New pool owner approx for 5 weeks

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mepcards

mepcards

Well-known member
Sep 15, 2015
351
mesquite,tx
Excited but bummed all at the same time. I live in Dallas, Tx, and my pool was suppose to be installed in March, but we had so much rain, it didn't get installed until late July, and now its almost to shut it down for fall /winter. We were suppose to have the pool buried, but due to retaining cobblestone wall on side of house, the contractor was afraid the bobcat would damage, and add cost to the install. Im very happy with the pool, but really,really wanted it buried. Hope to meet a lot of people on here and share pool stories...
 
I just dropped in the say hello Mepcards, and Welcome to TFP, :wave:

Yes, I can understand you being "bummed" about not getting to use your new pool much before shut down, and I'm so sorry that the cobblestone forced you to change your plans of burying it.

I also noticed you didn't mention what test kit you are using to maintain your beautiful pool. If you haven't already purchased a good test kit, perhaps now would be a good time to consider it? That way when closing this Winter, and reopening in the Spring, as well as, any other time of the year, you can ensure your levels are accurate, and ensure you are properly maintaining the correct levels at all times.

Here at TFP the only 2 kits we recommend for properly maintaining your pool because of their accuracy, and ability to read at higher levels than standard kits can. Are:

1) TF-100, which can be purchased at: http://tftestkits.net/TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html

or

2)The Taylor 2006 test kit, which can be purchased at several different places online, and some local pool stores.

Getting one of the above recommended test kits will be the best investment you can make for your pool.

Again I'd like to welcome you to TFP. We're all very glad you're here. Have a wonderful day :).
 
Thank you for welcoming me, and cant wait to start reading some of the post for future ref's...Crown pools added a bottle of test strips for me to check all my levels, but I am going to purchase a better kit very soon. Also the package came with e-z pool chemicals, which I just finished up 2 weeks ago. I know a lot of ppl have given it horrible reviews, but I have had not one problem with anything so far, but im not going to continue with it, for the cost, and im liking the BBB method after reading ppl's prev post. It was already included in the purchase of the pool, so I had no idea how ppl frowned upon this product. Now im just getting it ready soon to be winterized...
 
Welcome to TFP!

If you are like most people in DFW, you will not formally "close" the pool like those up north do, but instead keep it operational. Once the water temp drops below 50°F, this means checking chlorine roughly every 5-7 days or so along with checking pH and TA about every week or so during the off-season and running the pump as needed and always during below freezing temperatures. The chlorine usage will drop dramatically as the days get shorter and the water cools down, so the maintenance on this is very minimal compared to the height of the summer swim season where you need to check chlorine daily. I'm not sure what the e-z pool chemical kit includes, but if it includes chlorine tabs or granular chlorine with trichlor, then you will want to test CYA also as the amount of chlorine you need to maintain is dependent on the CYA level. Since this is your first year with the pool, I would suggest recording your test results so you have a baseline on how your pool behaves, including the chlorine demand and whether pH tends to drift up or down and how quickly it does this.

Here are some resources to give you an overview of managing your pool using our methods:
1. ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry
2. Chlorine CYA Chart
3. Recommended Pool Chemicals
4. Recommended Levels
5. Pool Math
 
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