selling anything!
But the clerk was NOT so happy with me!
She interrupted and suggested - politely - that pucks would be the best way to stabilize AND chlorinate the new water and I replied - politely - that maybe that's an option, but personally, I'm sticking to getting the balance fine-tuned myself. I swear the other customer recognized what was going on and gave me a knowing look as the clerk tried to "help".
We all parted ways with friendly adieus, but I definitely became "that lady" at the pool store. But hopefully, I turned someone new on to TFP...we'll see if she happens to show up here in the forums one day!
And I will close my intro by saying as I've said many times in the past 10 days....THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone here for being so welcoming and helpful. I am thrilled to be learning so much and feeling more confident every day that I will soon have a beautiful pool that is inviting and safe (for humans, not ducks).
We are empty-nesters with four kids out on their own. We got bored during the pandemic and decided to look for a different house. We were mainly looking for something that would provide us with an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) for my mom so she can "age in place"...and we found it on two lovely acres with a creek running through it, room for my mom's miniature horses, and....a swimming pool. We thought the pool would need to be resurfaced, but it turns out that somewhere under the calcium layer and about 40 sq ft of thick black algae, there's a PebbleTec(esque?) surface that is probably pretty decent.
We are not new to pool maintenance. Our parents had pools when we were kids, and we both have experience taking care of them. But we had never experienced green algae, and had no idea black algae was even a thing. (Guess our parents knew what they were doing!) When we moved into this house, the previous owner told us to keep pucks in the filter and toss in a bag of dry shock once a week. That's it! And so we did....
Well, after our first winter and a spring season of mallards nesting near our pool, we ended up with an olive green lake. After the ducklings learned to swim and went on their way, we attacked the pool hard with....more pucks and more dry shock. And guess what we ended up with? More algae!
We were stymied. The pool was becoming a money pit and nothing seemed to help. So, I took to the internet and soon found....TFP!!!
Fast forward 10 days and I'm all in. I learned about CYA and FC, switched to liquid chlorine, drained and refilled the pool to get rid of the off-the-charts CYA, cleaned the filters, and started a SLAM. I now own a fancy test kit, a vacuum & hose, a steel brush for the BA, and I just put a SpeedStir in my cart (and I got an invitation to have dinner with Jeff Bezos on his new yacht).
Tonight, I made my second visit to Leslie's Pool Store for more LC. While waiting my turn, I listened to the clerk explaining to an unsuspecting couple about all the stuff they would need to put in their pool to make it better and I was dying to jump in. But how rude would that be? But then again, how rude NOT to say anything??? Ugh. I was wishing I had something like a business card that I could slip them on their way out the door with the TFP web address on it.
Then it was my turn and I ordered up my 5 cases of LC. While the clerk was stacking it on a dolly for me, another customer asked me if I use only LC, or if I use pucks too. So...I got to tell my story! And I told her about TFP!!! I was so happy. I felt like I got to do some good in the world.
I never bad-mouthed the pool store, but I did talk about CYA and how high mine was from using pucks and dry shock, and the other customer was nodding her head...she had the same problem and had already figured out the cause! I told her I just finished draining and filling my pool, and now I'm adding CYA manually to get it just right. I told her to find TFP online and all these wonderful people would help her fix the problem. And I made sure to say that TFP is all volunteers and they aren't selling anything!
But the clerk was NOT so happy with me!
She interrupted and suggested - politely - that pucks would be the best way to stabilize AND chlorinate the new water and I replied - politely - that maybe that's an option, but personally, I'm sticking to getting the balance fine-tuned myself. I swear the other customer recognized what was going on and gave me a knowing look as the clerk tried to "help".We all parted ways with friendly adieus, but I definitely became "that lady" at the pool store. But hopefully, I turned someone new on to TFP...we'll see if she happens to show up here in the forums one day!
And I will close my intro by saying as I've said many times in the past 10 days....THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone here for being so welcoming and helpful. I am thrilled to be learning so much and feeling more confident every day that I will soon have a beautiful pool that is inviting and safe (for humans, not ducks).
Fortunately, I'd already read enough here to know that's not true, and I said - politely -"well, not really....I mean..." and then she interrupted me. That's about the time I figured it was best to exit gracefully or I might not be allowed back! lol
