Good call. I didn't ask before they loaded it. Fortunately I was able to help the sag a bit as I have air bags for when I pull my RV and carry a cheap 12v compressor.
New Build Wylie, TX
- Thread starter Mcow
- Start date
- Jul 5, 2017
- 319
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Rain threatened our first pool party all night but the mermaids still made it out.
Took all day but the last couple racks were the best.
Took all day but the last couple racks were the best.
How pretty they all are! LOVE that pic!
Can/do they swim with those? Talk about a core workout!
YUMMMMMMMMM that looks wonderful!
Kim
Can/do they swim with those? Talk about a core workout!
YUMMMMMMMMM that looks wonderful!
Kim
Fun times! Ribs look great!
Rain is an unexpected welcomed friend this time of year. Bizarre summer so far.
Rain is an unexpected welcomed friend this time of year. Bizarre summer so far.
- Jul 5, 2017
- 319
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
We risked the rain because it was in the forecast all week without a drop falling. Of course the day we decide to have a party it rains cats and dogs!
- Oct 18, 2009
- 3,648
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
- Apr 23, 2017
- 2,400
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
- Jun 18, 2015
- 712
- Pool Size
- 11000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Your pool and backyard turned out amazing! That is so cool that you have a dog door with your neighbors and everyone gets along so well. We had to build a separate yard just for my french bulldogs on one side oof our lot because they love to antagonize the German Shepherd next door, yikes!
We started our build about 10 days after you and we are looking at landscaping and getting our plaster this week! Very exciting! Your back yard looks amazing. The finishes are stunning and the pergola looks really good.
We started our build about 10 days after you and we are looking at landscaping and getting our plaster this week! Very exciting! Your back yard looks amazing. The finishes are stunning and the pergola looks really good.
- Jul 5, 2017
- 319
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I love French Bulldogs I even got my picture taken with a famous one!
That's great you are so close! I've seen your build it will be great!
That's great you are so close! I've seen your build it will be great!
Pool looks great! How are you liking the space off the Baja shelf in the shallow end? I noticed it was a concern of yours at the beginning of the project. You were worried the shelf took too much of the space and wished you would have gone wider. How does it work and feel now that its up and running? I am having the same issue with the design of mine and wanted to get some feedback. Thanks. Hope all is well!
- Jul 5, 2017
- 319
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Great question! So after a little less than a week of use the size concerns seem to not be an issue at all. Saterday we had 8 adults in the pool and could have easily had 8 more without feeling cramped at all. We tended to hang out mostly on the opposite side of the tanning ledge. Speaking of that it hasn't gotten too much use (besides the dogs) because we have barely had any sun!
Things I really like and would do again for sure.
1) The plaster color looks absolutely amazing and feels great.
2) The back wall we made 18" deep instead of 12" and added the columns the kids spend the entire time jumping off the wall they love it.
3) The decking turned out great and glad we went with pavers instead of stamped concrete. Also glad we extended the decking.
4) Adding the "finger ledge on the wall which serves as a perfect drink ledge as well.
Things I would change if I was doing it over.
1) Change the depth on the side with the ledge to 4.5' like the other end instead of 3'.
2) Add a third LED light.
Things I may wish I would have changed after a while.
1) Went with a robot instead of pressure cleaner. At least this can be done down the road and I will just end up with an extra return.
2) Not let the sales person talk us out of a SWG.
My only real regret is we didn't do this sooner! It's been so much fun having all the kids over enjoying the pool and I love our nightly family swims. The new pergola and extra decking are great and feels like we extended our living space a lot. Really looking forward to a full season next year.
Things I really like and would do again for sure.
1) The plaster color looks absolutely amazing and feels great.
2) The back wall we made 18" deep instead of 12" and added the columns the kids spend the entire time jumping off the wall they love it.
3) The decking turned out great and glad we went with pavers instead of stamped concrete. Also glad we extended the decking.
4) Adding the "finger ledge on the wall which serves as a perfect drink ledge as well.
Things I would change if I was doing it over.
1) Change the depth on the side with the ledge to 4.5' like the other end instead of 3'.
2) Add a third LED light.
Things I may wish I would have changed after a while.
1) Went with a robot instead of pressure cleaner. At least this can be done down the road and I will just end up with an extra return.
2) Not let the sales person talk us out of a SWG.
My only real regret is we didn't do this sooner! It's been so much fun having all the kids over enjoying the pool and I love our nightly family swims. The new pergola and extra decking are great and feels like we extended our living space a lot. Really looking forward to a full season next year.
Thanks so much! That is going to help us immensely. When you decide on depth, is it measured from the deck or the waterline? Right now we have decided on 3.5 for the shallow end. I would like it deeper but my wife wants to be able to stand in the shallow end without her hair touching the water..LOL.
- Jul 5, 2017
- 319
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Yes that is waterline to bottom. It's really not a huge deal since it is a very small portion of the pool (basically where the steps are). It starts sloping to the 5' in the middle quickly. I just prefer the 4.5' on the other side a lot more. Happy wife happy life though so do what she says!
Such good feedback. We are in the consultation phase with different PB's. This type of feedback is truly appreciated.
- Jul 5, 2017
- 319
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Got my test kit in! So I feel like a mad scientist! Here are my first results. I'm going to need some practice on this. I really didn't get the CYA test I pretty much filled the vial all the way and could still see the black dot. Not sure if it is supposed to go away completely or just be foggy enough to not really make out the edges?
Anyway here are the results. For some reason I couldn't add the CSI on the app where it stays when viewing all the results but it was -0.61.
Anyway here are the results. For some reason I couldn't add the CSI on the app where it stays when viewing all the results but it was -0.61.
Congrats on your first measurement success! Let's look at them one at a time. I will give you my view but remember I am a newbie so others better chime in.
How much sun exposure does your pool see? This will determine the FC/CYA targets. I suspect 10-12 hours?
FC 3.5 - This is almost OK based on your CYA of 20. BUT I am seeing 3.5-4.0 FC loss on hot sunny days. This would drop you to near zero by end of day. I would raise this up to 6-7 and up your CYA targeting 40-50 (see CYA notes below). Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
pH 7.2 - This is on the very low end and should let it rise towards 7.6/7.8. You can do this with aeration & no more MA. Turn the Sheer Descent and bubbler on to help raise without impacting TA. TA is on the low side but several folks have found the lower TA helps stabilize the pH better. More time and measurements will let you know if it needs to come up some. We will need to monitor your pH and TA for a while. BTW: I have about 30lbs of baking soda left over from my bi-carb start-up. You are welcome to it if needed to raise your TA.
TA 50 - See above
CH 275 - Perfect. Can change to a maximum of weekly testing and then monthly as you see it doesn't change.
CYA 20 - Have you used pucks or added stabilizer? Each 3" 8oz puck will add 2.6ppm CYA to your 13,000 gallon pool. Probably need to target ~50 for our Texas sun & heat (see question above about sun exposure). Let's do a calculation based on pucks used and stabilizer added to get a better CYA number. This measurement is the most difficult and subjective. I suspect the next step will be to add stabilizer targeting 35-40. Creep it up.
Temp - Need this to correctly calculate your CSI. With this morning's rain I predict 86.
Using your numbers I get a CSI of -.52 with on-line PoolMath. I remember there being some disconnect with the App associated with salt level. You should have near zero salt level at this point, I used 100 in the on-line calculator as you have some (not 0) but under 100. No change to CSI with salt 0 - 300.
After we understand and get your CYA correct, daily FC & pH tests are all that you will need to execute. When we get the pH up and if it keeps going up, we will for sure need to raise the TA some as we add MA to bring down the pH.
How much sun exposure does your pool see? This will determine the FC/CYA targets. I suspect 10-12 hours?
FC 3.5 - This is almost OK based on your CYA of 20. BUT I am seeing 3.5-4.0 FC loss on hot sunny days. This would drop you to near zero by end of day. I would raise this up to 6-7 and up your CYA targeting 40-50 (see CYA notes below). Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
pH 7.2 - This is on the very low end and should let it rise towards 7.6/7.8. You can do this with aeration & no more MA. Turn the Sheer Descent and bubbler on to help raise without impacting TA. TA is on the low side but several folks have found the lower TA helps stabilize the pH better. More time and measurements will let you know if it needs to come up some. We will need to monitor your pH and TA for a while. BTW: I have about 30lbs of baking soda left over from my bi-carb start-up. You are welcome to it if needed to raise your TA.
TA 50 - See above
CH 275 - Perfect. Can change to a maximum of weekly testing and then monthly as you see it doesn't change.
CYA 20 - Have you used pucks or added stabilizer? Each 3" 8oz puck will add 2.6ppm CYA to your 13,000 gallon pool. Probably need to target ~50 for our Texas sun & heat (see question above about sun exposure). Let's do a calculation based on pucks used and stabilizer added to get a better CYA number. This measurement is the most difficult and subjective. I suspect the next step will be to add stabilizer targeting 35-40. Creep it up.
Temp - Need this to correctly calculate your CSI. With this morning's rain I predict 86.
Using your numbers I get a CSI of -.52 with on-line PoolMath. I remember there being some disconnect with the App associated with salt level. You should have near zero salt level at this point, I used 100 in the on-line calculator as you have some (not 0) but under 100. No change to CSI with salt 0 - 300.
After we understand and get your CYA correct, daily FC & pH tests are all that you will need to execute. When we get the pH up and if it keeps going up, we will for sure need to raise the TA some as we add MA to bring down the pH.
One more item. Do you have the SpeedStir? Highly recommend to make you feel like a real mad scientist and get the most accurate measurements. 
- Jul 5, 2017
- 319
- Pool Size
- 22000
- Surface
- Plaster
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
First off I REALLY appreciate the assistance Paul! It is a huge help!
FC 3.5 - This is almost OK based on your CYA of 20. BUT I am seeing 3.5-4.0 FC loss on hot sunny days. This would drop you to near zero by end of day. I would raise this up to 6-7 and up your CYA targeting 40-50 (see CYA notes below). Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
Ok got it. I am still using pucks plan to switch to liquid in a couple weeks specifically because I started with 0 CYA. I did screw up though and forget to check the feeder and ran it dry. I found this out when I checked CL Tuesday and it was zero! I will bump up the feeder a bit. This is a little bit of a sore subject for me since before coming to this site I bought the UV/Ozone system. I know they are not popular here but the entire point is to not have to use as much CL the manufacture claims it is safe to run at .50 PPM. So in essence I am ignoring the $1,500 I spent on this getting CL to 6-7 but I understand the reasoning behind it.
pH 7.2 - This is on the very low end and should let it rise towards 7.6/7.8. You can do this with aeration & no more MA. Turn the Sheer Descent and bubbler on to help raise without impacting TA. TA is on the low side but several folks have found the lower TA helps stabilize the pH better. More time and measurements will let you know if it needs to come up some. We will need to monitor your pH and TA for a while. BTW: I have about 30lbs of baking soda left over from my bi-carb start-up. You are welcome to it if needed to raise your TA.
Yeah this has been interesting..The PH was a 8+ first few days and we were adding MA to lower it but have not added any the last 4 days and it has hovered around 7.2-7.5. Pump, sheer descent and bubbler are running 23.5 hours a day still. Was going to give it another couple days of results before adding baking soda. Will keep an eye on it.
TA 50 - See above
10-4
CH 275 - Perfect. Can change to a maximum of weekly testing and then monthly as you see it doesn't change.
Hey thats something positive!
CYA 20 - Have you used pucks or added stabilizer? Each 3" 8oz puck will add 2.6ppm CYA to your 13,000 gallon pool. Probably need to target ~50 for our Texas sun & heat (see question above about sun exposure). Let's do a calculation based on pucks used and stabilizer added to get a better CYA number. This measurement is the most difficult and subjective. I suspect the next step will be to add stabilizer targeting 35-40. Creep it up.
Yes still using pucks about one puck a day see comment above about me being too stupid to check the feeder
. I have not used stabilizer wanted to see if I could get the CYA up on pucks alone but open to suggestions on this if I need to go ahead and try to slowly increase this to 35-40 with stabilizer.
On the Temp - Need this to correctly calculate your CSI. With this morning's rain I predict 86.
Very close it was 87. So my house faces South West. About 3/4 of the pool gets direct sunlight from sun up until around 4 the remaining 1/4 until about an hour before sundown.
Using your numbers I get a CSI of -.52 with on-line PoolMath. I remember there being some disconnect with the App associated with salt level. You should have near zero salt level at this point, I used 100 in the on-line calculator as you have some (not 0) but under 100. No change to CSI with salt 0 - 300.
Ok you are correct I did not have the salt field entered and when I put 0 in I do get .52
After we understand and get your CYA correct, daily FC & pH tests are all that you will need to execute. When we get the pH up and if it keeps going up, we will for sure need to raise the TA some as we add MA to bring down the pH.
- - - Updated - - -
Man I didn't but need to! I felt like I was back in Chem 101!
FC 3.5 - This is almost OK based on your CYA of 20. BUT I am seeing 3.5-4.0 FC loss on hot sunny days. This would drop you to near zero by end of day. I would raise this up to 6-7 and up your CYA targeting 40-50 (see CYA notes below). Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
Ok got it. I am still using pucks plan to switch to liquid in a couple weeks specifically because I started with 0 CYA. I did screw up though and forget to check the feeder and ran it dry. I found this out when I checked CL Tuesday and it was zero! I will bump up the feeder a bit. This is a little bit of a sore subject for me since before coming to this site I bought the UV/Ozone system. I know they are not popular here but the entire point is to not have to use as much CL the manufacture claims it is safe to run at .50 PPM. So in essence I am ignoring the $1,500 I spent on this getting CL to 6-7 but I understand the reasoning behind it.
pH 7.2 - This is on the very low end and should let it rise towards 7.6/7.8. You can do this with aeration & no more MA. Turn the Sheer Descent and bubbler on to help raise without impacting TA. TA is on the low side but several folks have found the lower TA helps stabilize the pH better. More time and measurements will let you know if it needs to come up some. We will need to monitor your pH and TA for a while. BTW: I have about 30lbs of baking soda left over from my bi-carb start-up. You are welcome to it if needed to raise your TA.
Yeah this has been interesting..The PH was a 8+ first few days and we were adding MA to lower it but have not added any the last 4 days and it has hovered around 7.2-7.5. Pump, sheer descent and bubbler are running 23.5 hours a day still. Was going to give it another couple days of results before adding baking soda. Will keep an eye on it.
TA 50 - See above
10-4
CH 275 - Perfect. Can change to a maximum of weekly testing and then monthly as you see it doesn't change.
Hey thats something positive!
CYA 20 - Have you used pucks or added stabilizer? Each 3" 8oz puck will add 2.6ppm CYA to your 13,000 gallon pool. Probably need to target ~50 for our Texas sun & heat (see question above about sun exposure). Let's do a calculation based on pucks used and stabilizer added to get a better CYA number. This measurement is the most difficult and subjective. I suspect the next step will be to add stabilizer targeting 35-40. Creep it up.
Yes still using pucks about one puck a day see comment above about me being too stupid to check the feeder
. I have not used stabilizer wanted to see if I could get the CYA up on pucks alone but open to suggestions on this if I need to go ahead and try to slowly increase this to 35-40 with stabilizer.On the Temp - Need this to correctly calculate your CSI. With this morning's rain I predict 86.
Very close it was 87. So my house faces South West. About 3/4 of the pool gets direct sunlight from sun up until around 4 the remaining 1/4 until about an hour before sundown.
Using your numbers I get a CSI of -.52 with on-line PoolMath. I remember there being some disconnect with the App associated with salt level. You should have near zero salt level at this point, I used 100 in the on-line calculator as you have some (not 0) but under 100. No change to CSI with salt 0 - 300.
Ok you are correct I did not have the salt field entered and when I put 0 in I do get .52
After we understand and get your CYA correct, daily FC & pH tests are all that you will need to execute. When we get the pH up and if it keeps going up, we will for sure need to raise the TA some as we add MA to bring down the pH.
- - - Updated - - -
One more item. Do you have the SpeedStir? Highly recommend to make you feel like a real mad scientist and get the most accurate measurements.
Man I didn't but need to! I felt like I was back in Chem 101!