Need Help! Pool needs new skimmer

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P

poolowner!

0
Jul 22, 2017
11
Dallas/GA
Hello Everyone,
I am sure hoping someone can help me. I just bought a new house and it has a pool. It is a pool made of logs. It is built just like how Lincoln Logs work. It is mostly underground but does not have a main drain and the skimmer mounts to the outside of the pool just like an above ground pool but uses an inground skimmer model (Hayward 1084 11/2 inch). Fairly certain the reason for using the inground model is due to the thickness of the pool wall as the logs are quite large and needs the longer neck that is present on the inground model. I have had a pool maintenance person come and look at the pool because I was losing water. He discovered that the skimmer had been repaired in the past and now would need to be replaced. He said he was not comfortable doing the job as he had never worked on this type of pool. He referred me to a local store/maintenance company that was bought from the company that installed these types of pool throughout this area in the 80's. I talked to the store and they asked for pictures but have not responded since then. I also put in a call to another repairman but he also has not returned my calls. I have found the part online and would purchase and just do it myself but am a bit scared to do the job based on the response from professionals. It looks pretty easy and straight forward-just disconnect from plumbing, unscrew from wall and screw on new skimmer and connect back the plumbing. The pool has a vinyl liner that was replaced last year and is in good shape. I am worried to wait much longer as I have no filtering going and fear the pool will go green soon and have already put so much money into getting it cleaned up since moving in. Any help would be very much appreciated. I also would be so thrilled to find anyone else that has this type of pool!
 
It is something a DIY type person could handle. The way you describe it I would think you've done it before. Post up a couple pics if you can so we can see what your working with. Plumbing connections on the outside of the pool would be good to.

It would be wise to add some bleach/liquid chlorine to the pool each day and use a brush to get it mixed in. It's no fun bringing it back from green to clear.
 
AftonJeeper said:
It is something a DIY type person could handle. The way you describe it I would think you've done it before. Post up a couple pics if you can so we can see what your working with. Plumbing connections on the outside of the pool would be good to.

It would be wise to add some bleach/liquid chlorine to the pool each day and use a brush to get it mixed in. It's no fun bringing it back from green to clear.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your reply. I just now purchased the skimmer and rush ordered it. I will send pictures in the morning as I would love to get all input I can get. I am a total novice when it comes to pools. (I will get the bleach in it first thing as well!)
 
Looks easy enough, you should just need some schedule 40 PVC and a coupling or two. If the new skimmer is the same height as the old one you might be able to just cut the down pipe from the skimmer and use a slip coupling to glue it back together. Make sure you use primer then glue on the joints and apply some teflon tape to the screw in connection on the skimmer.

If you have any more questions let us know!
 
Thanks for the input. I appreciate the confidence! The part should arrive in a day or two. From all I have researched my biggest fear is the liner stretching out of place. Is there any advice for holding it in place? Any known device?
 
Hello again. The part has arrived and I got started on the job. Once i got into it I found that there are screws attaching the skimmer to the front of the pool under the liner. After much contemplating I have decided I will need to make a slice in the liner to get the screws out and then to screw in the new skimmer. I will also need to slightly pull the liner away from the side of the pool in order to slide the skimmer in between the liner and the pool. I will then patch up the slices in the liner. Anyone have any advice or words of warning? I could pay someone to do this, they said they would charge $400 (I have already purchased the skimmer). I am looking for any ideas that anyone may have. If I go ahead with slicing the liner would vertical cuts be the best? Am I crazy to do this myself? I obviously want to avoid paying someone if possible as I just moved and the bills have piled up but if I am creating a bigger problem it may be worth it.
 
The instructions don't show anything going between the liner and the pool wall. You should not need to cut the liner, there should be enough flex in the liner to peel it back some if the old skimmer was installed differently than this one.

Is your skimmer basket trapped by the decking or joists? The basket portion should fall off when you remove the face plate screws.

If slicing is your only option then look for a vinyl liner repair kit like this one.
 
AftonJeeper said:
The instructions don't show anything going between the liner and the pool wall. You should not need to cut the liner, there should be enough flex in the liner to peel it back some if the old skimmer was installed differently than this one.

Is your skimmer basket trapped by the decking or joists? The basket portion should fall off when you remove the face plate screws.

If slicing is your only option then look for a vinyl liner repair kit like this one.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought as well until I tried to remove the skimmer. On page 5 you will see the diagram near the top of the page points to the mounting flange for wood pools. Because of this I am pretty certain I will have to cut the liner. The mounting flange is trapped between the logs and the liner. The only way I can see to remove it is by sliding it upward between the liner and logs. This will entail pulling the liner slightly outward. It also requires that I remove all the decking above it. I am very nervous to cut the liner but see no other option. Thinking a vertical cut is best??? I did not know about the type of repair kit you recommended. I bought a boxer kit and some pool liner to use with it instead of the clearpatch it comes with as I had read that was a better option. Do you have any experience with the type I have already? I would have to put this off longer to get the recommended type.
 

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If it isn't possible to remove the decking then you will have to do some cutting. You should be able to pull the liner away from the wall of the pool once you unscrew the face plate. Maybe that will give you enough room to wiggle the part out, if not you have plan B in place to do a little surgery. Hopefully you can do any minor cutting above the water line.

I haven't had a hole in my liner yet so I have no experience with any of the patch kits. I've seen the one I linked to recommended a few times and since it works below water too I ordered some to have on hand just in case.

Good luck!
 
Hello everyone. Just thought I would provide and update. I have replaced the skimmer. It was a bigger job than I thought but the skimmer is working. The tricky part was removing the old skimmer. I had to cut holes in the skimmer to unscrew the skimmer from the logs that are the sides of the pool. I was able to slide the skimmer up and out once I had the screws out-sorta- that is- as I had a screw that had rusted and had to break apart the skimmer in order to get it fully out. The plumbing was easy and the skimmer works great. The liner did slip a very small amount but didn't create any awful problems. Unfortunately the the gasket must have slipped some and consequently once I filled the pool back up it leaked. I decided to use a quick fix to get through the season and enjoy the pool as well as the fact that I was not looking forward to lowering the water to then have to refill and see once again if I had a leak. So I did what any handy person does-I used Duck tape. For anyone wondering Duck tape sticks underwater! I taped around the outsides of the skimmer and it is still holding. At this point, I may wait until spring to replace the gasket. Now on to figuring out how to prepare the pool for a Georgia winter!
 
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