New build in NW Austin suburb.

[Funkatation]

Took these out of the pump basket. PB said it was normal. Look large to me.

 

[kimkats]

can you find the matching hole they came out of?

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Took these out of the pump basket. PB said it was normal. Look large to me.

I found several large pieces like that after startup, and a bunch of small stuff as well. I still occasionally find a small piece in the pump strainer or my leaf collector (in-floor system). I never considered that it was coming off of the pool, just that there was debris in the pipes from the plaster.

--Jeff

 

[DB-Cooper]

Took these out of the pump basket. PB said it was normal. Look large to me.

Do you have bar stools or any other atypical feature under water?

Those look large to me. I never see anything more than sand in my baskets or cleaner. I do however have bar stools with a leuder cap. When they sprayed the plaster, some residual plaster got on the under side of the cap. It’s not visible, but overtime some of those pieces have come off. Mostly from me scraping them with my hands/nails as I prefer the smoother underside. They’re similar size to that, but I’ve never had anything close to that come off on its own anywhere else in my plaster.

 

[Funkatation]

Not sure where else to ask this so hopefully y'all can help. The pool school from the PB was less than helpful. So I have a VS 2.7HP pump, and a Booster Pump for the pool cleaner. Do both have to be running in order for it to work? Does the filter pump need to be running 100%? They said yes, but I am not sure. They didn't even program a schedule or anything so I get to figure that out too. In addition, the "automation" I have isn't what I was told. I was told I'd be able to turn my 3 water features on and off individually with my phone. I have to turn them off and on manually with the valve, and I was also told to get what I wanted, I needed another pump?!? This PB is starting to really piss me off!

 

[Dtkokay]

I don’t have a booster pump, so can’t help you there. I use an electric robot for my cleaner.

By 100% for your filter pump, was the PB talking about how long to run the pump (as in 24/7) or the power/speed? With a variable speed pump, I can’t imagine why you’d every run it at 100% power. At least with mine, you set it by the RPM, not %.

As for the water features, my water feature valve has an electric motor that turns the valve on and off. The motor physically turns the valve. Maybe ask your builder if they can do that because that has to be cheaper than installing another pump. I’m guessing your contract doesn’t specify that the water features are part of the automation system?

 

[DB-Cooper]

Not sure where else to ask this so hopefully y'all can help. The pool school from the PB was less than helpful. So I have a VS 2.7HP pump, and a Booster Pump for the pool cleaner. Do both have to be running in order for it to work? Does the filter pump need to be running 100%? They said yes, but I am not sure. They didn't even program a schedule or anything so I get to figure that out too. In addition, the "automation" I have isn't what I was told. I was told I'd be able to turn my 3 water features on and off individually with my phone. I have to turn them off and on manually with the valve, and I was also told to get what I wanted, I needed another pump?!? This PB is starting to really piss me off!

There's some info here:

Routine Pump/Filter Maintenance - Trouble Free Pool

A working Filter and pump are vital parts for your pool. Read our artiticle on how to clean your filter & other Pool Maintenance Tips.

www.troublefreepool.com

I have a VSF pump and a new pool in Austin. I created a spreadsheet that monitors efficiency at different RPMs and total flow to try and optimize power usage. I now don't care so much, but I definitely think running your pump 24/7 is absolute overkill and will cost you a lot of energy.

There are a lot of people who think you should turn over your pool 1-2 times, but even now people say that could be excessive. I have a VSF pump that is adjustable on both speed and flow, so I get a reporting on flow rate at different speeds. So for my pool, it's around 27,000 gallons, so if I want to filter 27,000 gallons of water, I have many options:

At 3,000RPM, I can turn over 60 gpm, or 3600 gallons per hour, so I can run that for 7.5 hours and get that turnover. This uses 1,500W per hour.
At 1,950RPM, I can turn over 30 gpm, or 1800 gallons per hour, so I can run that for 15 hours and get that same turnover. This uses only 400 watts per hour.

So 1,500 * 7.5 versus 400 * 15 = 11.25 kWh per day or 6 kWh per day

Basically, low and slow for longer is more efficient. That said, I've found my pool stays crystal clear with much less pump time. Basically, I run 2,750 for about an hour per day and an additional 30 minutes of spillway time. Then I run at 1,950 rpm (30 gpm) for another 7-8 hours. I also turn the pumps on when we're in the pool so when it's in use and subject to more stuff, there's more run time, more chlorine/SWG/etc. It works well for me.

Long story short, start with running it 12 hours, then lower speed and/or time a little bit each week or so and monitor your pool. You should run it more in the Summer than in Winter, so what you need now is more than what you'll need in other seasons. Pay mind to minimum flow rates for any features, like SWG/IC60 wants 25-30 gpm, my 400k BTU heater wants 40, so when I heat, I run a higher pump speed. 30gpm is a good sweet spot of enough flow and efficient usage, any lower and returns and bubblers and other features begin to struggle.

Finally, I did run my filter 24x7 for the first week just considering all the chemicals, plaster curing, etc. Also, as my project finished up, many outdoor living things were being constructed, I upped filter times on days guys were sawing wood/concrete, etc.

 

[Funkatation]

So the PB owner came by today and said all pools have “spider cracks” and that the pool looks fantastic and thinks it’s one of the better plaster jobs he’s seen. This from a company that does 300+ a year. I don’t know what to believe. They clearly don’t want to go back to the sub and make them replaster it because “it could create more problems than it solves”

Any opinions here? My challenge is it can’t be seen well with water in. Is that my indication that it’s OK? Never owned a pool before but it doesn’t seem right to me.

 

[DB-Cooper]

So the PB owner came by today and said all pools have “spider cracks” and that the pool looks fantastic and thinks it’s one of the better plaster jobs he’s seen. This from a company that does 300+ a year. I don’t know what to believe. They clearly don’t want to go back to the sub and make them replaster it because “it could create more problems than it solves”

Any opinions here? My challenge is it can’t be seen well with water in. Is that my indication that it’s OK? Never owned a pool before but it doesn’t seem right to me.

I wouldn't say that's one of the better jobs I've seen. I certainly don't have ANY visible cracks or finding any pieces floating in my skimmers or on the ground. bdavis said earlier he didn't think it was going to be a functional issue, likely just a cosmetic one. Plaster does have a finite life, so it may not be that big of a deal.

One thing I've learned about pools is they're all custom and there will always be something that isn't perfect. I have like one glass tile on my back edge that isn't perfectly centered, drives me nuts. My PB came out to fix it, and I swear it's microscopically worse. Nobody else has ever seen it. In terms of plaster, while I have no cracks, there are a couple areas where there's less pebble, particularly on the front side of my bar stools which nobody will ever see. I think it was just more difficult for them to get their sprayer there. A couple other areas and corners don't have as much pebble as the main walls/floor. That said outside of corners and features, everything else is spot on consistent. I feel if I complained about those stools or corners, a PB would have a right to say that's fairly common and the cost/hassle to replaster is not justified. You said under water you can't see your cracks/blemishes, while you know it's there, you probably see it daily, but I doubt anyone else will. As stated, pools will never be perfect, and/or you'll end up chipping something, so you'll either have to accept it and move on. Obviously, get everything documented and if a leak forms in those areas, I'd definitely make sure they're on the hook for that. Not sure what your warranty is on the pool and/or plaster, but maybe your PB can give you a longer leak guarantee regarding the plaster to its reasonable expected service life, 15-20 years, etc.

 

[march2012]

With my first pool build with a quartz surface they left some standing water on the tanning ledge after laying down the quartz and it created a permanent dark area. They tried acid washing it etc. In the end I gave up. With my new pool build Im going to make sure nothing like that happens. It didnt detract from my enjoyment of the pool.

 

[Funkatation]

Almost finished with the project. I had to have them build a wall for my outdoor kitchen as the wind was really messing with my grills. Sprinkler/landscaping repair in progress and should be complete next week.. hopefully done with construction for a while! SWG should be turned on week after next as well.

 

[kimkats]

OH that looks nice! You could put up some small light there to really light up that area.

 

[Funkatation]

Almost looks like a backyard again!

 

[kimkats]

I see a lot of watering in your future to get that pretty grass settled in it's new home! Looks awesome!

Kim

 

[Funkatation]

It's been a long time since I've posted here. I am having some challenges with my plaster and my pool builder is blaming chemistry. A couple of months ago they did an acid bath to try and take care of some discoloration issues, and it made it worse. So they drained the pool and did an acid wash. I was not here when they did it but my cameras caught it.

I've googled some videos of this process and what I saw was nowhere near that. It was one guy, who put some acid and water in the deep end of the pool, then put a sump pump in and used that to acid wash the entire pool. He then took a power washer to my pool and beat on the plaster for an hour. I have polished scapes which is supposed to be smooth and safe to say after he was done it was not. I had them come back out and re-polish it, but its still very rough on the bottom. There has only been water back in the past 3 weeks and the plaster company came back out and said my water was not being taken care of and the roughness is caused by calcium. I noticed it was still rough before they filled it back up (they had left before I came back home). I also saw chunks missing out of the plaster in areas. I am very worried my plaster has been compromised but the pool company is blaming me.

I need some ideas on what I can do to prove this isn't right.

I've got all kinds of video here, and I manage my water very closely. At first they tried to tell me I had too much calcium, but its at 236. In fact, I had to add some because my water is around 130.

 

[DB-Cooper]

Me and a few other Austin people have much higher CH and no issues. 500-600 in our cases. CH typically continue to rise as water evaporates, the minerals do not. I even fill with soft water.

With that in mind, I pay closer attention to my CSI than any given individual variable. Can you share your entire water chemistry results including CSI?