New House came with a neglected pool - SLAM DONE!

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Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

It's definitely not a pretty pool at this point, but it looks like it's just paint that has chipped and worn and some tile is missing. We can wear water shoes for a season. ;)
We are trying to get a season of use before making decisions about it since we've never had a pool and want to make sure we want to keep it before putting much money into it. My husband is a concrete cutter, so he'd make a fast job of getting rid of it. Paying around $2,000-$2,500 to just get it running for the season seems outrageous.
At 8,000-$9,000 to resurface/$15,000 total get it back in complete shape, some work seems a small price to pay to get it up and running as a trial for the year. At least that is pricing from 1 quote I received as of now.

I have already learned a lot, so once this pool is balanced and sparkling, it will have been a good learning experience. If I can clean up this, the rest should be easier and I will know so much by then.
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

MickeyB23 said:
It's definitely not a pretty pool at this point, but it looks like it's just paint that has chipped and worn and some tile is missing. We can wear water shoes for a season. ;)

I have already learned a lot, so once this pool is balanced and sparkling, it will have been a good learning experience. If I can clean up this, the rest should be easier and I will know so much by then.
Click to expand...

I so love your way of thinking!

I would go ahead and start buying bleach. Make sure it is plain bleach. NO smell good or splashless stuff. Walmart greater value seems to be the best bet for most for such a big job.

Kim
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

+1 on loving your thinking! I can't wait to see the pictures when you are finally getting started. And I'll also second that suggestion to start stocking up on Bleach. Might as well get a head start on your supply!
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

With TFP I turned our pool from green to clean last year. We moved into a house that had been empty for two years and the pool was horrible. After spending several hundred dollars at 'the pool' store. I stumbled upon this site. Slam, scrub and Slam some more! It took weeks, but slowly it worked and we could swim. Get the test kit if you don't have it yet!

We followed the direction for winter closing and to my surprise when we uncovered the pool this week the was is still crystal clear, and even tested good! I tell everyone and anyone who will listen, BBB and TFP is the way to go.

Stick with it, you too can have crystal clean water. I too was told to empty and re-fill, glad I didn't!
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

Thanks! Gotta stay positive! Got some bleach yesterday at Walmart. 8 bottles since I don't know how many to start with yet.

Great to know Wendyfarrsmith, very nice to hear a success story, especially with a suggested drain and fill! thank you - It will be a great reward when we get to jump in the first time. I have the good test kit in XL with the speed stir ready to go.

Still filling the pool from the hose, but only running it about an hour a day so we don't burn out our well pump. Slow going...trying to be patient. If I knew what I know now, I would have been filling it while cleaning it.

Should I hire someone to backwash and clean the DE filter or can that be easily done by us? I've watched some videos and we took a peek inside today, but I'm unsure of how all that works with adding it back in and all. I seems easy enough, but then other people talk about how they loath cleaning them. I need to get a DE scoop yet. One video recommended adding the DE to water first then putting it in the skimmer - that makes sense. He also mentioned in a comment to someone about if the gauge goes up 1 psi then you are done adding it - is that accurate with DE?
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

There is an article in the further reading section for Pool School that discusses DE filters and has a link to a tutorial on how to take apart the filter and clean it, which should be done yearly.
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

You can and should take care of your own filter. There is really nothing to it!

We are all about DIY! We will walk you through any job you want to learn.

Kim
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

After cleaning the filter you add the amount of DE the filter was designed to use, which should be in the filter manual.

Cleaning out a DE filter is simple enough, though a little on the messy side.
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

Thank you! Ok, I had read the tutorial a while ago. So the big clean (take the grids out, rinse, put them back) we can do now since it's been a while and then while we are SLAMing the pool will we need to be cleaning the filter the same way after backwashing or will backwashing take care of it? I guess I'm confused. I will go read the tutorial again.

The pool is almost full! We made some good progress today.
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

We have a sand filter, we emptied it and refilled it ourselves. I was not an easy task but doable with a shop vac. Get more Clorox! You gonna need it! We were able to fill our with the hose, as we are on city water. You won't regret sticking with the test kit and slam slam slam!

- - - Updated - - -

Sounds like you are making great progress, it is confusing! I still get confused, but take it one step at a time and keep a log of your test results for reference. Nothing fancy just the basics.
 

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Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

MickeyB23 said:
Thank you! Ok, I had read the tutorial a while ago. So the big clean (take the grids out, rinse, put them back) we can do now since it's been a while and then while we are SLAMing the pool will we need to be cleaning the filter the same way after backwashing or will backwashing take care of it? I guess I'm confused. I will go read the tutorial again.

The pool is almost full! We made some good progress today.
Click to expand...

Backwashing should take care of it. Keep backwashing after the pressure rises 20-25%. You will need to clean again when pressure doesn't drop after backwashing.
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

Thank you! I think I have things straight now. The grids don't look bad from what I can tell, some DE in there, but no dirt or debris type stuff. I reread though all of the filter tutorial information and reread the SLAM info too. I will get more bleach - how many should I have by the start of the SLAM would you say? 30 too many? I have a 25lb bag of DE, will that be enough to get through the SLAM? I can always pick up more later if we have to SLAM again, but I don't want to get stuck in the middle without enough supplies. :)

Ok, so once the pool is filled the right level, then my first step is to check that the pump works/backwash the filter, add back DE and let it all run?

I appreciate everyone's help with this!
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

30 gallons sounds like a good start, you won't need that many at once. But extra on hand keeps you from running to the store everyday. Let it run, test and submit your numbers to pool math, and follow the advise given. Good luck, you can do it. I check last night to see how long it took me to go from green to clean and it was about a month of adding Clorox, scrubbing and waiting. One day I saw the bottom of the pool through that murky water and knew I was on the right track! I am forever grateful to TFP!!!!
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

The start of the SLAM is when you will use the most bleach. The more you test and bump the FC up to SLAM level the faster your SLAM will go.

At the very least you should test 4 times a day if you are doing it while you work-first thing in the morning, right when you get home, at dinner time, before you go to bed.

Make sure to take a "starting" picture of something like the steps so you when it seems as if nothing is happening that it is getting clearer little by little. That will be towards the end of the SLAM

Kim
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

Hi mickeyb, and welcome. I too share your thinking ;)

30 will not be too many gallons, I suspect. I used 60 this time of year.

I did green-to-clean on my foreclosure swamp three years ago, am on a well, and DO have water table and metal issues. At the time, I just wanted to get it clean to see if we really had a pool or not, etc., and figured we'd have to spend some money the next year...but 3 years later we're still good, and trouble free ;)

Once you get the pump running, add some cya in a sock (it will take a week to show up in your test, so just use the pool calculator and aim for 30 ppm).

Before you start to slam, depending on your ph, you might want to get it to around 7.2 for maximum effect (this is slightly lower than normal paraeters.) Since you're on a well, I'm going to suggest adding two bottles of Metal Magic or Jack's Magic before you start your slam just as a precaution....on well pools, slamming can oxidize any metals In the water, such as iron...even small amounts. Those two products are the ones preferred by the TFP brain trust ;)

Now you're ready to "shock and maintain" -- and believe me, the maintain part is really important.

Because you read 0 cya, there's a chance that at first your water will not hold a chlorine reading at all. That's because sometimes cya converts to ammonia in a swamp, and it takes a lot of extra chlorine to break it down so the water will hold some. That hapened to me. Just keep adding and testing and adding until you've broken its back if it happens to you ;)

For the first few days you might have to babysit the pump closely for pressure or possible clogging. You can reduce risk of clogging by partly closing the main drain a bit. But you want the pump and filter running 24/7 for the next week or so if possible.

Let us know how it goes...I'm attaching a series of pics over 12 days of a slam so you can see the color change and know its possible ;) and you'll notice, we still had some debris in a corner despite removing 20 wheelbarrows of gunk...but that was easier to clean up once we could see ;)

image.jpg
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

Forgot to add-- I'd found cheap bleach at Aldi's for I think as low as under 2.00 a bottle...now days i use really fresh 12.5% liquid chlorine that I buy in refills from an indie pool store -- less lugging, etc., less enviro waste, but more expensive.

You can go either way and still be a fraction of the 1,000 drain/clean estimate you got...and I'd be surprised if that estimate included trucked water ;)

You can get cya/stabilizer in almost any department store (pool section).

If your pool store doesn't carry Jacks or Metal Magic, I'd order it online (poolgeek.com ships fast and has good prices on it.)

And one last thing...don't listen to well-meant but industry-spun info the generally uninformed folks at a pool store will tell you. And don't buy any of their "magic mixes". The industry has not caught up with the research that underpins the TFP way, and its not in their interest to do so, if you get my meaning ;) So just a heads up that walking into a pool store to buy a rake can be a confusing issue for a newbie if you're not forearmed/forewarned.
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

You will be amazed at what you are going to see when you are done with the SLAM possess. We love pictures so post em up ! As was above stated (at least in my neck of the woods) the "pool store" people are well meaning and very willing to help however they just do not get it. We love our pool however we are not a wealthy family (except with Love that we have in abundance) so the TFP way is our way and always will be ! Here is our before and after. Its a pretty large pool so it took a while to complete the SLAM. about a month. Best of luck !



 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

Thank you all for your posts and pictures! Those are some amazing transformations! I have read everything and jotted down some more notes. I tested the PH today and it was right about 7.5. I'm trying to get familiar with the test kits and speed stir now so I don't have any learning curve later.
I picked up 10 more bottles of bleach, a DE scoop and some of the stuff for possible metal in the water. Now, she didn't have the brand in the post, but sold me a bottle of Keetrol Plus. I checked it once home and it sounds the same. Will this be ok, or should I order some online and take that back? I have found the local pool store to be great and not pushy at all. We must be lucky.
I almost bought some stabilizer at Walmart, but it had inert ingredients listed at 4%, so I wasn't sure if it had something else added into it. There was no solid. Am I better to order that online?

Question: Our pool is between 21,000-22,000 gallons by our estimate. For example, The directions for the Keetrol plus say the dosage is per 25,000gal, so when you are lower in gallons, what dose do you do? Less or is more better? I'm sure that depends on what it is too.

The anticipation is crazy! Can't wait to see the end result!
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

What is the turn knob in the skimmer for? Is it something I need to take out before putting the baskets back in?





How much higher do we need to bring the water before testing the filter and pump out?

Once you get the pump running, add some cya in a sock (it will take a week to show up in your test, so just use the pool calculator and aim for 30 ppm).

Before you start to slam, depending on your ph, you might want to get it to around 7.2 for maximum effect (this is slightly lower than normal paraeters.) Since you're on a well, I'm going to suggest adding two bottles of Metal Magic or Jack's Magic before you start your slam just as a precaution....on well pools, slamming can oxidize any metals In the water, such as iron...even small amounts. Those two products are the ones preferred by the TFP brain trust
Click to expand...

Is this stabilizer ok? http://www.poolgeek.com/products/omni-pool-chlorine-stabilizer-6-lb
And for Jack's products, would I want Magenta or Blue?



Thanks!
 
Re: New House came with a neglected pool - Please Help!

I am going to let someone else help you with the turny thing in the skimmer. I do not close my pool so do not know....

Your water should be half way up the skimmer hole. Keep filling!

Kim
 

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