New member been lurking around and soaking it all in for a couple weeks now. We are a little over a week into our build. Plumbing starts Monday. Most of our details are in my signature, I just need to finalize the sanitizer part. The most important part right! We went into this wanting salt. Then waivered towards ozone/chlorine which is the direction our builder is going now. Now I'm leaning back towards salt but concerned about corrosion and long term maintenance. Anyways, those are not topics of debate here, I'm sorting through it all as I explore TFP. Looks like a great group of people and information here.
Kozmos from Oklahoma
- Thread starter Kozmos
- Start date
I am not an IG expert but I don't read great comments about in-floor cleaners and ozone can be great for indoor or high demand pools but outdoor residential pools seem happiest with liquid chlorine (stenner/Liquidator/manual) or an SWG. No CU systems or minerals needed. Just chlorine from the bottle or the SWG.
Just passing along my perceptions which may not apply to your location.
Just passing along my perceptions which may not apply to your location.
Kozmos, welcome to TFP! Lots of good data here about the things you are considering, but if you can't find an answer, don't hesitate to ask. As you pointed out, a great group of people that are always willing to help. I am amazed at the range and depth of knowledge here, cheerfully shared. Again welcome. (ps, I'm quite happy with my salt system)
Mike
Mike
Welcome to TFP, and glad you are here!
You will get mixed reviews on the in floor cleaners, but there are lots of reports of trouble with them here. Save your money on the Ozone. Chlorine, whether it be from salt generation or dosing is all you need. If you are concerned about salt damage to you decking or coping, it is a valid concern, but it will require you to seal the decking material regularly.
You will get mixed reviews on the in floor cleaners, but there are lots of reports of trouble with them here. Save your money on the Ozone. Chlorine, whether it be from salt generation or dosing is all you need. If you are concerned about salt damage to you decking or coping, it is a valid concern, but it will require you to seal the decking material regularly.
Welcome to TFP! 
I would ditch both the in-floor cleaners and the ozone generator. With the cleaners, you have that much more plumbing under the pool. The concept sounds cool until you need to service any of the associated plumbing. At that point, the "coolness" factor will be lost quickly.
It sounds like your pool build is already underway. One thing I would specify is that no plumbing is run under the pool unless it is absolutely necessary (such as the main drains). Some builders use the "direct piping" method, meaning they run the plumbing under the pool if that is the shortest, most direct route. You don't want that. In the event the plumbing must ever be serviced, you want to get at it without tearing into the gunite.
Pool builders often try to push a lot of "gee-whiz" type stuff during the bidding process. At the end of the day, you will likely be happier in the long run if you keep things as simple as possible with an eye toward reducing potential and unnecessary maintenance/repair headaches.
I would ditch both the in-floor cleaners and the ozone generator. With the cleaners, you have that much more plumbing under the pool. The concept sounds cool until you need to service any of the associated plumbing. At that point, the "coolness" factor will be lost quickly.
^What he said.Brushpup said:
It sounds like your pool build is already underway. One thing I would specify is that no plumbing is run under the pool unless it is absolutely necessary (such as the main drains). Some builders use the "direct piping" method, meaning they run the plumbing under the pool if that is the shortest, most direct route. You don't want that. In the event the plumbing must ever be serviced, you want to get at it without tearing into the gunite.
Pool builders often try to push a lot of "gee-whiz" type stuff during the bidding process. At the end of the day, you will likely be happier in the long run if you keep things as simple as possible with an eye toward reducing potential and unnecessary maintenance/repair headaches.
Welcome to TFP!
Agree with the others, especially on the ozone system. You can save a little money by dropping that off. It does what the sun does for free. If you have an indoor pool though, ozone is a good option.
I would encourage you to go ahead and get yourself a TF-100 test kit from tftestkits.net. Good idea to start off right with the best test kit you can get. It will help prevent numerous water balance issues down the road because it will give you accurate test numbers that you can depend on.
Agree with the others, especially on the ozone system. You can save a little money by dropping that off. It does what the sun does for free. If you have an indoor pool though, ozone is a good option.
I would encourage you to go ahead and get yourself a TF-100 test kit from tftestkits.net. Good idea to start off right with the best test kit you can get. It will help prevent numerous water balance issues down the road because it will give you accurate test numbers that you can depend on.
Thanks for the input! The build is fully underway even with above normal rain for us. Looks like the gunite starts Monday. Before then I have to re-route 2 unknown drain lines (gutters and fire pit), remove some sprinkler system parts and add 2 rows to our retaining wall. I didn't know having a pool built would be so much work! The ozone is gone for a swg but the in-floor stays. I'll get the good test kit ordered as we get closer to completion. Until then I continue to read and learn. On a side note my son fractured his elbow on the giant pile of dirt from the build so his swimming days will likely be delayed by a few weeks. I did tell him he could put his feet in the water when he wasn't serving us drinks! He was OK with that.
Got 2 nice green stickers from the county inspector! Due to the slope of our yard we had to add 2 rows of blocks to our retaining wall. Wife and I did this today but I think we may need to add 1 more row in a section to get the grade we need from the deck to the wall. No rain and cool weather predicted for the next 7 days so I hope to see a lot of progress this week.
