RoyR
Bronze Supporter
Let the games begin...
- Thread starter PlaysARobin
- Start date
Non stop rain, since shortly after Imelda was named. Though it was downgraded, its been a serious downpour since. Couple of neighbor's rain gauges show between 20 and 23" of rain the past 36 hours. Our neighborhood sits high, and our house is one of the higher ones.
Spa is nearly full, and the pool clearly has a significant amount in it.
Spa is nearly full, and the pool clearly has a significant amount in it.
Attachments
- Jul 17, 2019
- 3,714
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
RoyR
Bronze Supporter
- Jan 7, 2012
- 1,430
- Pool Size
- 21000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
May I ask who you chose as your builder? I'm in the process of selecting one for my upcoming build in The Woodlands.
We went with Backyard Amenities. They've been local to Mont Belvieu for quite a while and came highly recommended, by far more people than any other builder. I have no complaints outside of some VERY minor (in the grand scheme) details.
Thank you! All really is well for us. We took on a LOT of water, but our neighborhood/builder/planning engineer did a fantastic job ensuring drainage was more than sufficient. The same cannot be said for others, even within a few miles. Those greatest affected are about 20 minutes east of us, and we're all (area wide) lending as many hands as we can. Definitely a reminder that all things are precious, temporary, and live each day to the fullest. Hurricane Harvey was two years ago, and Imelda, though for our immediate area was not as severe. A lot of rain from Harvey was dumped Immediately and this was just continuous. Quite a bit of work post-Harvey to ensure the bayous and drainage canals were up to the task, and they performed amazingly. Some larger developers building locally also had liability during Harvey that was well addressed.
Please post your levels....check FC before you get algae!
No lie! That rain water/run off/ground water that filled the pool smelled absolutely TERRIBLE after less than a day. Builder had it pumped out yesterday morning and another quick cleanup done. Guess I should get off my rear and test my fill water, NOW.
Turns out, today is plaster day and I was COMPLETELY unaware! Left for the Gym at 7 this morning and came back to this...
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WHAT?????? 
OH YEAH!!!
Okay here are your directions for this stage. Put some socks on the ends of your hoses. This will help filter the water and keep the metal off the new plaster. Make sure the end of the hoses are right at the lowest part of your pool to keep an channels do not form from the flow of water.
Do NOT stop the water for any reason once it starts. If you do a ring might form on the new palster
Kim
OH YEAH!!!Okay here are your directions for this stage. Put some socks on the ends of your hoses. This will help filter the water and keep the metal off the new plaster. Make sure the end of the hoses are right at the lowest part of your pool to keep an channels do not form from the flow of water.
Do NOT stop the water for any reason once it starts. If you do a ring might form on the new palster
Kim
Acid was happened today, while we were at church. They started filling shortly before we got home, so I may be 200-300ish gallons off, on my final fill numbers. I may just run the night like normal regarding showers and all, and call it even. I assume it would be close enough, all things considered.
Finish looks fantastic. I could probably get nitpicky, but there is only 1 spot I'm not thrilled about, and I believe brushing will be all that is necessary. I've added 2 additional hoses, as the single one they set up was only gonna manage 5gpm, or 300gph, and would have taken just under 2 days to fill the pool, by their 15.5k estimates. Three hoses going, socked up, and now managing 20GPM, so fill should be done by morning.
Supposed to fire up the equipment tomorrow and get the run down on initial operation, and then they'll discuss the next 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days before its fully handed over to myself for operation and managing. We've been given nothing to add to the water, at this point. I'll follow up shortly with our tap water results. Given some rather unexpected events this past week (Imelda, wife wrecking her car and preparing for her travel/work week ahead of us) I've not gotten any MA or Liquid chlorine. We've got a Leslie's and Cryer's pool supply locally, so I know neither of those will be an issue, even if its a little higher priced. This assumes the builder doesn't keep a close enough eye on the water.
I'll plan on taking daily fill pictures until the color fully stabilizes, which I guesstimate to be roughly 7 days, based on other build threads. Plaster/Color is Wet Edge Prism: Kaleidoscope.
Finish looks fantastic. I could probably get nitpicky, but there is only 1 spot I'm not thrilled about, and I believe brushing will be all that is necessary. I've added 2 additional hoses, as the single one they set up was only gonna manage 5gpm, or 300gph, and would have taken just under 2 days to fill the pool, by their 15.5k estimates. Three hoses going, socked up, and now managing 20GPM, so fill should be done by morning.
Supposed to fire up the equipment tomorrow and get the run down on initial operation, and then they'll discuss the next 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days before its fully handed over to myself for operation and managing. We've been given nothing to add to the water, at this point. I'll follow up shortly with our tap water results. Given some rather unexpected events this past week (Imelda, wife wrecking her car and preparing for her travel/work week ahead of us) I've not gotten any MA or Liquid chlorine. We've got a Leslie's and Cryer's pool supply locally, so I know neither of those will be an issue, even if its a little higher priced. This assumes the builder doesn't keep a close enough eye on the water.
I'll plan on taking daily fill pictures until the color fully stabilizes, which I guesstimate to be roughly 7 days, based on other build threads. Plaster/Color is Wet Edge Prism: Kaleidoscope.
Attachments
- Jul 17, 2019
- 3,714
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Last week was rough, but sounds like you are starting off this week on the right foot.
PS - I like that toe tile, it coordinates nicely.
PS - I like that toe tile, it coordinates nicely.
What a week Guessing wife is okay but making sure. You have a solid plan for the upcoming times.
Kim
Guessing wife is okay but making sure. You have a solid plan for the upcoming times.Kim
Testing out the pool math setup.. If this works, my initial test results should be here. Ran all the tests twice, but the TA test stumped me a bit. I realized I was mixing, rather than swirling the first time and could not get the drop to turn red. Second time I swirled and called it at 120, when it appeared red as a drop, then it vanished. I could go reasonably to 20+ drops before it would be predominantly red, which seems ridiculously high.
The PH is the red flag, but the builder (local to the area, and warned me of this very result) said the PH is high in our area, and to just be prepared for it. So 7.8 (and realistically it may be closer to 7.9) is gonna be a fun starting point, for the first month of plaster. Guessing I'll need MA by the case, for a while.
PoolMath Logs
Well, link works to the log, but not to any sort of quick reference I'd seen recently. Attaching a screen shot.
The PH is the red flag, but the builder (local to the area, and warned me of this very result) said the PH is high in our area, and to just be prepared for it. So 7.8 (and realistically it may be closer to 7.9) is gonna be a fun starting point, for the first month of plaster. Guessing I'll need MA by the case, for a while.
PoolMath Logs
Well, link works to the log, but not to any sort of quick reference I'd seen recently. Attaching a screen shot.
Attachments
Thanks! My wife was the mastermind behind colors. Not gonna lie, we felt like we were intentionally shooting from the hip with the colors. Its such a difficult thing to do with zero experience, and only reference pictures at all times of day/year at the mercy of a cheap TV or monitor and unknown photography equipment.
Regarding the weather, It was rough, but we were far more fortunate than many. A lot of people worrying about getting sheetrock, furniture, cabinets and carpet out of their homes before mold and other issues set in, while trying to manage getting an insurance claim going and wading through it all. I have ZERO to complain about, and only an endless list of things to be grateful for!
What a week
Kim
I should have said so! Yes, Wife and son (14) are good. No injuries for any involved, and only the stress of the moment. We've got most of the details worked out, but I'll handle the body shop this week. We were mid-way through a new car purchase so this sort of forced the hand, but, nothing we can't sort through, and come out fine on the other side.
RoyR
Bronze Supporter
- Jul 17, 2019
- 3,714
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I remember you said your SWCG is plumbed similar to mine with a 90 right before it. Have you turned it on yet and did that 90 cause any flow sensor issues?
It'll be a few weeks before we start it up. They did initially plumb it with the inlet too short, and I had them extend it to the 10" requirement, which also extended the discharge side. Time will tell, I suppose.
Pool finished filling around 0800. I dropped down to a single hose so I could sleep last night without worry. Turned on all three hoses with about 2.5 hours to go. Builder showed up around 0830 and began the start up process. Wife and I left the house at 0715 to get to the body shop, drop her off at work, figure out rental and pickup of the new vehicle so its been a busy day. Attached are some photos that I'll contrast agains the 'balanced' water and settled in colors in about a week.
Originally the water was VERY green and somewhat cloudy. The PB added stabilizer and several cases of MA. That circulates until tomorrow, then they'll be back to shock it and will have us run Chlorine tabs (2 in each skimmer) for 21 days until they'll add the salt and we'll start up the SWCG. I'll keep a close eye on CYA, and when I'm at target, I'm gonna swap to Liquid Chlorine and monitor. If anyone's experience here objects to that methodology, I'm certainly open to suggestions. Start right. End right. Whatever it takes for MY pool to be correct, without jeopardizing my PB's warranty card for our plaster. They did leave us a brush, pole, and skimmer net. Used the whale brush right after using theirs. Both work well, but MAN does the whale brush make life a whole lot easier. Surprisingly we're not getting much plaster dust. I'll brush twice a day through the end of the week and monitor cartridge pressure. I'm gonna order a spare set of filters to make swaps easy, then clean the spare set and set them aside until the next round.
Wife is beside herself, wanting to be home just to stare at the thing, even though we can't swim in it until likely sunday/monday when the water is deemed 'safe' by those in charge. I got the screen logic stuff hooked up to our Wifi, so we'll sit and play with lights tonight. Should satisfy for a few days, I hope!
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Well, time for an update. Conveniently, at least. The next few weeks and into the holidays get rather busy for us between work, family activities, etc.
Had some nice full sun opportunity to take pictures. Color has settled in nicely. My wife is hoping for a little more blue, but I'm loving the aquamarine (was the direction I wanted), and at only 5 days filled with chemicals (via PB), it has definitely transitioned from predominantly green, to this lovely hue.
PB was adamant that we do absolutely nothing to deviate from their start up process. Since they hold the warranty card, I've abided (mostly). Initially, FC was at a 3, and PH was TANKED, and well below the 6.8 range. We were given the 'all clear' to swim, but our start up guy copied and pasted the first google comments on swimming in low PH water "don't open your eyes, or try to use some goggles". Wasn't gonna let the kids in, regardless. He was adamant that their process required PH to be as low as possible, as long as possible for the first 7-10 days, then maintain the standard range. I turned on our sprayers last night, and I've currently got the PH at 7.3, and I'll maintain it right in that range. FC is currently around 5 or 6.
Still getting used to the testing, but its coming along nicely. Going to run the full gamut and update my pool math numbers this even, around sunset. We'll swim today, for the first time. Kids are pumped, and wife is on her way back from Austin/San Antonio for a work trip.
Couple of small follow up items the builder is working through. Had some cracks show up immediately on a piece of concrete. Their guys broke the entire section out and poured fresh piece (around 25 sq ft) in place. Looks wonderful.
The Spa, however, has a small leak they're having a difficult time figuring out. Looking likely that they're going to have to remove tile in order to get in deeper. I'll attach that pic as well. Only happens when the pump is running, and he already drained the spa to inspect the plumbing, and found what he thought could be the issue. Since starting it back up, its not changed. I'm almost convinced its actually a wicking effect from the spillover, traveling back up the travertine split face, and being drawn to the concrete. Somewhat difficult to wrap the head around, but like I said, I'm almost convinced. PB doesn't think thats the case, but doesn't have a better idea. Really didn't want to get invasive, as the tile work is really good, and I absolute do NOT want an eye sore. The leak is currently an eye sore, though.
Had some nice full sun opportunity to take pictures. Color has settled in nicely. My wife is hoping for a little more blue, but I'm loving the aquamarine (was the direction I wanted), and at only 5 days filled with chemicals (via PB), it has definitely transitioned from predominantly green, to this lovely hue.
PB was adamant that we do absolutely nothing to deviate from their start up process. Since they hold the warranty card, I've abided (mostly). Initially, FC was at a 3, and PH was TANKED, and well below the 6.8 range. We were given the 'all clear' to swim, but our start up guy copied and pasted the first google comments on swimming in low PH water "don't open your eyes, or try to use some goggles". Wasn't gonna let the kids in, regardless. He was adamant that their process required PH to be as low as possible, as long as possible for the first 7-10 days, then maintain the standard range. I turned on our sprayers last night, and I've currently got the PH at 7.3, and I'll maintain it right in that range. FC is currently around 5 or 6.
Still getting used to the testing, but its coming along nicely. Going to run the full gamut and update my pool math numbers this even, around sunset. We'll swim today, for the first time. Kids are pumped, and wife is on her way back from Austin/San Antonio for a work trip.
Couple of small follow up items the builder is working through. Had some cracks show up immediately on a piece of concrete. Their guys broke the entire section out and poured fresh piece (around 25 sq ft) in place. Looks wonderful.
The Spa, however, has a small leak they're having a difficult time figuring out. Looking likely that they're going to have to remove tile in order to get in deeper. I'll attach that pic as well. Only happens when the pump is running, and he already drained the spa to inspect the plumbing, and found what he thought could be the issue. Since starting it back up, its not changed. I'm almost convinced its actually a wicking effect from the spillover, traveling back up the travertine split face, and being drawn to the concrete. Somewhat difficult to wrap the head around, but like I said, I'm almost convinced. PB doesn't think thats the case, but doesn't have a better idea. Really didn't want to get invasive, as the tile work is really good, and I absolute do NOT want an eye sore. The leak is currently an eye sore, though.
Attachments
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Man that came out SO pretty! NO wonder your wife wants to sit by it and look at it!! WOWZER!!
They may have missed putting water proofing in the spa wall
Keep your pump running 24/7 with tablets in the skimmers so the the chemicals don't build up in the lines.
Kim
They may have missed putting water proofing in the spa wall
Keep your pump running 24/7 with tablets in the skimmers so the the chemicals don't build up in the lines.
Kim
Very nice build! Brad also build my pool a few years back and did a great job.... i moved a little farther and im trying to convince him to come out for a bid when this season is over..
Curious though, did they found where the leak was coming from?
Curious though, did they found where the leak was coming from?