Moving house... pool included. Expected costs? Updated with (green) results

Jump to latest Follow Reply
S

S1B12

0
May 25, 2017
16
Philadelphia, PA
Hello all,

Great forum, have been reading for over a week or so and learned a lot.

We're closing on a house that has 25 or so year old pool, kidney shape, 18000 gallons. Generally in good condition (I'm surprised for it's age) but was not closed correctly last year.

Im looking at new house budgets right now.... does anyone have an expectation on the costs of chemicals for the season?

Without doing the research needed yet, I am told the water is off the charts hard and will need to be drained as it won't accept chemicals in it's current state so if we go with this plan I need to clean the filters etc but will be starting with fresh water.

Look forward to learning more and getting some crystal blue water.

Updated with progress

Simon
 
Last edited:
Re: Moving house... pool included. Expected costs?

If you haven't signed everything yet make sure to use that as a bargaining chip in your advantage saying "pool company" gonna cost us lots to open pool that hasn't been maintained or something. Then when you move in take your newly acquired tf-100 test kit and these forums and enjoy your trouble free pool
 
Re: Moving house... pool included. Expected costs?

I bought a house last year that came with a pool about twice the size of yours, and have found the costs entirely acceptable. Chemicals are pretty cheap - particularly if you just run with bleach and muriatic acid. Water and electricity are probably the bigger costs. The good news is that, living up north like I do, ~7 months of the year, the pool costs exactly nothing.
 
Re: Moving house... pool included. Expected costs?

If you're following the TFP methodology, total pool-related costs should be well under $100/mo. To solve the initial green may take that much at first, but hopefully less. Main costs are electricity, water, and chemicals. Chemicals we use are much cheaper than what pool stores will sell you, and by taking advantage of constantly testing your pool chemistry, you avoid major problems that would typically cost hundreds to fix. Electricity can be managed by using an appropriately-sized pump, and investing in a timer if needed to make sure it only runs as long as it needs to per day. Water costs you can't avoid, but by not filling your pool with store chems you avoid having to do major drains/refills, and by using some common tips around here (hairnets in skimmer) you avoid constant backwashing which saves water. Main investment is a good test kit, which will run you $50 or so per year to refresh the reagents.

As always though, it depends on your finding a good source of bleach, electricity costs in your area, and your pool setup. But it's pretty manageable.

For now ignore the "off the charts hard" thing. Once you're in charge, get a good test kit and post results here. Plenty of folks here have really hard water and can manage it just fine. "Can't accept chemicals" is probably pool store lingo for "we put so much CYA in your water you can't even begin to sanitize it anymore".
 
Re: Moving house... pool included. Expected costs?

So here's where I'm at - rough start to pool ownership!

I drained 3/4 of the water do dilute the extreme hardness rating (this was in progress when i first posted) as well a clear a lot of heavy branches etc from the pool.

The filter is running and I've added shock as well as bleach and 'Green to Clean'... I now have a murky green pool....

Waiting on my test kit to arrive so here are pool store results (Leslies') - suggestion that high TA is from recent rain.

FAC 2
TAC 3
CH 280
CYA 60
TA 170
PH 7.8
Copper 0
Iron 0
TDS 1000
Pho 0

Next steps:
Order an accurate test kit from the comparison chart.
Read pool school for the third time so i have a good understanding of the chemistry.
Order a solar cover.

Another point, the pressure is constantly around 22PSI, nearing 30 at this point. From the previous owner it has always ran around 20PSI but in comparison to the majority of the posts here that seems high.

I've attached some pictures of the pool and equipment for reference. Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Thanks for any insights anyone can provide.
 
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