Your story still makes me laugh so hard. All I can vision is you slinging your phone back in the pool. And I probably find it so funny, because it's something I would do. - Karen
New Member, First Build...What have we gotten into?
- Thread starter RangerBob
- Start date
Your story still makes me laugh so hard. All I can vision is you slinging your phone back in the pool. And I probably find it so funny, because it's something I would do. - Karen
I would take a quick look at the following:
http://www.npconline.org/assets/documents/StartUpCard.pdf
If this is not what has been going on in the first 4 days the pool is filled, I would make it a point inquire with your PB and get something in writing (even an email or text) confirming they are aware of it and explaining why they are doing something differently than what is recommended.
http://www.npconline.org/assets/documents/StartUpCard.pdf
If this is not what has been going on in the first 4 days the pool is filled, I would make it a point inquire with your PB and get something in writing (even an email or text) confirming they are aware of it and explaining why they are doing something differently than what is recommended.
Pool guy showed up today (after a call to the Project Manager to ask where he was) - he finished hooking up leads at the pump, cut the skimmer pipes down so baskets can be inserted and we now have flow & filtration in our pool!
Can't wait to start adding MA
and working on getting the pool in balance.
Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on Flickr
I obviously have a slow day at work today and am working from photos that Bob text me. Hopefully, the lights will be working tonight and I can get a photo of that too.
Early assessment of "Things we would change" if we were to do this all over again from a design perspective:
1) Make the pool wider (at least 4')
2) Add a water feature to deep end of pool
3) Add more height to deep end of pool
We still have a lot more to do with the pavilion, landscaping and remaining projects in the backyard - but we are so close to having one major hurdle out of the way.
Can't wait to start adding MA
and working on getting the pool in balance. Untitled by Ranger_Bob, on FlickrI obviously have a slow day at work today and am working from photos that Bob text me. Hopefully, the lights will be working tonight and I can get a photo of that too.
Early assessment of "Things we would change" if we were to do this all over again from a design perspective:
1) Make the pool wider (at least 4')
2) Add a water feature to deep end of pool
3) Add more height to deep end of pool
We still have a lot more to do with the pavilion, landscaping and remaining projects in the backyard - but we are so close to having one major hurdle out of the way.
- Sep 8, 2013
- 606
Looks great!! I can hear the stress rolling off your shoulders. The excitement grows until you take your first few dips. After a couple of months, you'll be looking for that next project.
A couple of things the pool start up guy noted (and took photos of) to send to the pool builder to fix. Mostly I'm documenting this stuff now on this thread more so others can learn from our experience (not so much a complaint).
1) The shallow end skimmer cover is not aligned with the skimmer. So the basket can't be installed. The decking guys (My favorite subs) poured the concrete so that everything was misaligned. This will require the pool builder to cut out concrete from around the skimmer cover and reset.
2) The pool lighting conduit doesn't terminate above the water line. This is causing a leak about 2' below the control panel. The conduit should have been extended up another foot.
We liked the pool start guy - he liked our TF100 Test Kit and agreed with my readings. He ended up putting 2 gallons of MA in the pool. It dropped the ph below 7.5 (close to 7) but he expects it to pop back up above 8 and then recommended we test and if still above 8.2 put another gallon of MA in, if its around 7.8 put a 1/2 gallon in. I know, we can be a bit more precise than this. By the way, I ordered my stirrer today.
He also thinks we need to put another valve actuator in because the scuppers and the cleaner are on the same valve. This will allow us to tune the water flow depending on which feature we want running.
Hot tub is close to 100 degrees - so I'm getting ready to get in!
-Karen
1) The shallow end skimmer cover is not aligned with the skimmer. So the basket can't be installed. The decking guys (My favorite subs) poured the concrete so that everything was misaligned. This will require the pool builder to cut out concrete from around the skimmer cover and reset.
2) The pool lighting conduit doesn't terminate above the water line. This is causing a leak about 2' below the control panel. The conduit should have been extended up another foot.
We liked the pool start guy - he liked our TF100 Test Kit and agreed with my readings. He ended up putting 2 gallons of MA in the pool. It dropped the ph below 7.5 (close to 7) but he expects it to pop back up above 8 and then recommended we test and if still above 8.2 put another gallon of MA in, if its around 7.8 put a 1/2 gallon in. I know, we can be a bit more precise than this. By the way, I ordered my stirrer today.
He also thinks we need to put another valve actuator in because the scuppers and the cleaner are on the same valve. This will allow us to tune the water flow depending on which feature we want running.
Hot tub is close to 100 degrees - so I'm getting ready to get in!
-Karen
Pool guy showed up today (after a call to the Project Manager to ask where he was) - he finished hooking up leads at the pump, cut the skimmer pipes down so baskets can be inserted and we now have flow & filtration in our pool!
Can't wait to start adding MA
I obviously have a slow day at work today and am working from photos that Bob text me. Hopefully, the lights will be working tonight and I can get a photo of that too.
Early assessment of "Things we would change" if we were to do this all over again from a design perspective:
1) Make the pool wider (at least 4')
2) Add a water feature to deep end of pool
3) Add more height to deep end of pool
We still have a lot more to do with the pavilion, landscaping and remaining projects in the backyard - but we are so close to having one major hurdle out of the way.
This looks gorgeous!! I love the color choices, and how beautifully the water is falling! I love it!
I assume you are running the heater, is this safe to do right now? We have been dying to get in ours, but have not turned the heater on yet because of the recommendations of http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/154-start-up-new-pool-plaster
I think this falls along the lines of picking the answer I liked best. The pool start guy said it was okay to run the heater (in the spa) because of the water temperature being as cold as it is. He said it was low risk to have algae even though our pool wasn't in balance. We also turned it off right after we finished this evening. When the spa is turned off, the waterfall comes back on and cools the water off fairly quickly. We didn't go in the pool, so hopefully that is kind of like having our cake and eating it too - Karen
I'm sure others know better than I about this but my understanding is that you don't want to run the heater until all plaster dust is removed from the pool because of potential damage. Nothing to do with algae.
I can see your smile from here as you sat in the hot tub!
I LOVE how it turned out. The water really brings the colors out! SWEET!
Kim
I LOVE how it turned out. The water really brings the colors out! SWEET!
Kim
This is all probably true - but I swear I didn't want to break the rules
. I had the pool guy saying "no problem, no chemical balance issues", I had Bob saying, "the heater flows behind the filter so the filter will catch the dust before getting to the heater" - I caved to peer pressure Besides, it has been over 8 months - I WANTED that hot tub.Kim, I did have a huge smile on my face. Sinking into that hot water was amazing and I quoted Two Labs daughter "This is BEAUTIFUL"
See if the pool guy AND Bob said it was okay it HAD to be okay!
I do agree that with the heater being after the filter it should not be a problem. Just make sure to clean the filter often at first!
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW this feels SO good and is beautiful! Just what I needed after a days work!"
Kim
I do agree that with the heater being after the filter it should not be a problem. Just make sure to clean the filter often at first!
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW this feels SO good and is beautiful! Just what I needed after a days work!"
Kim
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I'm sure it's fine.
Besides what could you do to stop it from happening ? We all know bob has a gun.
Besides what could you do to stop it from happening ? We all know bob has a gun.
Holy guacamole, that is one beautiful pool! After all that stress and headache(s), I hope you can really enjoy it now. My Christmas wish for y'all is that everything else goes off without a hitch.
That's a very nice pool.
I look forward to seeing some pics of the water color in bright, shiny, summer weather.
I look forward to seeing some pics of the water color in bright, shiny, summer weather.
That's a very nice pool.
I look forward to seeing some pics of the water color in bright, shiny, summer weather.
We would love to have some nice bright, shiny summer weather too! Between the overcast, rainy and very windy days and the holidays - not much has happened since our last postings/pictures. Our pool school guy continues to come out and work with our pool. I've been using the spreadsheet that I got off of this site that somebody put together (I can't remember his name) which allows me to track and calculate what would need to be added, however, I've been letting the pool school guy do his thing so we stay aligned with the contract requirements in case there is ever a need to go back to the PB. Luckily, the pool school guys is tracking to what TFP says. I would just say, he seems to be going slower than I would - somewhat due to the holidays, in adding chemicals. But we finally got the pH in line, added salt (although it's too cold to run the SWG and freeze guard has been on several times). Now we are working on CH.
I love my speed stir - highly recommend it because besides being helpful - it's just fun!
We have had Pentair out to check out all of the equipment as the pool school guy thought our heater wasn't working like it should (taking too long to warm up the spa), it's fine and they ran several tests but with 37 degree temperatures - it does take a while to get the spa to 101 degrees! (and yes, we did that on New Years Eve)
It has been very hard for us to tell if we have a slow leak. We have had so many days of rain and lots of wind - so gauging what is normal has been difficult. We are doing the "bucket test" this week.
I really want to get pictures of the water, because it's so much clearer now and the abalone does sparkle even without the nice sun - so I can't wait for the sun to be out to show those reflections. With the clear water, though - we think those "Y" trenches they placed are noticeable and certainly, we see some plaster splotchiness that the pool guy thinks he can fix with an underwater acid treatment which he will apply. It's not overly distracting to us, but he thinks he can fix it.
We have heard for the last 2 weeks that someone will be out to work on the countertops (that hasn't happened) but we did have the fence crew out to work on putting the fences back up. That didn't really make sense to us because they still have to get trucks through with all of the stone they need to finish the stone work on the pavilion - but hey - it's their backs if they end up having to wheelbarrow the stone in. Of course, the fence crew replaced the gate posts too far apart and the gate doesn't latch.
. Yes - they will be fixing it.I put out rye seed - and then we had pouring rains and no sun. So it's been two weeks and NOTHING. We have also purchased extra poles, so we can be lazy and not have to switch between the net and the brush. Now, we just have to build a storage area so they aren't all standing up on my back patio. I'm hoping to have the furniture we purchased back in July delivered this week or next.
It is a big difference being able to use the hot tub. Eva (Beaded Biker) was right. Once you are in your hot tub, everything else seems to be manageable. There is still ALOT more to do and we have new projects starting - so I hope we can wrap this up soon. -Karen
That sounds nice.... We have not gotten in the hot tube yet..... Because they did not want us to start the Heater for 30 Days so we waited. Then finally this weekend, the pool guy came to start the spa and show us how to use it...... The Heater did not start! So, we have to call the warranty to have them to fix that.. So, no spa for us..... After 2 months the everything is paid for.....